UW Computer Science & Engineering Department Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
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<p>@phruitpie Let me answer some of your questions before going into the list I posted earlier. </p>

<p>Prereqs aren’t taken into account for DA. In fact, a number of DA students every year have never had any programming experience before coming to UW. For CSE 143, you’ll have to talk to the advisors about waiving it if you plan on using other coursework as a substitute. You can see the course information here: <a href=“CSE143: Computer Programming II”>http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse143/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Click on one of the listings on the left side to see a specific quarter. The coursework and homework assignments are generally the same from quarter to quarter, though. Check out the calendar, homework assignments, and syllabus. It <em>is</em> recommended that you take CSE 143 at UW since the admissions committee has a better idea of how your GPA there stacks up compared to other students.</p>

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<p>@NinRash @speedsolver Thanks for the replies!!</p>

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<p>@speedsolver</p>

<p>My goal is to become a research mathematician, but I applied for computer science direct admission with the idea that I could have an employable second major in case I can’t get a job in academia*. I am a senior in high school but I am in the 13x sequence at UW as a non-matriculated student. Since I will already be halfway through the math major upon entering UW I plan to take as many graduate-level math classes as possible. Could you comment on the workload required for a high gpa (or perhaps just general success) in the computer science major, and the general feasibility of attaining perfect or near perfect grades in math whilst being successful in the computer science major?</p>

<p>I am not one of those gpa-freaks, I just want to do my best at everything I major in. Also, it may be helpful when assessing my theoretical workload to know that I got a 4.0 in math 134 and a 3.8 in 135 (which I am very disappointed about and don’t think is reflective of my abilities).</p>

<p>*I feel like I should also add that computer science seems really interesting, although I have not taken a formal class in it yet. I am especially interested in how to apply combinatorics to the field as combinatorics is one of my favorite areas of math.</p>

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<p>@speedsolver</p>

<p>My son’s been offered a place for Pre-Engineering even though he wanted Computer Engineering.</p>

<p>He’s an international student currently studying GCE “A” Levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Economics, and will get his results for these in August.</p>

<p>If he doesn’t get DA’d into Computer Engineering in April, will he be able to be DA’d after enrolling if he does well in his “A” Levels? He will have his results by the time classes start, and most of his “A” Levels subjects are engineering relevant.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>@phruitpie
Still working on answers to those questions; there’s a lot to say! =) I’ve been out and about the past few days, but I’ll probably post it tonight. </p>

<p>@NWskier:
I have kind of a non-answer for you, since a lot of GPA/success depends on you! We have a handful of cs/math majors graduate every year! I don’t know a lot about the math program, so I can’t speak much for that. It’s kind of hard to predict GPA just based on 134/135. </p>

<p>Success in the computer science major is pretty subjective. If you’re talking about GPA alone, it mostly depends on the classes you’re taking and how much you enjoy the material. For example, someone might do really well in Compilers, but not do well in HCI. Other people will excel at HCI but struggle a LOT in Compilers. There are people with near perfect GPAs in CSE who take different tracks: systems, HCI, theory (algorithms), or a mix of them.</p>

<p>Note that a high GPA doesn’t guarantee a job in the tech industry, though is important for grad school. You should leave time for personal projects, research, TAing, or something that would stand out on your resume. If you’re interested in grad school, you should definitely do research. Taking all that into account, you may be able to gauge how much time you have left for studies. </p>

<p>@izinger:
Hi! I don’t think any DA decisions will be made or altered through the summer, although the advisors would probably have a better answer for you there. </p>

<p>On a side note, if the “A” Levels transfers over as credits at UW, your son could apply for admissions to CSE ahead of his peers if they fulfill any of the prerequisite courses. Some people try to cram all of the prereqs during the first two quarters of UW to make it to the Spring admissions cycle, but then don’t end up doing well in one or another class.</p>

<p>(Disclaimer: I’m not familiar with “A” Levels")</p>

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<p>It’s probably easier if I post for each question as I get to them. I’m totally not doing these in order, heh. =)</p>

<p>What companies recruit here?
UW CSE has an Industry Affiliates program, where companies pay a set amount of money for a partnership with the CSE program. One of the benefits is direct recruiting opportunities to the CSE students. You can learn more about the program here: <a href=“Industry Affiliates | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/industrial_affiliates/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You can see the list of current Affiliates here: <a href=“Current Affiliate Members | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/industrial_affiliates/current/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>UW CSE hosts two Affiliates career/recruiting fairs: one in the Fall and one in the Winter. They span over two days; Tuesdays usually highlight startups while Thursdays are intended for larger/established companies.</p>

<p>As a CSE student, you have access to these career fairs. UW (in general) also hosts career fairs by different groups, including (but not limited to) Science and Engineering, Women in Engineering, and minorities. However, non-CSE students do not have access to CSE only career fairs. </p>

<p>Some companies that recruit engineering students at non-CSE career fairs include (but not limited to): Tesla, Snapchat, Zappos, and Quora. </p>

<p>How do they treat the students?
In my experience, the recruiters treat us very well. They’re representing their company, after all. Some recruiters are more personal with the students, but these ‘better’ recruiters are also employed by some of the more competitive companies. Word gets around really quickly among students (and even to different schools!), so it’s honestly in the recruiters’ best interests to keep students happy. </p>

<p>Once in a while, you’ll run into a recruiter that seems really unprofessional, but you’ll probably get that experience at least once no matter what school you go to. (It’s good learning experience to learn how to deal with difficult people, if you want to spin it that way!) </p>

<p>There’s also a recruiting policy for the Affiliates program that you can find here: <a href=“Allen School Recruiting Policy for Employers | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/industrial_affiliates/recruiting_policy/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Scholarship opportunities?
There’s a number of scholarships you can apply for.</p>

<p>CSE: <a href=“Scholarships & Awards | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>https://www.cs.washington.edu/students/ugrad/departmental_scholarships&lt;/a&gt;
Department of Engineering: <a href=“Tuition and scholarships | UW College of Engineering”>http://www.engr.washington.edu/curr_students/scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
Honors Program: <a href=“http://depts.washington.edu/uwhonors/scholarships/current/”>http://depts.washington.edu/uwhonors/scholarships/current/&lt;/a&gt;
UW FAFSA or Academic Scholarships: <a href=“Student Financial Aid”>Student Financial Aid;

<p>There’s also a lot of tech/computer science/STEM/engineering related scholarships out there. These include scholarships sponsored by companies or by different organizations. The scholarships are a mix of financial need based or by academic/merit factors.</p>

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<p>Where do most of the UW CSE students go after graduation?
Joke answer: We go to sleep. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Actual answer: UW CSE’s students are very diverse, so there isn’t a straight answer as to where “most” of the students go after graduating. </p>

<p>Approximately a third of the graduates head to one of the big 3: Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. The rest are split somewhat between other established companies, startups, or graduate school/academia. One of our graduates worked with Obama’s team to analyze data to see how they should optimize their campaigning resources. </p>

<p>We have an increasing number of students branch out to startups, whether as an early employee or as a founder (e.g. SiftScience). We have a history of more conservative students that go to large companies, although we’re actively promoting the startup scene and letting students know that this is an option. One reason why students are typically more conservative is because we have a number of international students who need to get a stable job that provides a work visa/green card to stay in the United States.</p>

<p>A number of students will go pursue a masters or PhD degree. We also have a 5th year BS/MS program where you can finish both your BS and Master’s degree in 5 years. You can find more information about that here: <a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/students/bsms/”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/students/bsms/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Since we have such a diverse culture, there isn’t any pressure to follow a certain career path after graduation. Nobody looks down at you for not starting a company by the time you’re a sophomore in college. Everyone’s career paths are celebrated; you’re only judged if you don’t take advantage of <em>any</em> resources here, then complain about it (see: entitlement). I’ve only know of 2 people who expected to be spoon fed their careers though, and these type of people will exist at any school.</p>

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<p>@ speedsolver</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your answers.</p>

<p>GCE “A” Levels is a British course that is perhaps equivalent to most of a freshman year in the US; students spend up to 2 years on the course after Year 11 in high school.</p>

<p>My daughter was in the College of Science and Engineering at UMN-Twin Cities, and they allowed her to transfer about 20 credits from her “A” Levels, but it may be different at U-Dub.</p>

<p>From your answer, it seems that my son may be able to gain DA in the Spring, but that is subject to his “A” Levels grades as well as the benevolence of the CSE Admissions Office.</p>

<p>My son desperately wants to study either Computer Science or Computer Engineering, but U-Dub’s offer doesn’t guarantee that he will get to do so. As such, we’ll be waiting for other offers to see if any of them can give him DA into CS or CE before making a decision. </p>

<p>We’re waiting on UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UIUC and GaTech, and I’m running out of fingernails!</p>

<p>His SAT’s came in at 2100, and he’s forecasted A’s in all his “A” Levels. What do you think his chances are of being DA’d into CS or CE?</p>

<p>Thanks again for your help.</p>

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<p>@speedsolver No hurry over here. Take your time!! :)</p>

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<p>What are the required courses for a CS/CE degree? What electives are there? How much choice do I have when deciding on classes?
There are slightly different degree requirements for CS and CE degrees, although the fundamentals are the same.</p>

<p>You can find all of the courses and elective listings here:
General information: <a href=“Degree Requirements | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>https://www.cs.washington.edu/students/ugrad/degree_requirements/&lt;/a&gt;
Course offerings: <a href=“https://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses”>https://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Basically, after a set of required courses (e.g. Fundamentals I&II, data abstractions), you have a choice of what type of classes you want to take. Some classes, like Systems, open up different upper division courses (e.g. Operating Systems, Networks) because they’re prerequisites. </p>

<p>CE students take more physics and there’s at least an electrical engineering classes that are required. CE students are also required to take a capstone. CS students can choose between a capstone and another upper division course.</p>

<p>We don’t have official “specializations”, but we have the flexibility of classes to take. There are also a number of seminars run by the faculty, which span anything from computational biology to networks to intellectual property law. If you’re interested in more design/UX type courses, you can take some INFO/HCDE/DESIGN courses in lieu of 400-level CSE classes. There’s a list online, but the advisors need to update that because INFO/HCDE recently redid part of their curriculum. </p>

<p>I personally took courses like databases, HCI, systems, networks, and computational biology. I also took a number of seminars, including a few research seminars. </p>

<p>I don’t think I do our vast course offerings enough justice here, so feel free to ask me more specific questions about courses if you want! </p>

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<p>What are the CSE professors here famous for?
You can see a list of our faculty here: <a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/people/faculty/”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/people/faculty/&lt;/a&gt;
We also have a variety of research labs. More info: <a href=“Research & Innovation | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’m trying to pinpoint only a few specific areas of computer science that we’re strong at, but I honestly can’t rank one field above another. Going off of the research link, I can think of at least one or two professors (+PhD students) that I know who excel in their respective fields. Many submit award winning papers and are known worldwide. Every year, we’re able to recruit several great professors and researchers. We usually have to compete with industry offers and schools like MIT, Stanford, CMU, and Waterloo for these faculty members. </p>

<p>A list of fields include:
Artificial Intelligence
Big Data
Computational & Synthetic Biology
Computer Architecture
Computer Graphics, Vision, Animation, and Game Science
Computing for Development
Data Management
Human Computer Interaction
Machine Learning
Programming Languages and Software Engineering
Robotics
Security and Privacy
Sensor Systems
Systems and Networking
Theory of Computation
Ubiquitous Computing</p>

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<p>What type of research can I do here? How easy is it to get a research position?
See my previous answer for a list of most of our research labs. You can join any of those research labs! (…though some are a bit harder than others) You can also do research for other departments, like biology. Having that CSE background is extremely valuable in all fields. For example, my friend, who is a biochem/cs double major, spends his time dealing with proteins. </p>

<p>Many of the research groups look for research assistants/students who are freshmen or sophomores. It usually takes about a quarter (10 weeks) to ramp up a student. Then, they try to retain the students for as long as possible. </p>

<p>Some research labs require some knowledge (either self-taught or take related CSE courses). Some require just CSE 142/143 (intro courses) experience. Many do an informal interview with students who want to join a lab to see what their interests are, their future goals, and how they could be an active contributor as a research student. </p>

<p>You can do research for credits (e.g. instead of taking a course) or as a paid position. A number of students will publish papers as contributors as undergrads. </p>

<p>ACM (Association of Student Machinery; I’ll talk about this more in my answer about the people) hosts Research Night every Fall and Spring. It’s a way for researchers, faculty, and students to connect with each other and see what opportunities are available. </p>

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<p>What are the people like?
When people ask me what sets UW CSE apart from other departments, I’ve gone back to talking about the people again and again. While you can have similar courses, research labs, and companies vying for your attention, the people make this department a community. For many students, including myself, the building becomes home away from home, and the people, my second family.</p>

<p>The ‘people’ generally fall into three categories: faculty, staff/administration, and students.</p>

<p>The faculty and staff are very invested in seeing their students succeed. While some are busier than others (e.g. conferences, research) I’ve had a great experience with both my professors and advisors. If they’re doors are open, people are very open to talking about anything: assignments, research, the latest technology, etc. Unless they’re stressed out or busy, faculty and staff will smile and wave at you when walking down the halls, talk to you in the elevators or while waiting for coffee, and some drop by the undergraduate labs to check on students. There’s a very open culture in both connections and information.</p>

<p>The advisors try their best to help you out; if you’re having a tough quarter, they try to work something out. If you have questions about course loads or your four year plan, they’re there to help. They have drop in hours for CSE majors only, as well as general advising hours for any student who want to chat. </p>

<p>Every quarter, the head of the department hosts lunch to talk to the students. This form of communication is important in keeping everyone up to date with the department, new hires, and keeps the department knowledgeable about any concerns the students have. The Spring lunch is always incredibly fun to attend since we get to hear about the plans for the upcoming year.</p>

<hr>

<p>The students are great. Sure, you’ll get some people who might be super socially awkward or immature, but you’ll get that wherever you go. The students here have a variety of personalities and interests (both in and out of the tech field). We have three undergraduate computer labs and an undergraduate hardware lab that many students frequent. Many of the courses are very collaborative; you’ll learn how to work with others, which is essential for any real world setting.</p>

<p>Many of the students are very open to meeting new people and working with them. Walk into any lab and do a little “Hey, anyone in 351? I need help understanding bit manipulations!” and someone is bound to wave you over. Many students take part in programming competitions, hackathons (build something cool in 24 hours!), open source, or personal projects. However, we also love hiking, cooking, running, playing frisbee, taking pictures, going to concerts, and playing with nerf guns. A number of students are in the Husky Marching Band or involved with local political campaigns. Our current UW student body president is a CSE/Econ major. </p>

<p>There’s a lot of good conversations that come up within the department. These can either be very philosophical, technical, or focus on social issues. We talk about the future of certain technologies, the new CSE building, and outreach to youth (especially minorities and women) in tech/STEM. </p>

<p>A lot of friends first meet in CSE classes or events, and then do things together outside of school. The environment is extremely nurturing, which requires students to be excited to learn, happy to be there, eager to build things, yet humble. Our department would be very different if everyone’s ego was severely inflated and everyone treated life like a competition.</p>

<p>We have two undergraduate CSE organizations: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and ACM-W, the equivalent that is more women focused (but guys are totally invited to come!). They host quarterly fests, Research Night, social events, as well as career planning/advice talks and technical workshops/talks. Non-majors can join ACM, although they’re still restricted from going to career fairs, recruiting/company tech talks, and department hosted career workshops (e.g. resume review with industry folk). </p>

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<p>@phruitpie: Heh, I just looked back and saw walls of text! Hopefully those are helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions! </p>

<p>@izinger: Hmm, it’s honestly hard for me to do a ‘chance me’ for your son without knowing more, notably his personal statements. His case is honestly one I’d talk to the advisors about. Sorry I can’t be of much help here! </p>

<p>Good luck on the other schools as well! I’ve met some pretty awesome interns from all of those schools in the past few years. :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>@speedsolver</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your insightful comments.</p>

<p>It looks like if my son decides to go to U-Dub, and he’s not DA’d in April, he’ll probably apply for DA after the first quarter. Better start working on that killer personal statement now!</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>@speedsolver First, those walls of text gave me everything I could have asked for! Game programming is a field I’m very much interested in. I’m fortunate enough that my high school offers a game programming class and it is awesome to know that UW has strengths in computer graphics, animation, game science, etc… More recently I’ve also picked up an interest in computer networking. That interest came about after wanting to make multi-player games. With all that said, going to UW and learning from the best in systems, networking, and game science sounds incredible.</p>

<p>On the unfortunate side of things, my UW welcome packet came today and I wasn’t admitted to CSE. I would put most of the blame on my lame numbers. I don’t believe that my 3.5/3.6 GPA and 1950 SAT accurately reflect the type of student I am, but I’m sure the number of students who were more qualified than me were through the roof, especially this year. However, I feel like I had pretty strong personal statements, considering the fact that my main essay was directly related to comp sci.</p>

<p>Again, Speed, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to help us out. Your willingness to lend a hand to complete strangers definitely represents how great the students at UW can be. I’ve sure got a lot to think about and I mostly need to wait for UW’s financial aid package. Maybe it’ll work out financially and maybe I’ll end up applying for a comp sci major next spring. But, taking your previous advice it’d probably be much wiser to attend a school where my comp sci education is guaranteed. For that I have SUNY Stony Brook and don’t get me wrong Stony’s program is wonderful, but it’s no UDub. Even more so when it’s only 2 hours from home. :P</p>

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<p>@phruitpie,</p>

<p>I’m in a similar boat to yours. My welcome packet also did not place me in CSE. However, that is not the official determinant. While it is probably a good indicator, some students still get accepted to the program even though their welcome packet said otherwise.</p>

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<p>My welcome packet says pre-science…i took all pre-reqs through running start…very disaapointed. Hopefully it isn’t official…</p>

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<p>@izinger: The earliest your son can apply for CSE while at UW is after 2 quarters, right before Spring. For example, we just admitted about ~140 new CSE students through upper division admissions a few weeks ago. More info here: <a href=“https://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/admissions/upper_division/”>https://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/admissions/upper_division/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@phruitpie No problem! I’m really glad it was helpful.</p>

<p>Aww, I see. Congrats on Stony Brook, though! (Side note, my first intern friend ever was from there!) It’s definitely a great school. </p>

<p>If you’re interested in game development, just keep building things! Post them in online forums, like Hacker News or reddit and get some feedback. Make yourself visible and sell your skills! Most of my friends who are in game development now actually went to DigiPen (<a href=“https://www.digipen.edu/”>https://www.digipen.edu/&lt;/a&gt;), including people now working with motion controlled gaming or console games, like Titanfall.</p>

<p>We also have a game development student org at UW (run by some friends). It’s not restricted to just CS majors, though most are CS/INFO/ACMS students. Feel free to PM me if you’d like more information about that and what types of tracks you could take for game development if you decide to come to UW. Game developers, or even software engineers in general, aren’t restricted to just CSE majors. =) </p>