My D26, junior in high school, is now leaning towards trying to get into an engineering field. She has not picked the specific branch but narrowed down to engineering. It took her a while and since she just now decided the path her course selection until now were not specific to engineering. She did Calc AB in Sophomore year and is doing Calc BC now in junior year. She did not choose AP Comp Science, and since there is a prereq for that in our high school, she will not be able to choose that in senior year as well.
From what I am hearing, looks like colleges will look for at least one year of Comp Science related course in high school if they want to pursue engineering. Is that true? If yes, what other options does she have, can she learn on herself and take the AP test? D26 is dedicated student and if that is the path, she will do it. Its just that we are unsure about the right thing to do as we are immigrants and have no idea how admissions work.
I don’t believe so. It may depend on the school - but even Calc AB isn’t required (although you have math in spades) - and CS isn’t required for engineering or CS majors.
Nothing to worry about.
Ditto. Not a problem.
No.
However, taking CS in high school may help the student determine interest or lack thereof in CS as a college major.
Another way to help determine interest is to go through an introductory CS course’s online materials, such as https://cs10.org
Make sure she takes physics before HS graduation and that will be fine for engineering or CS. And it’s OK that she hasn’t narrowed down what kind of engineering. Some engineering programs admit to a general first year engineering program and students don’t declare a specific major until later. Other schools you don’t have to commit until second semester sophomore year.
Does your high school offer any shadowing opportunities? Do you know any engineers she could shadow?
AP CS is a nice to have but not a big deal. I think my son said it was one of the easier AP classes.
Calc BC and any other math will put her ahead of the game. Good luck.
Also consider clubs or summer programs that are related to engineering.
And, your local college may have some information sessions for juniors interested in engineering.
Here is an example, even by zoom, at University of Maryland.
Just to give you an actual example, my son’s HS did not offer any Computer science courses. He did some CS courses through Coursera to give him some basic background skills but did complete HS AP Caculus BC and AP Physics to help prepare him for college. He was fine not having any AP CS courses prior to starting college.
My son did the exact same except he taught himself Python through Code Academy.
So we use a feederish HS known to be strong in STEM that sends a lot of kids to top engineering colleges. This was never a thing I heard. Getting on an advanced math track? Sure. Taking advanced Physics electives? Yes. But never was it suggested CS was required.
Now, that said, I think most of those kids did take through AP CS–not because they had to, but because it was an available elective, and frankly had the reputation for being one of the easiest advanced classes. But not required.
As a final thought–modern Engineering is almost surely going to require a lot of familiarity with computing, but as is often the case with Engineering, they are really going to want you to study computing their way, for their purposes.
So just as an example, here is Pitt Engineering’s First Year academics page:
https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/first-year/academic/first-year-academic/
As you can see, there are different possible sequences, but all involving instruction specifically in Engineering Computing. And if you look at the difference between the regular and the “Honors” sequence, the Honors sequence requires you to have taken through at least Calc 1 first (aka AP Calc AB), but not AP CS.
That doesn’t mean prior study of CS wouldn’t be helpful. But it is not required, and that is in part because they are really going to insist on teaching you computing THEIR way, not the College Board’s way.
Our high school offered CS, but my kid did not take it. AB Calc and Physics 2 were sufficient for multiple engineering admits. Broad advanced/AP coursework in foreign language, history, as well, though.
More specifically, computing-for-engineering courses are typically MATLAB-based, and typically do not have CS prerequisites (but may have math prerequisites). This is in contrast to introductory CS courses for CS majors which may use computer languages like Python or Java as tools for students to implement CS concepts learned in class.
(Analogously, you may notice other computing-for-____ courses, such as courses for statistics majors using R.)
Just confirming all this with a continued example.
Here is the regular first-year Engineering Computing course at Pitt:
https://catalog.upp.pitt.edu/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=225&coid=1224291
In this course, we will learn basic programming skills using MATLAB and C. In addition, we will address teamwork and professional integrity, both important aspects of engineering. This is a team-based, hands-on course, in which most of our class time will be spent working in teams to develop programs, solve problems, and participate in discussions, using what we learn in the course.
And Honors version:
https://catalog.upp.pitt.edu/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=225&coid=1224319
In this course, we will learn basic programming skills using MATLAB and C. In addition, we will address teamwork and professional integrity, both important aspects of engineering. This is a team-based, hands-on course, in which most of our class time will be spent working in teams to develop programs, solve problems, and participate in discussions, using what we learn in the course.
So same course description. The only Prereq for the Honors version is Math 220, which is Calc 1, for which you can get credit if you get a 4 or 5 in Calc AB:
For the regular version, you can be taking Math 220 concurrently.
I’m just going to join the chorus here. My S22 didn’t take any computer science classes in high school because of scheduling conflicts. He was advanced in math - calc bc as a junior, multi variable and linear algebra senior year. He also took several AP science classes including Chem and both Physics C. He applied and was accepted Mech E at several engineering schools including Georgia Tech. He ended up going elsewhere as a physics major. He took an intro comp sci for scientists freshman year that taught Matlab and Python. He uses both extensively in his research position and is currently kind of self learning CAD. I’m not sure anything taught in AP Comp Sci would have been all that useful for him.
It depends on the major and concentration. Most everyone will be taught to use MATLAB as a tool, but my son for example as a mechatronics ME did that, Python, C++ and assembly, and that’s not everything, and not touching at all on the CAD options.
The advantage of exposure to something is that it gives a taste of the logic.
APCSP is easy. If a student does well in algebra 1 and has good memory, they have a great chance earning 4 or 5. Self study may take 50 to 100 hours.
APCSA is not easy. Even my high flyer students need help grasping classes and objects, and inheritance. Self study is doable if the student has access to a knowledgeable teacher.
My daughter is a freshman in engineering. She not only didn’t have any computer science class, she didn’t fully have calculus. Engineering was a late idea for her, so she took IB Math AI, which is definitely not the IB math for engineers. And, she did zero summer camps or ECs for engineering. Lol. She is at UAH and was accepted to many engineering programs. And she’s doing fine so far, although it’s just a month in.
Colleges tend to focus more on a strong foundation in math and science (like physics and chemistry), but computer science can enhance her application, especially if she’s interested in fields like electrical, computer, or software engineering.
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