Strong Programs in Computer Science: Tips for a Popular Major

Soaring application numbers and plummeting admission rates are the new normal, but nowhere is this national trend more severe than in undergraduate computer science (CS) departments. The number of students earning a bachelor’s degree in computer and information sciences has more than doubled over the last decade. At many colleges and universities, student demand for CS instruction has rapidly outpaced the ability to hire new professors and instructors, leading to major quotas, lotteries, and burgeoning class sizes. Inspired by six-figure starting salaries, 112,720 students graduated with CS degrees in 2023, and the major remains among the most popular, even despite projected forthcoming declines in computer programming employment due to AI.

For schools with a direct-to-major admissions policy, like the University of California system, CS is almost universally a capped or “high-demand” major with enrollment limits. This significantly elevates the difficulty of being admitted as a CS major. A case in point: the University of Washington, with its Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering and UW+Amazon Science Hub partnership to advance the fields of AI and robotics, where the overall UW out-of-state acceptance rate is 46% but the direct-to-CS-major rate is just 2%!

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STRONG PROGRAMS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE: OUR ADVICE

Go Small

NESCAC and other liberal arts colleges are great places to pursue CS degrees, with their smaller class sizes, deep faculty-student interaction and mentorship opportunities, and broad curriculums. As a CS student at schools like Amherst College or Williams College, you take classes in your primary field of study complemented by coursework in other disciplines. And since you don’t declare your major until sophomore spring, you don’t need to contend with many of the major restriction antics you’d find elsewhere. At Williams, for example, over 45% of the student body graduates with more than one major, meaning you can pursue a CS degree while developing deep knowledge to apply your computing skills to another field.

In the west, Pomona’s CS program is similarly impressive. Small, with a heavy focus on the theoretical, Pomona has both a CS major and minor. Taking AP CS-A in high school will give you an advantage during class selection for the limited spots in Pomona’s introductory courses, while the strong research base and access to consortium courses at Harvey Mudd make Pomona’s CS program stand out.

Be Academic

While the number of CS undergraduate students has skyrocketed in the last decade, the number of computer scientists in PhD programs has remained fairly constant. University departments are hungry for the academic scholars who might become future professors and lifelong learners. As many students approach the major with the overt intent of heading directly to industry after graduation, you can stand out by showcasing a clear interest in the theoretical side of CS.

Carnegie Mellon often grabs the top spot in undergrad CS rankings, and for good reason – the school is a leader in CS research with its renowned research centers such as the Robotics Institute and the Software Engineering Institute. Its curriculum features a heavy theoretical and research load starting in the first undergraduate year, along with many applied programs. Carnegie Mellon, considered one of the “New Ivies,” has no direct-to-major application or lottery system for the CS major, making it available to all matriculants.

UMass Amherst, with a new and expanded home for its Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences under construction, hosts another top-ranked public CS program. And while its number of CS majors has more than doubled over the last decade, so has the number of CS professors. The teacher-to-student ratio at UMass Amherst has thereby remained fairly constant throughout the national surge in applicants relative to other institutions, meaning that its students have an easier time engaging in research with their instructors compared to more crowded programs elsewhere.

Specialize

If you want to be truly surrounded by like-minded CS students and take a specialized technological courseload starting with your first semester, consider Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), or Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), all of which have an over 50% admit rate. As technology-focused universities, these schools emphasize practical skills and hands-on learning to prepare students for the technical demands of the workforce. For example, RIT, with its B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Science, is known for its emphasis on experiential learning and hosts one of the largest cooperative (co-op) programs in the world where students gain hands-on workplace experiences and build professional networks.

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Aim for the Top

No list of CS programs would be complete without a deferential nod to the very top schools like Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. While there are no explicit lotteries or direct-to-major applications for these programs, you’ll be applying alongside the most qualified candidates in the world for a spot in the most prestigious CS departments in the country. Stanford’s location in the heart of Silicon Valley gives students unparalleled access to tech industry leaders and startups. MIT’s CS faculty includes pioneers in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science such as Professor Emeritus Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web). And if you can successfully navigate the sub-3% admit rate, Caltech’s offers an impressive emphasis on mathematical rigor and computation theory combined with collaborative research.

We’re here to help you navigate the competitive world of CS admissions! Contact us today and learn how we can help you put your best foot forward to optimize success through private counseling, test prep, or essay guidance. If the world of computer science appeals to you, you might be particularly interested in one-on-one AP tutoring with one of our expert computer science tutors.

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Heidi Lovette

Senior Private Counselor at Top Tier Admissions

As Assistant Director of Admissions, Heidi evaluated and made executive decisions on 7,000+ undergraduate applications to Cornell University’s College of Arts & Sciences. With additional experience in the admissions offices of Dartmouth College and Temple University, she brings deep insight into the review process at highly selective institutions. Heidi’s admissions experience is complemented by a 15-year career in communications and publishing. As Medical Editor at Cambridge University Press and Science Editor at Cornell University Press, Heidi collaborated with STEM faculty and physician authors to bring dozens of books to successful publication. Heidi now enjoys using both her firsthand admissions experience and editorial skills to advise students on how to distinguish themselves in the admissions process.

After attending Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, Heidi graduated cum laude with an Honors thesis from Dartmouth College as a double major in Classical Archaeology and Comparative Literature. At the University of Pennsylvania, Heidi was a Williams Fellow in the graduate program of Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World. She has conducted archaeological field work in Sardinia, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey.