The University allows currently enrolled students to obtain credit for classes by special examination. Follow this link to see "Special Departmental Examination" portions of the University regulations.

Special Departmental Examinations

Almost any course offered at the University is available for credit by special examination, regardless of whether a student has audited the course, is currently enrolled in it, or has studied it independently. These examinations are prepared and administered by the offering department, and are usually equivalent to a final examination. Special Departmental Examinations are offered without charge.

Application for Special Exam

Visit the UK Bulletin website for more information

Requirements

In order to qualify for a special examination students must:

  • Be currently enrolled
  • Be in good academic standing
  • Have approval from the offering department chairperson (undergraduate students)
  • Have approval from the director of graduate studies (graduate students)

Process

  1. Students submit the completed Application for Special Exam form to the offering department chairperson (undergraduate students) or the director of graduate studies (graduate students)
  2. Upon approval, the educational unit will assign an examiner to schedule and proctor the special exam
  3. The department will complete the Application for Special Exam form by awarding a grade and email the form to the Office of the University Registrar (OUR)
  4. The OUR will apply the student's credit to their academic record. If the student is currently enrolled in the course the OUR will formally remove the student from the class

What you need to do in order to take the bypass exam for CS215 in Spring 2025:

1. Send an email (please note that you need to use your UKY email address to send this email) to Dr. Yi Pike (yipike@cs.uky.edu) by 11:59pm on Sunday, February 9, 2025. (Step 2 to 3 can be done after this deadline)

2. Fill out the Application for Special Examination Form available from your Academic Advisor. Or download from here

3. The form must be signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), who approves bypass exams for the Computer Science Department. The DUS of Computer Science department is Dr. Neil Moore (neil@cs.uky.edu). And you need to bring the complete form to be able to take the bypass exam at step 4.

4. The bypass exam contains two parts: (1) Written Exam (60%); and (2) Lab Exam (40%). The student must score at least 70% on the Written Exam part to be qualified to calulate the final letter grade for the exam. The grade on both parts will be combined into one and a letter grade assigned based on a 100-point scale (A=100-90%, B=89.9-80%, etc).

5. The Registrar will send additional paperwork to the CS Department that is used to record your grade on the examination. If you are satisfied with your grade, your final grade for CS215 will be sent to the Registrar; otherwise, your grade from this exam will be ignored.