wilsun007

Anyone here taking Computer Science and Psychology combined major, or either one separately? I'd like to get some info on what you focus on, and which teachers you like. Laurie Santos's classes seem so interesting =]_

How strong is Comp Sci at Yale? And how hard is it to find internships for tech or business companies?

An0maly

Hey, I'm studying CS at Yale. If you search through the forum you'll find a few threads with good opinion on Yale CS. The program is very strong, but it's not very big - we have about 25-30 majors in any given year. We are also more theoretical than most schools in the sense that there is not "Intro to Web Development" or anything like that at Yale. The core CS sequence is very good and most of the CS majors I know are pretty satisfied.

Tech internships are pretty easy to find because there's a massive demand right now. CS223 provides pretty much all the knowledge you need to do well in programming interviews. As for "business companies," not sure what you mean - every company is a business. If you're talking finance, then Yale is definitely a big target.

You should also email the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) of Comp Sci, who is stanley.eisenstat@yale.edu. I don't know if you're an admitted student or not, but I'm sure he'd be up to answering any questions you have or redirecting you to the appropriate person. He can tell you more about the CS + Psych program among other things.

wilsun007

hey, thanks! I have talked to one professor, and her descriptions really encouraged me to apply. I was wondering if Yale has a disadvantage in CS in comparison to say MIT when searching for jobs, or if tech companies know Yale has a strong reputation in CS. I'm sure the education will be world class

phantasmagoric

Here's one thread that touches on this. There are many others if you search the forum.

wilsun007

Yeah, I used google too. =)

Unfortunately, I couldn't find much on the combined major of Comp Sci/Psych. Hope some students will help me out!

SerpentineRose

Hi wilsun007, I'm a junior at Yale, currently majoring in Psychology. My focus is on Developmental and Cognitive Psychology, so I've taken a few classes with Karen Wynn, Laurie Santos, and Paul Bloom. I can fairly say that any and all Psych lectures I've been to have been extremely interesting, although my favorite professors are Karen Wynn, Laurie Santos, Paul Bloom, Marvin Chun, and Brian Scholl.

As for your other concern about the combined major of Comp Sci/Psych, I would highly suggest majoring in Cog Sci (Cognitive Science). It's basically exactly what you have described, plus a few other classes in Philosophy, Anthropology, and Linguistics. If you want a stronger focus on Comp Sci, you can double major in Comp Sci and Cog Sci. This is totally doable since you will have at least 4 classes overlapped. I would really start thinking about double majoring in freshman year, since you really don't want to scramble to get enough credits later on in your Yale career.

I hope this helped!

wilsun007

Hi SerpentineRose,

I'm sad that this is your only post--it was really helpful. Is there any way I could contact you if I get in this year?

I have been thinking about doing CogSci! I've actually talked/emailed Ms. Santos and her classes are fascinating.