June 13, 2007

TO:  Potential BS students in Computer Science at SJSU
FROM:  Jeffrey D. Smith
       Undergraduate Coordinator
       Department of Computer Science
       (smithj@cs.sjsu.edu)

   
   Please forgive my use of a form letter to respond
to your inquiry.  The volume of students interested
in the CS major and the different questions they have
prevents me from doing otherwise.

   Admission to the BS program in CS at SJSU is done 
through the university records office and the California 
State University system.  The SJSU Department of Computer 
Science is not involved in undergraduate admission.  
Application forms and information are available on-line at
www.csumentor.edu/AdmissionApp/.

   Although students are sometimes accepted who apply after 
the priority deadlines (August 31 for Spring semesters and 
November 30 for Fall semesters), it is safest to apply 
before these deadlines.

   Additional information about admissions is available at 
the university's web site http://www.sjsu.edu/
future_students_families/ or in the university catalog -- 
the web-based version is at info.sjsu.edu/home/catalog.html.

   Requirements for the CS major at SJSU are given at 
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/bs_in_cs/requirements/CS_require.html
These requirements total 83 units.  In addition you will 
need to complete an additional 39 units of General Education
and 2 units of Kinesiology.  This gives a grand total 
of 124 units.  The BSCS degree actually requires only 121
units.  The difference stems from the fact that 3 units
may be double counted -- for details, see Note 5 of the 
requirements document referred to above.


          Second baccalaureate students

   If you have a 4-year bachelor's degree or equivalent,
you are eligible to enroll as a second baccalaureate
student.  Unfortunately I have no good way of 
determining what the Admissions & Records Office will 
consider to be an equivalent of a 4-year degree.  
However a 3-year degree by itself will certainly be
insufficient.

   There is no special "second baccalaureate program"
in computer science.  Second baccalaureate students
are in most respects just ordinary transfer students.
The degree received by second baccalaureate students 
is the same as the degree received by other students, 
and the major requirements are the same.  The only 
differences are in the General Education requirements 
and in the admission requirements.  Second baccalaureate
students are automatically exempt from at least 33 
units of General Education.  Possible exemptions based
on previous coursework are described in the section
below for transfer students.

   Second baccalaureate applicants are to use the 
undergraduate application form, but are judged on 
postbaccalaureate standards.  This means that a 2.5
GPA in the last 60 semester units of work is required.  
You must also have been in good standing in your last
institution.  

   You needn't specifically apply to be a second 
baccalaureate student; the admissions office will so 
classify you if they see from your application that 
you already have a baccalaureate degree or equivalent.


                 Transfer students

   Transfer students, including second baccalaureate
students, may use courses that they have already taken 
to satisfy requirements of the CS major.  Due to the
volume of applications, we cannot promise to formally
evaluate your transcript before you apply.  However 
a rough guide to what kind of classes count as equivalent 
to many BSCS courses may be found at
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/faculty/smithj/equivguide.txt

   Acceptance of transfer courses for the CS major
requires completion of a course equivalency form.
You can fill out this form with a CS advisor when
you arrive at SJSU.  You should fill out this form
as soon as possible after your arrival, since it will
serve as evidence to your course instructors that you
have the prerequisites for the class.  

   Evaluation of general education courses, including
courses in American Institutions (a requirement from 
which second baccalaureate students are not 
automatically exempt) is not done by the CS 
department.  Instead, it is done by special GE advisors.

   Some major requirements and all core GE requirements 
may be met by courses taken at community colleges.  A 
list of courses accepted for the major from community 
colleges near San Jose is given at
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/ca_equiv/ca_equiv.html
A database of GE equivalents at many California colleges 
is given at
artic.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/artic/all-course-to-course.html
Keep in mind that these equivalencies changes over time,
especially for computer science courses.

   In the CS program, our policy is not to give credit
for life experience.  However credit by examination is 
available if you have mastered the material of a class
required for the major without taking equivalent 
coursework.  


                   All students

   It is possible in many cases for students who are not 
registered SJSU students to take CS courses through the 
mechanism of Open University.  This includes students who 
have applied for admission to the CS program but who have
not yet joined the program.  However, Open University 
students have lower priority for enrollment in classes 
than regularly admitted SJSU students.  When classes 
fill up quickly, Open University enrollment is very 
difficult.  So you should not count on being able to take 
a particular course through Open University, although you 
are welcome to try as long as you understand that the 
chance of success for any given course may be small.  
In any case, at most 24 semester units of courses taken
through Open University courses may be counted toward a degree.

   For general information about the BS program in CS 
at SJSU, check our website at
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu
I especially recommend checking the major requirements at 
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/bs_in_cs/requirements/CS_require.html
and the FAQ at
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/Programs/bs_in_cs/faq/faq.html