Placement Policy

Department of Computer Science

Every student entering the B.S. program in Computer Science (incoming freshmen, transfer students, and second-degree students) must take the Math Placement Examination.

Your enrollment into Computer Science and Mathematics courses depends on how you perform on this exam.

Mathematics and Computer Science Placement

Below is a diagram showing the relationship between the Computer Science and Mathematics courses required for the B.S. Computer Science degree.

To enroll in any Computer Science course, one of the following criteria must be met:

  • Math Placement Test (MPT) result of: 151, 160, 161, or 211
  • C- or higher in MATH 101
  • Enrollment or Completion of MATH 151, MATH 160, MATH 161, MATH 163H, MATH 211
  • With permission of instructor/department

Ultimately, if you are eligible to enroll in MATH 160 (or higher) then you are eligible to enroll in CMSC 161 and CMSC 140.

Computer Science Placement

Entering students are normally required to take CMSC 161, which covers computer programming using the Java language including arithmetic, control statements, functions, arrays, and vectors. There are three alternatives to taking CMSC 161:

  1. Students receiving a grade of A or B in an AP Computer Science course may skip CMSC 161 and enroll in CMSC 162. This must be demonstrated via a high school transcript.
  2. Students receiving a score of 3 or higher on the AP-Computer Science Examination, Part A, may receive 4 credits for CMSC 161 and enroll in CMSC 162.
  3. Other entering students who feel adequately prepared for CMSC 162 (without CMSC 161) can demonstrate such by a successful score on a departmental Programming and Problem Solving Examination. Students wishing to take this exam should e-mail their request to info@cs.millersville.edu. The exam is given during the first week of each semester.