<p>Has anyone ever attended the annual Computer Science Day? If so, what were your thoughts about the event and do you have any idea what percentage of students who were invited end up getting admitted to Brown? My son attended this past weekend and was very impressed. He intends to apply early decision. Thanks to all in advance who answer my post. </p>
<p>How did your son get invited to this event? Sounds amazing.</p>
<p>He received an email directly from the Computer Science Department. They hold the event once a year, and it is a full day activity. </p>
<p>My son was there as well. He met with one of the engineering professors a few times over the summer and we believe she submitted his name, as it is an invitation only event. He is more interested in engineering than CS, but really enjoyed the day (He wore the t-shirt to school on Monday 
I don’t know about the admittance rate for invitees. Best of luck to you and your son. </p>
<p>Thanks Epeemom, same to you. </p>
<p>I went last year, but only for part of the day (had a marching band competition same day). I thought it was cool, but not overwhelmingly so. I’m currently at Brown and taking one of the intro CS sequences and it doesn’t seem particularly similar to what I saw during Computer Science Day (I think that was mostly upper-level stuff, plus a CS 15 beginner lecture from Andy), but it’s an interesting course nonetheless.</p>
<p>Thank you for responding to my post. Do you like the program so far? My son is applying early and has prior programming experience. Do you think a good amount of the kids who went to the Computer Science Day ended up getting in and matriculating? Also, are you taking CS 17 or higher? My son would be likely starting out at CS 17 and trying to move over to CS 19. Thanks.</p>
<p>I noticed you are from CT and chose Brown over Stanford. We are also from CT. Are you happy thus far with your choice?</p>
We actually had the same experience. They made it seem like they were interested in the kids who attended, but we found out later that the invite was very random and may have been the result of my son expressing interest in computer science on the Brown website. I was shocked my son did not get in to Brown, especially considering he had four family members who had attended, a grandfather, grandmother, great-aunt and great-uncle. In the end, I am very happy my son did not get accepted to Brown because he was accepted EA at UChicago and will be attending there. He can double major in computer science and economics at UChicago, and I think the education there will be better than at Brown.
Thanks you for the kind words. Brown was also my son’s first choice, but he got over it pretty quickly when he realized how odd they are with admissions. It was also strange how the admissions people and computer science people we met at the event were pretty unresponsive when my son and I reached out to them afterwards with thank you emails. No one responded to mine, and my son received a couple word response from the admissions officer. On the other hand , the UChicago admissions people have been nothing short of fantastic. Im sure your son will be very happy at the school he is going to attend. Although it may not seem like it, I truly believe there is more than one good college march for each kid. Regards.
Your son is attending a fine institution, and the Computer Science program at Carnegie Mellon is suoerior to what Brown offers. In fact, it is among the top three programs on most lists. Also, this year was a very competitive year for intended STEM majors, including Carnegie Mellon. The Brown name in Computer Science is not anywhere near as prestigious as the Carnegie Mellon name. My son also wanted to go to Brown for the open curriculum but, to be honest, I had my apprehensions about him attending Brown and not exposing himself to enough non CS classes. As far as grad school goes, your son could just as likely end up at Stanford or MIT, better choices in my opinion than Brown.
Your son will thrive at CMU. He should be proud to have gotten in there, and you should equally be proud! No one from my son’s school got in there this year for CS. I have met many successful CMU graduates, more so than Brown. Congratulations!