CS at CMU can be a crushing experience for even extremely bright students. I knew one. He chose to go into CS, but didn't realize that a large percentage of the other CS students were already hardened developers far more prepared than he was. He crashed and burned and almost lost his scholarship before moving to another degree plan. Today he's a programmer but his self-esteem is gone and he feels like he's faking it even though his work is good.
I chalk it up to the CMU CS experience. They should screen their CS students more carefully. It is extremely difficult for students (who tend to be idealistic and optimistic) to anticipate how difficult the workload will be. It should be the university's responsibility to restrict class size or offer alternative preparatory classes for less-prepared students. "Survival of the fittest" may be great for the university but it's a tremendous waste of time and effort for many students.
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CS at CMU can be a crushing experience for even extremely bright students. I knew one. He chose to go into CS, but didn't realize that a large percentage of the other CS students were already hardened developers far more prepared than he was. He crashed and burned and almost lost his scholarship before moving to another degree plan. Today he's a programmer but his self-esteem is gone and he feels like he's faking it even though his work is good.
I chalk it up to the CMU CS experience. They should screen their CS students more carefully. It is extremely difficult for students (who tend to be idealistic and optimistic) to anticipate how difficult the workload will be. It should be the university's responsibility to restrict class size or offer alternative preparatory classes for less-prepared students. "Survival of the fittest" may be great for the university but it's a tremendous waste of time and effort for many students.