Looking at Swarthmore’s CS courses at http://www.trico.haverford.edu/cgi-bin/courseguide/cgi-bin/search.cgi , we see Swarthmore has chosen to allow CS courses’ class size to grow:
CPSC 021: 26-32 enrolled, breaking the 25 limit in each of 4 sections
CPSC 031: 54 enrolled, breaking the 25 limit
CPSC 035: 62 enrolled, breaking the 20 limit
CPSC 043: 51 enrolled, breaking the 25 limit
@intparent can probably comment on the HMC CS situation. I believe Intro to Comp Sci is part of the Core Curriculum and required of all HMC students, which is presumably why the class is so large.
Yes, that is one reason. Also, I think the most common course for other 5C students to take at Mudd is the intro comp sci course. Although they now have a separate section for those students, it still draws off department resources. My kid was a CS major until she recently switched to physics. She didn’t complain about the CS class sizes, she always seemed to get the help she needed in office hours, regularly scheduled tutoring sessions, etc. She was in the “main” group, no prior CS experience.
She also has done 2 summers of CS research with a CS prof (starting summer after freshman year). Her team is presenting at a CS conference next month, and she is working with the CS prof on a paper. She has been very happy with her CS experience; she is actually completing an option in the physics major to combine it with some high level CS classes.
@ucbalumnus - where do you see evidence of adjuncts and TA-taught classes?
Most of the discussion above is irrelevant: OP is an international student with high financial need, ie., who needs a full ride or at least a full tuition scholarship (OP, please specify if you need a full ride or full tuition and what your parents can afford per year). For these students, the choices are few:
1° apply REA/SCEA/ED to one of the six “need blind/meet full need” colleges. The competition is incredible since, literally, the entire world’s top students with high financial need apply there and selection depends on incredible essays AND national-level/international-level ECs. Because Amherst isn’t as well-known in India, China, and Korea as the others, international-level applicants may have a better shot there, ie., 1 in 20.
2° apply before December 1st to colleges that offer full rides, including Berea which needs all materials to be sent in an envelope by that date to guarantee reception in a timely manner (all official documents need to be photocopied, notarized AND certified/stamped by the school). Check out their CS offerings. Few automatic full ride colleges will fulfill the needs of a student currently doing Further Maths, but Howard would be a good possibility. Competitive full ride colleges are also to be considered and applied to.
3° apply to liberal arts colleges, which are historically the most generous toward these students. Most LACs will only admit 2-3 students with such high need per year, so internationals who need a lot of money have to apply very widely.
Since OP is doing ALevel Further Math, one of the most advanced national math curricula on the planet but no prodigy-level, there should be plenty of colleges where s/he could apply. The Midwest and South should be good possibilities.
OP, from which region of the world are you from?
What’s your parents’ budget - can they afford more than $25,000 a year? Then you have more choices. If they aren’t afford much more than your plane ticket, clothes, books, and health insurance, or about $5-6,000, then choices are few.
^Ah, I missed that. Mudd probably wouldn’t give the needed FA. A few internationals get it, but don’t see that happening for the OP.
Did not say that LACs specifically did that (although adjuncts are probably more common everywhere than most want to admit); just saying that all schools (LAC or otherwise) have to make a choice between adding adjuncts or TAs, increasing class sizes, or denying access to classes, when faced with a large increase in interest in a subject (as is the case for CS lately).
It does appear that increasing class sizes is a common solution, both at LACs and research universities (the latter do tend to hire additional TAs in order to add additional discussions or labs to supplement the main lecture by the faculty member).
But some schools apparently make up reasons to deny access to classes to interested students who meet the originally stated prerequisites, as described in http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1556885-no-calc-101-for-you-p1.html . Unfortunately, the OP of that thread never named the school.
Interesting Slate article on the prevalence of adjuncts at RUs versus SLACs: