Do not send your child to Pomona if they are interested in a CS degree. The major is not guaranteed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've hired plenty of software developers; Pomona is highly regarded.

To me it's disappointing but not shocking that a school with even its resources has to cap the number of CS majors. That's been going on for decades at larger public universities, and it was probably always a matter of time before we saw it happening at well endowed privates.

What's more disturbing, frankly, is the description posted about who gets to major. As I understand things, it comes down to random luck regarding who gets to register for the overcrowded classes before the deadline to declare. That's not how it should work. The best students should be given priority. Those with a higher GPA in related courses should have some registration advantage over those who did worse. I would be livid if I had a 4.0 child lose a seat in the major to someone with, say, a 3.0 because of pure randomness. Hopefully I am misreading things.

Don't forget kids who can pre-register like athletes.

[Anonymous]

Who would go to a LAC for CS? Even if it is Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who would go to a LAC for CS? Even if it is Pomona.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-colleges-high-paying-jobs-tech-58b1588c It's one of the best schools for landing a job in tech.

[Anonymous]

As usual DCUM sounds wildly ignorant of tech hiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've hired plenty of software developers; Pomona is highly regarded.

To me it's disappointing but not shocking that a school with even its resources has to cap the number of CS majors. That's been going on for decades at larger public universities, and it was probably always a matter of time before we saw it happening at well endowed privates.

What's more disturbing, frankly, is the description posted about who gets to major. As I understand things, it comes down to random luck regarding who gets to register for the overcrowded classes before the deadline to declare. That's not how it should work. The best students should be given priority. Those with a higher GPA in related courses should have some registration advantage over those who did worse. I would be livid if I had a 4.0 child lose a seat in the major to someone with, say, a 3.0 because of pure randomness. Hopefully I am misreading things.

You're understanding it correctly- it'd be random luck. They're not distinguishing between the strongest students to be able to continue with the major. I think it's a LAC thing to have completely open majors regardless of past experience or skill. Universities are the ones that make distinctions about who can study what discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize that at the top SLACs, CS was still one of the most popular majors. If they really want to focus on liberal arts, maybe they shouldn't offer a CS major at all, maybe a minor at most!

Science and math are among the liberal arts. I don’t understand why people don’t get this. Lots of liberal arts colleges have strong STEM programs. If you think everyone at a SLAC is just reading French poetry and looking less looking at art, you are clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize that at the top SLACs, CS was still one of the most popular majors. If they really want to focus on liberal arts, maybe they shouldn't offer a CS major at all, maybe a minor at most!

Science and math are among the liberal arts. I don’t understand why people don’t get this. Lots of liberal arts colleges have strong STEM programs. If you think everyone at a SLAC is just reading French poetry and looking less looking at art, you are clueless.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were a good computer scientist and lived in silicon valley, why in the world would you teach for $150k a year at Pomona when you could pull $500k (or more, if youre really good or are part of a startup) in private industry.

This is the issue.

Williams has 13 tenure track faculty members. Swarthmore has 11.

The fact that Pomona only has 6 is a sign of poorly managed administration that cannot seem to get their priorities together. I've heard horror stories about other aspects regarding them as well. Avoid the headache and don't bother applying here. Most of the other T10 LACs are much better run.

Agree. They don’t seem to want to fix this. Engineering, CS professors can make a ton consulting. Even in the short term, Pomona could get really great adjunct faculty if they wanted.

[Anonymous]

I know this sucks for OP and I feel sorry for the kid, but if one goes to college with a sole goal of majoring in CS, an LAC shouldn’t be their first choice. If the school doesn’t work with you to come up with a plan, e.g. cross-registering at another school of the 5C, 3+2 program, or other ways, you can always transfer. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this sucks for OP and I feel sorry for the kid, but if one goes to college with a sole goal of majoring in CS, an LAC shouldn’t be their first choice. If the school doesn’t work with you to come up with a plan, e.g. cross-registering at another school of the 5C, 3+2 program, or other ways, you can always transfer. Good luck!

Rolling all LACs into the same boat is likely overstating the problem. Even at Pomona we don't know how many kids who want to major in CS won't be able to, and its possible that a typical entering student there is still more likely to major in CS than at, say, a large public university. It's also possible the Pomona kids will have better average outcomes than those from most universities. Yes, it's a red flag for Pomona, and I would be concerned if my child were there, but I'm not aware of this being the norm across LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're a Stem-y oriented student, you just can't go with the SLACs. Maybe Harvey Mudd and Cooper Union. But otherwise, they don't have the resources. If even Pomona is pulling this BS, you can imagine what it's like at other schools.

Mudd isn't really a SLAC as most people understand it, and I'm not sure why they insist on marketing themselves as such.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20% of the student body majoring by in CS is absurd for a LAC outside of Harvey Mudd (which only does STEM degrees). Pomona has 48 distinct majors

It suggests to me AOs did a terrible job ensuring a diverse applicant pool.

+1. This!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh…not like Pomona is known for its CS. My guess is it is the typical kids all selecting a major that they are told makes them most marketable.

I don’t know many HS kids interested in CS that have Pomona on their list. Admittedly, the list may be different if you live on the West Coast.

My kid in FCPS does but I will share this with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh…not like Pomona is known for its CS. My guess is it is the typical kids all selecting a major that they are told makes them most marketable.

I don’t know many HS kids interested in CS that have Pomona on their list. Admittedly, the list may be different if you live on the West Coast.

This is all wrong. Google used to interview for entry software engineering positions/internships at Pomona. No idea if they still do, but they used to be super picky about schools. The Pomona CS program is well-regarded.

But College Factual ranks the CS program at Pomona way down at 43

[Anonymous]

Always look up The Common Data Set and see how many students, any college, graduates in each major.