Does anyone have any opinions about the quality of the Computer Science program at Chapman?
I would also like to know. I got admitted to CS at Chapman yesterday.
@wiifixp and @mpebbles Hello, parent of admitted CS student here. Chapman should really have someone that pays attention to this site, a lot of schools do. Over a year with zippo posts about anything science there, yet they are doing big investing in that area (student been considering it for last year). The faculty looks good there, I think most kids considering CS want to know they will be with other bright science minds and wonder if the school puts too much (all) its emphasis on the film school. The good news in a small program - lots of attention, focus and flexibility versus being locked in a “tech-only” box at a big public where you can’t add a minor or change easily. Student and I have spent a lot of time investigating, but would love to hear from someone with first hand knowledge. They expect CS to have more admits/enrolls this year we were told. We were pretty impressed with what we saw and direction of the curriculum and department. Student wants flex to dbl, minor or even change majors, so doesn’t want to go to UCLA or UCSD, a couple other options, tend to favor private schools. (hope that’s not snobby to say, just how it is)
oops…
Thank you! @cadreamin
My son is a freshman in CS. He picked Chapman in part because he had a great conversation with the department head when visiting. He is minoring in Game Development Programming - this is has passion. The school’s strength in film hopefully leads to strength in some of those minor subject classes. (It’s kind of a cross department minor as I understand it.)
So far, the social is going really well, and he loves the classes in his major/minor. Others have been hit or miss, but that might partly be due to his motivation. He is so much more engaged in courses he is passionate about.
Having AP CS credit enabled him to jump right in and take relevant classes at Chapman. That was really important to him from the start. We also hoped that the smaller school would lead to close connections with other students and professors. He’s been asked to help develop a game as a side project with a professor, so that seems promising.
@seattle_mom Thank you!
How is your son’s social life as a computer science major? Are there like-minded people? Can you find your own group if you don’t want to be part of the fraternity scene?
@seattle_mom I have similar questions, are there enough engineer/CS types there? Is the intellectual level in CS what he he expected? Also wondering if it is socially isolating if not in the film school or are people accepting of all types there?
His social life has been great. He loves that aspect of Chapman. He has friends from academic classes (CS) but also from sports he plays and from high school. He’s on/off with whether he wants to be involved in Greek life. He has always been pretty social. I’ve noticed that athletic kids make friends faster everywhere, but he has bonded with kids from all around.
Chapman houses the freshmen roughly by major. So, his floor is kids majoring in math/science/CS. His roommates are a CIS major and a CS major, and the RA on his hall is also a CS major. He gets along well with the roommates and other floor friends. They have academics, gaming and other interests in common.
Feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions. I don’t check here often these days.
Attended preview day with student yesterday and attended information session for CS/CIS. Student and I were very impressed by the program. There appears to be substantial investment in the program, including a new supercomputer, as well as new courses in virtual reality and mobile programming. Students seem to get good jobs and internships. Dr. Linstead (program head) also gave a very interesting talk on “big data” and how it is shaping computer science. Choice is down to Chapman and UCI and student is leaning toward Chapman based on environment and quality of CS program faculty.
@checksigner - Good to know people are still on the fence like us. We also attended preview day and are struggling with Chapman v SCU. Life experience versus stronger program, just concerned about marketability after college. Agree the professors seem strong (particularly Dr. L) just don’t know if the student body in sciences there is a strong group as well, especially since it is such a small program. It’s science in an art based school so not sure about that. I believe they are making investments in science, I think it could be a stronger program 5-10 years out, just not sure about today.
@CADREAMIN - We have an appointment with Dr. Linstead today (we are local) to discuss some of these topics as well as other questions our student has. Will let you know how it goes.
My S is currently a junior at Chapman. He is not in a frat. Happy at school, has lots of friends, some of them in frats but most are not. One of the parent emails from Chapman we received (can’t remember which month, but this school year I think) noted that about 25% of guys at Chapman are in frats. That means MOST are NOT in frats.
Are students who are in frats/sororities friendly with people who are not, or do they look down on them?
Also, is Chapman religious at all? Like Santa Clara U? Or not at all?
Chapman is affiliated with Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) but they mostly are on the board and you wouldn’t notice any religious undertones there except for the faith center on campus (which is amazingly pretty inside), no religious requirements class wise. So I would say closer to not at all. I don’t know much about the frat/sor scene there but since they don’t have houses I am not sure there is much of a difference among them except for it being a group that focuses on certain activities, but someone there would know more than me. Thanks @checksigner (love the name). Dr. L is the most impressive part of Chapman to me, he will sell you on it, we really like him. Just still questioning if that is enough. Love the location and feel, again just concerned since it isn’t part of an engineering program which they don’t have and therefore isn’t an accredited program (IBET or ASEE). But it certainly offers a personal touch to education I would think. Didn’t see anything about job fairs, I assume placement of just 10 or so CS kids each year that go on to working world (about 15 graduate each year, many seem to hang around) would be one on one with recs from profs reaching their connections. Outside of those connections is what I wonder about. Do you think they have street cred? You are local so maybe you have better feel for their reputation in community/workforce? Nothing like it coming down to the last week to make a decision after all these months. ugh.
Yup. We are in same boat and student was dead set on going to Boston U College of General Studies but after speaking with Dr. L is now extremely conflicted feeling Chapman CS program that he was admitted to would get him to his goal faster with higher chance of success (I.e landing internships and jobs).
I can’t tell if this is just “sales” or if this really is a better option than a big name school. 9 more days until decision day.
My son’s friends are in and out of frats, sororities, clubs, classes, living group… it seems like the frats just exist to throw a few big parties each year.
I agree that the CS program there is young, and not in the context of an engineering program. However Chapman has a very good track record at building programs (and fundraising for them). They have a sparkling new building in the works so the investment is there.
As for accredited engineering programs, that’s not really a big deal in CS. This is partly because there isn’t a professional licensure program. The following highly respected universities in the field are not ABET accredited for Computer Science:
Carnegie Mellon
Duke
Harvard
Princeton
Stanford
University of Washington
I was a hiring manager in the field and we simply never considered or discussed certified programs.
Thanks @seattle_mom, makes sense and really good point/reminder. I should have been more clear, we are comparing it with a CS&E program which includes sw and hw. My CS student at USC doesn’t work that much with engineering even though CS is within it. At SCU you come into the Engineering School, then decide which specialty you like, of which CS&E is one. They also have CS within the math dept that is probably more comparable to Chapman. Ya, I wish this incoming class would be able to enjoy that new building, they told us at preview day “fall 18 earliest which means '19” when this class is finishing up.
I really believe they are committed to stepping up science there (funny LMU is on the same bend, they have been getting rid of art/culture teachers recently to bring in more science). Seems to be the trend at schools like this, which is great. We are still 50/50 even after a few trips including preview day at Chapman. Trying to leave my student alone for a couple days to ponder. The dorms at Chapman look fab btw and Orange is adorable and so convenient. Lots of good things there, I just want to be comfortable companies respect/give it some regard when looking for that first job.
@bechic - welcome to the club 
I meant Dr. L will sell it in that he is just that good, not that he is throwing out a sales pitch. I really like him and he is obviously stratospherically smart. Total genius. He is the reason Chapman is still in the game for us, huge influence. Where are you from? Boston v Socal, big decision. Ours is new experience living in SoCal v. going to school close to home (but staying in dorm still). Too many variables and factors, was way easier in my day. Go to college. Get job. Period. No one was concerned that I was “experiencing” this or that. I know we are over-analyzing. It’s an addiction this time of year for many.
@CADREAMIN we are from Bay Area so Chapman is more comfortable. We vacation at friends every year in Orange County so it’s familiar enough yet not exactly close to home which is a plus. He would also be able to drive his car there, another plus.
As for Boston, while I grew up on the east coast my kids have never experienced a real winter. They “think” it’s not a big deal but they have no idea how cold it gets and how long winters are. Staying in SoCal takes weather challenges out of the equation. I don’t know how easy it is to get CS jobs in Boston. However a huge reason we are now swaying towards Chapman is the feedback we heard from Dr L. Because at the end of the day, the goal is to get internships and jobs. I also got the sense from him that CS students at Chapman are a close group which fosters community and can help make the experience better. In fairness, we didn’t have the opportunity to speak to a CS dean at BU so no idea if that experience is similar or different. Wish we knew to help aid in decision making.
Hi @CADREAMIN and @bechic ,
We met with Dr. Linstead earlier this evening. He was between classes but still spend about 45 mins with us over coffee in the faculty club. It worked out nicely since while there we got to meet 2 other CS faculty, plus it was easier to talk openly since the tone of the conversation was comfortable.
Asked about ability of students to get jobs and internships on their own without being dependent on a professor. He provided several examples of students who had found jobs independently (Northrop, Microsoft). He also made the point that he reaches out to contacts on behalf of students not because they couldn’t get a job otherwise but because he feels invested in his students and wants them to benefit from his network. He sees this as a benefit to being in a place where faculty and students know each other.
We talked for a while about a big school like UCI vs. a small school at Chapman, and it was interesting to hear his opinions as he attended both. I definitely get the feeling that there is a sense of closeness among students in the CS program at Chapman, and also among faculty and students. It was also interesting to hear Dr. L say that he has achieved many of his own goals because of his own experiences as a student at Chapman. On preview day I also wondered if we were just getting a sales pitch but now I think he really does believe that much in the program.
Decisions, decisions. I think my student is still leaning toward Chapman, but it’s SO hard to know if we are doing the right thing. I tried to schedule an appointment with someone at UCI to learn more about their program but was told that in person meetings were not possible due to the volume of applicants. Maybe that’s a sign right there! I’ll be glad when all of this is settles.