CompSci - Should I transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore double majoring in Computer Science & Mathematics at a private university in New York State. However, I've been very unhappy with the CompSci program recently. </p>

<p>I have many reasons and could ramble on for paragraphs about what is wrong with the program, but I'll try to list some concise points. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>First semester intro to programming course was terrible. It covered the VERY BASICS of java. The final exam consisted of for loops, arrays, and printing to a console screen. I suppose this is to be expected of an intro course, but let's just say that I learned about 5x more material in my intro to computer science online course my junior year of high school.</p></li>
<li><p>Third semester data structures course was awful. The professor spent about 33% of the course on a crash course in java, 33% on time complexity, and the remaining time on a very basic overview of SOME data structures. I had to email the professor with about a month left in the course, concerned with the outcome, and he started to cover some Data Structures.</p></li>
<li><p>Fourth Semester Computer Organization professor has answered a few very thought-provoking questions with the scholarly answer "magic." This was insulting.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>For those not familiar with Computer Science, these are some pretty serious issues. A poor understanding of data structures is like an engineering student not learning Statics. It's a fundamental topic that should be drilled into the heads of CS majors. I took the time over winter break teaching myself the topics that should have been covered, but I shouldn't have to do that. </p>

<p>As for myself, I've been doing fairly well with a 3.65 GPA, looking forward to a summer internship in application development with JPMorgan Chase (NYC), been active in clubs, and recently accepted into the honors program. </p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone has some advice on what school to transfer into, if at all, and any other advice. I also plan on going to grad school. So would it be better to just wait until then to find a new school? </p>

<p>I obviously have my dreams of top schools, but what might be realistic for me? I was less ambitious in high school, but I was accepted into RIT, Illinois institute of tech, NYU Poly, and wait listed by Steven's in NJ.</p>

<p>Finally, I understand that it's my decision to make, but I just want some more insight/advice.</p>

2

<p>You should be able to transfer to another school with your GPA. If you are set on doing it, you need to act soon though.</p>

<p>More importantly, find out if the courses get better where you are after this year, transferring is always disruptive. In general it is probably more important where you go to graduate school if you are after a Ph.D. since that will define your career. In that case, you just need to determine if your current school will prepare you adequately for a graduate program. In my field, physics, the curriculum is more or less the same everywhere and so a good preparation can be obtained at any school with sufficient number of upper division physics courses.</p>

<p>You don’t say anything about mathematics, is that OK at your school?</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I know time is ticking. I’ll be talking to my adviser(s) this week. Not sure if I’ll talk to my CS adviser, as he’s the Professor I emailed about the course outcome. </p>

<p>I’ll try talking to some upperclassmen about the rest of the professors. But from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t get much better. My school does tend to be more theoretical, which should help me get into grad school. And as you mentioned, grad school will define my career. I may just work on getting my GPA up and applying to a top 25 grad school.</p>

<p>The mathematics department is far better at my school. All of my classes in math have been structured and challenging.</p>

4

<p>Someone PM’d me asking what school it is, but I don’t have 15 posts yet… so I can’t reply. </p>

<p>It’s not the school you’re looking into, so don’t worry.</p>

5

<p>GET OUT OF THERE ! ITS A JOKE !!! look into san diego state university, cal poly slo, UCSC, UCSD, UCLA, UCB they have very good programs and if you get your GPA higher youll even have a chance getting into UCLA and UCB, other school with good programs are SJSU because its right in Silicon Valley, I promise you getting education there might not be the best, but the fact is that employers dont give a rats a$$ where you get your education from as long as you can prove that you know your stuff, and silicon valley offers hundreds of internships, and part time jobs for SJSU students, intel, and apple like to hire SJSU students, and many small startups look for them. With all those around this gives you the chance of learning what it means to be a CS and what it really means to program and be a programmer, if you use it to your advantage you can graduate from there with a VERY good resume ! Ill give you an example ! I got my first programming job at a summer camp that happens at stanford every year, then I got an unpaid internship at a website called Ajent.com, then I got my first paid internship working with a new watch called pebble, after that I moved to something with more pay, and began developing and iPhone app for a startup called ThatSmyle, last week I had an interview with apple, they had a position available for a part time quality assurance programmer, and I got the position!. Bam ! all this happened in roughly a year and a half, and AM NOT EVEN IN A 4 YEAR university !!. I am a community college student at foothill and de anza !. Now what does this mean you might ask? if I was able to get so far ahead in my CS career while still in a community college, imagine how many more opportunities will be available to me if I was a SJSU. Btw, I applies and I got in, I also got into software engineering at Cal poly slo. I tell you this, right now with the way things are going, I think sjsu is my school. The fact that all the tech companies are around makes it the best school, learn from what is around you… and they really dont care what school you go to as long as you know your $h!t!. I had an interview with Tango (a booming iphone/android app), I had an interview with microsoft, I had interview with lookout security, and many other companies who did not care about the fact that I was a CC student but just wanted to know if I can handle the task they need (obviously I still lacked some of the programming skills therefore I am not there haha).</p>

<p>Anyways hope I helped!.</p>

6

<p>Thanks! I considered a few UC schools when I was searching for colleges. It’s a little far for me, but maybe for grad school!</p>

7

<p>Well to be realistic, the only place in the world where there is non stop demand for programmers on any level is silicon valley. But if you want to stay in your area then I have no suggestions for schools haha, good luck !</p>

8

<p>Since the Math department is good and you are interested in a Ph.D. (that is the impression you give), then stick it out. Transferring always ends up costing you some time since each university has a different set of general education requirements.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

9

<p>One of the things to consider is that it might be harder to get into a good graduate program if you come from a school that’s weaker in that subject. From what you’ve said, the CS program you’re in sounds pretty terrible. If I were in your situation I’d definitely transfer, but obviously it’s up to you.</p>