Would anyone please comment on the alumni network, rigor of the program, male:female ratio, professors’ quality and program’s quality, internship opportunities, classes availability (are there a wide variety of CS courses available?), jobs prospects, as well as how well CS grads at Richmond are doing after graduation? Also, what languages are used primarily (Java? C++?), and is the program leaning towards theory or application?
Sorry for asking so many questions. I really like Richmond as the school - with its faculty, research opportunities and nurturing environment. Yet, I’m still unsure if a CS program at a LAC (instead of some engineering-y research universities) would limit my chances of going into industry or getting into great CS grad schools later. I will visit Richmond soon to decide if it’s the best fit for me, but I would like to hear some current students/alumni’s remarks on the CS program. Thank you.
I’m a current female CS (and math) major at UR. There are significantly more male CS students than female, but the department is actively trying to close that gap.
There’s a great alumni network and excellent placement after graduation. Alumni that work at Google come to campus around once a semester, for example. Almost all the senior CS majors that I know already have jobs lined up for after they graduate. We also have excellent internship opportunities. The department is constantly sending out emails about opportunities (to the majors email list) and companies and agencies come to campus often. Google and CIA were recently here.
In terms of the program. It’s quite rigorous and the professors are excellent. Some professors are known to be especially rigorous (my advisor is one). All intro courses are done in Java and then the upper level courses are usually C++ or Java (although we do use assembly in computer organization, SQL if you take databases, and other languages for specific courses; the senior seminar programming languages course teaches you a lot of languages too).
The core courses are more theory based at the intermediate and upper level, but many of the electives are more applied, so you can tailor your schedule to whichever you prefer. We have a wide variety of courses, but since it’s a small department, the courses are offered on a two-year rotation, meaning some of the upper level electives are only offered once every two years (like fall of odd numbered years- so if it was offered fall 2013, it’d be offered fall 2015). This just means you need to plan ahead and keep track of what you want to take and when it will be offered.
Let me know if you have any more questions or want more detailed answers for some of the above. I didn’t want to write a novel straight off the bat!
@guineagirl96 oh wow thank you for such a detailed response! Your answer definitely cleared up many of my concerns. I love challenging myself, so it’s great that the program is rigorous haha. I know that Richmond has a strong focus on research, but is it possible for CS freshmen to get involved with research the first year? Or find internships in their first year? Because I would love to gain more hands-on experience outside of classroom too 
Are there many CS events at Richmond? Like seminars, hackathons, dinners where we could discuss about CS or meet CS alumni, etc.?
Also, as a female in CS, did you encounter any sort of gender discrimination in group projects? I asked this questions because I heard about many rumors about CS female students having a difficulty time at some other universities.
You mentioned your advisor as a CS professor. I’m sorry if this question is a no-brainer, but does each student get assigned to a CS academic advisor who helps them with choosing courses and planning out the future? Or did you mean “advisor” as in a professor you worked with in research?
Thank you.
Yes, research is encouraged as a freshman! Many of my friends began research freshman year- they actually prefer you get involved early. I started research with one of the math professors this year (I’m a sophomore). Many students do research during the summer with professors and get funding through the universities. Finding internships as a first year for CS will be difficult no matter where you attend because most places will want data structures as a minimum, many also want algorithms, and you may not have taken those in time. I tentatively have an internship for this summer (finishing up my sophomore year), and I’m definitely one of the youngest that made it to interview for it.
There are some events, but not a huge number. Sometimes the department holds luncheons with visiting alumni or guest speakers. We have a math/CS colloquium series, with many talks on CS presented through that. We also have an ACM chapter that sponsors project teams every semester and you can compete at hackathons through that.
I have not encountered any discrimination in group projects. In fact, my group mates often look to me for help, since I often know the material better. I started programming in high school and I am a student grade for one of the CS courses (I get paid to grade their hws and sometimes labs), so I generally know what I’ve doing.
And yes, my advisor is my academic advisor! Every student is assigned an advisor as a freshman and then when they declare their major(s), they are assigned an advisor in the department of their major. I originally had a music professor because of my scholarship (I’m a music minor), but when I declared my majors, I requested the one I have now. I could have had either a math or CS professor as my advisor, since they are one department here. Academic advisors help with a lot of things, but in your primary major mainly help with course selection and planning for the future (like grad school),
Oh nice thank you Those are all the questions I have for now. Now that I understand more about the CS program at Richmond, I think that Richmond would be a great choice for me! I just need to visit Richmond in early April to make sure if I would fit in there. Thanks again for your helpful answer
I second everything @guineagirl96 stated about the CS program at UR. My daughter is a senior double majoring in Biochemistry and CS. She found her CS classes to be both challenging and interesting, and she liked her professors. She did Biochem research during summers starting freshman year. Her schedule was fairly tightly constrained by doing a double major, but she was able to do it and will graduate on time by planning her schedules carefully well in advance. Her adviser has been very helpful.
She has remarked that there are more women than men in the CS major, but never felt like she was belittled or marginalized in any way. She struggled a little bit in her earlier UR CS classes, because she did not have much background in programming from High School, but caught up easily. She recently landed a paid 1 year fellowship at the Nat’l Institutes of Health in Bethesda for next year and plans to apply to PhD programs. UR has prepared her very well for grad school. I hope you enjoy your visit and attend UR:)
@mamag2855 Thank you for your helpful answer! I found myself leaning towards choosing Richmond now, after you guys’ comments about the CS program at Richmond. I’m an international student, so probably finding internships or jobs is going to be more competitive, but it seems like Richmond has excellent career services so hopefully I will turn out okay. Richmond also offers me a generous merit scholarship so that’s a big plus too. I guess I would make my final decision after that visit in April then
Just reread my previous post and realized I inadvertently stated there are more women than men in the CS classes, the reverse was generally true for my daughter, but she experienced no issues as s woman, and had several CS classes with equal numbers of women and men.
Yeah I did notice the women/men thing, but I assumed that you made a typo And thanks, that’s a relief to hear! @mamag2855