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authorAdam T. Carpenter <atc@53hor.net>2020-11-27 21:08:41 -0500
committerAdam T. Carpenter <atc@53hor.net>2020-11-27 21:08:41 -0500
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+ <title>53hornet ➙ Why Computer Science at William and Mary</title>
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+ <article>
+ <h1>Why Computer Science at William and Mary</h1>
+
+ <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>
+ </article>
+ </body>
+</html>