At the upper level, students take five (5) CMSC 400 level courses from at least three different areas (see below) with no more than three courses in a given area. An additional two (2) CMSC electives, totaling 6 credits, are also required. If students take more than three courses from an area, the additional course(s) will be counted as upper level computer science electives.
Area 1: Systems
- CMSC 411 (3) Computer Systems Architecture
- CMSC 412 (4) Operating Systems *
- CMSC 414 (3) Computer and Network Security
- CMSC 416 (3) Introduction to Parallel Computing
- CMSC 417 (3) Computer Networks
- CMSC 498B (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Cloud Computing (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled the course in Fall 2024 semester *only*)
- CMSC 498C (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Blockchains, Applied Cryptography, and Cryptocurrency * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled in the course in Spring 2024 *only*)
- CMSC 498I (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Real World Computer Security (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled the course in Fall 2022 semester *only*) Students may not receive credit for both iterations of CMSC 498X at this time.
- CMSC 498K (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Big Data Systems * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled in the course in Spring 2018 or Spring 2019 *only*)
- CMSC 498X (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Introduction to Software-defined Radio and Wireless Communications (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled the course in Fall 2018 or Fall 2019 semester *only*) or
- CMSC 498X (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Introduction to Parallel Computing * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled the course in Fall 2020 semester *only*)
Area 2: Information Processing
- CMSC 420 (3) Data Structures
- CMSC 421 (3) Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- CMSC 422 (3) Machine Learning *
- CMSC 423 (3) Bioinformatic Algorithms, Databases, and Tools
- CMSC 424 (3) Database Design
- CMSC 426 (3) Computer Vision *
- CMSC 427 (3) Computer Graphics *
- CMSC 470 (3) Introduction to Natural Language Processing *
- CMSC 471 (3) Introduction to Data Visualization (Area 2 OR Area 3)
- CMSC 472 (3) Introduction to Deep Learning *
- CMSC 498E (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Robotics * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled in the course in Fall 2023*only*)
- CMSC 498F (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Advances in XR (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled the course in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, and Spring 2024 semesters *only*)
- CMSC 498V (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Advanced Topics in Machine Learning (course will fulfill requirement students who are enrolled in the course in Fall 2018 *only*)
- CMSC 498Y (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Statistical Inference and Machine Learning Methods for Genomics Data * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled in the course in Spring 2024 *only*)
- CMSC 498Z (3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Differentiable Programming * (course will fulfill requirement for students who are enrolled in the course in Fall 2023 *only*)
Area 3: Software Engineering and Programming Languages
- CMSC 430 (3) Introduction to Compilers
- CMSC 433 (3) Programming Language Technologies and Paradigms
- CMSC 434 (3) Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction
- CMSC 435 (3) Software Engineering *
- CMSC 436 (3) Hand Held Programming Devices
- CMSC 471 (3) Introduction to Data Visualization (Area 2 OR Area 3)
Area 4: Theory
- CMSC 451 (3) Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms
- CMSC 452 (3) Elementary Theory of Computation
- CMSC 454 (3) Algorithms for Data Science
- CMSC 456 (3) Cryptology *
- CMSC 457 (3) Introduction to Quantum Computing
- CMSC 474 (3) Introduction to Computational Game Theory
Area 5: Numerical Analysis (choose one)
- CMSC 460 (3) Computational Methods (credit will only be given for CMSC 460 or CMSC 466) *
- CMSC 466 (3) Introduction to Numerical Analysis (credit will only be given for CMSC 466 or CMSC 460) *
CMSC Upper Level Electives
These courses do not count toward a distributive area for the General Track. If you have any questions about what courses will satisfy distributive area requirements, consult with your assigned academic advisor.
- CMSC 320 (3) Introduction to Data Science
- CMSC 335 (3) Web Application Development with JavaScript (formerly CMSC398N)
- CMSC 388 or 389 (1) Student Initiated Courses (STICs)
- CMSC 395 (1) Teaching Techniques for Computer Science (TAs Only)
- CMSC 396 (1) Computer Science Honors Seminar (Dept Honors Only)
- CMSC 401 (3) Algorithms for Geospatial Computing
- CMSC 425 (3) Game Programming *
- CMSC 473 (3) Capstone in Machine Learning *
- CMSC 475 (3) Combinatorics and Game Theory *
- CMSC 476 (3) Robotics and Perception *
- CMSC 488A (1) Quantum Boot Camp
- CMSC 498 (1 - 3) Special Topics in Computer Science (courses not otherwise listed in a distributive area)
- CMSC 498A (1 - 3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Independent Study
- CMSC 499A (1 - 3) Selected Topics in Computer Science; Independent Undergraduate Research
* Indicates this course has unique prerequisites.