Building Community in a Competitive Undergraduate Program
J. J. B. Smith, Jennifer Campbell, Jennifer Titzer Evans, Chenyu Zhang · 2021
As with many other institutions, there is currently far more student interest in our undergraduate Computer Science major than we can accommodate. Our institution limits the capacity of the Computer Science major and uses a competitive, grades-based admission process for students to gain admission at the end of their first year of study. This competitive admission process has had a notable negative impact on the student experience in first-year, as students are especially driven to earn top grades. The competition also encourages students to prioritize academics over everything else.