I am a sophomore in high school and am starting to set my eye on some colleges.
I was having trouble finding colleges that meet my criteria. I would most likely want to major in computer science as it offers the best chances for employment, but I am also very interested in mathematics and foreign languages, specifically French and German, which I hope to achieve fluency in.
Based on my PSAT, I should get around a 2250 on the SAT, and my extracurriculars are very strong, so there aren’t really too many colleges out of my picture.
Are there any schools with very strong programs in both computer science and foreign languages? (it seems like pretty much any college has a decent math program, so I’m not worried about that). It would be great if they had intensive language courses and a good selection of study abroad programs.
So far, Swarthmore is at the top of my list. I would prefer a school that medium to small-sized (<10,000 students) and situated near the West Coast, East Coast, or Midwest.
French and German are among the more useful languages for PhD study in math. They are also reasonably commonly offered at colleges, though can check college catalogs for offerings (particularly in more advanced literature offerings if you are interested in that).
However, not only does it matter what level of math you will complete in high school, but it also matters what level of French and German you will complete in high school, in terms of being able to fit everything into your eight semesters of college.
Actually, it depends. At the junior/senior level, the selection of math courses can vary significantly between different colleges. Some have a pre-PhD emphasis on pure math, some have applied emphasis on one or more topics (e.g. operations research, economics/finance, statistics, computing, etc.), and some have emphasis on preparing students to become high school math teachers (larger math departments may offer sufficient course work for many of these options).
But note that many popular colleges for CS are capacity-limited in their CS majors, so pay attention to whether you have to apply to your major during frosh applications, and/or whether you need to earn a high GPA or compete for admission later if you do not get admitted to the CS major as a frosh. Some examples can be found here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19262574/#Comment_19262574
Harvey Mudd - you can take foreign language classes with the other Claremont colleges (Pomona, etc.)
CMU - arguably the best CS program in the country; has French & German as well
In terms of smaller colleges with firmly established computer science programs, professors from these schools appear to be among the first to have actively designed a model CS curriculum for liberal arts colleges:
Hamilton
Swarthmore
Williams
Grinnell
Allegheny
Vassar
Washington & Lee
Colgate
Denison
Amherst
Bowdoin
(Information from the Liberal Arts Computer Science consortium.)
I will take Calc BC in junior year. My senior year I will take a post-AP class at my high school which covers a mix of higher math.
I will take 4 years of French in high school. I do not take German formally. I learn via Duolingo, podcasts, and speaking with my friend who is from Germany and who inspired me to learn it. I’m not sure how far I will get in German by the end of high school, but I know I will at least have the equivalent of two high school years.
East Coast does not include the Southeast.
I’m concerned that schools that only offer a BS in CS will have too many graduation requirements in Chemistry and Physics, and that I won’t be able to take many language courses as electives.
I would also like to take at least one course in linguistics as an undergraduate. Computational linguistics seems interesting as a subject to me, but it seems that programs in it aren’t offered until graduate school.
Schools such as Grinnell, Smith, Hamilton, Amherst and Brown have open curricula that allow for more independent course selection. The University of Rochester offers ample flexibility as well.
Linguistics courses are frequently available in sufficient breadth that they can constitute at least a minor at many colleges. Computational linguistics, however, is a fairly rare offering.
Will it cover the usual sophomore level math (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations), or some other selection of topics? However, even if it does cover the usual sophomore level math, you may have some difficulty getting credit if it is not offered through a college. Some math departments may allow subject credit by exam, though (check web sites). When you get to that point, you may want to look up old exams for these courses at colleges to check your knowledge (e.g. https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/archives/exams , where 1A and 1B are calculus, 53 and 54 are the usual sophomore level math courses, and 55 is a discrete math course).
If you do learn the sophomore level math before high school graduation, then be aware that the junior and senior (and graduate) level math courses will include heavily proof-oriented ones. Some math departments have an introduction to proofs type of course, or include it in some other course like discrete math that may be taken before the junior and senior level courses. If you are that advanced and are considering going on the PhD study in math, consider a school whose math department has a graduate program for appropriate level courses and research opportunities.
A year of high school may be equivalent to a semester or less of college foreign language, though variations between high schools and colleges make that comparison less reliable. You may want to try old released AP exams in French and German to compare your ability to known standards: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_information/4559.html http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_information/4556.html
A 5 on these AP exams is probably equivalent to placement into the fourth semester course in the language (with lower placement for lower scores), although colleges may vary.
Look up what the actual graduation requirements for the CS major are, not whether the degree title is BS or BA.
Re: linguistics
Linguistics is a somewhat less common department and major, although a few linguistics courses may be offered in other departments at schools which do not have a standalone linguistics department. You may have to go through course catalogs to find out.
“I’m concerned that schools that only offer a BS in CS will have too many graduation requirements in Chemistry and Physics, and that I won’t be able to take many language courses as electives.”
This shouldn’t be a problem. You should be able to earn a minor in a foreign language at pretty much any school offering a CS program even a very intense one like CMU. CMU even offers CS as a secondary major for those who have another major (if you really want to study hard). http://coursecatalog.web.cmu.edu/schoolofcomputerscience/
Yes, Swarthmore immediately came to mind because their CS, engineering and math departments are considered the equal of a lot of larger universities but in a smaller package. From the other direction, Middlebury might be a good school to look at, as their language programs are considered the top of the heap. I don’t know anything about Middlebury’s CS or math departments, but might be worth a look. Honestly, the best CS programs are going to be at larger universities like Berkeley, Michigan, Harvard, Stanford; and jobs are going to be easier to get from those places. Big employers tend to go to the larger schools with engineering programs because that’s where they can get the biggest bang for their buck. Not that you can’t find a job with Google or facebook etc. from an LAC, but you have to do more of the legwork, but there’s less competition too. With your scores and potential, I would look at places like Tufts, Dartmouth Wesleyan or Chicago; they fit your size guidelines. Oberlin has a great reputation in math and sciences, and is similar to Swarthmore…
Your CS degree is more likely to provide career opportunities than your degree in French. So my advice would be to focus on schools that are strong in CS, where you can also take the language courses that interest you and do a study abroad in France (or Germany – though honestly, as someone who is fluent in several languages, I can tell you that if you want to achieve fluency, you should pick one or the other to focus on at this stage; if you’re going to do four years of French in HS, I’d say continue with that), rather than focusing on a school that has a great foreign languages program or even trying to find one that is half-way between the two.
Regarding languages, look for schools that offer at least through what is generally considered “fifth-semester” instruction. An upper-level course in translation should be available as well.
^ I agree with the 5th semester (advanced) instruction. However, I wouldn’t say a course in translation (which are not so common) is necessary unless you actually plan to become a translator/interpreter. Of course this is based on the understanding that you want to learn CompSci while also becoming fluent in French or German. If on the other hand, you want to build a career on foreign language(s), then minimize CS (do a minor and pick up some programming) and try get into Middlebury if you can (and then a masters at the Monterrey Institute). These are two somewhat different paths.
Along those lines, though, a course in translation is usually required for even a minor in a given language, and its availability may therefore offer some indication of a school’s commitment to the language.
willw, why are you targeting small colleges/universities? Is it because you want smaller classes or is it because large universities intimidate you? Keep in mind that Mathematics and Foreign Language classes will typically be tiny, regardless of the size of the university.
Carnegie Mellon’s CS department requires a minor so it should be easy to fit in languages or linguistics. If German is a specific interest check the department offerings. If you are just interested in learning the basics you are probably fine most places, but departments can get small fast. Last time I checked (probably a few years ago) Harvard only had 5 people graduating with a German major. However since they also have grad students they still can offer quite a few courses beyond the beginning courses.
Obviously Stanford, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, etc. would be great for CS and foreign language, but they’re not realistic options for the OP in my opinion because you’ll be going up against all the folks with 1600 SATs and prior programming experience. Stanford and CMU CS have 5% acceptance rates. But if we’re adding longshots, I’d also say MIT is purported to have very good foreign language departments.