Computer Science at CUNY BMCC or LaGuardia CC

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I just applied to the CUNY system for the Spring semester but I'm undecided on which of these community colleges to assist.</p>

<p>I want to major in Computer Science. I'm planning to go to a Community College in NY for 2 years and then transfer to SUNY Stony Brook University for the remaining 2 years. I will be paying the out-of-state tuition because even though I'm a US Citizen, none of my parents live in the NYS. </p>

<p>I've read that BMCC has bad reputation on being a school with a bad staff, and LaGuardia with it's zone being dead almost all the time. Also, I've read that BMCC is better than LaGuardia, talking about the Computer Science degree, but I'm not really sure about this. I know Community Colleges has their cons, but I would like some advice from people who have attended to these CC or people that know how they work, as well as people that know about their CompSci department and how good it is.</p>

<p>In short, I would like to know which of these two Community Colleges is better in overall and which is better in Computer Science.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Hey,</p>

<pre><code> I am a CS student at BMCC (Next spring will be my last semester there). So far I’m quite pleased with the program. The general quality of the staff at the school varies wildly, but computer science professors specifically are just great. You will just have to try to filter out your professors (via ratemyprofessors) and pick the good ones for other subjects such as math. So don’t expect everyone at BMCC to be just mean or whatnot, people vary - just like everywhere else.
</code></pre>

<p>I had a plan similar to yours, do my A.S. at CUNY, then transfer to SBU for the B.S. Since stony brook will almost certainly accept CUNY students, they specifically mention on their website that you should have <em>outstanding</em> grades in calculus to be a good candidate, so just keep that in mind. </p>

<p>About BMCC vs LGCC, I looked of the curricula for the CS major in both of those schools; at BMCC, the mathematics requirements are Pre-Calculus, Discrete Math, and Calculus 1 & 2, but at LGCC you will be required to also take Calculus 3 and Linear Algebra - so it may be challenging to graduate by 2 years if you’re not already academically well prepared. </p>

<p>While LGCC’s CS program forces you to go through these classes in order to graduate, BMCC offers more flexibility. While you can graduate with just Calculus 2 without Linear Algebra, you can always take them as an extra if you choose and are able to. BMCC has an excellent mathematics department, so if you’re committed, it should be totally possible.</p>

<p>While LGCC’s CS program is more mathematically intensive, BMCC’s program is more Computer Science oriented. For the major requirements at LG you would take 5 math classes and 5 CS classes, at BMCC it would be 3 math classes and 7 CS classes. </p>

<p>Both BMCC’s and LG’s CS and Math courses total 39 credits, but BMCC’s CS curricula requires <em>University</em> Physics 1 & 2 [that’s calculus based physics, beware] while LG does not require any physical science courses. So it’s seems that BMCC swapped out Calculus 3 and Linear Algebra for 1 year of hardcore physics.</p>

<p>So what would you rather be obliged to take, Calculus 3 and Linear Algebra, or 1 year of ‘real’ Physics? </p>

<p>Here’s a link to BMCC’s CS program: [Computer</a> Information Systems - Program Requirements](<a href=“http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/cis/csc_program.jsp]Computer”>http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/cis/csc_program.jsp)
LGCC’s CS Program: [Business</a> & Technology](<a href=“LaGuardia Community College - Home”>LaGuardia Community College - Home)
SBU’s CS Curricula: [Computer</a> Science Major Requirements](<a href=“http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/undergrad/CSEMajorRequirements.html]Computer”>http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/undergrad/CSEMajorRequirements.html)</p>

<p>-> Remember, whatever you don’t take now (physics or advanced math), you’ll have to make up for it later at SBU. </p>

<p>Both programs are academically rigorous, BMCC more CS-wise with physics, LG more math-wise. At the end it really depends on you. </p>

<p>Now besides academics, BMCC is located near the Hudson river, near the world trade center, so it’s right in the middle of the action, also we have a new 14 or 15 floor building last year (you can look out the window and see the world trade center). It’s Manhattan, anything you want is there, food, transportation, whatever (Also more expensive). I don’t think any institution have such an active and interesting environment, so between your classes, you could always do something outside of school if you want. </p>

<p>BMCC offers scholarships and a lot of student activity and some clubs. You can also participate in academic research with a mentor in the C-Step or LSAMP program. A lot of ways to get involved. There’s also a pool and gym, but I guess the other school might have that as well. There’s also free math tutoring where you can go for help anytime you need, so there’s no excuse to fail math.</p>

<p>Sorry for writing an encyclopaedia as a reply, I want to make sure you have as much information as you need, but if you have any more questions let me know. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>P.S. If you decide to attend BMCC, consider taking SCI 120 as an extra in your last semester if you can. It’s a 4 credit science/engineering class that is an easy A for a sophomore CS student. It’s basically intro to programming with C++ with science/engineering applications (easy). Hard to get into, but good GPA boost if you can. </p>

<p>JLL</p>

<p>WOW! Thanks a lot for your reply, it helped me so much! Very informative and exactly what I wanted to know.</p>

<p>I’m very good at math, so I won’t have any problem in math-related courses at BMCC or LGCC, but I want to know more about physics (in which I’m very good at aswell), since my teachers weren’t that good at explaining and going deep in the subject</p>

<p>Thanks a lot again!</p>