Computer science department administers new waiver exam for admission to CPSC 223
Students who have not taken CPSC 201 but are seeking to gain admission into CPSC 223 must now pass an entry exam to prove their mastery in the prerequisite course material.
Kai Nip
Students now have to “pass out” of “Introduction to Computer Science,” or CPSC 201, for entrance to “Data Structures and Programming Techniques” — CPSC 223. Before this semester, many students proceeded into CPSC 223 without enrolling in CPSC 201, mainly citing their previous experience in the field and desire to advance in the major’s courses.
Andrew Xu ’28 found out on Instagram that his friend was studying for a waiver exam to gain admission to CPSC 223. Xu was also planning on taking CPSC 223, and even though he had not taken any programming classes in high school, he felt he had the experience to pass the exam.
The CPSC 223 syllabus reads, “As CPSC 223 Instructors, we do not prepare the questions for this exam. We also do not have practice questions or other supplementary materials that we can provide for you.”
One of the instructors, Ozan Erat, later confirmed he received the questions from Stephen Slade, a lecturer in computer science who teaches CPSC 201.
The lack of specific study resources by CPSC 223 professors did not discourage Andrew and his friend Alex Wa ’28. They went to work, studying from the CPSC 201 syllabus for one to two hours a day, taking a small break while hiking during their pre-orientation program. They spent a total of 10-12 hours preparing for the exam. Wa said that he “appreciated being able to learn about the material” and found it “interesting.”
They took the hour-long test, and later they learned they were accepted into CPSC 223.
The introduction of this exam reflects a growing national movement of university computer science departments requiring students to demonstrate their preparation for classes. A 2019 New York Times article discusses difficulties in registering for computer science classes in universities such as Swarthmore College and the University of Maryland.
The News captured the exponentially increased number of computer science majors in February 2024. The additional workload required to gain admission into a class was alleviated in the previous policy of CPSC 223, where early admission in the course was not tested, but rather self-assessed by the student. In addition to prerequisite courses, there was a list in CPSC 223 that provided the expected material a student should have gained familiarity with prior to enrolling in the course.
Xu felt that there were “downsides” to both approaches to determining a student’s readiness for the course: taking a test or enrolling in prerequisite courses.
Some students desire to waive the requirements taught by CPSC 201 partly due to the language the course is taught in, Racket. According to Racket’s documentation, the language is “specifically designed for teaching.”
Wa believed the waiver test was “fair and covered a wide variety” of syllabus material and noticed the “all or nothing” approach of the questions: if Wa studied the material, the question was “easy,” or else it was impossible to answer.
Erat assured he leniently graded the exam and allowed a score of 70 percent passing grade whereas scores of students scoring between 50 to 70 percent may be allowed into the course, though CPSC 201 was recommended. Erat said the test was not “a super difficult exam, but it shows you, like, whether the person knows the topics or not.”
Xu and Wa largely agreed with this statement. The test is simply to “enforce more people to take CPSC 201,” Erat said.
Xu recommended that future waiver test takers “make sure you understand every concept [in CPSC 201] but not deeply,” while Wa stressed the importance of drawing out diagrams of each concept to ensure thorough understanding.
“We studied in our free time and were still able to pass and [the test] is accessible to anyone who wants to take it,” Xu said.
CPSC 223 is taught by professors Ozan Erat and James Glenn.