@VaporeonKid
re: Harvey Mudd: you do realize they have a core curriculum which all students must take which includes chemistry and biology? https://www.hmc.edu/academics/common-core-curriculum/
@Springbird Yes, I mentioned in post #67 about the pros & cons of Mudd vs. MIT/RPI/Caltech to me. This is primarily a reason why Mudd, although a choice for me, isn’t my ultimate first choice.
“The one exception is Harvey Mudd, which is high on the list, for a few reasons: HMC is a lot less selective than Caltech/MIT, the very deliberate undergrad focus (which is present at Caltech too, just not to the same extent), and the presence of the Claremont Colleges (also present at MIT w/ Harvard). Do you think these reasons are valid, or would you argue that Caltech and MIT warrant a second look?”
As others have said, go with fit and if you don’t see yourself comfortable at Cal Tech or MIT then don’t apply. You have a solid list from this thread, I’d pursue those.
I agree. If you don’t have a decided calling for these particular schools, then some of the other colleges mentioned will serve equally well for your academic interests. Btw, although Caltech’s undergraduate enrollment is much smaller than essentially all of its university peers, I would not say they have an undergraduate focus in the way that an LAC or, perhaps, Princeton might.
@Alexandre with respect to your comments on CMU: here are the 2017-2018 admission statistics https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics. As you can see, admission rate for Mellon College of Science, where a math major is located, was 16%, and for School of Computer Science, it was 7%. Also, there are indeed Gen Ed requirements, as can be seen here http://coursecatalog.web.cmu.edu/melloncollegeofscience/#generaleducationrequirementstext . Perhaps not as time consuming as other schools, but existent nonetheless. (DS is a 2017 graduate of SCS with a math minor. I have to say that I find your characterization of CMU as “pretty good” with respect to math and computer science, startling and inaccurate.)
OP, I believe CMU is already on your list? It certainly checks all your boxes: medium-small, location (while the school is in Pittsburgh, the surrounding neighborhood is residential with a few streets of shopping and a huge park), great math and CS, focus on undergraduate education, and quirky/nerdy student body.
@JZMOM2 You are right, CMU is already on my list; albeit as a reach and not a match—I’ll most likely be applying to MCS and add on an additional CS major from the SCS. Might be doing it the other way around though, if I feel confident enough.
Imho, OP should exclude LAC’s if she is serious about CS. Look for mid-smaller size universities like Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, , Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lehigh, Bucknell and etc. Also don’t worry about class size. You will have some very big classes in freshman year, especially intro classes to economics and programming, but class size will be smaller from second year onwards. Also, small class sizes are more important for humanities, in CS and engineering you won’t have time to discuss anything anyway )).
@Aymyrat, Harvey Mudd is one example of an LAC with an excellent CS program - there are many others. Here’s a link to a great article about the program at Harvey Mudd http://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-mudd-college-curriculum-computer-science-2017-3
This was the subject of a 150 post (and counting) thread during the summer. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer on this:
@Chembiodad, well, yeah, Harvey Mudd is a different school, but I doubt there are many other LAC’s with excellent CS program.
@Aymyrat: You can compare CS course offerings across a range of colleges below, including those representative of schools you recommended:
If you read through, you will find that several LACs appear to outperform larger schools such as WUStL, for example.
Absolutely agree @circuitrider , CS at CMU, Harvey Mudd and University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign are going to provide very different learning and social environments while all having excellent CS programs.
@circuitrider, if people can’t come to agreement, it doesn’t mean there is no right answer. I agree with other people in that thread who are in industry and say that research universities are better for CS. There might be some exceptions like HMC, but the general rule still applies.
@merc81, I don’t much about WUStl, but if you look at the list, most tech universities have most of the classes every semester/every year. Also, research universities provide deeper and broader selection of classes, they can have several different including graduate classes on AI, HW or AC but they are not reflected there.
@Aymyrat : Fair enough, but you did include Bucknell among your own recommendations, which does not do as well (by the linked analysis) as some smaller colleges.
A little further into the thread you’ll find some disagreement even among industry experts @simba9 , for example:
My own take is that university (as opposed to LAC) CS departments are nearly always tethered to their engineering schools which usually means more prerequisites and less flexibility in your schedule. For someone who just wants a job in the industry, it would be like ordering a five course meal because you like meat and potatoes.
In addition to the debate of research university vs LAC for CS, there are many that believe a liberal arts focus will be important as more tasks become automated https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/21/these-college-majors-are-the-most-robot-resistant.html
Does it help if I clarify that my main undergraduate focus will be math, instead of CS? I’d want to go to grad school eventually in some form of theoretical CS field, but I’m not into the idea of going to work in tech immediately after undergrad (if I can help it).
@VaporeonKid , well that changes things a lot. LAC’s are definitely fine for math.
@Aymyrat I thought so. I’ll probably be doing a good amount of CS classes for employability and out of secondary interest, honestly, so I’m looking at schools with decent programs in both (though it’s fine if one department is stronger than the other, as is the case for most LACs).
Since my goal (right now) is to take a decent number of grad courses in junior/senior year (particularly in math) of college, do you think that eliminates most schools without a consortium-type program involving a larger university?