Computer Science--Any Liberal Colleges that rate well for this major?

<p>Are there any Liberal Arts Colleges that rate well in Computer Science Major?</p>

<p>Not sure, but Brown is frequently compared to LACs and has an excellent CS department.</p>

<p>Brown does indeed have an excellent CS department; it’s not close enough to an LAC for my taste, but it may be for you. URochester has good CS, too; but also a small university. Rice is a small U but closer than either Brown or UR to an LAC, being just a tad over 3000 undergrads with residential colleges for intimacy, and it has strong CS.</p>

<p>Pomona, because you can take classes at Harvey Mudd, or Scripps if you’re female for the same reason. Wellesley–ditto for MIT and female. Smith (also all-women) has a good standalone department for interdisciplinary work and Bryn Mawr (also all-women) does interesting robotics research. Wesleyan and Williams have decent departments, and they are coed! Barnard (all-women) can take advantage of Columbia’s course offerings. Brandeis (hovering on the U/LAC border) may have a broader department, too.</p>

<p>The problem with LACs and CS is, 1) many LACs don’t offer a CS major at all, 2) the department breadth usually sucks, with 2-3 professors being the norm.</p>

<p>Holy Cross offers a computer science major.</p>

<p>Note that Holy Cross has 3 Computer Science professors (hidden in the Math department), one of which is on leave.</p>

<p>[Faculty</a> Information](<a href=“http://mathcs.holycross.edu/HpFaculty.htm]Faculty”>http://mathcs.holycross.edu/HpFaculty.htm)</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd is, by far, the best LAC for computer science, physical science and engineering. However, the atmosphere is depressing - lots of geeks, unsociable and unfortunate looking people. I could be wrong on this, though. It was just the impression I got when I visited the campus. Things may be different now.</p>

<p>I don’t know what specific LACs rate best in this field, but certainly several top LACs offer a computer science major. Check out these links to find out more about CS in a liberal arts context:</p>

<p>[LACS[/url</a>]</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:OlKz_8yE7lcJ:www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~cfk/cs-liberal-arts-5.pdf]Powered”>http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:OlKz_8yE7lcJ:www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~cfk/cs-liberal-arts-5.pdf]Powered</a> by Google Docs](<a href=“http://www.lacs.edu/]LACS[/url”>http://www.lacs.edu/)</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science Model Curricula](<a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/dickey/curricula/]Computer”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/dickey/curricula/)</p>

<p>[Powered</a> by Google Docs](<a href=“http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:phyAqiGwC-8J:cs.wellesley.edu/~pmetaxas/LACS2007report.pdf]Powered”>http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:phyAqiGwC-8J:cs.wellesley.edu/~pmetaxas/LACS2007report.pdf)</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science programs at liberal arts colleges](<a href=“http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:35P7gtGMvCcJ:www.micsymposium.org/apache2-default/mics_2006/papers/Lopez.pdf]Computer”>http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:35P7gtGMvCcJ:www.micsymposium.org/apache2-default/mics_2006/papers/Lopez.pdf)</p>

<p>[Designing</a> an MIS Major for a Liberal Arts College](<a href=“http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:a63cCqjNoQcJ:proc.isecon.org/2005/3334/ISECON.2005.Howatt.pdf]Designing”>http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:a63cCqjNoQcJ:proc.isecon.org/2005/3334/ISECON.2005.Howatt.pdf)</p>

<p><a href=“http://cisr.nps.edu/downloads/wecs6_ch05.pdf[/url]”>http://cisr.nps.edu/downloads/wecs6_ch05.pdf&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://gustavus.edu/+max/cs-as-la.pdf[/url]”>http://gustavus.edu/+max/cs-as-la.pdf&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Powered</a> by Google Docs](<a href=“http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:kwig2LjV4AIJ:robotics.cs.umass.edu/~bburns/publications/ccscne.pdf]Powered”>http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:kwig2LjV4AIJ:robotics.cs.umass.edu/~bburns/publications/ccscne.pdf)</p>

<p>[Cyberinfrastructure</a> and the Sciences at Liberal Arts Colleges | Academic Commons](<a href=“BANGSAJP # Slot Gacor Maxwin Oke Situs Slot88 Hari Ini Anti Rungkad”>BANGSAJP # Slot Gacor Maxwin Oke Situs Slot88 Hari Ini Anti Rungkad)</p>

<p>[Q&A:</a> Robots in the Computer Science Classroom: Microsoft partners with Georgia Tech and Bryn Mawr to form the Institute for Personal Robots in Education, designed to reinvigorate the computer-science curriculum by delivering robotics technology speci](<a href=“http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/jul06/07-12robotics.mspx]Q&A:”>http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/jul06/07-12robotics.mspx)</p>

<p>[Powered</a> by Google Docs](<a href=“http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:a7CkoFLTk18J:ozark.hendrix.edu/~ferrer/research/papers/asee03.pdf]Powered”>http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:a7CkoFLTk18J:ozark.hendrix.edu/~ferrer/research/papers/asee03.pdf)</p>

<p>[To</a> the Liberal Arts, He Adds Computer Science - The New York Times](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/technology/to-the-liberal-arts-he-adds-computer-science.html]To”>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/technology/to-the-liberal-arts-he-adds-computer-science.html)</p>

<p>[Powered</a> by Google Docs](<a href=“http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:9-QOA-cAfy8J:www.iona.edu/faculty/livanov/papers/ccsce_2002.pdf]Powered”>http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:9-QOA-cAfy8J:www.iona.edu/faculty/livanov/papers/ccsce_2002.pdf)</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science at Williams : EphBlog](<a href=“http://www.ephblog.com/2009/06/22/computer-science-at-williams/]Computer”>http://www.ephblog.com/2009/06/22/computer-science-at-williams/)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/swampy/downey-stein-fie.pdf[/url]”>http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/swampy/downey-stein-fie.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Was a math/cs major at Holy Cross. Worked at Lotus and Microsoft over 25 years in software dev.</p>

<p>^ Oh, yes. If you are serious about CS and grad school, double-major (or just straight major) in math and take lots of applied math courses. This is more useful as grad school preparation than for someone ending with a CS undergrad degree or taking it (as I plan to) as a practical addition to English or linguistics.</p>

<p>Regardless, the plural of anecdotes is not evidence. I think the CS major at Holy Cross, as at most LACs, is weak or merely adequate without an applied math adjunct.</p>

<p>Years ago, Dartmouth had one of the best CS departments anywhere (whether you consider it a LAC or not). I do not know if that is still true.</p>

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<p>I went to Harvey Mudd. Like any school, I think the atmosphere is a largely individual thing. For myself, I was overall very happy there, as were most of my friends and classmates. However, it is indeed not for everyone, and if you don’t fit in, then you might not like the culture and be depressed. I for one felt this way in visiting other schools that some people I know were very happy at.</p>