COMS at Columbia University

Intro sequences

The shortest canonical route from each entry point to a gateway course.

• 1. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  2. COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.
• 1. COMS W1005INTRO-COMPUT SCI/PROG-MATLAB.
  2. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  3. ENGI E1006INTRO TO COMP FOR ENG/APP SCI.
  4. COMS W3136ESSENTIAL DATA STRUCTURES.
• 1. COMS W3203DISCRETE MATHEMATICS.
  2. COMS W3261COMPUTER SCIENCE THEORY.

A suggested order for the 76 courses on the map, built from prerequisite chains and how often each course has run in fall and spring across the last 12 regular terms. It is not the department’s plan, and it is not a promise a course will run. Confirm against the department’s own advising material.

Gateway courses

Each of these unlocks the largest share of downstream work on this map. Courses from other departments can appear here when they genuinely gate COMS coursework.

• COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.opens 31 courses (14 directly)
• COMS W3137HONORS DATA STRUCTURES ＆ ALGOL.opens 28 courses (12 directly)
• COMS W3136ESSENTIAL DATA STRUCTURES.opens 23 courses (12 directly)
• COMS W3157ADVANCED PROGRAMMING.opens 8 courses (6 directly)
• COMS W3261COMPUTER SCIENCE THEORY.opens 3 courses (3 directly)
• COMS W4111INTRODUCTION TO DATABASES.opens 3 courses (3 directly)

The map

Intro tiers at the top, advanced work below; arrows point from a prerequisite to the course it unlocks. Courses from other departments appear where they gate COMS work. Click any course to see what it requires and unlocks without leaving this page; hovering lights up its neighbors. The lists on this page carry the same courses in text form.

Showing the 76 COMS and feeder courses that have prerequisite links. 129 more COMS courses have no recorded prerequisites. They are listed under Tracks below, not drawn as loose dots here.

Concentration routes

The concentrations and majors that build on COMS, and how their requirements are structured. Expand a program to see which courses satisfy each group, then plan it in the Planner.

Tracks

Upper-level clusters, grouped by the gateway that opens them.

The longest ladders

The deepest prerequisite chains in COMS. These are the routes that take the most semesters to climb.

• 5 courses deep, ending at COMS E6118

  1. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  2. COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.
  3. COMS W3157ADVANCED PROGRAMMING.
  4. COMS W4118OPERATING SYSTEMS I.
  5. COMS E6118OPERATING SYSTEMS, II.

• 5 courses deep, ending at COMS E6173

  1. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  2. COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.
  3. COMS W4160COMPUTER GRAPHICS.

• 4 courses deep, ending at COMS E6111

  1. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  2. COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.
  3. COMS W4111INTRODUCTION TO DATABASES.

• 4 courses deep, ending at COMS E6178

  1. COMS W1004PROGRAMMING IN JAVA.
  2. COMS W3134Data Structures in Java.
  3. COMS W4170USER INTERFACE DESIGN.

Grade medians

Teaching in Fall 2026

Instructors on COMS sections in Fall 2026, from the registrar's schedule.

• Adam Cannon
• Aleksander Holynski
• Alexandr Andoni
• Andrei Simion
• Ansaf Salleb-Aouissi
• Antoni Viros i Martin
• Augustin Chaintreau
• Baishakhi Ray
• Bjarne Stroustrup
• Brian Borowski
• Changxi Zheng
• Chen Wang
• Christian Murphy
• Christos Papadimitriou
• Daniel Hsu
• Daniel Rubenstein
• David Knowles
• Eugene Wu
• Eysa Lee
• Gabriel Chuang
• Gail Kaiser
• Gary Zamchick
• Hans Montero
• Henry Yuen
• Hossein Azari Soufiani
• Jae Lee
• Jason Cahill
• Jason Nieh
• John Hewitt
• Josh Alman
• Kaoutar El Maghraoui
• Kenneth Ross
• Kostis Kaffes
• Luis Gravano
• Lydia Chilton
• Michael Sikorski
• Murad Megjhani
• Nakul Verma
• Oktie Hassanzadeh
• Parijat Dube
• + 21 more

Columbia professor board

Clubs & organizations

No clubs or organizations on record under COMS yet.

Clubs students here join

Department events

COMS does not run a page here yet. When it does, its events show up here and on the Columbia campus feed.