CREDIT BY EXAMINATION - COMPUTER SCIENCES

Overview

Course: Computer Sciences 303E, Elements of Computer and Programming, is the first course in the Elements of Computing program, which is designed for students who are majoring in some discipline other than computer sciences and who want to develop programming skills. Computer Sciences 303E may not be counted towards a degree in computer sciences.

Test Description: The UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 303E consists of questions concerning basic computer architecture, basic software components, and Java syntax and semantics, as well as programming tasks that will be graded by representatives of the department.

Study Topics for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 303E: Test questions will be chosen from the topics that are covered in CS 303E, including:

• Basic computer organization: hardware and software
• Introduction to software engineering
• Problem solving and program development
• Java language elements
• Algorithms including sorting and searching
• Simple data structures
• Survey of computer applications

Suggested textbooks:

• Computing Concepts with Java Essentials, by Cay Horstmann, 3rd Edition, Wiley, 2003.
• Java: An Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, by Walter Savitch, 3rd Edition, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2004.
• An Introduction to Computer Science Using Java, by Samuel Kamin, M. Dennis Mickunas and Edward Reingold, 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, 2002.

Eligibility

• must not already have a passing or failing grade in Computer Sciences 303E
     or an equivalent course AND
• must have a score of at least 560 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 1OR
• must have a score of at least 530 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 2 OR
• must have a grade of at least C in M 305G

Test Administration

Test Periods: The test is offered on the UT Austin campus several days before class registration periods in late August, mid-fall, and mid-spring.

Test Registration: Register online at: https://web.austin.utexas.edu/diia/treg/index.cfm
(requires UT EID).

Test Registration for Students with Disabilities: If you require academic accommodations due to a documented disability, you should contact these two offices at least five business days before the day of the test:

• Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at  
  (512) 471-6259, ssd@uts.cc.utexas.edu, or http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/
  to seek approval for authorized accommodations and
• DIIA-Student Testing Services at (512) 232-2662 to pre-register and make arrangements to take the test.

Registration Fee and Test Fee Payment:

• The total fee for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 303E is $70.
• When you confirm your registration, you will be billed a non-refundable test registration fee of $15. The remainder of the test fee will be billed after you take the test, with payment due within 14 days. See Charges & Payments for a complete explanation of how to pay your test fees.

Repeating the Test: You may take the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 303E only once.

Admission to the Test Room: When you register online you will be given the location of your test room. You must present, at the test room, a generally accepted form of identification that includes both your signature and photograph. Without such identification, you will be admitted only if you bring and relinquish a photograph of yourself. You should take several sharpened No. 2 pencils to the test room; all other test materials will be provided.

Test Results: Results are available within a few days after the test date. Once they are available, results may also be found online at https://utdirect.utexas.edu/mec/cbe/wmenu.wb (requires UT EID).

Level of Performance Required for Credit:

To earn credit for CS 303E you must have a passing grade on the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 303E. A passing grade is determined by the department.

Claiming Credit by ExaminationClaiming Credit by Examination: You must petition to receive credit. Instructions are available, or go straight to the online petition page (requires UTEID).

Complete CBE Policies: For a complete and detailed explanation of UT Austin policies for credit by examination in CS 303E, see the policy handout in printable PDF format.
(Requires Adobe Reader)

Overview

Course: Computer Sciences 305J, Introduction to Computer Science, serves as an introduction to computer sciences for students who wish to become computer sciences majors but who lack basic programming skills. Computer Sciences 303E and CS 305J may not both be counted towards a degree in computer sciences.

Test Description: The UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 305J consists of questions concerning basic computer architecture, basic software components, and Java syntax and semantics, as well as programming tasks that will be graded by representatives of the department.

Study Topics for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 305J: Test questions will be chosen from the topics that are covered in CS 305J including:

• Basic computer organization: hardware and software
• Problem solving and program development
• Java language elements
• Algorithms including sorting and searching
• Simple data structures

Suggested textbooks:

• Java Program Design, by James Cohoon and Jack Davidson, McGraw-Hill, 2003.
• Java: An Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, by Walter Savitch, 3rd Edition, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2004.
• Computing Concepts with Java Essentials, by Cay Horstmann, 3rd Edition, Wiley, 2003.

Eligibility

• must not already have a passing or failing grade in Computer Sciences 303E, 305J,
     or an equivalent course AND
• must have a score of at least 560 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 1OR
• must have a score of at least 530 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 2 OR
• must have a grade of at least C in M 305G

Test Administration

Test Periods: The test is offered on the UT Austin campus several days before class registration periods in late August, mid-fall, and mid-spring. For more specific dates and times, see the Tentative Test Schedule.

Test Registration: Register online at: https://web.austin.utexas.edu/diia/treg/index.cfm
(requires UT EID).

Test Registration for Students with Disabilities: If you require academic accommodations due to a documented disability, you should contact these two offices at least five business days before the day of the test:

• Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at  
  (512) 471-6259, ssd@uts.cc.utexas.edu, or http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/
  to seek approval for authorized accommodations and
• DIIA-Student Testing Services at (512) 232-2662 to pre-register and make arrangements to take the test.

Registration Fee and Test Fee Payment:

• The total fee for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 305J is $70.
• When you confirm your registration, you will be billed a non-refundable test registration fee of $15. The remainder of the test fee will be billed after you take the test, with payment due within 14 days. See Charges & Payments for a complete explanation of how to pay your test fees.

Repeating the Test: You may take the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences305J only once.

Admission to the Test Room: When you register online you will be given the location of your test room. You must present, at the test room, a generally accepted form of identification that includes both your signature and photograph. Without such identification, you will be admitted only if you bring and relinquish a photograph of yourself. You should take several sharpened No. 2 pencils to the test room; all other test materials will be provided.

Test Results: Results are available within a few days after the test date. Once they are available, results may also be found online at https://utdirect.utexas.edu/mec/cbe/wmenu.wb (requires UT EID).

Level of Performance Required for Credit: To earn credit for CS 305J you must have a passing grade on the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 305J. A passing grade is determined by the department.

Claiming Credit by Examination: You must petition to receive credit. Instructions are available, or go straight to the online petition page (requires UTEID).

Complete CBE Policies: For a complete and detailed explanation of UT Austin policies for credit by examination in CS 303E, see the policy handout in printable PDF format.
(Requires Adobe Reader)

Overview

Test Description: The UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 307 consists of questions concerning fundamental computer science concepts: data types, data structures, and algorithms; functions and recursion; abstraction and encapsulation; correctness; specification, testing, and proving and implementation of programs using the object-oriented paradigm. The exam uses the Java programming language. No special knowledge of the Java standard library is required other than the String class.

Study Topics for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 307: Test questions will be chosen from the topics that are covered in CS 307, including:

• Basic data types, constructed data types; type checking, conversion, and casting
• Procedural code, subroutines and functions (including recursion), algorithm development
• Basic data structure concepts as provided by the programming language such as arrays, two-dimensional arrays, and objects; as well as more complex structures such as stacks, queues, linked lists, trees, binary trees, binary search trees, and hash tables.
• Introduction to algorithmic complexity; algorithms include: searching, sorting, mathematical algorithms, and symbol manipulation
• Program design, development, testing, and verification; includes programming style, pre and post conditions
• Design and implementation of programs using the object-oriented paradigm. Encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism. Implement and use objects. Understand instance variables and methods.
  

Suggested textbooks:

• Data Structures & Problem Solving using Java, by Mark Allen Weiss, Addison-Wesley, 2001.
• Classic Data Structures in Java, by Timothy Budd, Addison-Wesley, 2001.
• The Java Programming Language, Third Edition, by Arnold, Gosling, and Holmes, Addison-Wesley, 2000.
  

Eligibility

• must not already have a passing or failing grade in Computer Sciences 307
     or an equivalent course AND
• must have a score of at least 560 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 1 OR
• must have a score of at least 530 on the SAT Subject Test in Mathematics Level 2 OR
• must have a grade of at least C in M 305G
  
AND
• one year of programming in high school OR
• a grade of at least C in CS 303E, CS 305J or 304P OR
• consent of the department

Test Administration

Test Periods: The test is offered on the UT Austin campus several days before class registration periods in late August, mid-fall, and mid-spring. For more specific dates and times, see the Tentative Test Schedule.

Test Registration: Register online at: https://web.austin.utexas.edu/diia/treg/index.cfm
(requires UT EID).

Test Registration for Students with Disabilities: If you require academic accommodations due to a documented disability, you should contact these two offices at least five business days before the day of the test:

• Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at  
  (512) 471-6259, ssd@uts.cc.utexas.edu, or http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/
  to seek approval for authorized accommodations and
• DIIA-Student Testing Services at (512) 232-2662 to pre-register and make arrangements to take the test.

Registration Fee and Test Fee Payment:

• The total fee for the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 307 is $70.
• When you confirm your registration, you will be billed a non-refundable test registration fee of $15. The remainder of the test fee will be billed after you take the test, with payment due within 14 days. See Charges & Payments for a complete explanation of how to pay your test fees.

Repeating the Test: You may take the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 307 only once.

Admission to the Test Room: When you register online you will be given the location of your test room. You must present, at the test room, a generally accepted form of identification that includes both your signature and photograph. Without such identification, you will be admitted only if you bring and relinquish a photograph of yourself. You should take several sharpened No. 2 pencils to the test room; all other test materials will be provided.

Test Results: Results are available within a few days after the test date. Once they are available, results may also be found online at https://utdirect.utexas.edu/mec/cbe/wmenu.wb (requires UT EID).

Level of Performance Required for Credit: To earn credit for CS 307 you must have a passing grade on the UT Austin Test for Credit in Computer Sciences 307. A passing grade is determined by the department.

Claiming Credit by Examination: You must petition to receive credit. Instructions are available, or go straight to the online petition page (requires UTEID).

Complete CBE Policies: For a complete and detailed explanation of UT Austin policies for credit by examination in CS 307, see the policy handout in printable PDF format.
(Requires Adobe Reader)

Overview

Test Administration

Testing Period: AP Examinations are offered in May, usually in high schools that offer AP courses.

Test Registration: Registration deadlines are set by the high schools, but they will be no later than March. If a high school in your vicinity is not administering AP Examinations, you can request special testing arrangements by contacting AP Services, Box 6671, Princeton, NJ 08541-6671, 1-888-CALL-4-AP.

Registration Fee and Test Fee Payment: Please visit the College Board's Web site for current test registration fees at http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/cal_fees.html.

Test Results: Test results are available in July.

Level of Performance Required for Credit:

Satisfactory scores for credit are as follows:

Claiming Credit by Examination: You must petition to receive credit. Instructions are available, or go straight to the online petition page (requires UTEID).

Complete CBE Policies: For a complete and detailed explanation of UT Austin policies for credit by examination in CS 305J and CS 307, see the policy handout in printable PDF format.
(Requires Adobe Reader)

Overview

Course: The International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher-Level Examination in Computer Science serves as a basis for credit in lower-division courses CS 305J and 307.

Test Administration

Level of Performance Required for Credit:

Satisfactory scores for credit in computer sciences are as follows:

IB Diploma Recipients should consult http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/ibcutscores.html for

satisfactory scores and credit information.

Claiming Credit by Examination: You must petition to receive credit. Instructions are available, or go straight to the online petition page (requires UTEID).

*POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE