<p>I'm a current freshman at Tulane, and I realized that I really want to major in computer science... but Tulane doesn't have it! I am so disappointed because I love it here. This wasn't really a spur of the moment decision or else I wouldn't be stressing over this, but it's been sitting in the back of my mind for months and I just can't avoid it anymore. Does anyone know if Tulane students are allowed to take courses at UNO? I know they have computer science and Loyola doesn't... I don't want to transfer but I'm starting to feel I might need to. :(</p>
<p>You’re allowed to take UNO courses, but it’s pretty inconvenient. I’m also not sure if you’d get credit for it, since when I transferred, none of my computer science courses transferred because Tulane doesn’t offer equivalents. If you’re really, really certain about computer science, then transferring is, unfortunately, probably the most sensible option.</p>
<p>I posted a couple of detailed responses about this last year. I can’t look them up right now but you can try to find them. Bottom line: Talk to Dean Altiero before you decide to transfer. It seems to me CS is usually an applied science and thus there might be certain majors that would interest you where you could focus on the CS aspect of it. Be creative! See if Tulane will work with you on this. From my discussions with Dean Altiero, I think they will. There are certainly people at Tulane that are experts in CS within their field. At least worth a try before you leave a place you are enjoying so much.</p>
<p>OK, I found those other threads. Take a look at this one first: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/874441-computing-tulane-without-cs-dept.html?highlight=computer+science[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/874441-computing-tulane-without-cs-dept.html?highlight=computer+science</a></p>
<p>Then in post #2 of that thread you will see a link to the other thread that talks about this as well. Let us know what you think after you have mulled it all over.</p>
<p>I read over the other threads and I emailed Dean Altiero. He forwarded my email to the people in charge of his “task force” for computer science at Tulane, so I’m still waiting to hear back from them. Unfortunately, Tulane and UNO don’t have a partnership like the Loyola one so that’s not an option. 
I’m really hoping that this is something they’ve been working on since those threads in March!</p>
<p>dreamtumbler - Keep us informed, if you would. Things usually move slowly in academia. I continue to think that even without a formal CS degree program you could put together a perfectly excellent program by finding the right profs in an applied area in which you have an interest. Basically a coordinate major type of situation where your degree is in X (economics, finance, ecology, something that Tulane offers) and then working with the right profs you learn the CS in a more applied environment. But let’s see what they say.</p>
<p>dreamtumbler, </p>
<p>If you want to see what is included in a good CS curriculum, see Appendix B in this document, which was put out by the two main computer science and computer engineering professional organizations.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.acm.org//education/curricula/ComputerScience2008.pdf[/url]”>http://www.acm.org//education/curricula/ComputerScience2008.pdf</a></p>
<p>If someone at Tulane tries to talk you into staying, show them appendix B and ask them specifically which courses will cover the listed topics. </p>
<p>Based on what I learned last year when my S was considering Tulane, I think that if you really want to do CS, you should transfer. If you stay at Tulane, your program be cobbled together and incomplete, you’ll lack peers in your main area of interest, and you will be disadvantaged when you start looking for a job–companies are just not going to be recruiting computer scientists at a school that doesn’t even offer the major.</p>
<p>I respectfully differ with motherbear in certain aspects. I could make a strong argument that the focus involved in pursuing this independently can be at least as valuable and lead to at least as strong an academic base as formal classroom instruction, IF (and this is the key) there are indeed sufficient resources at Tulane in terms of profs, grad students, and a general base of knowledge that when you would have questions they would be answered. I believe that is very likely the case based on the research work I see being done at Tulane.</p>
<p>However, there is no question this method of pursuing your goal is not for everyone. But in terms of jobs, again I would argue that CS is generally (not always, I grant you) something that is used in a specific, applied area. I would think you could actually be ahead of the curve if there was an area, say public health, that you had a real interest in where you wanted to apply your CS background. That is the kind of opportunity I was talking about. If that is not the way you think you want to go with this, then motherbear is entirely correct, you would most likely need to go elsewhere. But since you already know you love being at Tulane, this is a way to potentially have your cake and eat it too, as they say.</p>
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<p>dreamtumbler,
If you are going to have to basically home school yourself in computer science, there is no reason to pay tuition to Tulane. Tulane doesn’t have computer scientists around–they have people who use computers in their work, but these people are not going to have the time to you enough private tutoring to make up for the lacking courses, even if they have the knowledge to do so, which is unlikely. </p>
<p>But do your own research. Look at what a CS curriculum entails, and find out how much of it you can get in an organized way at Tulane. </p>
<p>You love Tulane, and you had a great year there, but there are lots of universities where you can have a great experience. Almost certainly, some of them have a great public health department (or whatever) AND a good CS department.</p>
<p>LOL, I think calling it “home schooling” and saying Tulane doesn’t have people highly versed in computer science is a bit simplistic, but it doesn’t do us any good to argue about it. She will find out what she finds out and make a decision that is right for her, I am sure. I was simply pointing out that there are alternatives to a formal CS degree.</p>
<p>fallenchemist,</p>
<p>Who do you think the people are at Tulane that are “highly versed in computer science”? Please name names and tell us how you are evaluating their level of “versedness”. Then dreamtumbler could go talk to them and find out what they are willing to do for her.</p>
<p>You are usually very helpful, but I believe you are giving this student very bad advice.</p>
<p>I am sorry you think so, but what bad advice? I didn’t tell her to stay, I told her to explore. I told her to talk to Dean Altiero and suggested a possible path for her to look into. Dean Altiero himself told me in an e-mail last year about this path and that there were people with these skills. I am sure he or the people to whom he referred her can enlighten her further. If it turns out not to be the case I am sure she will discover that as well.</p>
<p>It seems to me you are the one that is completely overreacting and seems to think there is only one answer to her problem. I am simply suggesting alternative avenues to consider that she may not have otherwise. If you object to that, so be it.</p>
<p>The reason I want to get a CS background is because I wanted to go to grad school for computational linguistics. Linguistics is my main area of interest, but I would like to apply it in the computer industry, and for that I think I need to be know about programming and computers… I think if I could take certain classes at Tulane and maybe Loyola that would contribute to that that maybe I wouldn’t need to leave. I’m looking into it. :)</p>
<p>OK, that is exactly the kind of information I meant. You want to make an appointment to see Prof. Harry Howard. I think his office is in Newcomb Hall, #322-D. I found a course he has taught in the past called Computational Linguistics aka Natural Language Processing. Here is the description:</p>
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<p>Here is a brief excerpt from the page describing Prof Howard:</p>
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He also teaches a course in object oriented programming. I guess this is one person in answer to motherbear’s “challenge”. I have no idea what some of this is, and I am certainly not trying to make Tulane sound like a mecca for this area, although I did already know that Tulane has a pretty strong linguistics department. Clearly it isn’t nearly as strong in the computational area, but I imagine he can provide significant guidance to you as to what is possible at Tulane as well as helping you pick another school if in fact Tulane cannot provide what you want.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh thanks so much! That sounds perfect. :)</p>
<p>I’ve taken the course on object oriented programming. It’s only a TIDES, so the OP can’t actually take it at this point, and it’s basically just playing around with the program ALICE. I had fun, because I already understood enough computer science to make more interesting functions, and was fortunate enough to not have too many technical issues, but most people spent most of their time dealing with bugs and ALICE crashing, and there was basically no actual teaching. Instead, everyone just worked on their own programs in the same room.</p>
<p>However, I can definitely recommend Prof Howard as somebody to talk to who is very, very passionate about the importance of computer science and as a very, very dedicated linguist. If you’re interested in computational linguistics, you’d probably also be interested in his syntax class. It’s a very, very, very difficult class (lots of grad students and upperclassmen majors) but that’s just because the material itself is so hard and often contradictory. However, if you want to be a computational linguist, you’ll find the subject matter incredibly useful.</p>
<p>anechkakith - To clarify, I understood that was just a TIDES class, but my point was he is someone with knowledge in this and other related areas. Thanks for the first hand experience with Dr. Howard. Just in reading his brief bio, he seemed like the kind of person with that kind of passion. He certainly could have gone elsewhere after Katrina, but instead he not only came back but apparently jumped back in with both feet to help. It will be interesting to hear back about what he thinks about the OP’s issue.</p>
<p>FC–Dreamtumbler is a freshman at Tulane. I am wondering if his/her academic advisor was consulted and had no answers for this student. I would find this troubling. It’s wonderful that you are so informed about all matters Tulane, but I would hope these answers would be forthcoming from someone who is paid to know these things. Dreamtumbler–did you inquire? If so, what response did you get?</p>
<p>I didn’t make an assumption about whether or not you thought it was a TIDES course, but simply calling it a course on object oriented programming, to somebody just reading this thread and not necessarily checking things on Tulane’s course schedule, implies that it is a much more useful opportunity for somebody interested in computer science that it really is. In actually taking the course, he made it pretty clear that he does not consider himself qualified to actually teach computer science, and the course is intended more for playing around than it is to give practical experience in programming.</p>
<p>Having talked to him, and hearing him talk to other students in the class, he recommended that those interested in taking actual computer science courses get permission to cross-register with UNO.</p>
<p>^^You’re right, that wouldn’t have been clear to newbies reading this thread. Good catch.</p>