<p>Wait…what if I DO want to take both CS 15/16 and CS 17/18? Can I do that? Can someone point out the stark differences between these two sequences (if there are any?)?</p>
<p>@Uroogla: why isn’t it “worth taking both”? Just curious. lol</p>
<p>Fall</p>
<p>-CS: 15
-CS:17
-Math: Math 17
-Science: BIOL 0390 - Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity–took out chem, wanted bio instead</p>
<p>Spring</p>
<p>-CS: 16
-CS: 18
-Math: Math 18
-Science: BIOL 0420 Principles of Ecology (dont want to take orgo chem from what i’ve heard from my siblings lol) </p>
<p>^ Does this schedule look solid? Obviously, one may say “why don’t you relax and take a fun class”. Well, I say that all of these classes look “fun” to me, so your point is invalid. lol</p>
<p>One can take both…it just isn’t done. Any information that’s vital to success in future courses is taught in both.</p>
<p>CS15 does graphics and Java, but is by far the easiest of the 4 for most people.
CS16 covers Java, Python, algorithms, and data structures. It does so at a much deeper level than CS17-18, but none of that knowledge is really helpful in higher level classes except maybe CS157.
CS17 covers functional programming languages (little used, but a paradigm you wouldn’t get in 15-16) and basic algorithms and data structures.
CS18 continues 17, teaching Scala and Java plus algorithms and data structures. 17-18 together teach more programming languages than 15-16, but they’re generally little-used, outside of CS173).</p>
<p>The core material (Java, basic algorithms, basic data structures) are the same in each pair, so there’s no real advantage to one over the other. Only 1 pair counts towards the requirements, meaning that the other pair is duplicating a lot of material and taking up two course slots you’ll want back later. Because 15 starts off more slowly, it’s generally not recommended for people with a significant background, but many people take 17-18 with no background and succeed.</p>
<p>You may also wish to keep the time commitment in mind - CS intro classes are “light” when it comes to workload, but if the bad weeks coincide, you may be looking at 10-15 hours a week for each…you’ll have to deal with this eventually in an ScB in CS, but 16-18 is generally not where you’d want to. Additionally, you may want to consider CS22 or CS45 freshman year instead, since you’ll have so many requirements. Probably the latter, as it requires no programming.</p>
<p>Revised again. LOL. What do you think now?:</p>
<p>Fall</p>
<p>-CS: 17
-CS:45
-Math: Math 17
-Science: BIOL 0390 - Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity–took out chem, wanted bio instead</p>
<p>Spring</p>
<p>-CS: 18
-CS: 22
-Math: Math 18
-Science: BIOL 0420 Principles of Ecology (dont want to take orgo chem from what i’ve heard from my siblings lol) </p>
<p>Thanks so much Uroogla (your soooooooo x infinity helpful!). </p>
<p>The only thing I’m worried about is that you said that CS 16 is a really helpful class. My brother who is a computer engineer echoed the same things saying that Algorithms and Data Structures are cruicual if I want internships. What should I do then? I would take CS 15/16 but from what I’ve read, 17/18 are much more intended for CS majors.</p>
<p>You only really need one of CS45 and 22 (since you’ll presumably be taking 33 and 32 next year), and I think 22 is right now a better course. I also think 45 requires a little programming knowledge.</p>
<p>17 and 18 cover sufficient algorithms and data structures for internships. You can also take CS157 sophomore or junior year to get a better background, if you’re worried. The extra material covered by CS16 would not be tested on an internship interview, because it’s not expected that someone at that level would have been exposed to the material before.</p>
<p>^Well what should I take instead of CS 45? What CS course can I replace it with?
On the Brown requirements, it says: Three intermediate courses must be taken, of which one must be math-oriented and one must be systems-oriented:</p>
<p>All 5 are worth taking, and which you take depends on your interests in the field, but CS22 contains a lot of material covered in CS45. More importantly, though, you do not have the background needed to take CS45 freshman fall. It’s a course you could take in another year, or you could get a solid background in probability and statistics from APMA1650/1660.</p>
<p>In terms of those courses, CS32 is the most important in terms of internships and jobs. CS33 will be rather important too. Both of these you’d take sophomore year. One of CS22 and CS45 would suffice, freshman or sophomore year. CS51 can be done sophomore or junior year - it’s pretty important if you have interests in theory and algorithms, but not so important for just a programming standpoint.</p>
<p>You could replace CS45 in that schedule with something that’s not a concentration requirement - be open to trying several courses during shopping period to find a fourth course in a different field, perhaps.</p>
<p>I know nothing about CS, but here’s my impression of your schedule – you are loading up on required classes and very similar classes. Uroogla can answer this better than I can – but do you really need to take two CS classes first AND second semester to successfully concentrate in CS? Plus a math class both semesters? That’s three classes/semester that will be very similar. </p>
<p>Based on this schedule, you could finish your first year with eight classes that meet your concentration requirements – without have tried anything else. That is very, very unusual for Brown students. I just looked up the CS concentration, and 17 classes are required. You really, really don’t have to satisfy half the concentration requirements after just one year in college.</p>
<p>I realize that you may not be a humanities, liberal arts person, but at least look at classes in other fields, and try to take at least one small, seminar-type class. Take that class S/NC if it makes you uneasy. Look through Mocha, look at classes in everything – English, history, sociology, MCM, art history, American Studies, comp lit, psychology. </p>
<p>Most important, please speak to your adviser and other people when you get onto campus, and be very willing and open to changing your classes. Don’t feel locked in to these choices you are making before being on campus, talking to people and going to classes.</p>
<p>^Well the idea was that I get rid of all requirements first, then try out “fun” or “cool” classes later in sophomore, junior, senior year.</p>
<p>But ya, I hope I didn’t give you the impression that I wasn’t going to be open about choosing classes outside of my field (which probably is CS if you have not noticed haha). </p>
<p>Also, ya, I’m not really the humanities/liberal arts person even though Brown is really known for it. But still, I still feel like I can get a lot out of Brown nonetheless.</p>
<p>I’d say the “average” Sc.B. candidate in CS satisfies 5 requirements freshman year (2 courses in the intro sequence, CS22 or 53 but not both in the spring, and 2 math/applied math or science classes). I took 4 courses that satisfied requirements for the similar math-cs concentration, plus the writing requirement. A good number do take 6 or 7 requirements.</p>
<p>You would, however, benefit from spreading out the fun courses throughout the four years. Additionally, taking them early will allow you to see early on if that area is something you want to do more work in. If, for example, you find yourself unhappy with computer science after the 4th semester course (a reasonably common occurrence) and you haven’t tried other areas, you’ll have a lot of trouble determining what concentration to declare.</p>
<p>As far as other departments, a number of students in CS enjoy classes in Classics, Math, Philosophy, Biology, and Literary Arts. Econ is also pretty popular. It’s not a bad idea to try something out of your comfort zone, S/NC. You’ve also expressed interest in Spanish - continuity tends to make language study easier, especially in spoken courses.</p>
<p>-CS: 17
-ECON 0110
-Math: Math 17
-Science: BIOL 0390 - Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity</p>
<p>And if I end up liking/loving CS:</p>
<p>Spring</p>
<p>-CS: 18
-CS: 22
-Math: Math 18
-Science: BIOL 0420 Principles of Ecology </p>
<p>Is this solid?</p>
<p>Also, I’m still very confused about the writing requirement. </p>
<p>"Students must complete the university’s writing requirement. "Each student concentrating in computer science is required to pass a course that involves significant expository writing. In particular, the course should satisfy the following two conditions.</p>
<pre><code>Each student in the course must write at least two essays, and
students are graded in part on their ability to write a coherent, well-argued essay. "
</code></pre>
<ol>
<li>What courses should I take/what are good suggestions?</li>
<li>Does it matter if I don’t do it in freshmen year?</li>
</ol>
<p>The latter quote “Each student…” is outdated and has been superseded by the university writing requirement.</p>
<p>This is the best I can find - perhaps someone else can say if it’s up to date or not: “By the beginning of their fourth semester of study, students must present evidence that they have worked on their writing, either through coursework or through some other activity that involves drafting and revising.”</p>
<p>I’d talk to your advisor once you get to Brown to ensure that this is correct.</p>
<p>The simplest way would be to take a writing intensive course in any department. Given your interests in pursuing Spanish further, I’d think that Spanish 730 may be a reasonable way to satisfy this, assuming you place high enough to do that in your first 3 semesters.</p>
<p>That looks like a much better/well rounded schedule. It’s actually pretty similar to what I took. And you don’t need to satisfy the writing requirement your first year, but keep an eye out for courses, because some are only offered once and you may find one you are really interested in. But it is also helpful to keep in mind that sometimes it is helpful to take classes that have different types of work at the same time (problem sets versus projects versus papers). When I take all problem set classes and project classes it can be tough, so sometimes its nice to change it up with writing papers occasionally.</p>
<p>Bio 390 is unlikely to have room (only 1 spot open right now). The other fall classes you list are essentially uncapped (more specifically, there is an uncapped section of math 17 that doesn’t conflict with the times of the other classes), so no one will be turned away from taking them based on enrollment.</p>
<p>You should really check out mocha (just do a google search for mocha brown) or use banner when looking at potential schedules - mocha won’t list enrollment but will show you what times the classes are. Banner does both.</p>
<p>There are so many writing intensive courses that there is no way we could list them all here. They are offered in many departments. I don’t know that this is still the case, but many of these classes had a writing fellow assigned to the class, someone who would meet with students and help them with the writing assignments. </p>
<p>This is something that is best figured out when you are on campus – remember, you’ll be living near/taking classes with many people freshmen year who will discuss their classes, and you’ll get recommendations from them. That’s one reason why it’s so hard to plan your schedule far in advance, because there is so much you’ll learn about classes and professors every semester when you’re there.</p>
<p>I’d recommend not taking four quantitative/science-type courses at once if you can possibly avoid it. It’s nice to be able to do a different kind of reading once in a while.</p>