The 2003 Computer Science Curriculum

Frequently Asked Questions

Contents

1. I have been following the old curriculum but just changed subject POSts. Do I have to follow the new?
2. What should I do if I didn't take CSC165H?
3. What statistics course(s) should I take?
4. What should I do if I already took MAT246Y?
5. What course should I take instead of CSC228H?
6. What course should I take instead of CSC270H?
7. Can I use CSC378H as a prerequisite for CSC340?
8. I prepared for CSC343H by taking 209H and 238H, but now 228H is required. Do I really need to take 228H?
9. Last year CSC209H didn't require CSC258H. Do I really need it?
10. What old course is an acceptable substitute for CSC236H/240H in the new curriculum?
11. I don't meet the new CSC354H prerequisites. What should I do?
12. I don't meet the new CSC443H prerequisites. What should I do?
    
Revised 27 Feb 04
13. I don't meet the new CSCxxxH prerequisites. What should I do?
14. Can I take CSC263H with STA107+250 as my STA prep?
15. I want to take MGT374, but the new STA courses don't satisfy it's prerequisites 07 Jan 04

I have been following the old curriculum but just changed subject POSts. Do I have to follow the new?

The date on which you change subject POSts, or campuses, has no effect on which curriculum you should follow.

For students who follow the "normal" pattern -- enrolling in a computer science subject POSt after taking only 100-level CSC courses, and studying full-time without interruption -- the date of their original enrolment in a computer science POSt will clearly indicate whether to follow the old or But everyone else has a choice of following either the old or new curriculum. The decision depends on how many and which CSC you have already taken, and on how your future plans relate to our schedule for phasing in the changes.

Whichever curriculum you are following, you must follow it consistently. In other words, you cannot mix and match new and old program requirements, other than by using the allowed substitutions.

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What should I do if I didn't take CSC165H?

If 2002/03 was your first year, you are expected to follow the new curriculum, unless you are accelerating through your program. But the new curriculum, which includes CSC165H, was not published until after you had selected your first-year courses, so you may not have taken CSC165H.

If this is your situation, you have several choices:

• Take CSC236H without having the CSC165H prerequisite.
  We expect that the majority of students who lack CSC165H will choose this option.
  • This is essentially what all of our students did under the "old" curriculum, when we offered CSC238H without any preparatory course.
  • If you choose this option, you will have seen some material on proofs in CSC148H. This is why CSC148H (taken before Fall 2003) is an alternative to CSC165H as a prerequisite for CSC236H.
  • Of course, CSC165H expands greatly on the proof-related material in CSC148H. This is why CSC148H (before Fall 2003) is a deprecated alternative to CSC165H. However, CSC236H instructors for 2003/04 will know that they have a mixture of students with and without the CSC165H prerequisite, so if you are prepared to do some extra reading and preparation, your instructor will meet you half-way.
• Take CSC165H before taking CSC236H.
  This is the best option for students who have concerns about their success in CSC236H.
• Take CSC240H, which does not require CSC165H.
  CSC240H is an enriched course and you should choose it only if you have particularly strong mathematical skills.

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What statistics course(s) should I take?

If you are following the old curriculum, you can take the old STA courses required by your program. If you wish to take the new courses instead, the following substitutions will be allowed.

• We will accept STA247H in place of STA107H in an old program.
• We will also accept STA247H in place of STA257H in an old program.
• However, we will not accept STA247H as a substitute for both STA107H and STA257H. If you wish to substitute for both STA107H and STA257H, use STA247H and STA248H.

If you are following the new curriculum, you may already have credit in one of the old STA courses. Here is what to do if you are in this situation. (Note: this information is intended for students in either the Major, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or Comprehensive program, all of which require STA247H/257H. If you are in one of our other programs, please contact us about your STA requirements.

• If you have taken STA107H only, take STA247H/257H.
  STA107H is not adequate preparation for a number of key courses, including CSC263H/265H and CSC373H/375H; nor is it adequate to satisfy program requirements. You need to take STA247H or STA257H.
• If you have taken STA250H only, take STA247H.
  STA250H is primarily a course on statistics. STA247H will provide the background in probability that you need, both for course prerequisites and program requirements.
• If you have taken (STA107H+250H) or STA257H or ECO227Y, then no further STA is required.
  These courses provide adequate preparation for followon courses such as CSC263H, and are also acceptable for program completion.
• If you have taken ECO220Y only, then you need to take STA107H/257H in order to complete your program.
  • Your program requires STA247H/257H.
  • You cannot take STA247H after ECO220Y because of an exclusion.
  • STA257H will satisfy your requirements; we will also accept STA107H.
  In the first version of this FAQ entry, we mistakenly said that ECO220Y was acceptable on its own. This was due to a misunderstanding about the meaning of some of the STA course exclusions. If you took ECO220Y during the summer 2003 term because of this, please contact us immediately.

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What should I do if I already took MAT246Y?

MAT246Y used to be accepted as an alternative to CSC238H in our programs. However, the contents of these two courses have diverged over the years to the point that this alternative is no longer appropriate.

If you are following the old curriculum, you can of course count MAT246Y towards your program. Students following the new curriculum should take CSC236H/238H/240H, although we will accept MAT246Y instead towards their program if the course was taken during or before the Winter 2003 term.

• CSC364H and 378H still accept MAT246Y, but you would probably need to do some additional work to catch up on missing material, such as proofs of correctness, recurrence relations, and formal language theory. If this is daunting, consider taking CSC236H. With your background from MAT246Y, CSC165H would not be necessary.
• CSC324H no longer accepts MAT246Y as a prerequisite. This is because CSC324H has been updated to take advantage of the stronger preparation on formal languages that CSC238H now provides, and which was never covered by MAT246Y. So you would need to do some catching up. Additionally you would need to get a prerequisite waiver from your CSC324H professor. However, students who took MAT246Y during or before the Winter 2003 term will not be required to get this waiver -- we will provide a blanket waiver for them.

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What course should I take instead of CSC228H?

First a clarification: CSC228H has been replaced in our programs by CSC343H, as indicated in the table giving a Summary of core changes on the new curriculum website. And the courses do both relate to databases. However, they are substantially different in content -- so much so that one is allowed to take both. This is why, in the table of Substitutes for students "overtaken by the wave", we did not list a simple substitute for CSC228H.

Still, some students who are following the old curriculum will not have a chance to take CSC228H before the course is discontinued. If this is your situation, you need an alternative to CSC228H, both as a program requirement and as a course prerequisite.

For your program requirement

You may substitute CSC343H for CSC228H for your program requirement. If you do, however, you may not then use CSC343H towards any other program requirements. See below for what exactly that means in each program.

As a course prerequisite

Suitable alternatives have been provided everywhere CSC228H is listed as a prerequisite. There is one correction, however: The 2003/04 calendar says that CSC340H requires "CSC263H/265H/228H". CSC378H should be listed as a fourth alternative. This will be corrected, and in the meanwhile, we will grant a coursewide waiver of the above prerequisite for all CSC340H students who have CSC378H. Students do not have to ask for an individual prerequisite waiver.

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What course should I take instead of CSC270H?

Some students who are following the old curriculum will not have a chance to take CSC270H before the course is discontinued. If this is your situation, you may use CSC207H as a substitute for CSC270H for your program.

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Can I use CSC378H as a prerequisite for CSC340?

Yes. The 2003/04 calendar says that CSC340H requires "CSC263H/265H/228H", but CSC378H should be listed as a fourth alternative. This will be corrected, and in the meanwhile, we will grant a coursewide waiver of the above prerequisite for all CSC340H students who have CSC378H. Students do not have to ask for an individual prerequisite waiver.

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I prepared for CSC343H by taking 209H and 238H, but now 228H is required. Do I really need to take 228H?

In the 02/03 calendar, CSC343H required CSC209H/228H and 238H. In the 03/04 calendar, it requires specifically CSC228H and 238H (or CSC263H/265H/378H). Students who chose to prepare for CSC343H by taking 209H and 238H don't meet the new requirements.

For 2003/04 only, including summer 2003, we will give a blanket waiver allowing students to take CSC343H with just 209H and 238H. Students do not have to ask for an individual prerequisite waiver.

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Last year CSC209H didn't require CSC258H. Do I really need it?

CSC258 was added as a prerequisite to CSC209H because 209H is going to become the course that introduces C, and knowing some architecture helps with that. But 209H will not make this change for the summer offering. So you may take CSC209H and CSC258H concurrently this summer. We will grant a coursewide prerequisite waiver so that students do not have to individually request it.

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What old course is an acceptable substitute for CSC236H/240H in the new curriculum?

The old course CSC238H is acceptable in place of CSC236H/240H in all computer science programs.

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I don't meet the new CSC354H prerequisites. What should I do?

The CSC354H course prerequisites have changed as follows:

For 2003/04 only, students with the old prerequisites will be allowed to take CSC354 without requesting a prerequisite waiver.

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I don't meet the new CSC443H prerequisites. What should I do?

For 2003/04 only, we will waive the CSC369H/468H prerequisite and will accept CSC378H instead of CSC364H/373H. In other words, students with the 2002/03 prerequisites will be allowed to take CSC443 without requesting a prerequisite waiver.

This will be in place for Summer 2004 also. The new prerequisite will be applied beginning in Fall 2004.

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I don't meet the new CSCxxxH prerequisites. What should I do?

For all CSC courses, for 2003/04 only, students will be allowed to take the course as long as they have the prerequisites published in the 2002/03 calendar. No waiver will be required.

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Can I take CSC263H with STA107+250 as my STA prep?

In another FAQ entry, we say that students who are following the new curriculum and are in the Major, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or Comprehensive program can use STA107H+250H to complete the STA requirements of their program. However, STA107H+250H do not satisfy the prerequisites for CSC263H -- it requires STA247H1/STA255H1/STA257H1.

For 2003/04 and summer 2004, we will accept STA107H+250H as adequate STA preparation for CSC263H. This is probably not adequate preparation for the enriched version of the course, CSC265H. Students who intend to take CSC265H and don't have the prerequisites should discuss this with the instructor.

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I want to take MGT374, but the new STA courses don't satisfy it's prerequisites

The course MGT374H has the following prerequisite:

        ECO220Y/227Y/STA(250H, 255H)/(257H, 261H)

This is of particular relevance to students in the Information Systems program, where CSC454H1/MGT374H1 is a requirement.

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