CS Major in UDubb

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

Hi All,
I need a help - my S has been offered Pre-Sci in UDubb even though he had applied for Comp Sc (and we are out of state for Washington)and he is very keen on taking it(Almost deciding)
But all my friends are saying that UDubb - getting Comp Sc is very hard.
I want to get help on - What are the some of the things he needs to do from folks who had tried for Comp Sc major in UDubb. Please help with suggestions or information on what worked and what did not.

thanks in Advance.

2

It’s absolutely true – getting into CS is extremely hard.

  1. Be smart before you get here -- is he coming in with top grades and test scores from high school? Make sure he's not out of his league in this competition. "I didn't work my hardest in high school but that will change in college" is not the right kid to send out of state to a program like this.
  2. Take the classes on the pre-major recommendations list and ace all or nearly all of them.
  3. I'd recommend getting involved in the Undergraduate Research Program right away. It doesn't necessarily need to be in CS. A lot of research groups in many departments have jobs for kids who can code.
  4. Take a good second look at the schools where he has been offered admission to his major or where the competition for the major is not as stiff. There are a lot of great schools for computer science out there.
3

It’s difficult but not impossible. We went to a UW CS reception last week. The program is expanding. In the past (like 10 years ago), they only admitted 160 per cohort. This year (the 2022 cohort), they will admit 450. Faculty increased from 40 to more than 80. The physical space will also double when the Gates Hall completes. As further evidence, the direct admitted CS student is 250 this year, more than double the amount from previous years. I would think the regularly admitted amount will also double. (Not sure whether the amount of student who apply will double as well; if so, admission rate will stay the same.)

If your son decide to go the pre-science route, heed what @AroundHere said. Actually you should deposit ASAP so you can choose an early A&O date, so you can get into the weeder classes, such as CS142 and Math124. These classes fill up quickly. If the regular admission rate stays at 30%, your son should strive to be in the top 30% of each weeder class. These classes are graded on a curve. Our school’s counselor just shared a horror story where a student got a 92 in a weeder class but a 2.8 for that class because of the curve.

4

Found our counselor’s email and here’s the excerpt:

Many schools, especially large universities, have a competitive curve in place for many classes (often STEM). You will already be familiar with curved grading, but a competitive curve is different and is often established to “screen students according to their performance relative to their peers” and is often necessary "due to the number of students that can eventually be accepted into higher levels of a program.”

A recent real-life example for Math 124 at UW (required for many competitive majors): A class will establish a mean, in this case the established mean was 2.9. Half the students received a course grade above 2.9 and half the students received a course grade below 2.9. In this example, the student had a 92% at the end of the quarter on all work and exams by traditional grading methods, but received a grade of 2.8 for the class. (Note: some schools award grades you are familiar with, such as an A for anything 90% and above, but some schools award actual decimal point grades. University of Washington is one of these.)

A competitive curve can help or hurt your chances of admission into higher level courses and advanced degree programs. It might be helpful for you to know these policies before making a decision about college attendance. The best way to learn about this is to call the department you are concerned about (for example engineering, comp sci or bio/chem if you are considering pre-med) and ask them to explain.

5

Transferring from a WA community college is always an option too. This can allow you to get in state status if youre coming from outside of WA, and Bellevue College students have a pretty good admission rate into UW CSE too.

6

No, @uwcse2020 going to Bellevue is not a way to get state residency – undergrads are considered dependents (exceptions include students who are married or military vets or over age 24). State residency for dependent students depends on where the parents live and pay taxes, not just the student.

7

No @AroundHere you can get independant status if you’re under 25 and

"-Parents/legal guardians have not claimed and will not claim the student as a dependent on Federal Income Tax returns for the current and previous calendar year;

-Parents/legal guardians or others (except spouse) have not and will not provide the student with significant financial assistance, directly or indirectly, for the current and previous calendar year;

-Students have been and will be independently paying at least 51% of their expenses (cost of attendance and living) with their own income for the current calendar year and previous calendar year."

which then allows for in state resident status, which can save you a lot of money over 4 years.

8

You’re quoting selectively. Here are the complete requirements.

https://registrar.washington.edu/students/residency/residency-requirements/

Note that if the student enrolled at Bellevue college half time or more, rule 4 applies.

9

Rule 4 doesn’t preclude any of what I have said. You can do it while being under 25. The usual caveat always applies; talk to UW first so you know exactly what guidelines to follow.

But it is certainly possible, as I know multiple people who are at UW and did exactly this.