<p>People often cite the College's Core as a major attraction of Columbia. Does that also go for SEAS' different Core? Can anyone tell me about it--if engineering student enjoy it, if engineering students who have a lot of interest in the humanities as well will be disappointed by the reduced number of humanities courses, etc?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>u can ultimately take as many humanities courses as u want if you are interrested in it....core classes even, though u will be getting a good taste of them.</p>
<p>Nope, SEAS students have an almost completely different requirement, which consists partly of the College's Core Curriculum. Additionally, the SEAS "core" is referred to as "tech" and "nontech" requirements.</p>
<p>2 semesters of physics (3 for some majors, possibly even lab)
4 semesters of calculus (plus higher math for some, but you can obviously place out of some calc)
1 semester of chem (2, and even lab, for some)
1 semester of computer science (some are exempt from this)
1 semeseter of Gateway labs (not as appealing as it sounds in the viewbook... most people end up hating it)
2 semesters of Lit Hum or CC or Major Cultures (this is the Core)
1 semester of University Writing (more Core)
1 semester of either Art or Music Hum (even more Core)
1 semester of Principles of Economics (or higher-level econ)
+some others which are specific to the engineering major.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Hm ya I found the specific requirements on the website, but I was just wondering if engineering students appreciate it or would like more Core, etc. What is the "Nope" answering?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>just to comment on an original question in the first post, remember that there are less humanities courses for a reason</p>
<p>all SEAS programs (right, all?) are ABET accredited and the ABET is really particular about making sure you spend 4 years in pretty heavy work</p>
<p>also, you asked if the core is a cited reason to go to SEAS...I cant speak for everyone, but for me, definately. I chose Col. over cornell, carnegie-mellon and others specifically because of the course work.</p>
<p>
[quote]
all SEAS programs (right, all?) are ABET accredited
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, some aren't. I don't think there's ABET for every single one of them. And some newer departments (Biomedical) haven't satisfied ABET yet.</p>
<p>I see. I just went to the ABET website, and under Columbia I don't see Computer Science (my major) as an accredited program. Is this a problem? Does this mean Columbia's CS program is not very good? Under Berkeley (my other option), Computer Science and Engineering BS is accredited, but I don't see pure CS. Or is it that CS doesn't count as engineering so can't be found on ABET?</p>
<p>A big potential deterrent to my choosing Columbia over Penn and Berkeley is the strength of its undergraduate CS, that's why I'm asking. I'm not sure if it's very good; whereas the quality and reputation of Berkeley's CS is guaranteed. Can anyone tell me about Columbia's undergrad CS?</p>
<p>Sorry I'm asking another separate question. Any info helps. Thank you!</p>
<p>I'm not sure about the objective quality of Columbia's CS dept, but I do know that they have specializations within the major, i.e. Computer vision and Artificial Intelligence.</p>
<p>The "nope" was the answer to the tacitly asked question "are the SEAS and College cores the same?"</p>
<p>I knew CC and SEAS have different Cores. I was just wondering if SEAS' Core is as highly valued and as big a source of attraction as CC's. But I guess Skraylor already answered that it was for him personally.</p>
<p>The engineering curriculum at SEAS is pretty standard for respectable engineering programs: you take some physics, some math, some chem, some lab. While it's nothing to sneeze at, when people refer to Columbia's "Core," they're mainly talking about the College. That is not to say anything negative about SEAS, but rather that the Core is what makes the College what it is for the most part; the tech and nontech requirements at SEAS, not so much.</p>
<p>I see. Thank you.</p>