My daughter is admitted for computer science major to Rose Hulman, Lehigh and Brandeis and trying to decide between them. She likes a mix of biology with computer science in some way and is not so keen in business or other minors. She also prefers a college with more women in computer science. Any thoughts or recommendations?
I honestly don’t know anything about Rose Hulman or Brandeis, but my son is deciding between Gettysburg (STEM Scholars) and Lehigh CSB (or switch to CS.) He wants to be a Software engineer. As you look into Lehigh, look at the RARE program. That might be a good fit for her. It is meant to help underrepresented students in STEM become successful. There seems to be a focus on research in Biology. Pretty sure there are more men than women in CS at Lehigh, though.
@usparent That’s three very different schools. I hope your daughter had a chance to visit each one. It’s easy to find out the percentages of male and females for each college online; however, the overall student population doesn’t usually apply to STEM fields which usually have more males. It may be helpful if your daughter contacts admissions and ask them specifically for the ratio in the computer science department. If admissions can’t help her they will put her in contact with someone who can.
Rose Hulman is trying very hard to get more girls, but this past year, it was somewhere about 20 percent for the 2023 class. CS has about 100% job placement so that’s nice. The college is quite conservative in its values if that’s something you’re looking for. And it’s a little isolated in terms of location-- good for keeping crime low, but could be boring for a big city person.
Another thing I’d check is the number of CS majors. Rose Hulman’s major is growing fast as it is at many other schools and there are some growing pains.
Explorer16, can you elaborate on the “growing pains” in CS in Rose-Holman? My son is considering this and I’d love to know more. Thanks!
Primarily hiring qualified professors fast enough. You can make more money in the field than in teaching so it’s hard to find good people. In the classes mine has been in, he often has a “seasoned” teacher sitting in the back, asking questions if something seems unclear, offering advice, etc. On the job training.
Fast growth oing to be an issue anywhere. Here’s an article about it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/technology/computer-science-courses-college.html