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Guide 18
Guide 18
Guide 18
COMPUTER
SCIENCE
@ HARVARD
VERSION 18
DU
.E
RD
V A
A R
C S.H
DESIGNED BY CS50
Haven’t taken CS50 yet?
Visit cs50.harvard.edu for FAQs.
2 UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO CS @ HARVARD
How do I graduate with Honors in CS? Should I activate Advanced Standing and
Take six technical electives instead of four and have a get a fourth-year master’s degree in CS?
concentration GPA in the top half of your class. See Maybe! If you are eligible for Advanced Standing and
Computer Science under Fields of Concentration in think you could handle eight (mostly) 200-level CS
the Handbook for Students. courses, it’s a great opportunity. Your bachelor’s degree
doesn’t even need to be in CS, so long as you can still
How do I graduate with High Honors in CS? satisfy the prerequisites for the 200-level courses. See
High Honors are decided by faculty vote. You must Other Academic Opportunities in the Handbook for
ordinarily write an “excellent thesis” to be considered. Students.
See Computer Science under Fields of Concentration
in the Handbook for Students. Can I do a joint concentration between CS
and another field?
How do I graduate with Highest Honors in CS?
Yes, but you probably shouldn’t. Joint concentrations
Highest Honors are decided by faculty vote. You must are really for students who want to write a thesis on
ordinarily write an “outstanding thesis” to be considered. some research problem in the intersection of two fields.
See Computer Science under Fields of Concentration If you simply want to study both fields, it’s generally
in the Handbook for Students. best to get a secondary or simply take courses in CS or
the other field.
Do any CS courses count for Gen Ed?
Yes! To satisfy Empirical & Mathematical Reasoning, Is CS part of Mind, Brain, and Behavior?
take CS1, CS20, CS50, or CS171. (Note that CS1 Yes! See Computer Science under Fields of
does not count toward a concentration or secondary Concentration in the Handbook for Students.
in CS.) To satisfy Culture & Belief, take CS105.
Does a grade of SAT in CS50 count toward
Should I study CS even if I don’t want to be
concentration or secondary credit?
a programmer?
If you intend to concentrate in or do a secondary in
Yes! CS concentrators head off in all sorts of directions CS, you should take CS50 for a letter grade. But should
after graduation. See Figure 1 for titles that alumni you decide to concentrate in or do a secondary in CS
since 1984 now hold. See Figure 2 for fields in which only after taking CS50, a SAT in CS50 would count for
alumni since 1984 can now be found. concentration or secondary credit.
Should I concentrate or minor in CS even if Hindu University • Bank of America • Bay Imaging
I don’t want to work in tech? Consultants • Bechtel Limited • Bell Laboratories
• Bellcore • BlackBerry • Blue Mountain Capital
Yes! CS empowers you to solve problems in all sorts Management • Boeing Satellite Systems • Bogazici
of domains. Here’s where alumni since 1984 can be University • Boston Common • Boston Public Schools
found: • Bradley Woods & Co. Ltd. • Brickhouse Freight
• Bridgewater Associates • Bridgewood Design
ACME Labs • AECOM • AT&T • AXA Equitable • Brooktrout Technology • Bungie, LLC • C A McNary
• Abercrombie and Fitch • Addison-Wesley Publishing and Associates • C S Draper Laboratory • CBCS
Co • Administration for Children & Families • Adobe • CISCO Systems Foundation • CTB/McGraw-Hill
Systems • Adult Cardiovascular Consultants, P.A. • Cambridge Innovation Center • Canadian Consulate
• Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy U.S. General • Cancer Services of New Mexico • Cane &
Department of Energy • Agilex Technologies, Inc. • Air Boniface, PC • Canon Inc. • Capital One • Center Mfg
Force Research Laboratory • Airbnb.com • Alberto Co • Charles Schwab • Chelmsford Public Schools
Campari Knoepffler, Architect • Amazon.com • Chevron Corporation • Chrysler/JTE • Cisco Systems
• American Express • Amgen Inc. • Ancestry.com • Citibank • Citigroup • Citigroup Inc. • City Gas Pte
• Angelynn Grant Design • Angle Assoc • AppNexus, Ltd • Code.org • Cohera Medical, Inc. • College of
Inc • Apple Inc. • Apple, Inc. • Arbor Scientia • Argosy Engineering • Comcast • CommonMind LLC • Cornell
Partners • Associates International, Inc. • Atco Plastics University • Craig Taylor Equipment • Creare Inc • Ctr.
Inc • Athens University of Economics • Autodesk, Inc. for Sustainability and Global Environment University of
• BBN • BBW Technologies • BC Partners • BMO Wisconsin-Madison • D. E. Shaw & Co. • DAVA
Capital Markets • Babcock & Wilcox Alliance Research Oncology • Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Center • Bain Capital Sankaty Advisors • Banaras • Damtp Center for Mathmatical Sciences • Davidson
UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO CS @ HARVARD 5
Kempner Capital Management • Davis Polk & Wardwell • GitHub, Inc. • Goldman, Sachs & Co. • Good Shepherd
• Dell, Inc. • Demdex • Department of Defense Medical Center • Google, Inc. • Greater Greater
• Department of Environmental Health • Diagnostic Washington • Hanover Insurance Company • Hartman,
Incs • Dimagi, Inc. • Downtown Associates • EMC Blackstock & Moore • Harvard Club in Beijing
Corporation • ETAK Inc. • EUtrek Ltd • Earthwatch Inc • Harvard College Office of Admissions & Financial Aid
• Edward H Comfort CPA • Ellington Management • Harvard-Smithsonian CFA • Hasbro, Inc.
Group • Elysium Digital • Em Software, Inc. • EnerNOC • Healthpoint Group • Hermes Fund Managers Limited
• Epoch Investment Partners • Erler Film A S • Ernst & • Hewlett-Packard Co • Highland Capital • Hong Kong
Young • Evidence.com • Expense Reduction Analysts Univ. of Science & Tech. Dept. of Electronic &
• ExxonMobil • Facebook • Family Dermatology Computer Engineering • Hughes Aircraft Co • Hulu
• Federal Communications Commission • Federal • Hunton & Williams • IBM • IBM Center for Advanced
Trade Commission • First Databank • Flybridge Capital Learning • IBM Research • IBM Research Division
Partners • Food and Drug Administration • Ford • ING • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Motor Company • Fore Research and Management • Illustrator • Imara (Wynford Drive) Limited
• Fortress Investment Group • Frankel & Associates, • Industrial Light & Magic • Inflection, LLC • Ing.
Incorporated • Franklin Templeton Investments Angelo Giuseppe • Institute for Quantum Computing
• Fujitsu Limited • GFZ German Research Centre for University of Waterloo • Integrant Consulting • Intel
Geosciences Helmholtz Centre Potsdam • General Corporation • InterMed Advisors, Inc. • Interactive
Electric Commercial Finance Capital Solutions- EFS Game Products • JP Morgan Chase • Jackson Memorial
• General Electric Global Research Center • Gifts.com Hospital • Jawbone • Johns Hopkins University • K & S
Life after 50
You can head off in all sorts of directions after CS50, but here are some popular routes. See Computer Science in
the Courses of Instruction for prerequisites.
CS20
Discrete Mathematics
for Computer Science
CS5
CS121 CS187 CS144r
Introduction to Theoretical Computational Networks
Computer Science Linguistics Design Projects
CS136 CS189
Economics and Autonomous
Computation Multi-Robot Systems
UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO CS @ HARVARD 7
CS171 CS179
Visualization Design of Usable
Interactive Systems
50 CS143
Computer Networks
CS191
Classics of
Computer Science
CS152 CS175
Programming Computer Graphics
Languages
8 UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO CS @ HARVARD
Laboratories • KKR 1996 GP LLC • Kahn International Academy • Russell Investments • SLC Consultants Inc
• Kaiser Permanente • Karr Tuttle Campbell • Khan • SLH Inc • SNiP • Safe Horizon • Samuel Wong, MD
Academy • King Abdullah University of Science and • Saudi Aramco • Schlumberger • ScholarPRO • Sears
Technology • Kirkland & Ellis LLP • Kohlberg Kravis Holdings, Inc. • Seatwave • Security Mail • Shell Oil
Roberts & Co. • Kotzias-Stamatopoulos • Langdale E3 Company • Siam Commercial Bank • Siemens PLM
Pte Ltd • Larkspur Marketing • Lava Bear Films • Law • Silicon Graphics Computer Systems • Siu On Realty
Office of David A. Kahne • Learning Objects • Levi Company Ltd • SolidWorks • Sony Computer
Strauss & Co. • Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith Entertainment America • Southern California
• Lexington Software Consulting • LinkedIn • Lockheed- Permanente Medical Group Neonatal Intensive Care
Martin • Lumosity • MTA New York City Transit Unit • Spiegel Liao & Kagay LLP • SquareR Partners
• Macquarie Capital • Magma Design Automation • St. Edward’s University • Star Thrower Educational
• Marin Software • Mass Bay Transportation Authority Multimedia • Starbucks Coffee Company • State Street
• Massachusetts Dept. of Enviro. Quality Engineering Associates • Stem Cell Source, LLC • Stonebridge
-- SERO • Materials Development Corp • Mattel, Inc Associates LLC • Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
• McKinsey & Co. • McKinsey & Company • MedTouch School • Stratis, LLC • Sughrue Mion PLLC • Sullivan
• Medicine in Need • Merrill Lynch • Micro Office County Community College • Sun Micro Systems Inc
Solutions • Micromega Corp • Microsoft Corp. • Sun Microsystems • Sun Microsystems Laboratories
• Microsoft Corporation • Minnesota Council of • SunGard Higher Education • Susman Godfrey LLP
GIfted&Talented • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency • Sutherland Associates • Swarthmore College • Synaxis
• Mitsubishi Corporation • Morgan Stanley • Motorola Corp • System Services • Tarr Technology Consulting
Mobility/Google • Mozilla Corporation • Multimodal • TechPar Group LLC • Teradici Corporation • Tesla
Technologies, Inc • Museum of Science • MySpace Motors • Tetrad Digital Integrity • Texas Instruments
• N.Y. University Stern School of Business • NASA • Teza Technologies • The 1636 Group • The Boeing
Goddard Space Flight Center • NASA Jet Propulsion Company • The Boston Company Asset Management
Laboratory • NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center • The Bridgespan Group • The Container Store • The
• National Institute of Standards & Technology Invus Group LLC • The Oregon Clinic • The Research
• National Institutes of Health • National Jewish Board • The River Farm • The Walt Disney Company
Medical & Resarch Center • Netflix • Network Appliance • The World Bank • Thoreau Society Shop at Walden
• New York City Department of Education Pond • Ticketmaster Inc • Tilera Corporation • Tisch
• Northeastern University • Northrop Grumman School of the Arts New York University • Town of
• Northwest Center for Public Health Practice Andover • U S Postal Service • U.S. Department of
• OkCupid.com • Old Dominion University • Oracle Homeland Security • U.S. Federal Government • US
Corporation • Oregon Independent College Foundation Department of Housing and Urban Development • US
• Osborn Architects • Oxy Systems, Inc. • Pacific Secret Service • UW Department of Biomedical and
Northwest National Lab • Palo Alto Research Center Health Informatics • Undercover Culture Music
• Parfums Christian Dior • Patch & Associates • Unibios Holdings • Union Park Capital • United
• Pearson Education • Pearson Knowledge Technologies Learning Paddington Academy • United States Air
• Pegasystems • PerkStreet Financial • Pixar Animation Force • United States Navy • Univ Cal • University of
Studios • PlayFab, Inc. • Pleco Software • Policy California Berkeley • University of California at Davis
Development & Review Department International • University of California, San Francisco School of
Monetary Fund • Popcap • Prefab Software Inc Medicine • University of Chicago Booth School of
• PricewaterhouseCoopers • Princeton Health Care Business • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
System • Princeton University Department of Chemistry Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Procter and Gamble • Prophet • Pushtribe • University of Stuttgart • University of Washington
• Quantitative Support Services • Quantopian • RRE • University of Waterloo • VMware, Inc • VMware, Inc.
Ventures LLC • Radiological Associates of Sacramento • Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc • Varbra S.A. • Venmo
• Rain Wine • Raytheon • Raytheon Co • Regas • Viacom • Vital Arts Inc • Vogue Plastic Surgery
• Renaissance Interests, LP • Richard A Fay & Company • Vulcan Inc. • Wells Fargo Home Mortgage • William
• Robbins Russell Englert Orseck & Untereiner, LLP Blair & Company • Windward Mark Interactive
• Robert Howard Law Office • Royal Thai Airforce • Woods Hole Group • Yahoo, Inc. • Yelp • Zipcar, Inc.
UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO CS @ HARVARD 9
Popular Study Cards for For those with stronger math backgrounds,
interested in hard-core systems
Concentrators •
•
AM21a: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
AM21b: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
Plenty of other combinations are possible. • CS50: Introduction to Computer Science I
Graduate-level (200-level) courses are also allowed! • CS51: Introduction to Computer Science II
• CS61: Systems Programming and Machine Organization
For late converts to CS • CS96: System Design Projects
• CS125: Algorithms and Complexity
• Math 1a: Introduction to Calculus
• CS127: Cryptography
• Math 1b: Calculus, Series, and Differential Equations
• CS143: Computer Networks
• AM21b: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
• CS144r: Network Design Projects
• CS20: Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
• CS148: Design of VLSI Circuits and Systems
• CS50: Introduction to Computer Science I
• CS153: Compilers
• CS61: Systems Programming and Machine Organization
• CS161: Operating Systems
• CS109a: Introduction to Data Science
• CS165: Data Systems
• CS109b: Advanced Topics in Data Science
• CS121: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science
For budding theorists writing theses
• CS124: Data Structures and Algorithms
• CS126: Fairness, Privacy, and Validity in Data Analysis • Math 25a: Honors Linear Algebra and Real Analysis I
• CS141: Computing Hardware • Math 25b: Honors Linear Algebra and Real Analysis II
• CS179: Design of Usable Interactive Systems • AM106: Applied Algebra
• AM107: Graph Theory and Combinatorics
For those without prior college-level math, • CS50: Introduction to Computer Science I
interested in human-computer interaction • CS51: Introduction to Computer Science II
• CS91r: Supervised Reading and Research
• Math 1a: Introduction to Calculus
• CS121: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science
• Math 1b: Calculus, Series, and Differential Equations
• CS124: Data Structures and Algorithms
• AM21a: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
• CS134: Networks
• AM21b: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
• CS141: Computing Hardware
• CS20: Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
• CS152: Programming Languages
• CS50: Introduction to Computer Science I
• CS175: Computer Graphics
• CS51: Introduction to Computer Science II
• CS191: Classics of Computer Science
• CS61: Systems Programming and Machine Organization
• CS96: System Design Projects
For those interested in machine intelligence
• CS105: Privacy and Technology
• CS108: Intelligent Systems: Design and Ethical Challenges • AM21a: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
• CS121: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science • AM21b: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
• CS124: Data Structures and Algorithms • CS20: Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
• CS126: Fairness, Privacy, and Validity in Data Analysis • CS50: Introduction to Computer Science I
• CS171: Visualization • CS51: Introduction to Computer Science II
• CS179: Design of Usable Interactive Systems • CS61: Systems Programming and Machine Organization
• CS182: Artificial Intelligence • CS121: Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science
• CS124: Data Structures and Algorithms
• CS136: Economics and Computation
• CS141: Computing Hardware
• CS146: Computer Architecture
• CS181: Machine Learning
• CS187: Computational Linguistics
• CS189: Autonomous Multi-Robot Systems