<p>I thought CMU came across as academically intense. There is nothing wrong with that, but thought my son would be better off in a larger school which offers many non-academic interests to explore as well. </p>
<p>Another concern with CMU is that you are accepted to a particular major. If you change your mind about your major, you have to apply for the next major without any guarantee of acceptance. I did not want my son to take that chance at such expensive cost of attendance. At my son’s current school, you can take any major you want in the Engineering school–just need to speak to your advisor to be sure you have the right courses. My son went from a double major in Engineering to a single Engineering major because he wanted time to explore other classes not possible with the double major.</p>
<p>busdriver, S1 has been doing stuff on the computer since he was four, launched his first website on his ninth birthday. His HS offered a sizable number of advanced CS courses and he also spent 4.5 years doing USACO competition training. S had CMU on the list, but didn’t apply because he wanted a broader UG humanities experience and he got two of his top three schools in EA. </p>
<p>For him, it came down to UChicago, Mudd, MIT and UMD – and he is at Chicago taking CS courses and the Core, but is not a CS major. He wanted a top math department and a CS dept. that focuses on theory rather than application. I am relieved to report that the big CS employers do stop by to recruit at Chicago, too. 
It takes the pressure off grad school results, though that is his ultimate goal.</p>
<p>That said, CMU is on his list for a CS PhD.</p>
<p>I think you’re right, mathmom. It would be really hard for someone (even an exceptionally bright and talented person) to start in with CS, with people who had been doing it for years. Even with some introductory courses, it moves so fast. I’d be lost the first day…</p>
<p>mdcissp, yes, from all accounts CMU is very academically intense. But my son says it is very easy to change majors, you just get permission. Unless you’re trying to get into something like SCS or ECE, and then it is pretty tough, but if you do well on the weeder classes, you can transfer. And many students do double majors, minors, that is very common. No permission required. Then again, how does anybody know that kind of information without going there…it’s hard to filter that out from their website. I’m trying to help out my younger son with this process, and I barely have any energy left to do it.</p>
<p>CountingDown, I would imagine the recruiters for every major are hanging out at UChicago. I don’t think he’ll be looking too hard for a job! I think all these kids are going to be doing just fine.</p>
<p>There’s a distinction to be made here - many kids have been “doing it” (programming) for years, which is valuable, but that’s not the same as doing computer science for years. To succeed in CS, you need great analytical abilities, and must be capable of handling abstract math. There are lots kids who come in with great programming abilities, but they’re not necessarily the best CS students; indeed, some of them can’t switch into the theoretical mode.</p>
<p>^^^I have a theory guy. Give him abstract stuff any day and he’s a happy camper.</p>
<p>I have no idea what my son was doing in high school, but it wasn’t just programming. He was reading MIT Open Courseware, he was on some Linux forums, he programmed for my brother’s company, I remember his AP Bio teacher thought it amusing that whenever there was a free moment he whipped out Turtle Geometry. He’s not really a theory guy in the sense that he had no interest in doing research, getting a masters or that sort of thing, but he was fine with the more theoretical courses at CMU. He was also seriously challenged.</p>
<p>^^^yup, S spent time with MIT’s OCW, Sipser’s Intro to the Theory of Computation, other articles he dug up, plus was a SysOp for his school and on tech staff (and overhauled) the student online newspaper. Didn’t do any paid programming in HS, though did some teaching.</p>
<p>I can only hope my younger S’s job search in a couple of years is as successful, albeit it likely won’t be nearly as lucrative.</p>