<p>Can anyone tell me how the computer science department is at Haverford? My S is interested more in game design than the engineering side of comp sci. I assume he'll have to take classes at Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore as well to get everything he needs.</p>
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If he’s bright and hardworking enough to be a computer science major at Haverford, he would not want to take computer science classes at Bryn Mawr (except maybe those taught by Diana Xu). </p>
<p>Here’s why: the computer science department at Bryn Mawr has been on a mission to make its major accessible to students who would not normally consider a major in computer science (or any of the sciences). The minimum exceptions are extremely low. For example, in my Principles of Programming Languages class at Bryn Mawr, we covered 2 chapters out of 12 chapters in a 200-page textbook written for a one-semester introductory course. When I talked to the professor about the pace of the class, he said that some students were already struggling at this pace and that no one would stop me from working through the rest of the textbook on my own. (Haverford taught the same course the following year. They covered the same material in 2 weeks and then moved on to more advanced topics.)</p>
<p>Several of the prospective CS majors at Bryn Mawr in my year ended up majoring at Haverford because they were offended by the expectations at Bryn Mawr. I decided to drop CS altogether and stuck to math instead.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about CS at Swarthmore. What I can tell you is that commuting to Swarthmore is inconvenient and creates all sort of scheduling conflicts. (Neither the van schedule nor Swarthmore’s schedule of classes is synchronized well with Bi-Co schedules.) It can be done, but it requires prioritizing Swat classes over events at Haverford.</p>
<p>Bottom line: I would consider the CS program at Haverford as a stand-alone unit. If your son wouldn’t be happy with Haverford by itself, I would urge him to attend a college with an academic program that meets his needs.</p>
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minimum expectations</p>
<p>Thanks so much for that insight. It’s hard to tell from the outside what a college is like on the inside.</p>
<p>^I agree. The strength of the program is one of my biggest deciding factors.</p>