Welcome to the
Computer Science Department
Advice and answers for Post-Baccalaureate students interested in Computer Science
Wu-chi Feng
Barbara Sabath
Rebecca Sexton
CS Department Chair
CS Undergraduate Advisor
CS Graduate Advisor
Agenda








As a Post-bac, you have options!
Bachelors or Masters…what’s the difference?
Bachelor Degree Requirements
Master Degree Prerequisites
Planning your Post-bac program of study
Admissions to the Computer Science Dept.
Prior Credits and Experience
Q&A
Bachelor’s or Master’s?
Bachelor’s Degree:
1. May be quicker
2. Performance
3. Broad Study
Master’s Degree:
1. May be quicker
2. Performance
3. Area of Focus
Path #1:
Second Bachelor’s degree in CS
 Broader topical coverage than Master’s program
 Begin any term
 Must complete all undergraduate major requirements;
CS credits and additional courses (Math, Science, etc.)
 Must maintain a C or better
 Completed in as little as four years
What Makes us Unique
 Many of our masters students do not hold Computer
Science undergraduate degrees
 We value diverse academic backgrounds
 We offer pathways for students to complete the
necessary coursework that prepares them for our
graduate program
 We don’t require any prior computer science
experience in order to pursue these pathways
Path #2:
Traditional Grad Prep Track
 Begin any term
 Must maintain a B or better
 Completed in as little as 2 years plus required time
for Master’s program
Path #3: New Beginnings:
Accelerated Grad Prep Track
 Cohorts begin fall term
 Highly accelerated, full-time program
 Completed in 9 months (Sept - June) plus time
required for masters
Planning to get a
Bachelor’s in CS?
Must complete all required UG courses including:







COMM 220 Public Speaking
WR 227 Technical Writing
MTH 251, 252 Calculus I, II
ECE 341 Computer Hardware
Approved Science and Math Electives
Upper Division CS Electives
CS 469, 470 Software Engineering Capstone
Courses taken for the first undergraduate degree can be used to
satisfy free electives and general University requirements.
Planning to get a
Master’s in CS?
You don’t need a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer
Science in order to do the Master’s Program.
We offer two options for graduate preparatory course
work for Non-CS degrees.
1. Grad Prep (traditional Post-bac Track)
2. New Beginnings (Accelerated Post-bac Track)
Traditional
Grad Prep Track
 15% of the graduating class of 2015-16; 20% of the
graduating class of 2016-17
 Begin taking classes any term
 Must complete (or demonstrate mastery) of most
undergraduate computer science coursework.
 Consists of Programming, Languages, and Theory
 44-48 credits
New Beginnings






Highly accelerated: 9 month cohort (Sept – June)
No prior programming experience is required
30+ hours a week out of class
Students are not allowed to work off campus
Not a vocational training program
Starting in 2017-18, students will have the choice
to pursue preparation for PSU’s Computer Science
or OHSU’s Biomedical Informatics graduate
degrees.
New Beginnings
Admission to New Beginnings is required and competitive.
Applicants are expected to have:
Required Qualifications:
GRE Scores are required: A Quantitative score in the 70th
percentile or above and a Verbal score in the 50th percentile or
above
Preferred Qualifications:
 At least a year of mathematics beyond pre-calculus
 An undergraduate GPA of 3.5 of better
Master’s Degree in
Computer Science (45 credits)
Core (9)
Track (9)
 CS 581 Theory of Computation
 Databases
 CS 558 Programming Languages
 Intelligent & Adaptive Systems
 CS 533 Concepts of Operating Systems
 Languages
 Security
Electives (27)
 Software Engineering
 Additional 500-level CS courses
 Systems
 15 credits can be outside of CS
 Theory
Where do I Begin?
We have multiple entry points to our post-bac programs
for second bachelor’s and grad prep students
No prior programming experience?
 Start with CS 161
Some programming experience?
 Start with CS 162
How should I know if I am ready for CS 162?
 There is a self-placement available from our office to help
you determine if you should begin at CS 161 or CS 162
Portland
Community College
 You may begin your Post-bac study at a community
college, such as PCC.
 All lower division courses for the Grad Prep and
second Bachelor’s (including non-CS major
requirements) can be completed at PCC.

PLEASE NOTE: PCC requires you to start with CS 140U, CS
161, and MTH 111.
 PCC’s CS Advisor: Michele Maxwell
([email protected])
Keep in Mind…
 Advanced courses in Computer Science build on
earlier courses.
 You must successfully pass or demonstrate mastery
(through CPL) in order to move forward in our
programs.
 A weak preparation in one class can lead to issues
throughout the rest of your programs.
Scheduling is
IMPORTANT For many Reasons
1. We enforce prerequisites! Consider this when
planning your program of study
2. Departmental Admissions is required in order to
complete upper division CS courses
3. Planning to do the master’s? You must have all grad
prep courses completed before you start.
Departmental Admissions
Grad Prep or Second Bachelor’s? Same application and
deadlines. Different requirements.
 Admissions takes places twice a year: Fall term (July 1st
deadline) and Spring term (February 1st deadline)
 Students begin with CS 300 and CS 311 which are only
offered in the Fall and Spring
 All lower division CS courses should be completed and
mastered by the term you are applying to
 Documented by grades or Credit for Prior Learning (CPL)
CS 202
Programming Systems
 If you did not complete CS 202 at PSU, you’ll need to
demonstrate acceptable proficiency in programming
through one of our Proficiency Demonstrations.
 This examination is part of the midterm and final if you
complete CS 202 at PSU.
 Plan Ahead! Proficiency exams are scheduled in August
each year.
 This a departmental admissions requirement.
Departmental Admissions
for 2nd Bachelor’s Degree
 CS courses: 162, 163, 201, 202*, 250, and 251 with an
overall GPA of 2.0 (all attempts will be considered)
 MTH 251 & 252 (Calculus I and II)
 An approved Lab Science sequence
 COMM 220
 Required courses outside of CS must be completed with a
minimum grade of a C-
Departmental
Admissions for Grad Prep
 CS courses: 162, 163, 201, 202*, 250, and 251 with a
3.0 GPA (all attempts will be considered)
 Must complete all Grad Prep courses with a minimum
grade of a B (for department and graduate admissions).
 Recommended: Take the GRE while completing the
lower division Grad Prep courses.
 All A’s in the Grad Prep will not guarantee you admission to
the graduate program if you do not meet with the minimum
GRE scores
 Quantitative: 60th percentile Verbal: 25th percentile
Prior Credits and
Experience
 Determine if your prior courses match our
requirements.
 https://transferology.com/school/pdx
 Request transfer evaluation upon Post-bac admission
 Additional evaluation through course’s department may
be required
 Some courses can be waived through documented
professional experience.
Thank You!