I applied to Amherst with the intention of majoring in Neuroscience and maybe Russian, and I know that both departments are superb in that school. But as I’ve continued in APCS this year, I’ve become more and more interested in pursuing computer science and I’m somewhat concerned because I didn’t apply to any technical/engineering type schools.
How is the CS department at Amherst? I know that UMass Amherst is good with CS, so I guess I could take some upper-level classes there, but I’ll still end up taking most of my CS classes at Amherst College.
Hi, CS student at Amherst speaking. Amherst’s CS department will give you an incredibly strong algorithmic foundation. Because we’re not a technical school, you won’t have any classes that teach you the latest language or framework. However, this means that you’re well-equipped to pick up new technologies throughout your career, because you’ll have a strong base to build off of. Our program is small, but one of (if not the) fastest growing ones on campus. We also have a large and active computer science club. Of course, UMass is down the road with dozens of incredible CS classes that are open to you. You should know that tech companies don’t recruit here for tech roles, but my friends and I have had no trouble getting jobs and internships at the best tech companies. I don’t regret coming to Amherst over, say, MIT, because though I might have gotten a top 1% CS education there as opposed to a top 5% CS education here, the Amherst education is so much broader, and teaches critical thinking skills, algorithmic knowledge, and so much more that you won’t find elsewhere.
@theviolethour How do CS students at Amherst pick up skills (languages and programming experience) necessary to compete without learning them in class? Is the CS club good for that, or do summer internships have to pick up all the slack?