@ucbalumnus I agree that looking at lecture notes, etc, can work too, but for many kids, sitting in on classes and getting a true “feel” seems more impressive - at least - from those I’ve heard back from at school. To them there’s something about getting the actual sense of it by being there over just seeing things in black and white comparing how Class A worked at College A vs College B.
If one has access to someone older and more knowledgeable (BTDT folks) or has a bit of knowledge themselves, seeing the notes, etc, would be very profitable to get their thoughts about.
I absolutely agree. I’ve seen kids do well in CS even going to the smallest religious schools - graduating with multiple 6 digit job offers. One thought in my mind seeing this has been wondering about the depth of knowledge going in. If they have it going in to school, the school mainly gives them contacts and the piece of paper. If they are more or less “basic” going in, I think a school with more depth could provide more knowledge. I just have no idea which schools those might be in reality as I’m nowhere near a CS expert. It could be that very small religious college in addition to places like Carnegie Mellon or RIT (also places where I personally know graduates have had terrific offers).