Limited enrollment has been implemented effective Fall 2019 for the Computer Science major and applies to new freshmen, new transfer students, and internal transfer students changing majors within the University.
Transfer students are encouraged to attend a prospective student workshop hosted by the Computer Science department. They are also encouraged to speak with the pre-transfer advising program prior to submitting their application to the University of Maryland.
Admissions Information
Admission to the University of Maryland and admission to the Computer Science major are separate processes that occur in your application to the University. You will want to refer to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for more information regarding the transfer student admission process.
International Applicants should refer to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions International Applicant Requirements.
Students transferring to the University of Maryland with an interest in Computer Science who have met all gateway requirements listed below will be admitted directly into Computer Science (on a space availability basis). Students who are admitted to the University of Maryland but who have not yet completed the gateway requirements will be admitted to the department of Letters and Sciences.
Computer Science Gateway Requirements
Students are required to complete the following gateway criteria to be eligible for the major:
- Completion of CMSC 131 or CMSC 133 with a minimum grade of C-*
- Completion of CMSC 132 with a minimum grade of C-*
- Completion of MATH 140 with a minimum grade of C-
- A minimum grade point average of 2.7 in all courses taken at the University of Maryland and all other institutions
* Indicates an Exemption Exam is available for this course.
75-Credit Benchmark Requirements
All students will undergo a benchmark review at 75 credits or after their second semester in the major (whichever comes later). Students in the major are required to complete the following courses:
- Completion of CMSC 330 with a minimum grade of C-
- Completion of CMSC 351 with a minimum grade of C-
- Completion of a STAT4XX course (prerequisite: MATH141) with a minimum grade of C- or MATH/AMSC/STAT course (prerequisite: MATH141) with a minimum grade of C-
- A minimum grade point average of 2.0 in all courses taken at the University of Maryland and all other institutions
Limited Enrollment Program (LEP) Guidelines
- Only one gateway or performance review course may be repeated to earn the required grade (C- or higher) and that course may only be repeated once; this includes courses attempted at other institutions. When more than one course can satisfy a gateway requirement, taking a second course from the list will count as a repeat. (Please note that a grade of "W" is considered an attempt and must be repeated.)
- Students may apply only once to an LEP.
- Students who were directly admitted and fail to meet the performance review criteria will be dismissed from the major and may not reapply.
- Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 after admission to an LEP. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the major.
Exemption Exams
If you have been admitted to the University of Maryland and have completed computer science coursework at a previous institution or have prior programming experience, please read more about exemption exams prior to attending orientation. Depending on your scores, you may be able to exempt out of one or more introductory computer science course(s). Once you start classes at UMD, you will be ineligible to take these exams.
Resources
- General Program Questions? We can be reached at ugrad [at] cs [dot] umd [dot] edu or 301.405.2672. When emailing, please include your full name and 9-digit UID.
- Questions Regarding Admissions Decisions? Contact ApplyMaryland [at] umd [dot] edu
- Want to make sure that Computer Science is right for you? Visit the University of Maryland's Computer, Data and Information Sciences page for information regarding the different computing majors on campus.
- The Department of Computer Science offers Prospective Student Workshops for incoming first-year and transfer students. The dates for which can be found on our Prospective Student page