Computer science is the study of computational systems — spanning everything from computational thinking and algorithms to computer systems, networks, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. It's a field that shapes nearly every industry today, making CS training valuable both as a direct career path and as a foundation for graduate study.

To declare the major in computer science, please complete and sign the major declaration form and email it to Ms. Debbie Ramil (dramil1@tulane.edu), who will assign you a major advisor, obtain the corresponding advisor's and the departmental chair's signatures for your form, and return the form to you. The completed form needs to be submitted to the Advising Office.  When the major declaration form is processed, you will be added to the CS students mailing list. In order to enhance your CS education, you may also wish to join computing-focused student organizations, such as Cookies and Code, Women in Technology, and Girls Who Code. Their info is on WaveSync.

 If your major advisor does not reach out, you may want to contact them to introduce yourself or to set up a meeting.

Major Declaration Form

Advanced Placement (AP) computer science courses taken by a student in high school usually transfer toward overall college credit. (This is decided by the Tulane University Office of Undergraduate Admissions.) These courses do not have much overlap with our introductory courses and hence don’t count toward the major.

If a student can demonstrate solid knowledge of the material covered in one of the required courses, after consultation with their faculty advisor, they can “skip” the required course and replace it with a CMPS elective of their choice instead. The minimum total number of completed hours for the BS in Computer Science should remain 44.

Transfer of college-level courses follows the standard Tulane credit transfer procedure. There is no special department-level limit on the number of courses that can transfer; we adhere to the limit established by Newcomb-Tulane College. In order for a course from another university to count for the major, it should match a corresponding Tulane course in content and/or complexity; mode of delivery (online, in-person, hybrid) doesn’t affect this evaluation. Computing courses on subjects not offered by Tulane might be transferable. Students should confirm with the Department of Computer Science whether the course would transfer as a course for the major before registering.

With advanced planning, it may be possible to study abroad and complete the major. Students planning to study abroad should reach out to their major advisor to ensure they will fulfill all requirements for the major. Before taking a foreign course, students should confirm with the Department of Computer Science whether that course can transfer and, if so, get it pre-approved. Their major advisor can guide them in this process.

We often get asked what programming languages we teach. In fact, we teach principles, concepts, and problem-solving approaches rather than specific languages. In CMPS 1500, students learn Python. In CMPS 1600, students learn Java, C, and C++. The elective courses use a language that’s necessary to achieve the tasks of the course (e.g. Javascript, Scala, Ruby, etc.). Our successful students get used to learning new languages and are able to study the basics of any computer language on their own.

It is helpful and convenient to have a laptop. We don’t have a computer lab, and students work on their own laptops to complete most programming assignments. Model and make don’t matter; any modern laptop with Wi-Fi and a battery works.