I’m a high school sophomore and am interested in majoring in Computer Science.
However, I don’t have that much experience in CS compared to other high schoolers.
I took AP Computer Science Principles this year and know how to code in Javascript. I’m an active member in CS club and am guaranteed an executive board position for my junior and senior years.
This summer, I plan on learning web development (JS, HTML, CSS) and iOS development (Swift) so that I can create my own websites and apps. I will be interning in CS/IT at a small law firm in Canada. I will attend at least two CS/IT-relates summer programs, and will be a volunteer for a CS/IT summer program for girls in middle school.
I’m afraid that I’m not doing enough. There are people in high school who have been coding since elementary school, and I just discovered it this year.
I haven’t attended any hackathons and I haven’t had any internships or prestigious CS-related competitive awards.
Contrary to popular belief, prior CS experience of any kind isn’t required, even at the top levels. It does help, but much more important is strong math/science skills and general academic and personal strengths.
Interning for a CS company in high school will be unique even within incoming classes of top CS schools. You’re doing plenty. More importantly, do things because you want to, not because colleges will like it.
@PengsPhils Thank you for your advice I’m doing everything that I listed above and more because I really like doing them. It’s not for colleges or for my parents or anyone else.
My son attends Harvey Mudd. They do not require any prior experience to major in CS. They do have 3 levels for their introductory class based on prior experience.
You do not need to go to a “top” CS school to be successful in the field.
CS programs do not generally assume that you already know how to program when you first enroll. Just make sure you’ve done enough programming before applying to college to have an idea about whether it’s something you might like to do as a career. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t major in CS.
Do not be deterred by the “coder bros”. My kid had minimal exposure to CS ( joined Programming Club in HS and had a little exposure in FIRST Robitics). But never took a class, had a job in it, etc. She was a CS major for a while, but eventually switched to her true love (physics). But she could have easily stayed with CS (and now finds her CS skills quite handy). Don’t be intimidated - those kids often don’t know as much as they think they do, and crash and burn in a more structured class or work environment.
@infinityprep1234 in high school she used her programming skills during summer research program she attended summer after junior year. It was a very well structured highly competitive program that resulted in more then half of program participants becoming Siemens and Intel semi finalists
Hey intparent.
I’m one of the “coder bros”(I just want to list my ECs as a proof, no showing off)
Co-authored a scholarly paper about the implementation of an AR navigation system in TsingHua university(coded the GPS and 2D to 3D interpolation parts)
Won a top 100 award in the AI contest for Chinese middle schoolers.
Created a computer graphic engineering project that has 50+ stars on GitHub(procedural terrain generation)
Made my DOS-style operating system with 20+ stars on GitHub
Intern security penetration tester in multiple companies
Coursera’s machine learning certificate
There’re some more, but the ones above are representative.
Is it really true that kids like me burn in college settings? I would like you to judge it after reading my ECs. Will I burn and fall down, while kids who have little experience in CS can thrive?
Are the hundreds of hours that I spent alone trying to learn strange and difficult concepts about algorithms, data structures, graphic pipelines, assembly, C++ and computer architectures wasted?
In some of those hours, I was almost devastated by the failures I encountered. I suffered depression and frontal lobe shrinkage. I almost gave up. But I didn’t. After those disturbing nights I spent struggling ALONE, I implemented those projects.
I felt that I “killed the boy inside me” and was reborn as a man.
Why did I endure? Because I love programming. I started it when I was 5. i know that I love it, and I proved this with endurance and patience.
Pray tell me, well the love, ability and persistence I accumulated for CS during these years of learning melt away when I enter college?
I am bit offended by your misunderstanding of us “coder bros”. However, I didn’t write the things above to attack you. I don’t dislike you because of what you said; that would make me a small person. I just want to speak for people who love CS and suffered the same struggle for this love, and clear some misunderstandings.
BTW, I agree that there’re kids who brag about being “coder bros” while lack solid tech, but I believe that they’re the minority based on the “coder bros” I’ve befriended.
@aqdajz I know you want intparent’s advice, but I don’t think you would crash and burn or fail in college! I actually think that your exposure to failing in CS will make you a more determined person, and when newbies to CS struggle, they would more likely give up before you do. I think that you would be more competitive for internships given your edge in CS compared to those who have 0 experience in CS prior to college; this means that you would be a higher chance of winning hackathons, competitive scholarships, getting internships, opportunities, etc.
I really think ur experience serves as an advantage rather than hindering you.
I’m amazed by your ECs and I’m sure you can get into a good CS school.
Would you mind if I dmed you asking you about CS? I want to learn more but I don’t know people IRL who are good or super into technology and coding
Hey needtosucceed27, thanks for your kind comment and understanding! Sure. feel free to sent messages
BTW, I was being a bit sarcastic toward intparent’s opinion(not attacking the person) and not really asking for his/her advice xD. But thanks anyway
As someone who has worked for top companies and has been a TA that has personally seen years of incoming freshman in the intro CS course at my college (unskippable even for those with experience for exactly the reasons I’m detailing below), you’re in the far minority in terms of people who have CS experience coming into college in that you have much farther extensive experience and have actually taken the time to learn the theory it seems.
I also think that there may be a misunderstanding in what is meant by “coder bro” here. I don’t think that is meant to mean all with CS experience in high school but a very particular type of person in CS. Being passionate about CS is great! But in my experience, there are a good number of people, the vast majority of people with incoming CS experience in fact, who learn to hack things together with code rather than learning the theory and how to properly design software. This approach often causes problems when then mixed with formal CS learning.
If they do not work to learn those concepts and be receptive to new approaches, they often end up even with their peers within about a year or two once the whole class has a basic programming/CS competency. By the time everyone graduates, there is little to no correlation between who started with experience and who didn’t. I think the only significant advantage prior experience typically gives is in the verification that one enjoys CS. There are edge cases but they are exactly that.
For those who can take what they have learned before, learn the theory on their own, and be able to learn in college, it can absolutely be an advantage. Not many can do that in practice. Sometimes people actually prefer being outside of the classroom setting and learn better there, which is not uncommon for those in CS.
CS isn’t something one has to do, it should be something they choose to do. I highly encourage anyone in any profession to make sure and take care of all parts of themselves - mental, social, skills, passions, everything.
You emphasized “alone”. It’s great that you felt you grew through your struggles, but don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it! There are tons of people out there that are happy to help. There’s no sense in banging your head against a graphic bug for a week when there are people that could easily explain the problem that’s hidden in some obscure library documentation you may not even know exists.
First, you need to be admitted. And frankly, that’s tough at a “top college,” if you say you want CS without some experience. Of course, you need the right rigor in math and science. Not necessaily a CS class. But the hs may have robotics and/or some other math or sci activities available. Put another way, if there are, you ought to be involved. The idea is to get some of that sort of collaborative experience and with the sorts of problem sets- and problems. Not just alone, at home.
If you have no experience at all, it’s hard to claim the interest, no? Double that, for engineering. Sorry to go against the grain, here. But the competition can be well prepared.
D just graduated with EECS degree. She had zero coding experience entering college. She did feel behind starting off. However, she commented once that she felt that some more experienced students struggled as the classes went on. She felt she had no bad habits to break.
Edit: She had no coding experience. But did demonstrate some interest in engineering. She attended a 5 day camp for students interested in engineering after junior year.
I’m doing everything that I listed above and more because I really like doing them. It’s not for colleges or for my parents or anyone else.