Bachelor of Computer Science

1. Welcome to Carleton and your Bachelor of Computer Science degree program
2. Your School
3. Your Degree Program
4. Lecture and Tutorials
5. Courses Required for First-Year (BCS Honours Programs)
6. Courses Required for First-Year (BCS Major Program)
7. Electives and Prohibited Courses

Welcome to Carleton and your Bachelor of Computer Science degree program

Please read this degree guide prior to registering.

Your School

The School of Computer Science is located in the Herzberg Laboratories Building. For questions about the program, please contact the Undergraduate Advisors located in our Main Office, Room 5302, by telephone at (613) 520-2600 ext. 4364 or by email at scs.ug.advisor@carleton.ca.

The School’s teaching labs are located on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the Herzberg Laboratories. Technical help is available at the Help Desk for Students in 5161 Herzberg Laboratories.

Find all information about your undergraduate program, especially after your second-year, on the School of Computer Science (SCS) website.

Your Degree Program

We offer a Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) Honours Degree with several streams to choose from and a BCS Major Degree. Both are 20.0 credit programs that can be completed in four years and offer a COOP option (after the second year of study) which has an excellent placement rate. Please note: an Honours degree is usually required for admission to postgraduate programs in Computer Science. Find more information about streams and programs on the School of Computer Science website.

Lecture and Tutorials

Before you register for courses, you should understand the various registration terms on the Registration Terminology page that you will encounter throughout the registration process. There, you will also find information on registering in tutorials and how tutorials differ from lectures.

Courses Required for First-Year (BCS Honours Programs)

For the following:

• BCS Honours (no stream)
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Stream
• Software Engineering Stream
• Cybersecurity Stream
• Algorithms Stream

For the Management and Business Systems Stream:

For the Computer Game Development Stream:

Courses Required for First-Year (BCS Major Program)

**Students granted permission to take the accelerated versions of COMP 1405 Z and COMP 1406 Z will take both of these courses in the fall term. Please see “section information” for these courses on the fall schedule (in Carleton Central) for details.

Electives and Prohibited Courses

Electives are courses required for completion of your 20-credit degree program. Many first-year students find it difficult to choose electives. Our best advice is to choose a topic you enjoyed in high school or are generally interested in studying.

Course titles and descriptions can be found online in the Carleton University Undergraduate Calendar under Courses.

• Read the course descriptions to ensure you have the prerequisites, and then check the Public Class Schedule to see when the course is offered. Please be aware that some courses have a minimum grade requirement for subsequent courses that require them as a prerequisite.
• Be aware of preclusions in the course descriptions. If a course precludes additional credit for another course that means you cannot get credit for both of those courses. Please note that preclusion does not mean equivalent, though in some cases it may be. Please contact your undergraduate advisor for further clarification.
• If you encounter a restriction when trying to register, please submit a Registration Override Request on Carleton Central, and the department owning the course will get back to you.

Breadth Electives are all of the courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Public Affairs, the Sprott School of Business, and the Faculty of Science. This excludes all prohibited courses (see below) and all courses in COMP, MATH, STAT, and courses under the Faculty of Engineering and Design.

• Here is a small sample of courses you might choose: PSYC 1001, BUSI 1003, BIOL 1103, BIOL 1902, ERTH 1006, HIST 1001, FILM 1101, JAPA 1010, FOOD 1001, RELI 1710, MUSI 1002, and CHEM 1001.
• If you take a minor in another discipline (except Math/Stats), all the courses in that minor would most likely count towards this category of electives.

Free Electives are all courses in Approved Arts, Social Sciences, Science, Business, Computer Science, Math, and Statistics, excluding all prohibited courses (see below). We encourage students to take electives each term.

Prohibited Courses cannot be used for credit in a Computer Science or any Combined Computer Science program or Minor in Computer Science. These courses are:

• BUSI 1401, BUSI 2401, BUSI 2402, BUSI 3400, CGSC 1005, COMP 1001, ECON/MATH 1401, ECON/MATH 1402, MATH 1009, MATH 1119.
• All 0000-level MATH courses
• All courses in IMD, IRM, MPAD, NET, OSS, PLT, and ITEC. Most courses in BIT are also prohibited. Please refer to the Prohibited Courses list in the Undergraduate Calendar.

NOTE: Always read the course description carefully in the Undergraduate Calendar to ensure you can take a course for credit in your program. Please always refer to the most recent Undergraduate Calendar under the Programs section for the most up-to-date Prohibited Courses list and for all prerequisites and preclusions in the Computer Science program.

IMPORTANT: Maximum Number of Credits Below the 2000-level.

• A student may only count a maximum of 7.0 credits in zero and 1000-level courses toward fulfillment of graduation requirements.
• Credits in excess of this limit will be set aside as Extra to the Degree (ETD), No Credit for the Degree (NCD) or Forfeit. Students can increase their CGPA by replacing their lower grades below the 2000-level with higher grades at that same level.

Notes for First-Year Students

• • Computer Science students may register for up to two minors from other departments at any time during their academic career. For example, you could add a Minor in Math or Psychology to your degree and double count some or all of your minor courses towards your electives. View the Program section of each degree to see the requirements of their particular Minor.
  • Electives can be taken anytime throughout your academic career prior to graduation. See Electives above for more information or visit the School of Computer Science website.
  • Find more important information for first year computer science students, such as the laptop requirement, free software, and student support, on the School of Computer Science website.
  • Find more information about registration and course selection on the School of Computer Science website.

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