Information Science (BA)

College of Arts and Sciences

Program Website

Program Description

Information Science is fundamentally concerned with the human-centered aspects of computing and information—ranging from how individuals interact with computing devices, to studying people through their social and information network use, and understanding the way computing systems affect our society and culture.

Who Should Major in Information Science?

Students interested in the human-centered aspects of computing and information, such as algorithmic fairness; ethics, law, and policy; computational social science; digital humanities; human-computer and human-robot interaction; interaction and critical design; machine learning; market and mechanism design, natural language processing; network analysis; science and technology studies; and user experience (UX) and design.

Who is Eligible to Major in Information Science?

Students in the College of Agriculture and Life Science (CALS) and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). A&S students earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Information Science; students in CALS earn a Bachelor of Science (BS).

  • The BA and BS in Information Science share the same requirements and elective course options.
  • The differences are in each admitting college's foundational requirements.

Honors

To qualify for departmental honors, students must apply by the end of their seventh semester and meet the GPA requirement of 3.5 or higher at the time of application and maintained through their graduation date. Students intending to pursue honors must complete the following course work in addition to their IS major courses:

  • Three additional credit hours of IS coursework at or above the 5000-level (graded courses only; no seminars or 2-credit project courses);
  • Six credit hours of INFO 4900 Independent Reading and Research with one or more IS faculty members, spread over at least two semesters (at least 3.0 credits each semester) and with grades of A– or higher. It is expected that the INFO 4900 research will result in a project report.

The 9 credit hours of work for departmental honors cannot be counted towards any other major requirement.

Criteria for Good Standing

Students must meet the following criteria for good standing at the end of each semester:

  • Earn an overall GPA of at least 2.3
  • Earn a weighted GPA for the IS major of at least 2.5
  • Complete all courses with a grade of C- or higher
  • Complete at least 12 academic credits per semester
  • Complete all core INFO courses prior to the start of the final semester of study (students must pre-enroll in any remaining core coursework by the end of their 3-2 semester)

Declaring the IS Major as a Current A&S Student

Current A&S students looking to affiliate with the IS major, change majors to IS, or add IS as a second major should start taking courses to meet the criteria for admission as outlined below. Contact the IS Advising office to schedule an advising meeting. Once students have met the admission criteria (or final courses needed are in progress), students should apply online

All potential majors are reviewed on a case-by-case basis relative to the following criteria:

Completion of 4 courses:

1) Introductory Programming: Choose one

CS 1110Introduction to Computing: A Design and Development Perspective4
CS 1112Introduction to Computing: An Engineering and Science Perspective4
Note:

Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science A (score of 5), International Baccalaureate (IB) Computer Science (score of 6 or 7), or a passing Computer Science Advanced Standing Exam (CASE) score may be used to fulfill the programming requirement.

2) Calculus or Statistics: Choose one

Calculus
MATH 1106Modeling with Calculus for the Life Sciences4
MATH 1110Calculus I4
MATH 1910Calculus for Engineers4
Statistics
AEM 2100Introductory Statistics4
BTRY 3010Statistics I (crosslisted)4
CEE 3040Uncertainty Analysis in Engineering4
ECON 3110Applied Probability and Statistics (crosslisted)4
ECON 3130Probability and Statistics4
ENGRD 2700Eng Probability and Statistics: Modeling and Data Science4
ILRST 2100Introductory Statistics and Data Science (crosslisted)4
MATH 1710Statistical Theory and Application in the Real World4
PUBPOL 2100Introduction to Statistics4
PSYCH 2500Statistics and Research Design3
SOC 3010Statistics for Sociological Research4
STSCI 2100Introductory Statistics and Data Science (crosslisted)4
STSCI 2150Introductory Statistics for Biology4
STSCI 2200Statistics I (crosslisted)4
Note:
  • AP Calculus AB (score of 4 or 5), AP Calculus BC (score of 4 or 5), IB Mathematics (AA or AI; score of 6 or 7), General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced (“A”) Level Mathematics (score of A*, A, B, or C), or a passing Mathematics Department Placement Exam score may be used to fulfill the calculus requirement.
  • AP Statistics is not accepted for the IS major.

3) Core Courses: Choose two

INFO 1200Information Ethics, Law, and Policy (crosslisted)3
or INFO 1260 Choices and Consequences in Computing
INFO 1300Introductory Design and Programming for the Web4
INFO 2040Networks (crosslisted)3
INFO 2450Communication and Technology (crosslisted)3
INFO 2950Introduction to Data Science 14
or INFO 2951 Introduction to Data Science with R
1

Due to an overlap in content, students may only receive academic credit for INFO 2950 or INFO 2951, not both. 

Note:
  • Students may count CS 2800 + CS 2110 together in place of INFO 2950 for affiliation purposes only. Once admitted to the major, INFO 2950 or INFO 2951 must be completed.

  • Students can count INFO 1380 in place of one core course for the purposes of affiliation, only. After affiliation, students will still need to complete all listed core classes.

Grade & GPA Requirement

  • A grade of C or higher in each of the completed courses used to declare the major.
  • A GPA of 2.5 or higher for courses used to declare the major.

Note

  • Courses used for the purpose of declaring the major may be repeated if the original course grade was below a C. The most recent grade will be used for all repeated courses. Qualifying courses must be taken at Cornell.
  • Students in their senior year of study intending to change majors to IS or add IS as a second major must submit a course plan to demonstrate they can complete all degree requirements by their current expected graduation date.