Minors

Please refer to the instructions for the Major in Computer Science (BSc or BA), as you will be subject to the same competitive admissions process. This applies to students in all faculties.

Minor in Data Science

Was introduced in the fall of September 2021. Find out more about the Minor in Data Science.

This video features an interview with three students in the Data Science Minor program.

Applying and Program Requirements for a Minor program

Science students who wish to take a Minor in Computer Science must obtain approval from an advisor in the Faculty of Science as well as from advisors in both the Major and Minor subject areas. Entry into and continuation in a Minor option requires that the student remains in good academic standing. If you are a Science student and if you wish to have your Minor approved and recognized by the Department of Computer Science, and thus gain priority on CPSC wait lists, you need to apply both to our department and your faculty office.

The same GPA entrance requirements will be used for Minors in Computer Science as for our other Computer Science degree specializations such as Majors and Combined Majors, and this includes Cognitive Systems Majors in the Computational Intelligence Option. The reason that we use the same GPA standards is because a Minor takes up almost as many department resources as a Major or Combined Major. For example, most Minor students take 6 upper-level CPSC courses and 4-5 lower-level CPSC courses. Thus, a typical Minor might take 11 CPSC courses. A typical Major takes 14 CPSC courses. A typical Combined Major takes 12 CPSC courses.

Arts students may apply for admission to the Major or Minor in Computer Science upon attaining second year status (completion of 27 credits). Admission to the Major or Minor is not automatic and must be approved by the Department. The Department accepts applications in April from current UBC Arts students. Apply for the Major or Minor as soon as possible.

Faculties or programs where the student can self-declare a Minor without formal approval of the CS department get no priority on CPSC wait lists. You will need to compete for general seats in CPSC courses, just like non-CPSC students do, and priority is determined according to when the student registered on the waiting list.

There really is no guarantee of seats in CPSC courses for Minor applicants.

Because there is a relatively small difference in the number of CPSC credits needed to complete a Minor vs. a Combined Major vs. a Major, if you wish to pursue a CPSC Minor, consider whether a CPSC Combined Major, for example, might be more appropriate for your academic goals (note: not all faculties offer Combined Majors).

The requirements below apply equally to students in other departments or faculties wanting to take a Minor in CS, and to students already in a CS program wanting to Minor in another discipline.