Enrollment Limits
Note: The demand for the CIS and CSE majors has considerably moderated since about '02-'03. Therefore, the remarks below are not very relevant at present ('09-'10). However, the importance of computing in all aspects of life continues to grow. Hence it is quite possible that within a few years, the demand for the majors will rise again and we may have to again carefully control entry into the major. For now though, all students who have completed the prerequisite courses with the required grades and are in good standing (overall GPA of 2.0 or above) are admitted to the major folowing the procedures describing in the "admission to the major" page.
During the last several years, the number of students interested in becoming majors in the programs offered in the department has substantially exceeded our capacity, given our faculty size. In order to ensure that students admitted to the CSE or CIS majors are not closed out of required and elective CSE courses, and that they are able to graduate in a timely fashion, the department has had to limit the number of students admitted each year to the majors. This limit is imposed via a GPA-based mechanism, approved by the university.
Enrollment in the major programs: Briefly, the mechanism for admitting students into any of the major programs in the department works as follows: Each year a faculty committee (the Undergraduate Studies Committee) determines the GPA cutoff for next year, on the basis of current and projected demand, and the expected resource availability (mainly tenure-track faculty size), using a university-approved formula. Students who wish to be admitted to any of the major programs in the department must meet the current GPA requirement. The precise numerical GPA-requirement, as well as specific course requirements, for admission to the majors are specified in the "prerequisites" list under the individual majors. Students who do not meet the GPA (or other) requirements are not admitted to the major. In the interest of fairness to all students, it is not possible to make exceptions for individual students who do not meet one or more of the requirements for admission to the majors.
Enrollment in CSE courses: First preference for enrollment in CSE courses at the 300-level and above, is given to majors. Once the demand for seats from current majors is satisfied, any remaining seats still available in the course becomes available to non-major students. Occasionally, the demand from majors is so great as to exceed the number of seats in the course. In that case, even majors might be closed out of the course; this is a rare occurrence and the department tries to schedule sufficient numbers of sections of various courses to minimize this.
One important point to note is that the Advising Office cannot make special exceptions for any non-majors and admit them into closed courses.
Future plans: In the recent past, the demand for the majors has moderated. As a result, we have been able to adjust the GPA required for admission to the major from a high of 3.2 in Sp '02, to 2.3 in Summer '04, to the current (as of Wi '06) 2.0. We will continue to monitor the demand and make further adjustments as needed. Announcements about changes in the GPA for admission to the major will be posted on departmental electronic newsgroups as well as in the announcements portion of these pages.
