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+---
+permalink: "/posts/{{categories}}/{{slug}}"
+title: Why Computer Science at W&M
+categories:
+  - life
+tags:
+  - william
+  - and
+  - mary
+  - computer
+  - science
+excerpt_separator: "\n\n\n"
+published_date: "2020-07-11 14:58:18 +0000"
+layout: post.liquid
+is_draft: false
+---
+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. 
+
+# Quick Intro
+
+I graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science from W&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.
+
+# Courses and Curriculum
+
+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).
+
+It is true that the courses listed at `cs.wm.edu` 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.
+
+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 _something_ 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.
+
+# Teaching
+
+CS@W&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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+# Campus
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+# Colonial Williamsburg
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+# Parting Words
+
+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&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&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.
+
+
+
+