I did something similar to this at a private university … I took physics and organic chemistry in the summer at my local in-state public university which was very cheap and got 2 large credit requirements out of the way in one summer.
I’m not sure if Columbia would accept summer credits from another university these days? If so, you could theoretically knock out a good number of credits in the 2 summers between your first and second years.
You also mentioned summer research and internships …. maybe you could juggle one summer class with research or an internship both summers.
I had no choice in my situation, but my advice like several others on here would be to not try to accelerate … but again, you may feel that you have to, like I did.
Have you considered transferring to Columbia College? The degree requirements for the CS degree between CC-SEAS-Barnard-GS are identical. Columbia College requires only 124 credits to graduate. This would give you a little more breathing room.
I agree with the other posters. If you can swing the money, stay for the full 4 years.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the CS program is VERY popular. So most students (even those in the major) find it difficult to register for the classes. Most end up on waitlists. The upperclassmen get priority for registration. Some of the required classes are only offered once per year.
You should consider stepping back and asking more basic questions — what are your end career goals, unless an MS from Stanford itself is an end goal. If you have particular job goals, those are probably achievable from a Colombia undergrad without any MS from some other school.
Yeah you’re definitely right - its gonna be harder than a normal course load, tho not vastly different: 18 credits a semester as opposed to 16.
Im sure Columbia will be rigorous though ig i’ll only know to what extent once i get there.
You make a good point in regard to research opportunities and internships, as they will be important for graduate school. I will mention that I am in the engineering scholars program (I think its top 10% of current engineering students), so I’ll kinda be hand-fed research opportunities, and have a community of other similar-minded students.
Also in regard to research - that was kind of my main thing in high school so I feel I am already quite versed in how it works, but of course, extra time will obviously allow for more meaningful work.
Yeah, I have heard people working briefly before masters, though that’s quite uncommon in the quant field (at least from what I have heard). Once you get into quant, tc is around 300-400k, so really no reason to leave for an ms. The only reason to do the ms is that it helps you break into the industry.
But of course all this is still very early on and I have time to figure out what is best for me.
Yeah, so essentially my parents are able to pay for about 4 years of college. So if I do 3 years bs and a 1.5 years masters program = 4.5 total years, I’ll only have to pay about a semesters worth of tuition. Which should be covered by the high paying cs internships.
What I am thinking tho is to actually graduate in 3.5 years - which will be a bit more relaxed and allow me to do a long internship after graduating (second semester of senior year + summer), before I start my masters.
Thanks! Columbia does offer summer courses so I could graduate in 3 years if I do 18 credits a semester (5-6 classes) and a single summer class.
I don’t think I can transfer credit from another college - but I have a lot of AP credit which takes about a semester of work away.
You make a good point about juggling research and internships with a summer class. Im gonna be in NYC so this may very well be doable. Ill have to look into it more. Thank you!
4 years is pushing it - i think 3.5 is the smartest. Average Columbia student in both CC and SEAS takes 15.5 credits a semester - i can graduate in 3.5 yrs taking 16 a semester as I have about a semester’s worth of AP credit.
I could theoretically transfer but Id probably get kicked out of the engineering school scholars program and lose all the research opportunities they toss at us. Also 4 credits isn’t to big a difference anyway.
Yeah so right now I most interested in quant fiance (tho also data science and see).
Quant finance is a rather niche field - its hard to break in unless you go to a t10 school. Which Columbia obviously is, and arguably a t5 (i personally choose it over Yale/Princeton in the end).
An ms isn’t required but i definitely helps with networking and also strengthens your application.
Again this is very early on - but from the research, I have done and the people I have spoken to it makes a decent amount of sense.
I think it goes like this:
SWE - ms not really important - perhaps only for more project management/leadership roles
Quant - ms somewhat important - depends if your a genius already (USAMO/USAPHO) - not me lol
Data Science - pretty important - quite common amongst people in the feild
I know I shouldn’t be so fixated on Stanford but it was my dream school - and of course had to be the only school out of a like 15 t20s, including 5 ivies, that rejected me.
So I kinda convinced myself that I would get in for grad school - tho maybe I get rejected again.
Yeah perhaps - but i’ll have to look into the specifics of that further
I think that doing it part time may kind of take away from the experience - i mean obviously you go for some academics - but realistically you can learn most of it online
I feel its more important to meet and interact with other students and professors - which may be limited if you are a part time student.
I don’t want to do a PhD, too long, the opportunity cost is too high, why sit and study when I could be making 300k-400k working for an quant hedge fund and relaxing on the beach when I’m 30.
Im just kidding, I do like research, but not enough for a PhD. I think that after 4-5 years more of school it will be time for me to get a job.
Arguably Princeton will be at least as good as Columbia to go into quant. Possibly better. Just go into LinkedIn for each of the large quant shops and look at the employee lists by university
Advanced Placement | Bulletin | Columbia Engineering indicates that relatively few AP scores give subject credit at Columbia SEAS. If the credits needed to fulfill all of your major and general education requirements is close to the 128 needed for graduation, you may find that credits from AP scores that count only as general elective may not matter.
Do not assume that you will be making $300-400k immediately out of college.
College Scorecard says that the median pay shortly after graduating from Columbia University in computer science by those who got federal financial aid is about $135k: College Scorecard | College Scorecard
yeah i agree Pton will be slightly better - but i preferred Columbia so i went with it. Too late to change now. I think theyre both strong enough where personal fit is more important than name. But you make a good point, thanks!
I think Ill be fine as I have a lot more AP credit than whats they’re - I have 6 from Calculus BC, 3 from Comp Sci A, 3 from physics which is 12 total from the STEM fields. Also should get credit for Econ, Gov, Lang, maybe Stats, and a couple others, so should have a guaranteed 12.
3.5 years is probably the better option so wont event need all the AP credits to get that anyways. Thanks!
But honestly Ive talked to a lot of people in quant, and those numbers are relatively common amongst people who attend t5 schools.
135k is for swe not quant, and I don’t know how to say this right, hopefully i don’t offend anyone, but considering that that average is of those who receive aid, its probably lower than the actual average.
I think the bulk of the non SWE hiring (QT / QR) is at the undergrad level. You should talk to people about this. The needed skillset varies from firm to firm. Probability and combinatorics for a QT role, Data Science for a QR role, and Low level systems for a SWE role. Not sure the Masters adds to your resume. It is mostly problem solving skills that are asked for. The MS doesn’t usually add to this over and above what you have after the first two years of undergrad.