Mathematics–Computer Science

Requirements for the Standard Track of the Sc.B. degree.

Prerequisites: (4 courses)

• Math
• Three semesters of calculus through MATH 0180, 0200, or 0350
• MATH 0520 or 0540

Concentration Requirements (15 courses):

• Core – Math
• MATH 1530


• Core – Computer Science
• (CSCI 0150 and CSCI 0160) or (CSCI 0170 and CSCI 0180) or (CSCI 0190 and an additional CS course not otherwise used to satisfy a concentration requirement; this course may be CSCI 0180, an intermediate-level CS course, or a 1000-level CS course)



Intermediate-level CS Courses

• One of:
• CSCI 0320
• CSCI 0330
• One of:
• CSCI 0220
• CSCI 0450
• CSCI 0510

Advanced Mathematics

Three 1000-level Mathematics courses.

Advanced Computer Science

Three advanced courses in Computer Science. These courses must be at the 1000-level or higher. The three courses must include a pair of courses with a coherent theme. A list of pre-approved pairs may be found at the approved-pairs web page. You are not restricted to the pairs on this list, but any pair not on the list must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

Additional Courses

Four courses different from any of the above:

• Three 1000-level courses chosen from Mathematics, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related areas. These must be approved by a concentration advisor.
• A capstone course in Computer Science or Mathematics: a one-semester course, normally taken in the student's last undergraduate year, in which the student (or group of students) use a significant portion of their undergraduate education, broadly interpreted, in studying some current topic in depth, to produce a culminating artifact such as a paper or software project.

Requirements for the Professional Track of the Sc.B. degree.

The requirements for the professional track include all those of the standard track, as well as the following:

Students must complete two two-to-four-month full-time professional experiences, doing work that is related to their concentration programs. Such work is normally done within an industrial organization, but may also be at a university under the supervision of a faculty member.

On completion of each professional experience, the student must write and upload to ASK a reflective essay about the experience addressing the following prompts, to be approved by the student's concentration advisor:

• Which courses were put to use in your summer's work? Which topics, in particular, were important?
• In retrospect, which courses should you have taken before embarking on your summer experience? What are the topics from these courses that would have helped you over the summer if you had been more familiar with them?
• Are there topics you should have been familiar with in preparation for your summer experience, but are not taught at Brown? What are these topics?
• What did you learn from the experience that probably could not have been picked up from course work?
• Is the sort of work you did over the summer something you would like to continue doing once you graduate? Explain.
• Would you recommend your summer experience to other Brown students? Explain.

Page last updated in May, 2012.

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