Minors

Minors

The Department of Computer Science works diligently to serve all of its students, both majors and non-majors, and bring vital computer science education to all students across campus.

However, we would like to remind students that computer science is impacted, meaning that there are more students in our majors, minors, or who want to take our classes than there are spaces available. This makes it harder to get classes and transfer into our department than in non-impacted majors.

We therefore encourage students to use the Internship and Career Center for exploring interests, majors and career areas to make an informed decision about the major that is right for you so you can create an interdisciplinary skill set for your future endeavors.

Several majors at UC Davis take classes within the Department of Computer Science, such as cognitive science, applied mathematics, applied physics, biotechnology and other majors in the College of Engineering. These are all viable options for students who want a career in the field of computer science.

  • Advising Sessions
  • You need to sign into your UC Davis Zoom account first, and then register for the session. If you are signed into another Zoom account on your computer, it will not let you register. You can find steps to log into your UC Davis account here if needed.

    - Friday, May 3rd, 9:00am - 9:45am - Register Here
    - Friday, June 14th, 9:00am - 9:45am - Register Here
  • Minor in Computer Science
  • The Minor in Computer Science is intended for students who wish to complement their major area of study with a background in computer science.

    - Students must take a total of 20 units. 
    - 12 units must specifically be from ECS
    - A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required for coursework in the minor.
    - At most one course of Upper Division may be counted toward both the student’s major and minor.

    Students should also note that certain upper-division electives have prerequisites. In particular, most courses will require ECS 36C or ECS 32B. ECS 36C has a prerequisite chain of ECS 36A and 36B. ECS 32B has a prerequisite of ECS 32A. ECS 20 and 50 are not required but are recommended to allow more options of upper division courses due to prerequisite restrictions.

    CS Minor Checklist
  • Minor in Computational Biology
  • Technological advances in the past 15 years have revolutionized biological sciences, as they have allowed large-scale simulations and high-throughput experiments throughout the Tree of Life. Unarguably, there is a need for computational methods that enable us to efficiently store, analyze and visualize the plethora of biological information available. Scientific methods from many areas of computer science such as machine learning, graph theory, scientific computation, visualization and databases, have been employed to address problems in biological sciences, while projections support that biological-related research in those areas will continue to increase in the next decade. The Minor in Computational Biology (CB) will provide students with engineering, physical or biological majors the foundations necessary to build efficient computational models and algorithms, use state-of-the-art techniques for scientific analysis and create scalable infrastructure environments for biological and biotechnological applications

    Computational Biology Minor Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can I take minor courses P/NP?
  • Students follow the college their major is part of for the P/NP rules. If the student’s major is in the College of Engineering, they cannot take their minor courses P/NP. If the student’s major is outside the College of Engineering, following their college's rules for P/NP, they can take their minor classes P/NP, if they are below unit limits. One of the courses would need to be a letter grade to have at least a 2.0 GPA for the minor.
  • When do I declare the minor?
  • If you have completed one upper division course towards the minor, you can submit a "Minor Declaration" form on OASIS. You don't need to have all of the courses completed before submitting the minor declaration form. You must submit the minor declaration before you apply to graduate.
  • I am trying to register for the Change of Major/Minor Advising Session over zoom and keep getting this error "This meeting is for authorized registrants only. Please enter another email address."

  • You need to sign into your UC Davis Zoom account first, and then register for the session. If you are signed into another Zoom account on your computer, it will not let you register.

    You can find steps to log into your UC Davis account here if needed.

  • Can I take prerequisite requirements at another institution?
  • Yes, you can take prerequisite requirements at California Community Colleges. Please use assist.org to make sure your courses are transferrable back to UC Davis. You must obtain approval from your college dean's office if you want to take courses simultaneously at a community college while you are taking courses at UCD during the fall, winter, and/or spring quarters. You do not need permission for summer quarter.
  • Can I overlap courses between my major and minor?
  • Yes, you are allowed one course overlap between your major and minor.
  • If I am minoring in CS or Comp Bio, do I get pass one registration access?
  • No! If you are not officially in the CS/CSE major, you will NOT get pass one registration access and you are NOT eligible for PTA's. 
  • Is it hard to get into CS classes?
  • Yes, we have many types of students taking CS/CSE courses; major, non-majors, minors, and change of major students. This results in impacted classes and long waitlists. This is why you have to be flexible and patient when pursuing a minor in CS. 
  • Why are ECS courses so hard to get into?
  • The CS department is severely impacted. Every quarter we offer as many courses as possible based on the resources we have available, but unfortunately, we do not have enough resources to accommodate the demand for ECS courses. 
  • Can I schedule an appointment with a CS advisor if I'm interested in minoring in CS or Comp Bio?
  • No, we are unable to see non-major students in appointments due to the large number of students currently in our program. 
  • Can I switch between the 32/34 and 36 series?
  • No, once you complete the B course in a series (for example ECS 32B), you must finish that series. Due to credit limitations, you will not earn units for the other series.
  • What is the recommended order for my minor courses?
  • When planning out what order to take your courses in, you need to be mindful of the prerequisites for each course. Some courses have multiple quarters of prerequisites that you have to follow. The best way to identify course prerequisites is to use the minor checklists at the top of webpage or UCD Catalog. 

    Tips for creating an academic plan:
    1. Start with courses that are prerequisites to other minor courses (for example, the ECS 36 series)
    2. If you aren't eligible to take a course that is a prerequisite to something you'll need later, then look for courses that don't have prerequisites
  • May I enroll in an ECS course even though I have not completed the prerequisite?
  • No. It is essential that you’ve completed the stated prerequisite for a given ECS course before attempting the course. Departments have the authority to restrict enrollment to students who have completed the prerequisites. If you haven’t satisfied the prerequisite, you will be dropped from the class. Re-adding a class after you have been dropped may be reported to Student Judicial Affairs.