ADVANCE Program Milestones:
ADVANCE Milestone Requirements: All ADVANCE students must adhere to the following requirements. For Milestones #1-#3, failure to meet these milestones will prevent a student from matriculating to George Mason University and/or result in termination from ADVANCE. For Milestones #4-#7, failure to meet these milestones may delay matriculation to George Mason.
1. Students must graduate with the NOVA degree aligned with their ADVANCE academic pathway within 4 years of being admitted into ADVANCE. Students must ensure they are enrolled in the matching degree.
2. Students must maintain a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at NOVA and must have a minimum 2.5 GPA upon matriculation to George Mason.
3. Students who wish to enroll at George Mason for the fall semester must apply for NOVA spring graduation by March 1 or summer graduation by June 1. Students who wish to enroll at George Mason for the spring semester must apply for NOVA fall graduation by October 1.
4. Students must begin developmental coursework no later than the first semester in ADVANCE at NOVA.
5. Students must take first college-level MTH course and ENG 111 in the semester immediately following the completion of any MDE or EDE courses (excluding summer).
6. In the first 30 credits, students must complete ENG 111 and ENG 112 with a C or better.
7. Students must complete a college level math course with a C or better no later than one semester before NOVA graduation. Refer to your pathway to select the appropriate MTH course(s).
ADVANCE Program-Specific Requirements:
Computer Science Admission Requirements:
1. All transfer applicants must have a minimum 2.75 GPA upon matriculation to George Mason to be admitted to the Computer Science, BS. Please note this program GPA requirement is higher than the ADVANCE program requirement indicated in milestone #2 above.
2. All transfer applicants must have earned at a least B in CSC 222 or CSC 223, AND must have earned at least a B in one of the following: MTH 263, MTH 264, MTH 288, or CSC 208.
A.S. Computer Science
| Northern Virginia Community College | MASON | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOVA Degree Requirement | NOVA Course | Credits | Transfer to MASON As | MASON Degree Requirement |
| SDV Course | SDV 100 College Success Skills or | 1 | UNIV 100 | General Elective |
| SDV 101 Orientation to XXX | UNIV 100 | |||
| ENG 111 | ENG 111 College Composition I | 3 | ENGH XXX | General Elective |
| CSC 221 | CSC 221 Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming | 3 | CS 108 | Info Tech |
| HIS Elective | HIS 101 Western Civilizations Pre-1600 CE or | 3 | HIST 101T | Global History |
| HIS 102 Western Civilizations Post-1600 CE or | HIST 102T | |||
| HIS 112 World Civilizations Post-1500 CE (recommended) | HIST 125 | |||
| MTH 167 | MTH 167 PreCalculus with Trigonometry1 | 5 | MATH 105 | General Elective |
| CSC 222 | CSC 222 Object Oriented Programming | 4 | CS 112 | Major |
| ENG 112 | ENG 112 College Composition II | 3 | ENGH 101 | Written Comm |
| Humanities/Fine Arts #1 | ART 100 Art Appreciation or | 3 | ARTH 101 | Arts |
| ART 101 History of Art: Prehistoric to Gothic or | ARTH 200 | |||
| ART 102 History of Art: Renaissance to Modern or | ARTH 201 | |||
| CST 130 Introduction to Theatre or | THR 101 | |||
| CST 151 Film Appreciation I or | ENGH L372 | |||
| MUS 121 Music in Society | MUSI 101 | |||
| MTH 263 | MTH 263 Calculus I | 4 | MATH 113 | Major & Quantitative |
| CSC 223 | CSC 223 Data Structures and Analysis of Algorithms | 4 | CS 211 | Major |
| MTH 288 or CSC 208 | MTH 288 Discrete Mathematics or | 3 | MATH 125 | Major |
| CSC 208 Introduction to Discrete Structures | MATH 125 | |||
| MTH 264 | MTH 264 Calculus II | 4 | MATH 114 | Major |
| Science Course #1 | See footnote #3 when selecting from the following: | Major & Natural Science | ||
| BIO 101 General Biology I or | 4 | BIOL 103/105 | ||
| CHM 111 General Chemistry I or | CHEM 211-213 | |||
| PHY 241 University Physics I or | PHY 160-161 | |||
| GOL 105 Physical Geology | GEOL 101/103 | |||
| Humanities/Fine Arts #2 | ENG 225 Reading Literature: Culture and Ideas or | 3 | ENGH 202 | Literature |
| ENG 245 British Literature or | ENGH 202 | |||
| ENG 246 American Literature or | ENGH 202 | |||
| ENG 255 World Literature or | FRLN L330 | |||
| ENG 258 African American Literature or | ENGH 202 | |||
| ENG 275 Women in Literature or | ENGH 202 | |||
| ENG Any 200-Level ENG Literature course3 | ENGH 202 | |||
| MTH 265 Required (NOVA Catalog: MTH 265, CSC 205, CSC 215) | MTH 265 Calculus III | 4 | MATH 213 | Major |
| Science Course #2 | See footnote #3 when selecting from the following: | Major & Natural Science | ||
| BIO 102 General Biology II or | 4 | BIOL 102 | ||
| CHM 112 General Chemistry II or | CHEM 212-214 | |||
| PHY 242 University Physics II or | PHY 260-261 | |||
| GOL 106 Historical Geology | GEOL 102/104 | |||
| Social/Behavioral Sciences | ECO 201 Principles of Macroeconomics or | 3 | ECON 104 | Soc/Behav |
| ECO 202 Principles of Microeconomics or | ECON 103 | |||
| GEO 210 People and the Land: An Introduction to Cultural Geography or | GGS 103 | |||
| PLS 135 U.S. Government and Politics or | GOVT 103 | |||
| PSY 200 Principles of Psychology or | PSYC 100 | |||
| SOC 200 Introduction to Sociology or | SOCI 101 | |||
| SOC 211 Cultural Anthropology | ANTH 114 | |||
| Approved Elective | CST 100 Principles of Public Speaking or | 3 | COMM 100 | Major & Oral Comm |
| CST 110 Introduction to Human Communication | COMM 101 | |||
| Total Credits: 61 | ||||
For academic policies and procedures, please see NOVA catalog - http://www.nvcc.edu/catalog/index.html
B.S. Computer Science
| MASON Degree Requirement Sequence | Course | Credits | MASON Core/Degree Equivalent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 110 Essentials of Computer Science | 3 | Major | |
| Mathematics/Statistics Requirement | If not completed at NOVA: | 0-3 | Major | |
| MATH 203 Linear Algebra | ||||
| Gen Ed: Written Communication (Upper-level) | ENGH 302 Advanced Composition (Natural Science Section) | 3 | Written Comm | |
| Additional Natural Science | If not completed at NOVA: | 0-4 | Major | |
| See footnote #2 when selecting from the following: | ||||
| BIOL 103/105 Introductory Biology I or | ||||
| BIOL 102 Introductory Biology II Lecture & Lab or | ||||
| CHEM 211 & 213 General Chemistry I Lecture & Lab or | ||||
| CHEM 212 & 214 General Chemistry II Lecture & Lab or | ||||
| PHYS 160/161 University Physics I Lecture & Lab or | ||||
| PHYS 260/261 College Physics I Lecture & Lab or | ||||
| GEOL 101/103 Physical Geology & Lab or | ||||
| GEOL 102/104 Historical Geology & Lab or | ||||
| Any Mason Core Natural Science with Lab4 | ||||
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 262 Introduction to Low-Level Programming | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 310 Data Structure | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 321 Software Engineering | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 330 Formal Methods and Models | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 367 Computer Systems and Programming | 4 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements & Gen Ed: Apex | CS 405 Synthesis of Ethics and Law for the Computing Professional | 3 | Writing Intensive & Apex | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 471 Operating Systems | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 483 Analysis of Algorithms | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 455 Computer Communications and Networking or | 3 | Major | |
| CS 468 Secure Programming and Systems or | ||||
| CS 475 Concurrent and Distributed Systems | ||||
| Computer Science Core Requirements | CS 450 Database Concepts | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | Approved Senior Computer Science Elective5 | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | Approved Senior Computer Science Elective5 | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | Approved Senior Computer Science Elective5 | 3 | Major | |
| Mathematics/Statistics Requirement | STAT 344 Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists I | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | Approved Computer Science Related-Course Elective5 | 3 | Major | |
| Computer Science Core Requirements | Approved Computer Science Related-Course Elective5 | 3 | Major | |
| General Elective | General Elective | 0-2 | General Elective | |
| Total Credits: 120-123 | ||||
*Denotes a course that must be taken at George Mason University while attending NOVA. Failure to complete your co-enrollment course(s) while attending NOVA can significantly affect your timeline for Mason graduation. Please see your ADVANCE Coach for more information and to enroll.
Important Academic Information:
1Students who place directly into MTH 263 and do not need MTH 167 should take MTH 266 and an additional Lab Science class (BIO 101, CHM 111, PHY 241, or GOL 105).
212 credits of Natural Science must include a two-course sequence in the same subject. See advisor to ensure the selected course was not already completed at NOVA.
3200-level ENG literature classes include: ENG 225, ENG 230, ENG 236, ENG 237, ENG 245, ENG 246, ENG 250, ENG 255, ENG 256, ENG 257, ENG 258, ENG 271, ENG 275, and ENG 279.
4For approved Mason Core courses, please visit - https://catalog.gmu.edu/mason-core/.
5For Computer Science Electives, please visit - https://catalog.gmu.edu/colleges-schools/engineering-computing/school-computing/computer-science/computer-science-bs/#requirementstext
General Education Waiver Policy and Guidance:
• Students who complete a VCCS transfer associate degree (AS, AA, or AFA) will receive a waiver of the Foundation and Exploration (lower division) Mason Core general education categories, which can be found here: https://catalog.gmu.edu/mason-core/ . To be eligible for the waiver, the students must provide
the Mason Office of Admissions with a final, official transcript reflecting the degree conferral date. As a prerequisite for ENGH 302, ENGH 101 is not waived. Students must complete ENGH 100 or ENGH 101, or an equivalent, with a C or higher.
• When a course fulfills a Mason Core requirement and a major or college requirement (e.g. Major & Quant), students must complete the course listed on the pathway to fulfill the major/college requirement. Courses that fulfill only Mason Core Foundation and Exploration categories are recommendations. In most pathways, ADVANCE students must complete a Quantitative Reasoning course to matriculate through ADVANCE.
• ADVANCE students must complete the associate degree indicated on their pathway (see the ADVANCE Program Milestones listed above). Students who withdraw from ADVANCE and transfer without the associate degree or UCGS are required to complete each Mason Core general education category.
Additional General Notes & Resources:
• For academic policies and procedures, please see George Mason catalog - https://catalog.gmu.edu/policies/
• Students seeking a bachelor's degree must apply at least 45 credits of upper-level courses (numbered 300 or above) toward graduation requirements. This cannot include transferred credits with an L-designation (e.g. ECE-L301 or STAT L344). All B.S. degrees at Mason require a minimum of 120 credits; see your George Mason advisor for advice on what courses to take if needed.