Computer Science Major: The CS+ Program
Baruch College offers a BS in Computer Science, based in Baruch’s mathematics department, and in collaboration with the Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics (ISS).
Getting into the CS major. To officially be a CS major, a student first needs to satisfy several prerequisites:
If you take the above courses but do not get the required grades, you can use these courses to get a CS minor. This minor consists of the above courses, together with one additional CS capstone course.
There are four ways to complete the above calculus prerequisites. These calculus courses could be taken as part of the pathways requirement.
Option 1:
MTH 2600 or 2610 Calculus I, or Calculus AP Exam (AB) with a score of 4 or 5 (transfers to Baruch as MTH 2610) | 4 credits |
MTH 3010 Calculus II | 4 credits |
Option 2:
MTH 2205 Precalculus and Elements of Calculus 1 or MTH 2206 Applied Calculus or MTH 2207 Elements of Calculus I and Matrix Algebra | 3 or 4 credits |
MTH 3006 Elements of Calculus II | 4 credits |
Option 3:
Calculus AP Exam (BC) with a score of 4 or 5 (transfers to Baruch as MTH 3010) | 8 credits |
Option 4:
MTH 2630 Analytic Geometry and Calculus I | 5 credits |
In Options 1,2, and 4, the combined calculus GPA must be at least 3.5 out of 4.0. In option 3, a student who did not get a good sub-score for calc AB will only receive 4 credits.
Core CS courses. A CS major must complete the following core courses:
MTH 3150 | Discrete Math: An Invitation to Computer Science | 4 credits |
MTH 3300 or CIS 2300 | An Introduction to Programming | 3 credits |
MTH 4300 | Algorithms, Computers and Programming II | 3 credits |
MTH 4320 | Data Structures and Algorithms | 4 credits |
MTH 4350 | Computer Architecture | 4 credits |
MTH 4355 | Operating Systems | 4 credits |
MTH 4360 | Complexity and Computational Models | 4 credits |
The following diagram illustrates the prerequisite dependencies among the core courses.
Elective CS courses. The CS major also consists of elective courses. A CS major with no concentration should complete four electives of their choice (for an explanation about concentrations, see below). The following list of elective courses is only an initial one. We expect this list to be regularly updated.
MTH 4330 | Introduction to Machine Learning | 4 credits |
MTH 4335 | Natural Language Processing | 4 credits |
CIS 3500 | Computer Networking | 3 credits |
CIS 3400 | Database management systems | 3 credits |
CIS 3630 | Principles of Web Design | 3 credits |
MTH 4140 | Graph theory | 3 credits |
CIS 4560 | Ethical hacking | 3 credits |
MTH 4325 | Programming Languages | 4 credits |
MTH 4150 | Combinatorics | 4 credits |
MTH 4250 | Cryptography | 4 credits |
MTH 4370 | Software Engineering | 4 credits |
MTH 4375 | Applied Data Privacy | 4 credits |
MTH 4322 | Computer Science Internship Seminar | 3 credits |
MTH 4135 | Computational Methods in Probability (Monte Carlo methods) | 3 credits |
Concentrations. The CS major will offer a variety of concentrations in other disciplines, which is why the program is called CS+. You could be a CS major with a concentration in bioinformatics, computational linguistics, computational psychology, and more. You could also be a CS major with no concentration.
When pursuing a concentration, the number of CS electives that you need to take drops to 1 or 2, depending on the concentration. Instead, you take other courses that the concentration consists of. For example, a concentration in bioinformatics consists of two CS electives, BIO 2100 (Biostatistics) and a new bioinformatics course. Many professors around Baruch state that CS majors with a concentration in their disciplines could be helpful in their research work. Thus, we encourage students with a concentration to also pursue research projects in their field.
We will gradually add information about the different concentrations, as those are created. We first wish to make sure that the heart of the CS major exists and works well. If there is a lot of demand for a particular concentration, we will try to prioritize that concentration.
Answers to frequently asked questions.
Question 1. Can I pursue a Zicklin major together with CS major?
Answer. While the Zicklin School of Business does not allow double majors, there is a solution that is just as good. Baruch College offers a Weissman Concentration for BBA majors. This is similar to a double major.
To declare a Weissman Concentration in CS, contact Evan Fink at evan.fink@baruch.cuny.edu. Before you can do that, you first need to complete the CS major prerequisites (calculus, discrete math, basic programming).
Question 2. How do I declare a CS major?
Answer. There are two different meanings to declaring a major at Baruch:
If, when joining Baruch you declared that you intend to pursue a different major and you now wish to change to CS:
If you fulfilled the prerequisites of the CS major and wish to officially join the major, contact Evan Fink at evan.fink@baruch.cuny.edu.
Question 3. How do I know which of the calculus courses fits me?
Answer. Check your math placement. If you were placed in MTH2003, then you take MTH2003, followed by MTH2205, and finally MTH3006. If you did well on MTH2003 and already comfortable with trigonometry, you can instead take MTH2610 after MTH2003. MTH 2630 is not a real course, but rather credit given in some unusual transfer cases.
Question 4. What non-CS and non-math courses should I take for the CS major?
Answer. The CS major is based at the Baruch Weissman School of Arts and Sciences. All Weissman students are required to take COM 1010 and two language courses. In addition, all CUNY students are required to satisfy the CUNY pathways requirement.
A degree consists of 120 credits. At least 90 of those should be credits from liberal arts courses. If you finished all the CS, Weissman, and pathway requirements with a smaller number of credits, then you reach 120 by taking additional free electives. This may significantly differ between students and it is recommended to discuss your specific situation with an advisor.
Question 5. Why does the major have prerequisites?
Answer. We aim for a relatively small number of computer science majors. We want to make sure that this major is at a high technical level, to ensure that our majors are well-equipped for the job market and graduate school. Unfortunately, that forces us to require several math prerequisites for this major. We wish that we could have made the major more popular by requiring less, but we recognize that the field requires a strong technical base.
We also believe that a small program at a high technical level would help establish the reputation of the program. This is similar to Baruch’s well-known financial math program. A small program also means that the majors will get more personal attention from the program’s director and instructors.
Question 6. Can I do a double major in CS and math?
Answer. This is likely to require taking more than 120 credits, which may cause issues with financial aid. It is recommended to first check your financial aid restrictions.
The CS major is a BS and the math major is a BA. There are regulations that forbid getting two different types of degrees from Baruch. So you cannot officially have this double major. There is a different mechanism that allows you to do this: “Weissman Concentration.” You can have your major be one of the two and your Weissman concentration be the other. This is the same as a double major.
Question 7. Are there restrictions about the minors or Weissman concentrations that a CS major is allowed to take?
Answer. A CS major with a financial math concentration cannot pursue a math minor and cannot pursue a Weissman concentration in statistics. These restrictions do not hold for CS majors without a financial math concentration.
Question 8. Can I take the CS concentration in Psychology while also pursuing a Psychology minor?
Answer. That is allowed. Since it is very similar to a double major in CS and Psychology, you might prefer to consider that option. (See Question 6 for more information about Weissman Concentrations and taking more than 120 credits.)
For questions about the CS minor, see this webpage.
For any other comments, questions, or requests, you are welcome to contact Professor Adam Sheffer at Adam.Sheffer@baruch.cuny.edu. Professor Sheffer is the director of the CS program, and all CS majors are encouraged to chat with him.
One Bernard Baruch Way
(55 Lexington Ave. at 24th St)
6th Floor, Room 6-230
Tel: 646.312.4110 / Fax: 646.312.4111