Computer Science Honors Program

Program Highlights
Admission to the Program
Academic Requirements
Honors Courses and Activities
How to Apply
Selected Past Honors Students
Affiliated Programs
Printable Version
Photo Gallery

Program Highlights

The advantages of a private education at a fraction of the cost!

Attend small classes Speed through the core sequence Participate in personalized academic advising sessions Get priority registration for computer science courses Take advanced special topics courses Enjoy honors social events with other students and faculty Interact with other like-minded students

The advantages of a world famous research university!

Receive personal attention from award winning faculty Obtain preferential admission to the joint B.S./M.S. program in CS Participate in internships and research projects Get help finding academic scholarships Graduate with the degree B.S. with Honors in Computer Science

Admission to the Program

For high school students, admission is based on academic record. A strong interest in mathematics and natural sciences will be helpful, but high school computer science is not required. Minimum requirements are:

• Combined SAT score on two traditional components (critical reading and math) of at least 1300
• Unweighted high school average of 93% or better in a rigorous program of study

For current computer science students at Stony Brook University, admission is based on:

• A minimum GPA of at least 3.5 both overall and in computer science
• Completion of 3 computer science courses, including 2 upper division courses

Academic Requirements

Students must satisfy the standard computer science graduation requirements, however, the core curriculum is accelerated for honors students. Additional requirements include:

• Senior honors project, CSE495 and CSE496, under the close supervision of a computer science faculty member
• Project defense to the honors committee, which assigns grades in consultation with the project advisor.
• Three additional computer science honors courses, 400 level undergraduate courses, or graduate courses. At least two of these must be upper division courses.
• A GPA of 3.50 or higher, both overall and in computer science courses.

Honors Courses and Activities

The honors curriculum offers students a small, caring environment inside a large research university, with all the advantages of both. Students will attend small classes taught by award-winning faculty and will have the opportunity for personal attention from faculty both in classes and in research projects. Students will also meet and interact with like minded students from diverse backgrounds. Experience with computer science at the high school level is not required for the program, only an interest in this exciting and continually growing field.

Honors courses include:

• CSE150 Foundations of Computer Science – Honors (4 credits)
• CSE160 Computer Science A – Honors (4 credits)
• CSE260 Computer Science B – Honors (4 credits)
• CSE350 Theory of Computation – Honors (4 credits)

Other advanced courses will be offered on selected topics such as Robotics, Computer Security, Gaming, Visualization, and more.

The curriculum can be combined with the five year B.S./M.S. program.

How to Apply

Prospective students should complete the Stony Brook University application and then submit the online Freshman Supplemental Application. For details and to apply go to:

• http://www.stonybrook.edu/ugadmissions/freshman/

Current Stony Brook students may submit applications directly to the Computer Science Undergraduate Office.

Dr. Rob Johnson
Head, Computer Science Honors Program
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4400
Phone: 631-632-1643
Fax: 631-632-8334
Email: honors at cs sunysb edu

Selected Past Honors Students

• Name: Diana David
  Project Title: SARA: Stony Brook Autonomous Robot Avatar
  Project Advise: :Amanda Stent
  Now: Churchill scholar, Cambridge University (2004)
  


• Name: Surabhi Gupta
  Project Title: Generation of Referring Expressions in Spoken Dialog: Modelling Partner Effects
  Project Adviser: Amanda Stent
  Now: M.S. student, Stanford University (2005)
  


• Name: Randy Stein
  Project Title: Eye Gaze and Solving Programming Problems: Using Eye Gaze as an Aid in Debugging
  Project Adviser: Susan Brennan
  Now: BA student in Psychology, SBU
  


• Name: Charles P. Wright
  Project Title: NCryptfs: A Secure and Convenient Cryptographic File System
  Project Adviser: Erez Zadok
  Now: PhD student, SBU

Affiliated Programs

• Women in Science and Engineering: http://www.wise.sunysb.edu/
• Honors College at Stony Brook: http://www.stonybrook.edu/honors
• Stony Brook Computing Society: http://www.sbcs-acm.com
• Stony Brook Robot DesignTeam: http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Clubs/sae/robot/

Computer Science undergraduates race their creation in the Roth Pond Regatta