Courses in the Computer Science major / Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip a core course?

We do not encourage this, as it generally sets up students for failure in later courses. In the rare cases where it is allowed, we apply several policies:

1. We may let a student skip a course that is a prerequisite for a course they have already successfully taken. In this case, they must take extra electives to fill out the 12 credits.
2. We generally require an extra elective of a similar nature, e.g. a programming course for CPSC 2010 or CPSC 2230 or a theoretical course for CPSC 2020.
3. It is very unlikely that we will let students skip either CPSC 3230 or CPSC 3650/3660.

For some students, past experience has shown that a 5 on the AP exam was not sufficient preparation to take CPSC 2010 or CPSC 2230. You should be aware of this before attempting to skip ahead.

Taking a courses without previously having taken one of its prerequisites requires permission of the instructor. There is no guarantee that an instructor will grant this permission.

I took programming in high school. Does that mean I can skip ahead?

You can skip CPSC 1001 and enroll in CPSC 2010.

Can I take a course outside CS as a CS elective?

With permission of the DUS, CS majors may apply up to two relevant courses from other departments to the BS version of the major, or one to the BA. Because courses in other departments vary in their content from year to year, we do not have a fixed list of courses that automatically qualify as electives in CS. For Fall 2025 only, the qualified courses are listed at the the bottom of this spreadsheet. Some general considerations when proposing a particular outside elective:

• The default answer is no. Courses outside the currently approved list are very unlikely to be approved. Repeated requests for a declined course will not change the outcome.
• Any course that has a CPSC 3xxx or 4xxx number, except for core courses, CPSC 4800, or CPSC 4900, counts as a CS elective already. For courses with numbers in more than one department, this is true even if you took the course under a different number.
• Electives for the CS major are expected to be intermediate or advanced courses. This tends to rule out courses with no prerequisites or those aimed at a general Yale audience.
• The most likely courses to qualify are those that have significant computer science content. This means that the course covers topics that are likely to appear in computer science classes regularly taught at other universities, but for local, contingent reasons happen to be taught in a non-CS class at Yale. Courses taught by instructors in other departments who have joint or secondary appointments in Computer Science can fall in this category.
• Computer science content involves content that relates to the academic discipline of computer science. The presence of a computer in a lab, or the use of a computer to process data using standard techniques or otherwise support the content of a course, does not constitute computer science content. Email the DUS if you are not sure whether the content of a particular class qualifies, keeping in mind that the default answer is no.

How do I propose a replacement for a course in the major?

Contact your class advisor, or the DUS if your class advisor is not available. If you have received an approval, please use this form to request an update in Degree Audit.

If I want to take a course during a semester abroad, can I have it count towards the major?

In this case, you must contact the DUS in advance to get preliminary approval for the courses. They must closely correspond to a course that is already being offered through Yale CS. Thus, courses akin to Prompt Engineering for Business Majors are unlikely to be approved.

Once you have completed the course, you must submit the final syllabus for approval, and have received a passing grade. Once this is all completed, you can submit for course approval here.

A maximum of two abroad courses can be counted towards the major.

If I double major in AMTH and CS, am I required to use CPSC 2020/MATH 2440 as one of my double-counted courses?

Yale College has a firm rule that double majors only double count up to 2 courses across majors. Because discrete mathematics 2440/2020 is required by both the AMTH and CPSC majors, we will allow AMTH/CPSC double majors who take and count discrete mathematics (either 2440 or 2020) towards their CPSC requirements, to replace their AMTH discrete mathematics requirement with a more advanced, or "downstream", course that lists 2440/2020 as a preqrequisite course. Such a replacement will free the student to double count two more advanced courses towards their majors. This replacement is independent from the general exception for AMTH double majors where an additional breadth course may replace the third concentration course.