CS Major Lower Division Degree Requirements

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GPA/Prerequisites to Declare the CS Major

Students must meet a GPA requirement in prerequisite courses to be admitted to the CS major. Prerequisite and GPA requirements are listed below.

Term admitted Prerequisites required GPA required
Fall 2022 or earlier CS 61A, CS 61B, CS 70 3.30 overall GPA in CS 61A, CS 61B, & CS 70
Fall 2023 (Frosh-applied High Demand Computer Science) CS 61A, CS 61B, CS 70 2.0 overall GPA in CS 61A, CS 61B, & CS 70
Fall 2023 (Frosh-CS intended) Criteria will be announced soon. Students should plan to take CS61A, CS61B, and CS70 in their first 2 years. Subject to Comprehensive Review
Fall 2023 (Transfer-CS intended) CS 61A, CS 61B, CS 70 3.30 overall GPA in CS 61A, CS 61B, & CS 70 (completed by the end of summer 2024)

(Updated on 5/2/24)

Major Declaration Policies

  • Per campus policy, students can retake and earn credit for a class in which they received a grade of D+ or lower. Beginning Spring 2017, prerequisite courses which have been retaken will be averaged to calculate the major application GPA (For example: CS 61A = D; CS 61B = A-; CS 61A = A-; CS 70 = A; averaged GPA = 3.1). 
    • If a student receives an NP in a pre-req, it will be factored as an F (0.0 grade points) when their CS major application is reviewed. 
  • If a student completes equivalent courses to our prerequisite courses (CS 61A, CS 61B, CS 70) at another institution, at least one course must be completed at UC Berkeley to calculate the major application GPA.
  •  Students who do not meet the minimum prerequisite and GPA requirements for the Computer Science major, may choose to appeal the major declaration decision after they have submitted an initial application to the major. Find our more about the Major Declaration Appeal Process.

Lower Division Requirements

All courses taken for the major must be taken for a letter grade. Students must complete all the lower division course requirements with a passing letter grade to graduate.

 

Students admitted to UC Berkeley Fall 2017 or later:

  • Math 1A (Calculus I) *can be satisfied with at least a “3” on the AP AB or BC Calculus exam, at least a “5” on the IB Math Higher Level, or at least a “B” on A-Level Math
  • Math 1B (Calculus II) *can be satisfied with a “5” on the AP BC Calculus exam or at least a “B” on A-Level Further Math
  • EECS 16A (Designing Information Devices and Systems I) or Math 54 (Linear Algebra and Differential Equations) or Math 56  (Linear Algebra [Math 91 Fall 2022])*
  • CS 61A (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)
  • CS 61B/BL (Data Structures)
  • CS 61C (Machine Structures)
  • CS 70 (Discrete Mathematics and Probability Theory) *Math 55 is accepted for math/cs double-majors, but CS 70 is recommended. Math grade will be used in the GPA calculation. Students need to be declared in math first.

  *effective Fall 22 EECS 16B is no longer a requirement