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+<?php
+$title = "Why Computer Science at William and Mary";
+if (isset($early) && $early) {
+	return;
+}
+include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/includes/head.php');
+?>
+
+<p class="description">
+	Recently a rising high-school senior asked for input on what going to
+	the College of William and Mary was like for a Computer Science degree.
+	They were asking about the program itself as well as what it's like on
+	and off campus. Here's what I sent to them.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Quick Intro</h2>
+
+<p>
+	I graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science from W&amp;M in 2018.
+	I'm a couple years in the workforce now but can still remember my
+	experiences well enough to hopefully add my honest opinion on my time
+	there as well as how it prepared me for my career. I will also add a
+	little bit about my time on campus in a dorm and off-campus in Colonial
+	Williamsburg.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Courses and Curriculum</h2>
+
+<p>
+	I felt very positively about the array of courses that were offered
+	while I was a student. I took a variety of core prerequisites, just like
+	everyone else, and a good mix of electives. The courses I took include
+	Data Structures and Algorithms, Software Development/Engineering,
+	Computer Organization/Architecture, UNIX Systems Programming, Computer
+	Graphics/Animation, and Computer and Network Security. This list is not
+	exhaustive and I'm sure they aren't all offered anymore. I was also
+	required to take a few math classes (Calc I, II, Discrete Math, Linear
+	Algebra, and Finite Automata).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	It is true that the courses listed at <code>cs.wm.edu</code> aren't all
+	offered at the same time. And it is also true that the higher-level
+	electives pretty much all required my core prerequisites to be
+	completed. The result is that the electives all came in my final two
+	years. My understanding is the curriculum is designed to give someone
+	the best possible background in computing as a whole. A lot of the
+	topics may seem like they would never be useful in the "real world" but
+	I have found the opposite is true. I am an application developer at a
+	three-letter company. My day-to-day work is building and debugging web
+	apps, but there's been a lot more to it than that. My first assignment
+	on the job was scraping bytes off a remote shell and writing a parser to
+	sift through them. The level of understanding I gathered from my core
+	classes helped more than I expected they would. I think as a whole they
+	give me an edge at work and help me teach my colleagues about
+	algorithms, performance, and systems administration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	That being said, course registration was always nightmarish. It was very
+	difficult to get into the limited seats in the classes I was most
+	interested in. Eventually the heads of the department had to pass around
+	a sign up sheet and organize every student into courses, classrooms, and
+	professors so that seniors would graduate on time and we could all get
+	<em>something</em> on our schedules. I hope the shortage of teachers has
+	caught up since I graduated. I learned from a long-time faculty member
+	that this is largely a result of the exponential growth of incoming CS
+	degree-seekers. The program has grown very popular in the last ten years
+	and I like to think grads are catching on to that.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Teaching</h2>
+
+<p>
+	CS@W&amp;M had neutral to good instructors for me. Some were far worse
+	than others, as with all subjects. When I was there, lots of the older
+	faculty were retiring and quickly being replaced with younger, newer
+	instructors, which added to the growing pains of the program. The most
+	important thing again was making sure there were enough teachers to
+	teach all of the students.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	I know a few of my peers were very upset about what they described as a
+	lack of communication or availability from their professors. Some have
+	also mentioned they didn't like having to learn material on their own
+	and wanted more to come from instruction. I don't deny that the material
+	itself was difficult and there was a lot of hard work I had to do on my
+	own to understand very involved concepts in intense, fast-paced courses.
+	I think that hard work has paid off. I don't think there's realistically
+	anywhere someone can learn about computing where they won't do any
+	learning on their own. I am also a very visual, and hands-on learner so
+	I suppose your mileage may vary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	The most important takeaway from this for me was the ability to pick up
+	new concepts and technologies quickly and apply them productively. The
+	majority of professors had project-driven courses. Lots of due dates
+	meant learning how to transform what I read or learned in class into
+	practical applications in short amounts of time. This has become,
+	according to those I work with, one of my greater assets. I am
+	constantly learning new things in my career and I don't have a lecturer
+	to explain things to me. It's very powerful to have that and I am
+	thankful for it. It also helps me teach that knowledge to my colleagues
+	so we can move faster as a team.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Campus</h2>
+
+<p>
+	I agree with my peers about the conditions of classrooms and buildings
+	on campus. Some are old. I guess that comes with an old university but
+	there are a choice few that haven't been kept up as best they could.
+	Since CS is growing so fast it's also long outgrown its own offices.
+	Classrooms are scattered throughout every academic building on campus
+	and I probably had a CS course in at least 80% of them. That meant
+	jumping from one side of campus to another and back again in between
+	periods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	The College itself isn't too sprawling. I am long-legged and I found I
+	could get from one end of campus to another in fifteen minutes on foot.
+	I rode bike a lot to get to classes where I only had ten minutes to do
+	it. It's also pretty marshy and woodsy in a lot of areas, so during the
+	rainy season some walking paths got muddy or flooded. Good boots
+	required. I have never been in as good shape as when I had to do all
+	that walking but I definitely got soaked and winded making those
+	transitions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	I appreciate history and architecture and was drawn in by the look and
+	feel of William and Mary as a result. Without getting too romantic, it's
+	definitely a beautiful place to attend classes. The ancient Wren
+	building still holds classes and it's a monument to the College's
+	tradition. However, I really appreciated the modern academic buildings
+	on the other side of campus where all of the new construction was taking
+	place. Modern lab equipment and the library lived there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	The dorms were nothing to write home about. Lots of them were nested in
+	the woods and built ages ago so they were a little tired and even dingy.
+	Others are brand new and well maintained; ask around and get opinions on
+	which ones to go for first chance you get. I made do with what I got for
+	the first couple of years by keeping it clean and decorated. My last two
+	years I lived in a couple of off-campus apartments. It was well worth
+	the switch. Depending on where you are on campus you may need at least a
+	bike to access local restaurants, shops, and the grocery store. A bike
+	is a good idea anyway but it's not necessary for every dorm.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Colonial Williamsburg</h2>
+
+<p>
+	Lots of my peers didn't appreciate CW as a "college town" but I enjoyed
+	my time there. I can't speak about parties or clubbing, I was boring and
+	didn't do any of that. I made a great group of friends and we would walk
+	into town to get ice cream, see historical attractions (most of which
+	are free as a student, IIRC), and see movies or plays when we weren't
+	studying or playing video games in the dorm. There are some good,
+	sort-of-affordable restaurants but they're kind of driving distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	The best part about living there was meeting my wife. We would go on
+	long walks to get away from studying and wound up seeing
+	horse-and-carriages and the Governor's Palace and things like that. We
+	would also escape with her car to go to some of the surrounding towns to
+	get away to nice grocery stores and fun places to eat and explore on the
+	weekends. I also have family in the area so it was easy for me to stop
+	by home and say hi, although I know lots of students wanted to get as
+	far away from home as possible.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Parting Words</h2>
+
+<p>
+	I don't consider myself a gung ho alumnus. There are lots of things I
+	think could be improved, both in CS and at W&amp;M as a whole but I do
+	not regret my going there. There is no such thing as "everything is
+	great" or "everything is terrible". It's not so definitive. I had my
+	fair share of gripes and at times it strained me. There were pros and
+	cons but I think I have a lot to be thankful for (I landed my job
+	through W&amp;M recruiting and the career center as well, which are
+	fantastic resources). I cannot say "do this instead of that." I haven't
+	gone to any other colleges and don't know enough about them to recommend
+	them as better or worse. What I can recommend is the same path I took
+	for folks who want to pursue a degree in Computer Science. I think
+	you'll come away from it all the more knowledgable, resourceful, and
+	dedicated.
+</p>