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COMP 110 and COMP 210 Placement Credit By Examination

COMP 110 and COMP 210 placement credit exams are now available to take on-line through August 9th, 2024.

To take the exams, please sign up using this form:

Summer 2024 COMP 110 and COMP 210 Placement Credit Exam Sign Up

You should receive an email with instructions within 5 business days. You should take the exams within two weeks of receiving the instructions and before August 9th (whichever comes first). Exams are graded in batches throughout the summer so please be patient once you’ve completed the exam. Results will be communicated by email.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • If I receive COMP 210 placement credit, do I still need to apply for the major?
    • Yes, you must apply for the major even if you receive COMP 210 placement credit.
  • What topics will be covered?
    • The COMP 110 exam will cover basic programming constructs such as variables, defining / calling functions, loops (i.e., for loops, while loops), conditional exectuion (i.e. if/then/else), recursion, stack/heap execution model, etc. You can find more information about the exam, the language, and so on, by following this link.
    • The COMP 210 exam will cover topics related to data structures including abstract data types, axiomatic specification, big-O analysis, array-based and linked lists, sorting, tree concepts and algorithms (depth first search, breadth first search), binary search trees, self-balancing binary trees (e.g., AVL trees), queues (FIFO, LIFO, priority), binary heap implementation of priority queue, graph concepts, graph algorithms (topological sort, shortest path – Dijkstra, minimum spanning tree – Kruskal, Prim), hashing concepts, hash maps (chained, probing), Java programming syntax and features (generics, interfaces, classes as implementations of interfaces). Past COMP 210 course material can be found here.
  • What language will be used?
    • The COMP 110 exam will use a pseudo-code language patterned off of TypeScript. Examples of the pseudo-code syntax and how it relates to specific programming languages (TypeScript, Java, Python). You can find more information about the exam, the language, and so on, by following this link.
    • The COMP 210 exam will use Java.
  • I took AP Computer Science, does that count for either COMP 110 or COMP 210?
    • Students who take the College Board AP Computer Science AB exam and receive a score of 4 or 5, or students who take the College Board AP Computer Science A exam and receive a score of 5, may receive By Examination credit for COMP 110. Credit is not available for AP Computer Science Principles.
  • Will taking these exams give me “placement” credit or “by examination” credit? What is the difference?
    • These exams are for placement (PL) credit. Placement credit (PL) can be used to satisfy major requirements and pre-requisites, but does not actually confer credit units on your transcript. In contrast, by examination credit (BE), does confer credits.