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

  1. Declaring your Major (Specialization):
    • Arts majors 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. 
    • Science majors declare their major before starting second year, through the Faculty of Science’s centralized specialization application process (open May-June, for September entry).
  2. Switching to a COGS specialization from a different specialization:
    • 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).
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • [!] 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.

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.
    • Note:
    • [!] Not following your Faculty requirements can result in the following consequences:
      • Graduating later than you had originally planned.
      • Not getting promoted to the next year’s class standing. This will affect your course registration times. If you are planning to take 300- and 400-level courses next year but are not promoted to third year class standing, you will not be able to register for courses with other third years. You will need to register later, with the second years. This can impact whether or not are able to enroll in your intended course.
      • If you are not promoted to the next year’s class standing within completing a certain number of credits, you may be asked to leave your Faculty due to lack of progress.
      • [!] Class standing and the number of years you’ve spent in university are two separate concepts. A student can be in third year class standing, in their fifth year at university.
  4. Identify what courses listed in the COGS degree requirements fulfill how many credits of which Faculty 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 start planning for the remaining courses to fulfill the 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.
    • [!] If you follow COGS degree requirements instead of your current specialization’s requirements and you are not admitted into the COGS program, you may miss a year promotion, and potentially additional consequences such as delayed graduation.
  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.
    • [!] If you take multiple courses that are listed together in the credit exclusion list, you will earn credit for only one of them.
  8. Once your Academic Progress report indicates you have completed all requirements, apply for graduation .
    [!] Pretending that a requirement does not exist will not make the requirement go away. It will stop you from graduating.
    [!] Graduation is not automatic. Even if you fulfill all of your degree requirements, if you do not apply to graduate, you will not graduate.