Off-Campus Study

This page describes the rules governing computer science credit for study abroad classes and the process for transferring credits.

Study Abroad Process

Before you apply for study abroad:

If you are not planning to transfer CS courses for credit: contact your advisor to review your academic plan. They will confirm you can complete the major or minor you want without taking CS courses abroad, and can sign your off-campus study form.

If you are hoping to transfer CS courses for credit:
- Contact your advisor to determine who is on the Computer Science Off-Campus Study Subcommittee.
- Email the subcommittee members with the following information:
  - The name of the university/program you plan to attend.
  - Which CS classes you intend to take, along with their websites.
- The subcommittee will reply, indicating whether the classes will be transferred - and if so, how. This email will be kept in the department records.
- If you decide to change your classes at any point (either before or after beginning your study abroad), return to step 1(i.e. you need to contact the current subcommittee with the new class you intend to take and its website, and get it pre-approved before you enroll in it).
- When you return to Bowdoin, your transcript should process. If it does not, work with the off-campus program and the registrar to ensure the credits appear in Workday.
- Your classes will initially appear as general (non-CS) credit on Workday, even if they were approved for CS credit.
- Check in with your advisor once the general credits appear on Workday. Your advisor (or someone else in your CS support network) will update your Academic Progress to include the approved CS credit(s). To ensure your credits are processed on time, complete this step (check in with your advisor) during or before October of your senior fall.

Where should I go?

Office of Off-Campus Sudy has a "Study Away Options" database to help you find off-campus study courses. View complete listing of study abroad options.

Transfer Credit Policy

The following rules govern transferring off-campus credit towards computer science major/minor requirements:

A maximum of two courses may be applied towards the CS Major.
A maximum of one course may be applied towards the CS Minor.
A maximum of 1 CS course and 1 Math course may be applied towards the Math/CS Interdisciplinary Major.

Courses taken during the academic year at another institution

The following courses are normally not eligible for credit:

Courses which overlap with core Bowdoin computer science courses
Online-only courses
—and anything that doesn't meet Bowdoin's OCS policies.

It is possible to receive CS credit for an introductory CS course, but it must have the same learning outcomes as Bowdoin's CSCI 1101 course.

An off-campus study class, if approved, will transfer as a 2000-level computer science elective. Depending on the course, it could also potentially fulfill a CS area like AI-area, Theory-area, or Systems-area.

You cannot transfer any off-campus study course as a 3000-level course, or as a Projects-area course.

Note, too, that the Computer Science department does not decide how many credits a course will transfer for (for example: 0.8 credits vs. 1 credit). Students should keep this in mind as they talk to the OCS Office for advising.

In all cases, courses must receive approval from a member of the department in order to count towards major/minor requirements.