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> What they can’t do, unless they’ve figured it out on their own, is operate a computer outside of the confines of the IDE they’ve been taught. Understanding w

> What they can’t do, unless they’ve figured it out on their own, is operate a computer outside of the confines of the IDE they’ve been taught. Understanding what a file is and what a text editor should be prerequisites for entering a computer science department. Someone who doesn't understand these concepts has no business learning to program. At my "not MIT" school, it was expected that most incoming CS students understood some basic programming before they entered school. A CD department that tolerates students who don't know what a file is probably has other problems.

SaxonRobber 7y ago
That excludes a huge number of students who will have never had the experience to try programming before university. I never did any programming before my first year, I was planning on going into economics. But then I took an elective in CS and it became my major. I wasn’t alone either, most of the students were not programmers previously.
augustt 7y ago
At actual MIT there are no expectations like this.
stordoff 7y ago
> At my "not MIT" school, it was expected that most incoming CS students understood some basic programming before they entered school. At Cambridge (UK), this is _not_ the case. They merely note that "some knowledge of procedural programming is useful"[1] and "[n]o prior knowledge of programming is required"[2]. The main thing they are looking for, in terms of qualifications, is mathematics, so you'd typically see an A-level in mathematics plus two further ones in further mathematics, the physical sciences, or computing depending on what your school offers. At interview (for two colleges), I was not asked about programming - the first was purely mathematics based, and the second was primarily maths based with some CS concepts introduced to see how you thought about and were able to manipulate the information given in the interview. It's not something you were necessarily expected to know. Until this year, the introductory CS modules (making up 25% of the first year's content) were available to natural sciences students, so you would have students from a fairly wide range of backgrounds _successfully_ learning CS and to program (the maths modules, also making up 25%, are still shared, for what it's worth). [1] https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/entry https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/entry [2] https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/computer-science https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/computer-s...

SaxonRobber 7y ago

That excludes a huge number of students who will have never had the experience to try programming before university. I never did any programming before my first year, I was planning on going into economics. But then I took an elective in CS and it became my major. I wasn’t alone either, most of the students were not programmers previously.

augustt 7y ago

At actual MIT there are no expectations like this.

stordoff 7y ago

> At my "not MIT" school, it was expected that most incoming CS students understood some basic programming before they entered school. At Cambridge (UK), this is _not_ the case. They merely note that "some knowledge of procedural programming is useful"[1] and "[n]o prior knowledge of programming is required"[2]. The main thing they are looking for, in terms of qualifications, is mathematics, so you'd typically see an A-level in mathematics plus two further ones in further mathematics, the physical sciences, or computing depending on what your school offers. At interview (for two colleges), I was not asked about programming - the first was purely mathematics based, and the second was primarily maths based with some CS concepts introduced to see how you thought about and were able to manipulate the information given in the interview. It's not something you were necessarily expected to know. Until this year, the introductory CS modules (making up 25% of the first year's content) were available to natural sciences students, so you would have students from a fairly wide range of backgrounds _successfully_ learning CS and to program (the maths modules, also making up 25%, are still shared, for what it's worth). [1] https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/entry https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/entry [2] https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/computer-science https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/computer-s...