I’m an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. I studied math and econ there for two years (academically did very well). I decided to take a leave of absence from the school because I was unsure of whether I wanted to continue my studies in math and econ, or change them to something else. During my time off, I’ve started learning some programming and now plan to return to school to study computer science.
Finishing the UChicago CS degree would be do-able but tight to finish in two years. I am now also considering applying to transfer to other schools that are maybe have better CS programs - especially public schools where the tuition may be cheaper (so I could maybe take more time to finish the degree) and where I might have a better chance of being admitted given that I haven’t actually ever formally taken a CS course. Some schools that I’m looking into are UMass Amherst, University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of Washington, UIUC, UT Austin, Georgia Tech, ect.
Even though UChicago’s CS isn’t the greatest and is very theoretical, the department is definitely expanding and UChicago itself is a well-regarded school, so it may be worth staying there - but I wonder if I honestly may learn more somewhere else, especially if I have more time. I’m interested in learning more about machine learning and AI in particular and think after I graduate would want to work for a while and later attend graduate school.
Do you guys have any advice on what I should do - if there are any schools I should look at, if I should return to UChicago and just graduate, my chances of being admitted as a transfer student at these schools? Also I want to ask where do you think I will learn the most and/or have the greatest opportunities after graduating? As a girl who didn’t have much exposure to cs or engineering as a high school student, I didn’t really look for schools with great cs/engineering departments when I first applied for college.
Thank you!
You should speak directly with the people at UChicago, and find out just exactly what you would need to do in order to graduate from there with the CS major. Perhaps you could pick up some relevant coursework elsewhere in summer school.
For an OOS student, many public Us will not be any cheaper than UChicago so if money is an issue, you need to communicate with the CS programs at the state Us where you have in-state status. Find out what you would need to do in order to be admitted, and what coursework you would need to take there in order to graduate.
It looks like Chicago has a pretty good CS department with the usual expected offerings, including 6 courses in artificial intelligence and machine learning:
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/computerscience/
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/computerscience/#courseinventory
You would, however, probably need to take the three course introductory sequence (15100-15200-15400 or 16100-16200-15400) in your junior year, then cram 11 more CS courses in your senior year (most more advanced CS courses list 15400 as a prerequisite, although a few may list 15200 or 16200 only).
But most other schools that you could transfer to are somewhat similar in that you would need to take an introductory sequence in your junior year (or sometimes into your senior year, particularly at semester system schools) before cramming the rest of your CS courses in your senior year. Obviously, whether you stay or transfer, you want to make sure that all of your other requirements for graduation are complete before senior year, so that you can fill your senior year with CS courses.
Since you have not taken any CS courses yet, you may want to go through some introductory CS books on your own and do some of the exercises and problems to see if you like the subject:
http://www.htdp.org/ (used in Chicago CS 15100)
http://learnyouahaskell.com/ http://book.realworldhaskell.org/read/ (supplemental for Chicago CS 16100)
http://composingprograms.com/ (used in Berkeley CS 61A)
https://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ (formerly used in MIT 6.001 and Berkeley CS 61A)
Realistically, I do not see a significant advantage in transferring just for a possibly better CS department. It may be worth transferring if there are other reasons to do so (e.g. Chicago is too expensive or otherwise not to your liking). As far as the cost of out-of-state public universities, if you are paying list price at Chicago, the out-of-state public universities may be somewhat cheaper, but if you are substantial financial aid, the out-of-state public universities are likely to be more expensive (check the net price calculators on their web sites).
Not much cheaper… what is your home state?
I am from Massachusetts. If I go to UMass Amherst the tuition for 3 more years of school would be about that of 1 year at UChicago.
Is cost your main motivation for transferring?
https://www.cics.umass.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Academics/BS-CMPSCI-tracking.pptx_.pdf indicates that it will take you two semesters to complete the introductory sequence 121-187 at UMass, and then at least one more semester to take 220, 230, 240, 250 (though they do not recommend taking them all in one semester for some reason). Then, you would still need 8 more CS courses, which would take you at least two more semesters, for a bare minimum of five semesters to complete the degree at UMass (more likely six semesters if you do not want to take 4 CS courses per semester starting in the third semester).
Note that UMass has a ten semester limit to earn the bachelor’s degree. Transfer students start at a count based on the number of transferred credits. If you transfer to UMass, you will probably have a six semester limit if you transfer two years’ worth of course work from Chicago. See http://www.umass.edu/registrar/sites/default/files/academicregs.pdf (section IV.H).
Bad idea based on faulty reasoning that sounds good but has no basis in fact, see your other thread.
Also to add, at brown they have a degree in math-CS and in Econ-CS, if they have any hybrid like that at Chicago then that is sufficient to work in CS and to go to grad school in CS. My dd was math-CS and went to grad school in CS, started in theory but went to AI and machine learning.
Are you thinking of pursuing a graduate degree in CS? If you are open to this, I would encourage you to finish your degree at the University of Chicago, majoring in math, taking lots of courses in CS, finding an advisor in the CS department to guide your course selection and studies, and possibly taking a semester at another school but graduating from the University of Chicago.
CS graduate programs, especially doctoral programs, often love math majors. You need to take some carefully selected CS courses, but do not need to have a CS major to be attractive to many CS graduate programs. If you can’t bear to study any more math, that’s a different matter.
When you compare the costs of alternatives, be careful to consider the full costs, not just tuition (fees at UMass far exceed the official ‘tuition’), but also room and board. More importantly look at the opportunity cost of lost income if transfering delays graduating. Do that and I’m confident that you’ll see that 3 years at UMass is much more exensive than one year at Chicago.
Transfering to another university and completing an bachelors with a CS major there may well take you 3 years. You may be able to complete your bachelors in math with lots of CS courses in two years and Chicago and then complete a masters degree in CS somewhere else in another one or two years. You might find the latter option much more attractive to employers and perhaps to you as well.
I’m delighted to hear of a young woman forging her way in math or especially in CS. They need more diversity. Don’t be shy about asking women or even men to mentor you. There are some steep hurdles, for women even more than for men. You can find allies who would like to help you enter the field.
Also, keep in mind that in another year or two you might find a new passion that eclipses computer science. You do not have to spend your life pursuing what you majored in. Very few people do. Math and/or Econ are wonderful bases to build on that can take you in so many directions. Math is much more useful in CS of course, unless you want to write software for economic applications or better understand the business side of CS.