<p>I was hoping to get information on my chances to transfer into the UW and the CSE department. I am currently a Freshman at Bellevue College with a 3.9 G.P.A. and it looks like it will stay that way. I hear that students at the UW are getting rejected with stats like mine and I am worried. Other than the usual (good grades, activities, etc.), what would you recommend doing to improve my chances? I think I will be getting an internship but haven't found any open source projects I am interested in. Any information or advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I tell this to people all the time. MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER IS YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT. I don’t care if you have a 3.2, or a 4.0. Own that prompt. That is what will make or break your application. The people in the UW CSE department includes people with 3.1s and 3.6s… lots of 3.8+s, but GPA doesn’t guarantee anything.</p>
<p>Internships are hard to get by if you’re not actually in a CSE department. However, there are always ways to get internships. Do you know of any start ups or have any connections to some? Many start ups take a few interns, even high school ones … it’s fine if nobody’s ever heard of the company! </p>
<p>Do personal projects. Ever wondered how to make an email spam bot? Or a 3rd party client you can run on your desktop for personal use for photo editing, music playing, or message sending? Wanted to host your own website? Write a program that will transpose a text file into Beethoven’s 5th? Put things up on github; it’s a great place for potential employers to see how well you write code and handle projects. </p>
<p>The UW CSE department is looking for not only high achieving students in the classroom, but those who are passionate about computer science. With so many students trying to get into the major, the best ways to absolutely stand out is through your personal statement … and “stuff” (projects) you can show to back up your claims that you will take a CS/CE major and nothing else.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I knew the personal statement is important but I didn’t realize it was that important. I am only a freshman right now but is there anything I can do to improve my essay at the moment? Also, are letters of recommendation considered in the application?</p>
<p>One of the main problems with getting an internship for me is the lack of connections I have. I don’t know of any start ups or of any one that could help me get said contacts. I was told not to worry about that until I got to the UW. I have one internship that will most likely start next quarter but it is only a basic web development position at BC and I don’y imagine that will be as impressive as some of the more advanced students have. </p>
<p>I would love to work on a personal project but I can’t seem to find one that I am both qualified for and interested in. I have looked at several open source projects but the only ones I saw of interest were already finished and only needed occasional updates.</p>
<p>There are no letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>Have some people read your essay; basically treat it like a general admissions essay. Ask people, “does this convey this and that, which is what I’m aiming for?”</p>
<p>Personal projects: Are you looking for things that you are working with someone, or on your own? What languages do you know, and to what extent? By personal project, I meant you doing at home, at your computer, and you don’t need to talk to anyone about it. No open source collaboration or anything. Open source sounds “good” but it’s best to start out just doing things on your own. What are you interested in? You can also write small tools … “Input a string, output a file with some sort of formatting done to it”. … then keep adding to it 
Personal projects are great because 1) you’re doing things outside of the classroom, and 2) you’re most likely actually learning things, not just creating something with what you know. </p>
<p>For example, I’m writing a local search engine right now. I’m learning a ton just from reading about it. This summer, I’m going to make a personalized desktop application similar to instagram; I don’t have a smart phone but I love photography and some photos are cute when edited properly. I don’t know where to really start either; I’ll have to learn myself! :)</p>
<p>Don’t limit yourself in anything! The great thing about CS is that there are so many resources out there (books, stackoverflow.com, reddit.com/r/programming or /r/compsci /r/engineeringstudents) that you have at your disposal. Pretty neat, hm?</p>
<p>Don’t worry about how “impressive” things are for your resume at the moment. We all have to start somewhere Right now, 1) focus on your studies, 2) great job getting the web dev position, and 3) personal projects.</p>
<p>I don’t have any preference as to whether I work with others or not. My main concern about working alone is that I don’t have much experience with programming and working with others may make the situation easier and more enjoyable. However, I feel I may learn more if I work on my own as I will be forced to understand everything the project entails. </p>
<p>I know Java and Python at a level similar to those having just completed CSE 142. I plan to take CSE 143 as a non-matriculated student next quarter but that is entirely dependent on funding, transportation, and availability. </p>
<p>The main problem I have with working on a personal project is coming up with an idea. I can’t seem to come up with any project ideas that are realistic for my skill level and resources. For example, I was considering creating a program that takes handwritten characters (.jpg, tablet, etc.) and uses the input to analyze the user’s handwriting in order to help them improve. Although this type of program may be useful for English writers, I am focusing more on languages with many characters such as Japanese and Chinese. This project seems like it would be more than someone with only CSE 142 equivalent experience could take on, even with use of other libraries such as OpenCV. </p>
<p>Another problem I have is I don’t have specific areas I know I want to explore due to the lack of experience with CSE. I am interested in robotics, neurobotics, mathematics, and Japanese but they seem to either take a lot of outside knowledge or resources I don’t have. Do you know of any ideas I might be able to do?</p>
<p>For starters, try doing the 143 homework assignments on your own. You’ll learn a lot of basic info about data structures.</p>
<p>Next, try some of the CSE 331 ([CSE</a> 331, Spring 2011](<a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/cse331/11sp/]CSE”>CSE 331, Spring 2011)) projects. It’s a continuation of 143. I’m linking you to the quarter I took it with Marty since it’s more project based and I think you’d find it more useful than the current quarter’s.</p>
<p>Learn the basics of data structures ([CSE</a> 373 Winter 2012](<a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/373]CSE”>CSE 373) or [CSE</a> 332 - Data Abstractions - Winter 2012](<a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/332]CSE”>Home - CSE 332)). The earlier you become friends with them, the better you’ll do in the future :)</p>
<p>I suggest starting off with projects on your own instead of group ones because I’m not sure how much time the group mates can answer your questions. They may want someone who is already more familiar with java or python. However, if you find a good group, go for it! :D</p>
<p>On project ideas … start basic. Google “java project ideas for beginners” or something like that. Might be boring, but still a good experience. Work up until you can go on to work on the handwriting recognition app.</p>
<p>One of my projects during CSE 143 was really simple … a to do list (basically my own version of sticky notes on windows) application. To be honest, the idea is pretty boring. I didn’t want to start with some “boring” thing like that. But … what could I do with my current skill level? </p>
<p>However, implementation, customization (click a button and send the to do list to my email or phone!), and just overall developing it over a weekend was a ton of fun and I got a lot out of it. Nobody’s going to look down on you for starting “stupid boring” projects. ;D</p>
<p>Also, try hosting your own hack day. Grab some food, get comfortable, and give you 24 hours to make something. Anything. It’s fun and you don’t have to look at that project again if you don’t want to, but you can say you made it! It’s a wonderful experience. </p>
<p>Also, StudentRND is hosting a Code Day (hackathon) this weekend, if you’re interested/have time. If you want, just drop in sometime and talk to some people. See if there are any random ideas you might want to jot down. Link: <a href=“https://www.facebook.com/events/255827851152844/[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/events/255827851152844/</a></p>
<p>I was planning on doing CSE 143 assignments an my way but thanks for the advice. Is there a specific quarter you would recommend over the others or are they all more or less the same?</p>
<p>I think I will look over the material for CSE 331, 332, and 373 after I take CSE 143 but I appreciate some good material to look over in my free time.</p>
<p>I also wanted to know if you would recommend taking CSE 142 with Reges. I can’t tell if Stepp will be teaching it in the Fall but I imagine he will be. Would you recommend waiting for him to teach it or go with Stepp. I will also be likely going to the UW for Japanese so that is of consideration as well.</p>
<p>I haven’t had a chance to take classes with Reges. His teaching style is different from Stepps, but I’m not a good person to judge between them since I don’t know Reges well.</p>
<p>I had four classes with Marty last school year and he’s a fantastic teacher. Marty is almost always teaching 142 in the fall, 143 in the winter, and 190m (web programming) in the spring. He sometimes also teaches other classes (ie 331, 403) sometime during the year.</p>
<p>I can’t see why you would go wrong with taking the class with Marty, and I highly recommend taking it with him!</p>
<p>That was what I thought. I will most likely be on campus for Japanese anyways as I will have completed all of BC’s Japanese courses. My main concern is how it would affect my chances at admissions. I would like to enter during Winter quarter and enter into the CSE department during Spring quarter. Would taking CSE 143 during Fall quarter mess my chances/timing up at all?</p>
<p>I’ve had the opportunity to take classes from both Stepp and Reges, and in their own ways, both are fantastic. I don’t think you can go wrong with either one. You’ll also learn the same stuff no matter who’s teaching it; both of them were involved in writing the textbook and designing the curriculum. Fun fact - Stepp is a former student of Reges.</p>
<p>Taking 143 in the fall can only help you. Do well enough to be in the top 10% and you might even get in through an accelerated admissions process before Winter Quarter even starts (talk to the CSE advising about this for more details).</p>
<p>Finally, I’d like to reiterate the value of personal projects and also just diving into some things. Me and a group of teammates are doing just that later today, and I expect to have a working knowledge of C++ and a decent prototype for something by the end of it. IMO most of the learning that you’ll do in your CS career is self-driven, so it’s up to you to go out and do things.</p>
<p>speedsolver - Is this search engine for the thing in that one class that’s going to be released soon? 
Or is it just a personal project?</p>
<p>sumzup: Ha, personal project. I’m actually doing it then teaching my brother over the summer. </p>
<p>The certain (cough) class’s project infrastructure should be pretty NDA-y at the moment …I think.</p>
<p>If you’re question Stuart Reges’ teaching abilities, you should not!! I’m actually TAing for him this quarter for the 142 class. I had him for 143 and can tell you that he is a very awesome lecturer. He is just so good at keeping the lecture fun and clear while still managing to get 300 students to keep quiet.</p>
<p>Thank you for the help. I think I will take CSE 143 as soon as possible if my schedule allows it. Now my main concern is grades. I have been talking to some friends who are at the UW and want to major in CSE. They said it is near impossible to get a 4.0 in CSE 142 and even harder to get a 4.0 in CSE 143. I don’t know how admissions will look at it when I have a 4.0 from BC and a 3.5 or below in the class. I know they would prefer me to take it at the UW but I think the risk may be too high. Please give me any advice you can think of in which class to choose and if I do choose to take it at the UW, how likely it is for me to get a 4.0 and how I can achieve it.</p>
<p>I ended up with a 4.0 in 142 so it’s certainly doable. If you take the time to do homework you should do fine the course. Homework are 40/50 percent of your grade. For a 4.0 in either 142 or 143, it’s usually 97% or above. I got 97.14% in 143 and only received a 3.9 haha. It’s getting more competitive each quarter.</p>