Advising

Your Advisors

Faculty/Academic Advisor

Faculty advisors are full-time faculty members whose primary appointment is within the Department of Computer Science. They are your go-to for questions about things like:

  • Research within the department
  • Course content
  • Graduate school in computer science

All computer science students must meet with their faculty advisor during the advising period.

Program Coordinators

The computer science program coordinators are Jana Head and Sarah Mills, who can help you to do things like:

  • Officially declare the CS major/minor
  • Obtain course approvals (transfer credit/study abroad)
  • Get add/drop forms approved
  • Create course plans
  • Register for Independent Study

Jana works with prospective and transfer students in addition to classes 2028 and 2029. Schedule an appointment with Jana.

Sarah works with classes 2025, 2026, 2027 in addition to E5 and T5 students. Schedule an appointment with Sarah.

Academic Advisor

Academic advisors help with general college policy like:

  • Matching majors/minors/clusters to your interests
  • Recommendations for student resources
  • Help with navigating academic challenges

You may find your advisor assignments in UR Student under "View Academic Support Network".

Peer Advisor

Peer advisors help students:

  • Declare majors
  • Make connections with faculty
  • Review research opportunities
  • Explore study abroad
  • Options for independent and interdisciplinary study

Contact a Peer Advisor

AP/IB/A-Level Credit Policy
Exam Scores Accepted for Computer Science Credit
TestCSC Credit
AP Computer Science Principles, Score of 4 or 5CSC 161
AP Computer Science A Exam, Score of 4 or 5CSC 171
IB Computer Science higher level, Score of 5+CSC 171
A-Level Computer Science, Grade of ACSC 171

Complete list of University AP equivalencies

Complete list of University IB equivalencies

University A-Level policy

Transfer Credit Policy

Current Students

All outside URochester computer science course work, including for education abroad, must be reviewed by the Department of Computer Science prior to enrollment in the intended course. The review process can take up to two weeks. Please do not wait until the last minute.

To get an outside course approved:

  1. Send a completed Course Approval Form , and course syllabi to ugtransfer@cs.rochester.edu. The transfer request should include the potential CSC course equivalents. If a request is for a study abroad program, please include the program application deadline in the subject line.
  2. The syllabi will be reviewed, and you will be notified of the results. If a requested course is not already on file, the review process could take up to two weeks. Please do not send follow-up emails until after the initial two-week period.
  3. Upon completion of the course(s), ask the registrar at the other school to send an official transcript to the University Registrar's office registrar@rochester.edu or by mail to:

    Office of the University Registrar
    University of Rochester
    127 Lattimore Hall
    P.O. Box 270038
    Rochester, NY 14627-0402

Incoming Transfer Students

All transfer courses used to fulfill computer science major requirements must be approved by the corresponding department. 

All computer science course syllabi should be sent to ugtransfer@cs.rochester.edu, as well as any AP, IB, and A-Level scores. Once courses are reviewed, you will receive a response indicating URochester course equivalents, and can schedule an appointment with a computer science program coordinator to discuss your course plan.

Follow the Hajim School of Engineering's transfer credit rules for courses outside of computer science.

Course Overlap Policy

Some common intro level math and science courses are exempt. These courses are listed in University Overlap Policy. See your advisor if you have questions.

Please note that due to the overlap policy, double majoring in computer science and data science is not permitted.

Declaring a Major

Please review your major requirements before preparing your major declaration materials.

To declare your major you must:

  1. Complete all of your pre-major requirements
  2. Fill out either a BA or a BS planning sheet
  3. Email the completed plan to an undergraduate program coordinator for review:

You can also schedule an appointment with your program coordinator to discuss your plan but an appointment is not required.

When completing your plan, consider the following:

  • What advanced courses do you want to take to complete your degree?
  • Have you completed your primary writing class? Students in the Hajim School must have completed this prior to declaring, with a grade of C or better.
  • How will you complete your two upper level writing courses?
  • What clusters will you complete?
Changing or Updating your Major

If you are undeclared, please use the Hajim Intended Major Change Form to switch into/out of computer science.

To update your official CS course plan, discuss the changes with your CS program coordinator. If you will need to take additional semester on campus to satisfy degree requirements, be sure to meet with a financial aid counselor to see how this affects your aid package.

Declaring Two Majors

If you want to declare two majors, you must first follow the steps for declaring one major/degree. Check the department website for your major to learn any major specific major declaration steps, and proceed accordingly. Complete the online major declaration form.

When you are ready to add a second major/degree, check the department website for your second major to learn any major specific major declaration steps, and proceed accordingly. Complete a second online major declaration form.

If one of your majors is a BS, complete a Petition for an Exception to a Faculty Rule Form to request permission for a double degree program. The Administrative Committee will notify you of the results of your petition.

Independent Studies

To enroll in an independent study, senior project, or independent research (CSC 391 or CSC 395), you must:

  1. Collaborate with a full-time computer science faculty member who will supervise and guide your independent work as your independent study advisor.
  2. Fill out this form with your independent study advisor. You will need to discuss credit hours, course title, course description, and how you will be evaluated. Please be concise.
  3. Email completed form to your computer science program coordinator for approval. If you have questions please email the program coordinator or you schedule an appointment above.

Things to note:

  • You cannot register for an independent study via the online registration system along with your other courses. You must follow the steps above in order to properly register for a CSC independent study.
  • See the independent studies page in the advising handbook for more information.

See the honors page for information about enrolling in honors research.

Internships

Any CSC 394 must have a significant academic component to it, above and beyond the work that one would normally do. This academic component must be supervised by a full-time computer science faculty member.

It is the student’s responsibility to find an appropriate supervisor, agree what the academic component of the work will be, and prepare the contract: Internship Form.

The supervisor is responsible for the student’s grade on the academic component of the internship.

If the student wants to use CSC 394 as an upper-level elective course for the BS, this must be noted in the contract, and the academic component needs to be at least as intellectually rigorous (and relevant) as regular courses that might have been used instead.

Contact the Greene Center if interested in completing an internship for academic credit.