Is studying overseas an option? UK universities, for instance, would allow him just to study math and nothing else.
(He’d need to be taking math and science AP exams to set him up for that, and financial aid would not be an option.)
Guess he won’t like MIT (if it is even realistic to be admitted). MIT requires all students to take four “communication intensive” courses, including two lower level ones in humanities, arts, and social studies (CI-H or CI-HW), and two upper level ones in one’s major (CI-M). See http://web.mit.edu/commreq/ .
Conformist1688: Thanks - I’ve just begun to look into that possibility. Any to recommend - that (a) definitely have no distribution or comp. requirements, (b) are welcoming to US students, and © are known for strong programs in CS?
Leaving the country to avoid freshman writing and a couple of general ed. classes seems a little extreme. Big public universities are going to have some pretty fun and easy options in the social sciences and humanities that actually provide a nice breather to a heavy coursework in the major. I fulfilled a humanities rqmt with the History of Rock & Roll at Penn State (they still offer it).
I have a sophomore who isn’t a very strong writer (actually, I don’t t think he’s ever put any effort into it because he doesn’t like it, especially literary analysis). He’s actually planning to take AP Lang next year because he knows he needs to work on it and is hoping to do well enough to get out of Freshman comp.
KentSlimm: UK universities don’t have gen ed requirements full stop. You apply to study one subject (or occasionally a combination of two, or even more occasionally three), and that’s all you study for your three years.
Most places will welcome US students - St Andrews in Scotland has the biggest reputation for being extra-keen to recruit Americans, but I’d look more widely.
CS isn’t really my area, so I don’t have any specific recommendations. It may be worth posting in the International or Study Abroad sub-forums here to see if anyone has personal experience of CS, or there’s a UK equivalent called The Student Room (google it, we aren’t allowed to link). I suspect he’ll need to look carefully at the specific courses especially if he has any particular interests within the field.
Most University websites have helpful pages for international applicants giving general requirements for admission, but bear in mind that you also need to translate subject-specific requirements into US qualifications.
What are your son’s stats? That will dictate his options.
Here’s one top 10 list: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationpicturegalleries/9601080/Top-10-universities-for-computer-science-and-information-systems.html?frame=2366023
It puts Oxford at the top, and that is very competitive for admissions, as you can see here:
Here’s an overview of the course at Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses-listing/computer-science?wssl=1
However, it may involve a bit too much writing to suit your son, which underlines my point about carefully reviewing all the courses he’s considering applying for. The UCAS application system only allows you to apply to 5, so you need to select carefully.
Waterloo in Canada is excellent for CS and wouldn’t require freshman writing, although some non-cs /non math classes are required.
Look at UBC, York, UToronto, Dalhousie, Lethridge, Simon Fraser…
CONFORMIST1688: This is helpful. Many thanks. Will investigate St Andrews & other UK universities.
MYOS1634: Thanks. I’ve spent some time talking to folks at Waterloo and UToronto, and both have “breadth” as well as communication course requirements. But I’ll look into York and some of the other possibilities beyond Ontario.
Who’s going to fill out the application? As others asked, how’s he even getting through high school? Maybe you should be looking at tech institutes, not traditional colleges.
^^This.
I think student should spend some time learning to write. I wouldn’t think many CS (and other science) majors would allow you to totally avoid writing. Communication skills are needed in any major. Majors at many schools include senior capstone projects or research that are naturally going to require the ability to write up results at the very least. Instead maybe look for school that helps develop writers. Some colleges require freshmen to take writing drafts to tutoring center, etc.
If it is more of interest thing, lots of humanities requirements can be met with courses that focus on science (history of technology, writing sections on science topics, etc.).
My daughter’s dyslexic, dyscalculic, and dysgraphic. We aren’t giving her the option of going to a college where she can avoid any one of those topics because she won’t have that luxury in the workforce. If you can find resources to help your son learn to write, I’d take them. My son is a comp sci major at a state school and his professors were happy to learn he has awards for his writing. They seem to think it’s a valuable skill for their field.
^This. I wouldn’t recommend that a student who struggles with writing try to avoid classes that will help him improve that writing. That is exactly the opposite of what he should do - he should seek out opportunities to improve his writing skills and get feedback so he can get better. College isn’t about avoiding hard things.
I’m sure that respondents to my original question were just trying to be helpful when they announced that being able to write is important in life (as if that’s something that hadn’t occurred to me) or that the student should receive support and instruction to try to help him overcome his disability (as if variations of that hadn’t been tried exhaustively over the last decade). We are not talking here about the usual range of learning challenges that can be overcome with a little more perseverance or tutoring. We are talking about a kid with remarkable math and computer skills who cannot produce a paragraph of prose if his life depended on it. Presumably if he was unable to digest many common foods and I asked for examples of colleges that didn’t require freshmen to be on a standard meal plan, no one would respond “Well, when he graduates, he’s going to need to deal with all kinds of food” or “MY kid got over her aversion to broccoli. Tell yours to just go to the dining hall and deal with it.”
To those of you who responded to the question I asked by suggesting universities without distribution requirements: Thank you.
Wrt Waterloo, they’re used to the specific subset of very gifted math/CS students who aren’t interested in much else. I understand your son isn’t “not interested” but “unable”, but the situation at Waterloo means their requirements are adapted to their subset and it should be easy to find classes with all multiple-choice tests in a non-CS/non math class or interesting topics that’d accomodate his needs. My assumption here is that he can read/understand fine, but can’t express his thoughts in a written paragraph.
UBC doesn’t seem to require much in Humanities from its STEM majors.
Less certain: Acadia, Lethbridge, Trent, Wilfried Laurier, Simon Fraser ; UOIT?; Bishop’s and Concordia should both have no general education requirements although they may have “correlate” subjects.
Truly the most specialized universities will be British, although Scottish and Irish universities will be somewhat more general but only in the sense they may require a related subject to CS vs. CS-only.
He’ll need a 5 on Calculus BC or community college calculus + two other subjects with a 5 (AP CS A not necessary but can be helpful)
Look into Imperial, St Andrews, Durham, Edimburgh, Bristol, Warwick, Glasgow, Queen’s Belfast, Cardiff (all UCAS, pick one from the last 2 for a “safety”).
CAO: Trinity Dublin (any “level 7” or “level 8” program in CS would also work).
If it is truly impossible for him to learn how to write even a paragraph, CS or math assignments similar to this one will likely be a barrier for him to complete the course and degree, since they will involve writing proofs and explanations:
http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs170/fa14/hws/hw1.pdf
I don’t know what the “usual range of learning challenges” is. We don’t have that here. Those “remarkable math and computer skills” your son has – those are a challenge for my daughter to acquire. Her difficulty with math is compounded by her reading difficulties. Add a writing disorder and it’s a trifecta that touches nearly everything she does. She is a bright kid, but there is no just “getting over it.” However, if you think your son has gone as far as he can go, he probably has. In that case, I’d encourage him to pursue a tech school or one of those on MYOS1634’s list. If you’re full pay, your son probably has a lot of options.
While my son doesn’t have the same challenge, he does share the same preference. Brown and Oxford are his two top choices (he received a maths & comp sci offer from Oxford in January).