Off-Campus Study

Study Abroad Process

If you plan to study off-campus and intend to transfer classes for CS credit, you must observe the following process:

1. Before you apply for study abroad, contact a CS faculty (your CS advisor, favorite CS professor, or the department chair) by email, 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.
2. The faculty member will reply and CC Sue Theberge, indicating whether the classes will be transferred and at what level (e.g., 2000 vs 3000 level). This email will be kept in the department records.
3. 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 again the same faculty with the new class you intend to take and its website, and get it pre-approved before you enroll in it).
4. When you return to Bowdoin, your classes will initially appear as general (non-CS) credit in your transcript, even if they were approved for CS credit.
5. Around October of your senior year, the department will use the previous email communications to update your transcript for the approved CS credit. Be patient! If you followed the process described here, there's nothing to worry about!

Where should I go?

Recent popular study abroad programs for computer science students at Bowdoin include the following:

• AIT-Budapest (Hungary)
• DIS (Denmark/Sweden)
• University of Edinburgh (Scotland)
• University of St Andrews (Scotland)

Other choices (non-exhaustive) include U. Otago (New Zealand), UC London, Columbia, Oxford, Sydney, Madrid, Italy, Brazil, and Chile.

For a complete listing of study abroad options, contact Christine Wintersteen in the Office of Off-Campus Study.

Transfer Credit Policy

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

1. A maximum of two courses may be applied towards the CS Major.
2. A maximum of one course may be applied towards the CS Minor.
3. A maximum of two courses (across both Math and CS) may be applied towards the Math/CS Interdisciplinary Major.
4. Online-only courses are normally not eligible for credit.

This policy applies to all non-Bowdoin courses, including all of the following:

• Study abroad courses
• Summer courses
• Courses taken during the academic year at another institution

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