Studying abroad is an exciting opportunity that many CS and joint-CS concentrators pursue. Some students take concentration courses while abroad, while others do not. Either way can work.
The process in a nutshell:
- Figure out where you (might) want to go
- Before you leave, consult with the DUS (or our sheet of already-reviewed courses) to determine which courses would transfer back for concentration credit
- After you get back, file equivalency petitions in ASK to formally get the concentration credit on your record
Details on these steps follow. If you have questions after reading this page, contact
- Brown's Study Abroad office with general questions about study abroad
- The DUS (via the CS Ed Advising Board or cs-dus@brown.edu) with questions specific to CS courses
Deciding where to go
Whether you need to take concentration courses while away depends on your academic plan. Meet your academic advisor if necessary to determine whether you need to take concentration courses while you are away.
Students often ask about which locations offer good options for CS students. Popular programs include AIT Budapest, DIS Copenhagen, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Edinburgh. But this list is not exhaustive, nor does it suggest that other programs do not work! These are simply some programs that we're often asked about and that offer multiple courses that we have already reviewed for transfer back to Brown. We're happy to review courses and programs at other sites.
Which courses could I take?
Courses we have already reviewed are maintained in a sheet (accessible to brown.edu accounts only). In the decision column:
- "equivalent" means that the course will transfer back to Brown as the course in column C
- "allow general 1000" means that Brown CS doesn't have a corresponding course, but we have reviewed the course and it would be considered 1000-level if we did teach it. You will be able to use the course as a 1000-level course towards requirements
- "denied" means that you cannot use this course towards your concentration at Brown
What about courses not on the sheet?
If you are interested in a course that is NOT already in the sheet, email cs-dus@brown.edu with the name of the university and the most recent syllabus for the course. The DUS will consult with other faculty as necessary to determine whether we will allow the course. Please do not reach out to other faculty about approving courses. Going through the DUS lets us keep the sheet up to date and avoid redundant work for faculty.
Notes:
- we do NOT allow credit for independent study courses taken abroad
Why might a course get denied?
At Brown, 1000-level CS courses go into a certain depth, either by having you do larger projects, study the algorithmics behind a topic, or generally teach fundamental ideas about computing in a particular domain. Some schools offer courses that are more hands-on without similar depth in CS. Put differently, just because a course uses or applies computing doesn't mean that the course is fundamentally about CS.
What's the turnaround time to get a course reviewed?
The DUS tries to process review requests within one week, though it can take longer during shopping period, breaks. and when consulted faculty are out of the office. If your situation is time critical (e.g., you're on site and just learned you have to take a different class than what you planned), email cs-dus@brown.edu and we'll expedite the review (if consulted faculty are available, we have been able to turn these around within a day).
After you get back
When you return, Brown will first place your study abroad courses on your transcript; this gives you credit towards Brown graduation.
Once the courses are on your transcript, file a course-equivalency petition in ASK for each course that you want to apply to your concentration. Those petitions get routed to the DUS (Director of Undergraduate Studies) to review and approve. If your courses were previously reviewed and approved, the DUS will simply approve the petition. If you did not clear the course before leaving, the DUS starts the review process as outlined above.
For courses that get general 1000-level CSCI credit (there is no corresponding Brown course), file the equivalency for CSCI 1099T.
Additional rules
- AB concentrators can apply up to two non-Brown courses to their degreee; ScB concentrators can apply up to three. These limits apply even if you do a year-long study abroad program.
- Whether a specific course transfers back to your concentration is up to the corresponding department at Brown. For example, if you take linear algebra while on study abroad, approval for that course runs through the Math department, not Computer Science.
