<p>I sm wondering if anyone here has been a Computer Science major at Oberlin. Any comments on the overall experience of being in that program?</p>
<p>I posted a message on your wall - I hope you get it!</p>
<p>hey! I actually have the very same question. If I messaged you my email, could you give me some insight? :)</p>
<p>@a2017applicant - absolutely!</p>
<p>Wondering the same thing here.</p>
<p>You could also just post your insight here, since I think many would rather not give their e-mail or other contact info to a random person with two posts. Besides, it shouldn’t be too hard to edit out any personal information that you don’t want bots to catch.</p>
<p>My daughter is a CS major at Oberlin and is very happy with the program and professors.</p>
<p>Thanks, bdavis. Can you give us a feel for the female/male breakdown in CS? Is there much interdisciplinary work between CS and other departments? Do many students double major, or is the CS curriculum so demanding that double majors are rare?</p>
<p>I’m a current upperclassman CS major at Oberlin and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have.</p>
<p>The gender ratio of the major is very good compared to a lot of other CS programs - it’s something like 60:40 or 65:35 men to women, although that’s just an estimate.</p>
<p>The curriculum is pretty demanding, but there are some double majors. Math/CS is common (there is a lot of overlap in the major requirements), and there are some double degree (getting a conservatory and college degree) CS majors too.</p>
<p>Overall I think it’s a great program. The faculty are truly outstanding and dedicated to teaching.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful info, 445839. My IO (insufferable offspring) was delighted to receive her acceptance on Thursday and is now checking the calendar to schedule a visit. A few more questions: does the department help you find gigs for the summer? Do students travel to meetings or competitions? What’s the size of the largest CS class for majors?</p>
<p>There is a small but growing CS alumni network that provides summer internships and research opportunities through the department (the dept. chair sends an email out every year). There are also paid summer and winter term research positions with CS professors for both the practical software side of CS and the theoretical math side. Oberlin is a smaller school and is not heavily recruited from the same way MIT and Carnegie Melon are. That said, there are plenty of opportunities if you look for them and, last year at least, every student who graduated with a CS major and was looking for a job found one.</p>
<p>As for travel for meetings and competitions, you may be disappointed. Once or twice a year a handful of students travel to a regional competitive programming event, but this is more for the fun of travelling and solving problems. The team usually does alright but it’s by no means a super competitive or serious thing.</p>
<p>Class size varies depending on prerequisites and popularity of the course. The largest upper level class I’ve been in was something like 30 students, but more typically they’re in the range of 15 - 25 and sometimes as small as 6 or 7.</p>
<p>Excellent info. Thanks for taking the time to respond, and good luck!</p>
<p>Hi 445839, how many majors are in the CS department? Are you ever frustrated by lack of breadth in course choices?</p>
<p>Also, what is your experience of the CS honors program? Thanks -</p>