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What should I focus on in the summer?
As someone who is heading to college this fall and studying Computer Science, what are some things I should do during the summer?
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4 answers
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Madisyn’s Answer
Hi, Jeffrey.
Congratulations on going to college! The summer before college can be utilized in many ways. Here are some examples:
1. Meet students from your college: This can be done through social media apps, class facebook pages, etc. This can help you build your network before you even step foot onto the campus.
2. Prepare your materials: If you are living on campus, you can start preparing what you will need to take with you such as clothing, toiletries, etc. Additionally, you can prepare materials needed for class such as the correct laptop, notebooks, pencils, etc.
3. Have fun: Enjoy your favorite activities or hit the beach. You worked hard to get into college and you deserve some relaxation before classes start. Remember, taking care of your mental health is also an important step in preparing for college!
Congratulations on going to college! The summer before college can be utilized in many ways. Here are some examples:
1. Meet students from your college: This can be done through social media apps, class facebook pages, etc. This can help you build your network before you even step foot onto the campus.
2. Prepare your materials: If you are living on campus, you can start preparing what you will need to take with you such as clothing, toiletries, etc. Additionally, you can prepare materials needed for class such as the correct laptop, notebooks, pencils, etc.
3. Have fun: Enjoy your favorite activities or hit the beach. You worked hard to get into college and you deserve some relaxation before classes start. Remember, taking care of your mental health is also an important step in preparing for college!
Updated
Sherin’s Answer
Hi Jeffrey, congrats on starting your CS journey! My recommendation is to start learning programming if you haven't already. Start with a Python course. I recommend the ones by CodeAcademy and Udacity. You may also want to check the courses you'll have in your coming academic year and attend some relative courses from Coursera about the same subjects to get prepared and ahead. Finally, take it easy and have fun as much as you can. Good luck!
Updated
Brian’s Answer
Hi Jeffrey,
First and foremost, congratulations on the accomplishment and best of luck in the next chapter of your education. In addition to the tips/advice outlined, I would:
1). Do some research/planning on what courses to take over the next 4 years. If you're going to a large public school, courses will be full and are not always easy to get. By identifying the required courses to graduate (which is important as many advanced courses are strict on completing intro courses to enroll), you can prioritize enrollment in the intro courses to make yourself eligible to take the advanced courses.
a). I found it helpful to plan out, in broad strokes, what courses to take each semester throughout the 4 years. Although things change, having a general roadmap will help with prioritizing critical courses to take, fulfilling major and general education requirements, and ensuring an on-time graduation.
b). Really get to know your school's enrollment and class selection process. Each school is different (the UC's split course selection into 2 phases, Phase 1 and 2). Also, find out which courses are highest demand (which means generally fill up early) so you can target those in Phase 1. Lastly, some courses aren't offered every semester/quarter, so understand the course restrictions and availability (i.e. sometimes sequence courses like Math 1A, 1B, 1C are only offered in Fall/Winter/Spring - while highly unlikely for core courses like Calculus, do check to make sure). Reason is, if some critical courses are only offered in Fall and are necessary to enroll in advanced courses, prioritize those.
2). Find out what activities (e.g. clubs, sports, Greek life, etc.) your school offers in general and for your major.
As you can see, I think the best thing you can do in summer is learn the nuances of your future college, find out what activities are available that interest you, and get excited (#1 is probably more mundane, but #2 will hopefully make you excited about going to college). You will have 4 years to master your major, so unless you want to study computer science and NEVER took a CS course, probably no need to pre-study the material in summer.
First and foremost, congratulations on the accomplishment and best of luck in the next chapter of your education. In addition to the tips/advice outlined, I would:
1). Do some research/planning on what courses to take over the next 4 years. If you're going to a large public school, courses will be full and are not always easy to get. By identifying the required courses to graduate (which is important as many advanced courses are strict on completing intro courses to enroll), you can prioritize enrollment in the intro courses to make yourself eligible to take the advanced courses.
a). I found it helpful to plan out, in broad strokes, what courses to take each semester throughout the 4 years. Although things change, having a general roadmap will help with prioritizing critical courses to take, fulfilling major and general education requirements, and ensuring an on-time graduation.
b). Really get to know your school's enrollment and class selection process. Each school is different (the UC's split course selection into 2 phases, Phase 1 and 2). Also, find out which courses are highest demand (which means generally fill up early) so you can target those in Phase 1. Lastly, some courses aren't offered every semester/quarter, so understand the course restrictions and availability (i.e. sometimes sequence courses like Math 1A, 1B, 1C are only offered in Fall/Winter/Spring - while highly unlikely for core courses like Calculus, do check to make sure). Reason is, if some critical courses are only offered in Fall and are necessary to enroll in advanced courses, prioritize those.
2). Find out what activities (e.g. clubs, sports, Greek life, etc.) your school offers in general and for your major.
As you can see, I think the best thing you can do in summer is learn the nuances of your future college, find out what activities are available that interest you, and get excited (#1 is probably more mundane, but #2 will hopefully make you excited about going to college). You will have 4 years to master your major, so unless you want to study computer science and NEVER took a CS course, probably no need to pre-study the material in summer.
Updated
Dana’s Answer
Hi there! I totally agree with Madisyn's answer, enjoy your summer.
Here are some ways you can dive deep into Computer Science, if you wish to do that:
1. Understand algorithms and data structures - you can do this by reading books, following online courses or practising coding.
Book examples:
Cracking the Code Interview
Courses:
EDX has plenty of university courses
Google Tech Dev Guide
2. Practice coding
Nothing compares to actually getting your hands on a problem and trying to solve it. This develops your dexterity and will greatly help for the future interview processes you have.
Try coding on websites like LeetCode. They are plenty of problems of many types and difficulties, and a Discussion section where you can find solutions and talk about them.
3. Work on small personal projects.
This helped me a lot in my first years of university. It's the way I learned new programming languages and how to structure my code better.
Try developing something small, like a game (Pong, Hangman, Tic tac toe). Or, if you are interested in developing websites, try imagining a customer that is asking for a website for their company.
Let me know if you have other questions!
Here are some ways you can dive deep into Computer Science, if you wish to do that:
1. Understand algorithms and data structures - you can do this by reading books, following online courses or practising coding.
Book examples:
Cracking the Code Interview
Courses:
EDX has plenty of university courses
Google Tech Dev Guide
2. Practice coding
Nothing compares to actually getting your hands on a problem and trying to solve it. This develops your dexterity and will greatly help for the future interview processes you have.
Try coding on websites like LeetCode. They are plenty of problems of many types and difficulties, and a Discussion section where you can find solutions and talk about them.
3. Work on small personal projects.
This helped me a lot in my first years of university. It's the way I learned new programming languages and how to structure my code better.
Try developing something small, like a game (Pong, Hangman, Tic tac toe). Or, if you are interested in developing websites, try imagining a customer that is asking for a website for their company.
Let me know if you have other questions!