Computer Science

From Georgia Tech Student Wiki

Computer Science is a Bachelor's of Science program offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology. Housed in the College of Computing, one of the six major colleges that make up Georgia Tech, it is the largest major at Georgia Tech (barely beating out Mechanical Engineering).

Contrary to popular belief, Computer Science is not the study of writing code. Computer Science is a primarily academic discipline that studies the theoretical conceptualizations and practical constructions of a computational machine, the algorithms that can run on those machines, as well as their applications to computational and non-computational fields, and uses code as a medium to accomplish those tasks.

Topics and career paths that exist within this broad field include theoretical computer science (such as algorithm design and the study of computation and efficiency), computer systems, computer architecture, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, computer simulation, information transmission, human-computer interaction, and of course, software engineering.

Computer Science has subfields that are also closely related to Electrical and Computer Engineering, primarily the construction and programming of computer hardware, as well as subfields strongly correlated to math, such as machine learning and algorithm design.

Student Body[edit | edit source]

The Computer Science program boasts 3,000 undergraduates, 3,500 on-campus graduate students, and 10,000 online graduate students through the College of Computing's OMSCS (Online Masters in Computer Science).[1]

The College of Computing plays host to a wide variety of clubs that serve to aid CS undergrads and grad students during their academic careers. Highlighted clubs include those run by the Student Competition Center (SCC), including RoboJackets and HyTech Racing, both of which have a variety of positions and challenges in the software field. Other non-competitive clubs include GreyHat (cybersecurity), The Agency (artificial intelligence), and Big O (theoretical computer science). A list of all College of Computing clubs, along with meeting times, locations, and links, can be found here.

The College of Computing is also one of the home units of the Startup Exchange club and the CREATE-X organization, both organizations aimed at cultivating the start-up culture found in both the university and the city of Atlanta as a whole. Resources provided by these departments can be found here.

Finally, the College of Computing also hosts two career fairs, one in the fall and one in the spring, each of which take place roughly three weeks before the All-Majors Career Fair (the first in early September, and the second in early January).[2]

The College of Computing offers nine distinct Computer Science minors (seven of them corresponding to 7 of the 8 threads), and the other two being portions of the Modeling and Simulation thread.

Degree Requirements[edit | edit source]

Degree Requirements [3]
Course Description
CS 1100 Freshman Leap Seminar (1)
CS 1301 Introduction to Computer Science (3)
CS 1331 Introduction to Object Oriented Programming (3)
CS 1332 Data Structures and Algorithms (3)
CS 2050/2051 Discrete Mathematics Requirement (3)
CS 2340 Objects and Design (3)
CS Ethics Course Ethics/Professionalism Requirement (3)
MATH 1551 and 1552 Calculus Requirement (6)
MATH 1554/1564 Linear Algebra Requirement (4)
MATH 2550 Introduction to Multivariable Calculus (2)
MATH 3012 Applied Combinatorics (3)
Probability/Statistics Course Probability/Statistics Requirement (3)
PHYS 2211 + 2 More Lab Sciences + Lab Sequence Lab Science Requirement (12)
ENGL 1101 and 1102 English Requirement (2)
6 credits of Humanities Classes Humanities Requirement (6)
One History/Government Requirement Class History/Government Requirement (3)
9 credits of Social Science Classes Social Science Requirement (9)
APPH 1040/1050/1060 Wellness Requirement (2)
Thread Requirements Select a thread page below
Junior Design Capstone Select one requirement (6)
Free Electives Varies by thread combination and capstone selection

Threads[edit | edit source]

Like Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science offers eight distinct threads, which act as specializations. Majors must complete two threads + the core and major requirements to graduate. CS minors must select one thread and complete the minor core requirements (these do not include MATH requirements or some intro CS classes). Each thread combination also dictates the number of free electives a student must take in order to graduate.

Thread List[edit | edit source]

  1. Theory
  2. Systems and Architecture
  3. Information Internetworks
  4. Intelligence
  5. Modeling and Simulation (split into Scientific Computing and Data Analysis minors)
  6. People
  7. Media
  8. Devices

For more information, see Thread (Computer Science)

Student Organizations[edit | edit source]

There are many student organizations relevant to a career in Computer Science. Most of these, but not all, are formally affiliated with the College of Computing.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ https://lite.gatech.edu/
  2. ↑ https://www.cc.gatech.edu/content/career-development
  3. ↑ https://www.cc.gatech.edu/future/undergraduates/bscs/corereq
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