Degree Planning

Specializations

Cognitive Systems offers five degrees (or specializations) – 3 offered by the Faculty of Arts and 2 offered by the Faculty of Science:

Courses in each of the COGS specializations are largely comprised of those in Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy and Psychology. Regardless of the specialization you choose, all students will complete the following core courses to graduate: COGS 200, 300, 303, 401 and 402.

Students are also required to complete Module Courses chosen from courses offered throughout different departments that are directly relevant to Cognitive Systems.

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the program, course planning should be well thought out and should begin in first-year (e.g. make sure you take prerequisite courses for the courses you wish to take in third and fourth year, and have back-up plans if you intend to take third and fourth year courses that are popular). In addition, we strongly advise against students attempting double majors or attempting a minor.

Declaring Your Major

Students in the Faculty of Arts typically declare their major by the end of second year. Students interested in the B.A. specializations in COGS should apply through the COGS online application directly. Direct application into COGS opens in February each year (with a May 15th deadline), for September entry that same year. 

Students in the Faculty of Science declare their major before starting second year, through the Faculty of Science’s centralized specialization application process (open May-June, for September entry).

Switching to a COGS Major from a Different Major (Same Faculty)

Non-COGS majors in the Faculty of Arts who are interested in switching into one of the COGS B.A. specializations should apply through the COGS online application directly during the yearly February-May application period.

Non-COGS majors in the Faculty of Science who are interested in switching into the B.Sc. Cognition and Brain specialization should apply through the COGS online application directly during the yearly February-May application period.

Please note: most seats in the B.Sc. Cognition and Brain specialization are filled by Science students entering the program via the Faculty of Science’s centralized second-year application process. The number of seats available to students switching into this specialization during the yearly intake period (February-May application, for September entry) is limited to however many students have exited the program over the course of the previous academic year (i.e. switched out of COGS into a different program of study, or dropped out of UBC).

Both non-COGS majors and COGS majors in the Faculty of Science who are interested in switching into the B.Sc. Computational Intelligence and Design specialization should reach out to Computer Science Advising directly.

Switching to a COGS Major from a Different Major (Changing Faculties)

Non-COGS majors in the Faculty of Arts who are interested in switching into one of the COGS B.Sc. specializations should contact Science Advising to obtain information on admissions to the Faculty of Science.

Non-COGS majors in the Faculty of Science who are interested in switching into one of the COGS B.A. specializations should contact Arts Advising to obtain information on admissions to the Faculty of Arts.

Please note: Switching specializations midway may affect your class standing (i.e. not getting promoted to the next year’s class standing). If you have class standing promotion questions, please consult your home Faculty Advising Office.

Year Promotion

Year promotion rules are managed at the Faculty level. Your year (or “Class Standing”) impacts your course registration times. Your Class Standing (i.e. Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, …) is not the same as how many years you have been a student at UBC – it depends instead on the credits you have accumulated. In addition to tracking your Program requirements, please ensure you are following your Faculty requirements (Arts, Science) in order to be promoted as-expected.

Year promotion rules for students in the Faculty of Arts can be found here: Academic Recognition, Promotion, and Continuation.

Year promotion rules for students in the Faculty of Science can be found here: Promotion Requirements and Degree Progression.

There is one exception. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of COGS requirements, students in the B.Sc. Cognition and Brain specialization must be evaluated differently in order to proceed from Year 2 to Year 3. In addition to completing at least 48 credits, 30 of which must be Science credits, a student in this specialization must have completed 15 credits in any subset of the following courses in order to proceed from Year 2 to Year 3: COGS_V 200, PHIL_V 220 (or PHIL_V 222 or PHIL_V 320) , LING_V 100, STAT_V 200 (or STAT_V 201), PSYC_V 101, PSYC_V 102, CPSC_V 107, CPSC_V 110, CPSC_V 121.

Please note: your Class Standing should be updated no later than mid-June each year. If you have not been promoted to the expected Year Standing by the time you have been assigned a registration date for upcoming winter semesters, please double check that you have met the requirements as-listed above, and consult your home Faculty Advising Office if you believe there to be any discrepancy. 

Planning Your COGS Degree

  1. Start by looking at the degree requirements page and noting which courses are required for your specialization. Arrange these into your plan.
  2. Familiarize yourself with Workday’s Academic Progress Report (resources). 
  3. Review the faculty-wide requirements for Arts or the faculty-wide requirements for Science, and the year-level/class standing promotion requirements for Arts and Science. These requirements are extremely important. Please note:
  4. Identify how many credits of Faculty requirements will be fulfilled by completing your Program/COGS degree requirements.
  5. Once you identify how many credits of what Faculty requirements are fulfilled by the courses required for your specialization (and the prerequisites for those courses), then you can identify remaining courses to fulfill all remaining Faculty requirements.
    • Pay specific attention to prerequisites for upper-level courses and have backup plans in place, in case:
      • You cannot schedule the courses you want because they are full, they are restricted, or there is a scheduling conflict, or
      • You apply into COGS but are not admitted into the program.
  6. Regarding module courses, have backup plans in place in case you cannot schedule the courses you want because they are full, restricted (e.g. CPSC courses, a subset of PSYC courses), or there is a scheduling conflict. If you do not have any backup plans in place, you incur a risk of delayed graduation in a form of waiting another year to register for the course or taking a different set of prerequisites.
  7. Bear in mind the credit exclusion list when registering for courses. Courses in the credit exclusion lists are courses in which there are sufficient overlap that credit may be obtained for only one selection. (This does not imply that courses listed together are interchangeable.)
    • Please consult your home Faculty Advising Office if you are unsure whether you should take one course or another in the same list.
    • Please consult the course instructor if you are looking to substitute a prerequisite with a course that is on the credit exclusion list.
  8. Once your Academic Progress Report indicates you have completed all requirements, apply for graduation.