I’ve spent the past few years of my life learning to program, and I had the idea of getting nationally certified in doing so (Most likely through Certiport). My question is, would this add to my “college resume” in any way, especially if I tried applying to an Ivy League school? Or would doing so just be an early investment for when I get out of college and apply for a job?
Thanks for any insight.
I think it is usually a very solid ex when a student goes to the next level of an interest, within reason.
If you want to be a cs major it would seemingly be a good demonstration.
I no zero point zero knowledge about this particular certification group or it’s value.
There are many more posters who can answer that waiting.
In the end, ecs are icing in the cake. Some schools like one flavor and others prefer something else.
Fundamentally the rest of the “cake” has to have all the right ingredients.
A non hooked student with a solid but not spectacular profile will not be moved to the yes pile because of the one ec thing. Unless that one thing is so spectacular it moves you into the hooked category. Celebrity. International recognition. Media darling of some sort.
Think of it as an EC: it’s part of your story. It won’t compensate for low stats.
Alright, thank you.
I also have no idea…but would a Princeton look at this and say “This person already knows a bunch of CS and seems to be going in a Professional education…maybe we are not the school for them, maybe a Stevens Institute of Technology is a better fit.”
Colleges want people that want to learn (you show you want to learn, but you are showing you want to learn in a certain way), who will succeed (you showed you can succeed at that level of certification), and who will contribute to the community.
Would it be better to produces some results instead? Can you do some programming for a non-profit/house of worship? Can you share your knowledge through a program like Girls Who Code?
^^well said, @bopper. The certifications are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Compare it to EMT training: achieving the certifications shows commitment over time- but the goal is serving as an EMT. Does being certified qualify you to do something that is meaningful to you / your community?