# Secondary Field

**Source**: https://csadvising.seas.harvard.edu/secondary/
**Parent**: https://csadvising.seas.harvard.edu/firstyear/

Info

 to use an **interactive tool** to check your CS Secondary requirements.

Information technology and computation has had a profound impact on many
aspects of society, health care, and the scientific disciplines. As
such, a foundation of formal training in computer science can benefit
undergraduate concentrators in many fields of the natural sciences,
social sciences, and humanities. To provide this training, a secondary
field in Computer Science requires that students with primary interests
in other fields take four courses in computer science.

### Key points

Here are the key points about the secondary concentration (see below for full details):

1. You need to take four computer science courses .

   1a. At least two of the four courses must be .

   1b. At least one of the four courses must be . (Requirement 1b does not apply to students in Class of 2028 and earlier.)

   1c. At least two of the four courses must be [tagged systems, formalreasoning, ai, or computationandtheworld](/concentration/courses/tags/). These may be two courses with the same tag or two courses with different tags. (Requirement 1c does not apply to students in Class of 2028 and earlier.)

   (Students in the Class of 2027 and earlier may use the old requirements: four courses numbered COMPSCI 20, COMPSCI 32, COMPSCI 37, COMPSCI 50, COMPSCI 51, COMPSCI 61, COMPSCI 73, COMPSCI 79, or COMPSCI 96 or higher, with at least two of those four courses numbered CS 96 or higher. Note that COMPSCI 32 and COMPSCI 50 cannot both count toward the secondary field.)

2. All of the courses used for satisfying the secondary requirement must be *Harvard Computer Science Courses*. No MIT, study abroad or Harvard courses from concentrations other than CS are allowed. If a course is cross-listed as both a computer science course and a course in another concentration, then it counts even if a student takes the course under its other number. Computer Science courses offered by the Harvard Summer School may be used for a Secondary Field in Computer Science only if they would count for concentration in Computer Science (see  ).
3. None of the four courses can be taken Pass/Fail, but CS 50 can be taken SAT/UNS.
4. The grade achieved in each of the four courses must be C- or better (or SAT). I.e., a D+ is not sufficient.
5. At most one course can be double counted for a secondary field and a concentration. (This is a College-wide requirement; see [Student FAQs
   for Secondary
   Fields](https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/student-faqs).)

Transfer students who wish to use some of their coursework in their prior institution towards secondary credit should contact the computer science DUSes.

Note that some introductory courses can not ordinarily be taken after more advanced courses. For example, CS 32 and CS 50 cannot be taken for secondary credit after each other or after more advanced programming courses; CS 20 canot be taken for secondary credit after CS 1210, CS 1240, or discrete math courses such as AM 106, AM 107, Math 101, or Math 153.
(These restrictions apply even to students in the Class of 2027 using the old requirements.)
Please contact the DUS Team if you have questions.

You can declare or change your secondary through my.harvard, see [this page](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=529e5ecadb6f4f04a914fff31d96190c) for instructions.

### Formal requirements

**4 courses (16 credits)**

Four Harvard COMPSCI-numbered courses as follows:

- At least two of the four courses must be tagged advancedcs.
- At least one of the four courses must be tagged programming2.
- At least two of the four courses must be tagged systems, ai, formalreasoning, or computationandtheworld.
- All four courses must be tagged secondary.
- Note that COMPSCI 32 and COMPSCI 50 cannot both count toward the secondary field and
  cannot ordinarily be taken for credit after more advanced courses.

COMPSCI 50 will count for secondary credit if taken for a grade of SAT, but all other courses must be
taken for a letter grade, and the student must achieve a grade of C- or better in each of these courses.

*Note:* Only courses with a Harvard Computer Science course number may be counted for secondary
field credit. In particular no courses from other Harvard programs/departments, no MIT courses, no
study abroad courses and no Freshman Seminars may be counted toward secondary requirements.
Computer Science courses offered by the Harvard Summer School may be used for a Secondary Field
in Computer Science only if they would count for concentration credit in Computer Science. A course
from another Harvard program/department counts only if it also has an appropriate Harvard Computer
Science course number (e.g., a Statistics course that also has a Computer Science course number 100
or greater). Only one course may double count for a secondary field and concentration.Any four computer science courses satisfying:

### Advising Resources and Expectations

Questions concerning this secondary field should be addressed to the Directors and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science ([cs-dus@seas.harvard.edu](mailto:cs-dus@seas.harvard.edu)). The Directors and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies are available to help students choose computer science courses that best meet their interests and objectives. Transfer students who wish to use some of their coursework in their prior institution towards secondary credit should contact the computer science Directors and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies.

[More information on the Secondary Field in Computer
Science](http://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-fields/book/computer-science)

### Secondary Field Checking Tool

You can enter the courses you intend to take to satisfy the CS secondary field requirements, and receive immediate feedback about whether that set of courses does indeed satisfy the requirements. **Note: this tool is “best-effort”: you are responsible for confirming that your set of courses satisfies the secondary requirements**. You are welcome to [contact the DUS team](/contact/) if you have any questions.

Enter your CS secondary courses (one per line or comma-separated):

Requirements for Class of 2029 and later

Requirements for Class of 2028

Requirements for Class of 2027 and earlier

### How to Declare

Follow the instructions
[here](https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=529e5ecadb6f4f04a914fff31d96190c)
to declare a secondary in Computer Science via my.harvard. You are
welcome (but not required) to contact the co-Directors of Undergraduate
Studies (DUS) in Computer Science ([cs-dus@seas.harvard.edu](mailto:cs-dus@seas.harvard.edu)) with a
list of courses you plan to count towards the secondary field.