Undergraduate Program

Director of Undergraduate Studies Ketan Mayer-Patel gave a presentation about the department to admitted undergraduate students in Spring 2024. A recording of the presentation and Q&A can be viewed on YouTube.

Fall 2024 Registration Guide

Admission to Undergraduate Programs

The demand for the Computer Science major and minor have grown significantly over the past decade. To maintain the high quality educational experiences that Carolina students deserve, there is an admissions process for students interested in any of the computer science programs. The department accepts applications each Spring. More information about the next application cycle can be found here: Spring ’24 Application To Computer Science Programs.

Junior transfer applicants can apply directly to the CS program as part of the transfer application to UNC. To be eligible for consideration, transfer applicants should have completed or have credit for equivalents of the following courses at their prior institution:

MATH 129P or MATH 130 (pre-calculus)
MATH 231 (first semester of calculus)
COMP 110 (a first course in programming, no specific language required)
COMP 210 (a course in data structures)

Junior transfer applicants that do not have the prerequisites listed above can apply for admission as a general transfer applicant (i.e., not directly to the CS program) and then once at UNC, take these courses in their first year at UNC and apply for the program as part of the next regular application cycle in the Spring semester. Students taking this approach, however, should be prepared to pivot to a different major if they are not admitted or are unable to complete the prerequisites necessary to apply.

Visiting the Department of Computer Science

At this time, we do not offer in-person department tours or information session. We are trying to develop a program for virtual department tours. If you would like to be notified when they launch, please give us your email address using this form.

Registration and Tar Heel Tracker Requests

Manual Registration Requests

Note: During registration periods, please allow up to 5 business days for processing. Please do not submit duplicate requests.

Tar Heel Tracker Requests

Please allow up to 30 days for processing. For forms submitted during registration, please allow up to 45 days for processing. All graduating seniors will receive priority processing.

For additional questions/inquiries/follow-up, please email ugrad_ss@cs-old.sites.unc.edu and include your PID in all emails.

Undergraduate Degree Programs

The Department of Computer Science offers instruction and performs research in many essential areas of computer science. We encourage you to browse the home pages of our faculty to get a sense of their on-going research interests and collaborations.

The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (B.S.) is the most popular degree both for graduate study in computer science and for technical careers in industry. Graduates of our program are well suited for professional employment in traditional computer and communications industries, as well as in such diverse industries as financial services and consulting practices in which computing and information management is central to the operation of the enterprise.

The Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science (B.A.) is a streamlined and more flexible degree program that may be a better fit for those whose interest in computing spans the boundaries of multiple disciplines and wish to integrate their study of computing with study in a related discipline. The bachelor of arts degree will prepare the undergraduate student for a career in either a traditional computing field, or a career in a field where computing is a significant enabling technology.

Majors receive rigorous training in the foundations of computer science and the relevant mathematics in a common core introductory sequence, and then have ample opportunity to specialize in upper division courses. Please see the course catalog and recent offerings for more information.

Students with interests in the cognitive, social, and organizational roles of information should consider the information science major in the School of Information and Library Science.

Students can minor in computer science with five courses, as described here.

The department also offers a B.S./M.S. combined program that allows students to graduate with both a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Computer Science in as few as five years.