conclusion of computer science essay

Computer Science Essay Topics

Unleash Your Creativity with 160+ Computer Science Essay Topics

12 min read

Published on: May 5, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

Share this article

One of the biggest challenges students face when it comes to writing an essay is choosing the right topic. 

This is especially true for computer science students, who often struggle to find a topic that is relevant to the subject.

That's where our blog comes in!

We have crafted a list of over 160 computer science essay topics to help students find inspiration. Whether you're looking to write an impressive essay or simply looking for topic suggestions, we have got you covered.

So, let's get started!

On This Page On This Page -->

Computer Science Essay - Overview

A computer science essay is a written piece that explores various topics related to computer science. These include technical and complex topics, like software development and artificial intelligence. They can also explore more general topics, like the history and future of technology.

In most cases, computer science essays are written by students as part of their coursework or academic assignments.

Computer science essays can take many forms, such as research papers, argumentative essays, or even creative writing pieces. 

Regardless of the format, a well-written computer science essay should be informative, engaging, and well-supported by evidence and research.

Now that we understand the purpose of it, let's explore some of the most popular and interesting topics within this field. 

In the following sections, we will dive into over 160 computer science essay topics to inspire your next writing project.

Computer Science Essay Topics For High School Students

• How Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionizing the Gaming Industry
• The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles: Who is Responsible for Accidents?
• The Role of Computer Science in Modern Healthcare
• The Benefits and Drawbacks of Artificial Intelligence
• The Future of Cybersecurity: Challenges and Opportunities
• How Virtual Reality is Changing the Way We Learn
• The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles
• The Role of Big Data in Modern Business
• The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing
• The Implications of Blockchain Technology

Computer Science Essay Topics For Middle School Students

• How Computers Work: An Introduction to Hardware and Software
• The Evolution of Video Games: From Pong to Virtual Reality
• Internet Safety: Tips for Staying Safe Online
• How Search Engines Work: Understanding Google and Bing
• Coding Basics: An Introduction to HTML and CSS
• The Future of Technology: What Will We See in the Next 10 Years?
• The Power of Social Media: How it Impacts Our Lives
• The Ethics of Technology: The Pros and Cons of Social Media
• The Science of Cryptography: How Messages are Secured
• Robots and Artificial Intelligence: What Are They and How Do They Work?

Computer Science Essay Topics For College Students

• The Role of Machine Learning in Business
• Cybersecurity and Data Privacy in the Digital Age
• The Impact of Social Media on Political Campaigns
• The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems
• The Future of Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage
• The Use of Blockchain Technology in Financial Services
• The Integration of IoT in Smart Homes and Smart Cities
• The Advancements and Challenges of Quantum Computing
• The Pros and Cons of Open Source Software
• The Impact of Technology on the Job Market: Opportunities and Threats

Computer Science Essay Topics For University Students

• The Application of Machine Learning and Deep Learning in Natural Language Processing
• The Future of Quantum Computing: Challenges and Prospects
• The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market: An Empirical Study
• The Ethical Implications of Autonomous Systems and Robotics
• The Role of Data Science in Financial Risk Management
• Blockchain and Smart Contracts: Applications and Limitations
• The Security Challenges of Cloud Computing: A Comparative Analysis
• The Prospects of Cognitive Computing and its Implications for Business Intelligence
• The Integration of IoT and Edge Computing in Smart City Development
• The Relationship between Cybersecurity and National Security: A Theoretical and Empirical Study.

 Research Paper Topics in Computer Science

• Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity: Advancements and Limitations
• Social Media and Mental Health: Implications for Research and Practice
• Blockchain Implementation in Supply Chain Management: A Comparative Study
• Natural Language Processing: Trends, Challenges, and Future Directions
• Edge Computing in IoT: Opportunities and Challenges
• Data Analytics in Healthcare Decision Making: An Empirical Study
• Virtual Reality in Education and Training: Opportunities and Challenges
• Cloud Computing in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges
• Security Risks of Smart Homes and IoT Devices: A Comparative Analysis
• Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession: Challenges and Opportunities

Computer Science Essay Topics On Emerging Technologies

• 5G Networks: Trends, Applications, and Challenges
• Augmented Reality in Marketing and Advertising: Opportunities and Challenges
• Quantum Computing in Drug Discovery: A Review of Current Research
• Autonomous Vehicles: Advancements and Challenges in Implementation
• Synthetic Biology: Current Developments and Future Prospects
• Brain-Computer Interfaces: Opportunities and Challenges in Implementation
• Robotics in Healthcare: Trends, Challenges, and Future Directions
• Wearable Technology: Applications and Limitations in Healthcare
• Virtual Assistants: Opportunities and Limitations in Daily Life
• Biometric Authentication: Advancements and Challenges in Implementation

Computer Science Essay Topics On Solving Problems

• Using Artificial Intelligence to solve traffic congestion problems
• Implementing Machine Learning to predict and prevent cyber-attacks
• Developing a Computer Vision system to detect early-stage skin cancer
• Using Data Analytics to improve energy efficiency in buildings
• Implementing an IoT-based solution for monitoring and reducing air pollution
• Developing a software system for optimizing supply chain management
• Using Blockchain to secure and manage digital identities
• Implementing a Smart Grid system for energy distribution and management
• Developing a mobile application for emergency response and disaster management
• Using Robotics to automate and optimize warehouse operations.

Computer Science Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should the development of autonomous weapons be banned?
• Is social media addiction a mental health disorder?
• Should governments regulate the use of artificial intelligence in decision-making?
• Is online privacy a fundamental human right?
• Should companies be held liable for data breaches?
• Is net neutrality necessary for a free and open internet?
• Should software piracy be treated as a criminal offense?
• Should online hate speech be regulated by law?
• Is open-source software better than proprietary software?
• Should governments use surveillance technology to prevent crime?

Computer Science Persuasive Essay Topics

• Should coding be a mandatory subject in schools?
• Is artificial intelligence a threat to human jobs?
• Should the use of drones for commercial purposes be regulated?
• Is encryption important for online security?
• Should governments provide free Wi-Fi in public spaces?
• Is cyberbullying a serious problem in schools?
• Should social media platforms regulate hate speech?
• Is online voting a viable option for elections?
• Should algorithms be used in decision-making processes in the criminal justice system?
• Should governments invest in space exploration and colonization?

 Current Hot Topics in Computer Science

• The ethical implications of facial recognition technology
• The role of blockchain in data security and privacy
• The future of quantum computing and its potential applications
• The challenges and opportunities of implementing machine learning in healthcare
• The impact of big data on business operations and decision-making
• The potential of augmented and virtual reality in education and training
• The role of computer science in addressing climate change and sustainability
• The social and cultural implications of social media algorithms
• The intersection of computer science and neuroscience in developing artificial intelligence

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Controversial Topics in Computer Science

• The ethics of Artificial Intelligence
• The dark side of the Internet
• The impact of social media on mental health
• The role of technology in political campaigns
• The ethics of autonomous vehicles
• The responsibility of tech companies in preventing cyberbullying
• The use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement
• The impact of automation on employment
• The future of privacy in a digital world
• The dangers of deep face technology

Good Essay Topics on Computer Science and Systems

• The history of computers and computing
• The impact of computers on society
• The evolution of computer hardware and software
• The role of computers in education
• The future of quantum computing
• The impact of computers on the music industry
• The use of computers in medicine and healthcare
• The role of computers in space exploration
• The impact of video games on cognitive development
• The benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing

Simple & Easy Computers Essay Topics

• How to choose the right computer for your needs
• The basics of computer hardware and software
• The importance of computer maintenance and upkeep
• How to troubleshoot common computer problems
• The role of computers in modern business
• The impact of computers on communication
• How to protect your computer from viruses and malware
• The basics of computer programming
• How to improve your computer skills
• The benefits of using a computer for personal finance management.

Computer Science Extended Essay Topics

• The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the job market
• The development of a smart home system using IoT
• The use of Blockchain in supply chain management
• The future of quantum computing in cryptography
• Developing an AI-based chatbot for customer service
• The use of Machine Learning for credit scoring
• The development of an autonomous drone delivery system
• The role of Big Data in predicting and preventing natural disasters
• The potential of Robotics in agriculture
• The impact of 5G on the Internet of Things

Long Essay Topics In Computer Science

• The ethical implications of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Exploring the potential of quantum computing and its impact on cryptography.
• The use of big data in healthcare: Opportunities and challenges.
• The future of autonomous vehicles and their impact on transportation and society.
• The role of blockchain technology in securing digital transactions and information.
• The impact of social media and algorithms on the spread of misinformation.
• The ethics of cybersecurity and the role of governments in protecting citizens online.
• The potential of virtual reality and augmented reality in education and training.
• The impact of cloud computing on business and IT infrastructure.
• The challenges and opportunities of developing sustainable computing technologies

Most Interesting Computers Topics

• The rise of artificial intelligence in information technology: opportunities and challenges.
• The evolution of programming languages and their impact on software development.
• The future of pursuing computer science education: online learning vs traditional classroom.
• The impact of virtualization on computer systems and their scalability.
• Cybersecurity threats in information technology: prevention and mitigation strategies.
• An analysis of the most popular programming languages and their advantages and disadvantages.
• The role of cloud computing in the digital transformation of businesses.
• Emerging trends in pursuing computer science education: personalized learning and adaptive assessments.
• Developing secure computer systems for critical infrastructure: challenges and solutions.
• The potential of quantum computing in revolutionizing information technology and programming languages.

How To Choose The Right Computer Science Essay Topic

Choosing the right computer science essay topic can be a challenging task. Here are some tips to help you select the best topic for your essay:

• Consider your Interests

Choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in. This will help you to stay motivated and engaged throughout the writing process.

• Do your Research

Spend some time researching different computer science topics to identify areas that interest you and have plenty of research material available.

• Narrow Down Your Focus

Once you have a list of potential topics, narrow down your focus to a specific aspect or issue within that topic.

• Consider the Audience

Think about who your audience is and choose a topic that is relevant to their interests or needs.

• Evaluate The Scope Of The Topic

Make sure that the topic you choose is not too broad or too narrow. You want to have enough material to write a comprehensive essay, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming.

Take some time to brainstorm different ideas and write them down. This can help you to identify patterns or themes that you can use to develop your topic.

• Consult With Your Instructor

If you're struggling to come up with a topic, consider consulting with your instructor or a tutor. They can provide you with guidance and feedback to help you choose the right topic.

Tips To Write An Effective Computer Science Essay

Writing an effective computer science essay requires careful planning and execution. Here are some tips to help you write a great essay:

• Start with a clear thesis statement: Your thesis statement should be concise and clearly state the purpose of your essay.
• Use evidence to support your arguments: Use credible sources to back up your arguments. Also, make sure to properly cite your sources.
• Write in a clear and concise manner: Use simple and straightforward language to convey your ideas. Avoid using technical jargon that your audience may not understand.
• Use diagrams and visual aids: If appropriate, use diagrams and visual aids to help illustrate your ideas. This will make your essay look more engaging.
• Organize your essay effectively: Use clear and logical headings and subheadings to organize your essay and make it easy to follow.
• Proofread and edit: Before submitting, make sure to carefully proofread your essay to ensure that it is free of errors.
• Seek feedback: Get feedback from others, to help you identify areas where you can improve your writing.

By following these tips, you can write an effective computer science essay that engages your audience and effectively communicates your ideas.

In conclusion, computer science is a vast and exciting field that offers a wide range of essay topics for students. 

Whether you're writing about emerging technologies, or hot topics in computer science, there are plenty of options to choose from.

To choose the right topic for your essay, consider your interests, the assignment requirements, and the audience you are writing for. Once you have a topic in mind, follow the tips we've outlined to write an effective essay that engages your audience.

If you're struggling to write your computer science essay, consider hiring our professional essay writing - CollegeEssay.org. 

We offer a range of services, including essay writing, editing, and proofreading, to help students achieve their academic goals.

With our essay writer AI , you can take your writing to the next level and succeed in your studies. 

So why wait? Visit our computer science essay writing service and see how we can help you!

Donna C (Law, Literature)

Donna has garnered the best reviews and ratings for her work. She enjoys writing about a variety of topics but is particularly interested in social issues, current events, and human interest stories. She is a sought-after voice in the industry, known for her engaging, professional writing style.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Terms of Use
• Refunds & Cancellations
• Our Writers
• Success Stories
• Our Guarantees
• Affiliate Program
• Referral Program
• AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• How to conclude an essay | Interactive example

How to Conclude an Essay | Interactive Example

Published on January 24, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay . A strong conclusion aims to:

• Tie together the essay’s main points
• Show why your argument matters
• Leave the reader with a strong impression

Your conclusion should give a sense of closure and completion to your argument, but also show what new questions or possibilities it has opened up.

This conclusion is taken from our annotated essay example , which discusses the history of the Braille system. Hover over each part to see why it’s effective.

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Step 1: return to your thesis, step 2: review your main points, step 3: show why it matters, what shouldn’t go in the conclusion, more examples of essay conclusions, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about writing an essay conclusion.

To begin your conclusion, signal that the essay is coming to an end by returning to your overall argument.

Don’t just repeat your thesis statement —instead, try to rephrase your argument in a way that shows how it has been developed since the introduction.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Next, remind the reader of the main points that you used to support your argument.

Avoid simply summarizing each paragraph or repeating each point in order; try to bring your points together in a way that makes the connections between them clear. The conclusion is your final chance to show how all the paragraphs of your essay add up to a coherent whole.

To wrap up your conclusion, zoom out to a broader view of the topic and consider the implications of your argument. For example:

• Does it contribute a new understanding of your topic?
• Does it raise new questions for future study?
• Does it lead to practical suggestions or predictions?
• Can it be applied to different contexts?
• Can it be connected to a broader debate or theme?

Whatever your essay is about, the conclusion should aim to emphasize the significance of your argument, whether that’s within your academic subject or in the wider world.

Try to end with a strong, decisive sentence, leaving the reader with a lingering sense of interest in your topic.

The easiest way to improve your conclusion is to eliminate these common mistakes.

Don’t include new evidence

Any evidence or analysis that is essential to supporting your thesis statement should appear in the main body of the essay.

The conclusion might include minor pieces of new information—for example, a sentence or two discussing broader implications, or a quotation that nicely summarizes your central point. But it shouldn’t introduce any major new sources or ideas that need further explanation to understand.

Don’t use “concluding phrases”

Avoid using obvious stock phrases to tell the reader what you’re doing:

• “In conclusion…”
• “To sum up…”

These phrases aren’t forbidden, but they can make your writing sound weak. By returning to your main argument, it will quickly become clear that you are concluding the essay—you shouldn’t have to spell it out.

Don’t undermine your argument

Avoid using apologetic phrases that sound uncertain or confused:

• “This is just one approach among many.”
• “There are good arguments on both sides of this issue.”
• “There is no clear answer to this problem.”

Even if your essay has explored different points of view, your own position should be clear. There may be many possible approaches to the topic, but you want to leave the reader convinced that yours is the best one!

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

• Argumentative
• Literary analysis

This conclusion is taken from an argumentative essay about the internet’s impact on education. It acknowledges the opposing arguments while taking a clear, decisive position.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

This conclusion is taken from a short expository essay that explains the invention of the printing press and its effects on European society. It focuses on giving a clear, concise overview of what was covered in the essay.

The invention of the printing press was important not only in terms of its immediate cultural and economic effects, but also in terms of its major impact on politics and religion across Europe. In the century following the invention of the printing press, the relatively stationary intellectual atmosphere of the Middle Ages gave way to the social upheavals of the Reformation and the Renaissance. A single technological innovation had contributed to the total reshaping of the continent.

This conclusion is taken from a literary analysis essay about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . It summarizes what the essay’s analysis achieved and emphasizes its originality.

By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Your essay’s conclusion should contain:

• A rephrased version of your overall thesis
• A brief review of the key points you made in the main body
• An indication of why your argument matters

The conclusion may also reflect on the broader implications of your argument, showing how your ideas could applied to other contexts or debates.

For a stronger conclusion paragraph, avoid including:

• Important evidence or analysis that wasn’t mentioned in the main body
• Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion…”)
• Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g. “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

The conclusion paragraph of an essay is usually shorter than the introduction . As a rule, it shouldn’t take up more than 10–15% of the text.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, July 23). How to Conclude an Essay | Interactive Example. Scribbr. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/conclusion/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write an essay introduction | 4 steps & examples, how to write a thesis statement | 4 steps & examples, example of a great essay | explanations, tips & tricks, unlimited academic ai-proofreading.

✔ Document error-free in 5minutes ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.14.2 Literacy in computer science (research essay)

John Parker

English 102, April 2021

Introduction.

Computer Science is one of the fastest growing fields as the world transitions to increased automation. Schools of all levels are putting a greater emphasis on educating the younger generation on programming. This suggests that schools are growing their STEM departments, which house the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In order to understand why many educators are approaching the field of Computer Science in this way, it must be understood what Computer Science is. It is most commonly defined as the study of computer software and computing systems. More specifically, it deals with creating, reading, and error-checking programming or code. While it is true that STEM is very important within the field of programming, there are other important aspects of coding that are not frequently considered by many educators. Coding includes being able to read, write, and communicate in a unique way, which implies that literacy involved in the field. Any form of literacy that is not directly learning how to read, write, or communicate in standard English is often not considered to be literacy, which is a major reason that its importance within programming is not recognized. The fact that many educators within the field of Computer Science do not realize the importance of literacy alludes to the idea that the teaching of programming may be flawed in its methods and implementation.

Computer Science is very important in my life, as I am currently pursuing a degree in the field. I have been programming for just over a year now and have experience in Python and Java programming languages. I have taken three courses on programming/computer science in college, in which I have learned so much about programming and Computer Science in general. In addition to coursework, I frequently work on coding projects for my own entertainment and read/watch articles and videos on programming. Any knowledge that I gain on the most effective ways to learn programming is very important to my future. Even more important than gaining this knowledge for myself, being able to spread this knowledge to grow the field is paramount.  Although I am not an expert in programming, I have had many learning experiences with programming that qualify me to discuss my personal experiences with learning how to program. Since the focus of this essay deals with the teaching methods and learning experiences of programming, the relative freshness of my learning experiences with programming provides me with an advantage over industry professionals in this discussion.

Writing in Computer Science

   Although it may be somewhat difficult to discover the parallels between computer programming and literacy, the literacy aspect of writing can be understood very easily. When thinking of what a programmer does, one of the simplest and high-level descriptions could be “someone who writes code.” The main similarity between the two practices is the exist in the process of creating a finalized piece of work, whether it be a novel for an application. In Felienne Hermans and Marlies Aldewereld’s article, “Programming is Writing is Programming,” the authors describe the beginning of the writing process and programming workflow to include a high-level plan (1). The next step in both processes is to convert these high-level designs into low-level, workable steps. For writers, these low-level steps include sentences and words; for programmers, they include methods, functions, and lines of code. For both practices, intermediate steps are needed manage the organization of the work, such as chapters in writing and classes and objects in programming (Hermans and Marlies 2). In the programming course that I am currently enrolled in, every coding assignment that is submitted must be accompanied by pseudocode, which is essentially a plan for how the final code will look. This pseudocode, which is written in a mix of English and Java syntax, begins with high-level plans that are broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. The process of writing pseudocode was not all that difficult to me when I realized that it was just like the outlines that I have been writing for English courses for years. These outlines broke up the goal of the essay into manageable portions and consisted of some wording that would be directly added to the essay and some rough ideas that would need to be converted into cohesive writing.

In Ziva R. Hassenfeld’s et al article, “If you can Program you can Write,” explores the constructs shared by computer programming and writing in great detail. The authors discuss the similar constructs between the two practices as, “planning and prewriting, creating and drafting, testing and evaluating, and debugging and editing and revising” (Hassenfeld et al. 68). The study described in this article, which focuses on the correlation between elementary student’s ability to write and ability to learn programming, showed that these similarities between the two practices produce a correlation between students’ ability to write and their ability to program (Hassenfeld et al. 75). In the section titled “Programming as Literacy” of Annette Vee’s novel, “Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing,” she discusses an extremely interesting way to observe the similarities between writing and programming. Vee dives into exploring the ways in which programming is treated like writing within United States law. The United States Congress amended the 1976 Copywrite Act in 1980 to categorize computer code as a “literary work” and a “form of writing” (Vee 450). Since a law protecting writing and forms of creative expression, it can be alluded that the United States law views computer programming as a form of writing.

Reading in Computer Science

Reading is also extremely prevalent within the world of programming and Computer Science in general. Peg Grafwallner’s article, “Encoding Literacy in Computer Science,” examines an instructional coach and computer science teacher’s attempt to implement literacy lessons into a computer science class. The article states that reading within Computer Science requires students to focus on one specific area at a time, thinking in a linear and conceptual manner (Grafwallner). The computer science class discussed in this article was taught with an emphasis on literacy through directions, ultimately proving to boost the success of the students’ ability to program. The ability to read instructions was determined to be the most vital skill in programming (Grafwallner).

In Marthie Schoeman’s article, “Reading Skills Can Predict the Programming Performance of Novices,” the relationship between reading and ability to code is discussed extensively. In the study described in the article, the reading level of students were determined using eye-tracking technology. The students then took an introductory course in computer programming that would be followed by a final examination (Schoeman 44). The results of the study show that students with low reading skills failed the programming component, while those with higher reading skills did better overall. These results depict the fact that reading skills do play a role in one’s ability to learn programming (Schoeman 48). This relation can be attributed to the fact that programming is a form high-level written language in its own sense. In my own experiences, reading programming has proved to be one of the most vital skills that a computer programmer can possess. One of the main points of emphasis within Computer Science classes is being able to read and debug others’ code. Since there are so many different ways that a program can be created, I initially struggled with reading others’ code. The skill of reading code is very similar to reading literary works, as some authors are naturally easier to follow along with than others. Reading code is a vital aspect of computer programming and is a skill that I am still working on improving.

Communication in Computer Science

Although communication is not necessarily involved in the creation of all computer programs, communication in vital within the professional setting of Computer Science, in addition to engaging in programming within a team environment. In Gilles Dubochet’s article, “Computer Code as a Medium for Human Communication,” it is stated that communication between a human and a computer is the main objective of computer programming. The article goes on to state that computer programming itself has become a channel for human communication (Dubochet 1). The article explores the increase in team usage in the field of computer science, suggesting that the ability to understand the code that other’s write is extremely important (2). Understanding the code that others write is not only dependent on one’s ability to read and understand coding syntax and standards, but also the ability of the person reading the code and the person who wrote the code to communicate effectively with one another. The article suggests that communication is not only prevalent through oral dialect, but that programming languages are becoming a channel for communication between programmers (Dubochet 13). In other words, programmers are able to convey their thoughts through a programming language.

At the start of my college career, I did not expect for communication to be as prevalent as it was within my Computer Science courses. Throughout the entire Fall Semester of my introduction to programming course, a team of students that we were assigned to were required to code a robot. Due to the business of the group members’ schedules, we often had to do portions of the project on our own. This meant that I would often log in to add a portion to the code and would be confused by the code that was just written above. Through a simple phone call or text, all of the team members were able to understand the others’ work. The communication between our team was extremely important for this reason, as the project would have fallen apart without it. Throughout the semester, our team began to “comment” our code, which is simply inserting explanation within the code that do not affect how the code runs. If “//” is used before a line, the programming software environment understands that this is just for programmers to read. This simple addition to our code meant that we were actually able to communicate directly through the code, without having to text, call, or talk at all.

Marc Riemer breaks down the importance of communication and language skills in a broader field of engineering in the article titled, “Communication Skills for the 21st Century Engineer.” Riemer discusses the importance of communication skills in engineering, primarily focusing on the English language. He states that English is the most widespread language in the world and that effective communication in English is a skill that develops more successful engineers (91). Riemer examines the importance of communication between engineers and stakeholders (95). After engineers’ years of education in upper-level concepts, it can be difficult to decipher what stakeholders are familiar and not familiar with. Being able to effectively break down the concepts into more common terminology plays a major role in one’s success within the field of Computer Science as well as all other engineering disciplines. The findings of this article suggest that an increase in communication and language courses in college curriculums will produce more successful engineers (Riemer 98). Although this article focuses more broadly on engineering, Computer Science is a major branch of engineering that shares in the same challenges of communication as all other major fields of engineering.

Computer Programming as a Language in Itself

Computer Programming is much more than a computational practice, as learning programming languages comes with many of the same challenges as learning human languages, uncovering the fact that computer programming is its own unique form of literacy or language. When I was applying for colleges and deciding on a major, I honestly did not know what I wanted to do. I knew that I loved math and problem solving and would want to pursue a career in math-based field. The reason that I chose to pursue a career in Computer Science was purely for this reason, as I have never taken a coding course or had any prior experience. Once I began coding in my collegiate level courses, I fell in love with the problem-solving aspect. I was grasping the various coding techniques and problem-solving methods, but found that the portion I was struggling with the most was syntax and coding conventions. I thought that learning to program would be like learning Calculus, but, in reality, it was actually like learning a new language.

The world of programming is extremely complex, with syntax and grammar of its own, comparable to the grammar and structure used in human languages. The article, “Classifying Programming languages,” is an excellent source for understanding how programming languages are classified and the many similarities and differences between. The authors state that there are eight major categories of programming languages, categorized by “linguistic structure, expressive features, possibility of efficient implementation, direct support for certain programming models, and similar concerns” (“Classifying Programming Languages”). This practice of categorizing languages based on various features is used extensively in human languages also. For example, the Romance Languages are all rooted in Latin and have similar sounds, sentence structure, etc. The article goes on to explain there are many styles of programming that can be used within one language (“Classifying Programming Languages”). This is also a construct that is common throughout human languages, as there are many styles of writing within the English language. Programming languages also have their own grammar and syntax. The grammar portion of coding could be described through common code standards, such as camel case being used for variable names or uppercase being used for constant names. The syntax portion of coding is slightly different than in English, as errors in syntax within programming will cause the program to crash, losing functionality.

In Ana Harris’ article, “Human Languages vs. Programming Languages,” she breaks down the criteria for something to be considered a language. Harris states that the main function of language is communication. She goes on to explain that the function of programming languages is to communicate a series of an instructions to a computer or machine, alluding to the idea that programming languages are indeed unique forms of literacy/language. Harris zooms in on another major similarity between human languages and programming languages, being structure. She discusses the concepts of semantics (meaning connected to a certain concept) and syntax (rules for aligning words and phrases) from the perspective of a linguist. She states that programming uses semantics, as every program has a specific intention, and syntax, which includes following rules for the use of variables, functions, parenthesis, colons, etc. (Harris). These many similarities allow for programming to be considered its own unique form of literacy or language.

Connection between Literacy Skills and Programming Ability

Due to the many parallels between computer programming and literacy, it can be gathered that programming ability and literacy skills benefit one another. Although I enjoy and excel in mathematics and problem solving more-so, I have always loved reading and writing. Throughout my journey of learning programming, this love and ability has helped to excel in the field. Although many of my peers are more advanced than myself in mathematics, this ability has proved to give me a slight upper hand in some aspects of coding. Many of my peers who lack in this ability often have trouble with their code simply because they missed a portion of the instruction when reading, misunderstood what was being asked of them, or they had trouble recalling the semantics and syntax required for the program.

In Sharin Jacob and Mark Warschauer’s article, “Computational Thinking and Literacy,” the authors discuss how literary skills can lead to stronger computational skills. The authors describe in detail how computational thinking (computer programming) is a form of literacy, which was discussed earlier extensively (Jacob and Warschauer 3). The authors then switch gears to focus on how literacy skills can improve programming ability. The article describes the importance of verbal analysis of game architecture to their implementation of game design. The example that the authors use to back up this statement is as follows: The statement “the hunter killed the monkey” is implemented into the coding as “the monkey disappears when it touches the hunter” (Jacob and Warschauer 8). This example shows the importance of one literary element, transitive verb structures, to the success of a game developer. Jacob and Warschauer state, “students cannot master programming syntax without understanding the semantic meaning of commands if they cannot produce correct linguistic forms without considering their corresponding meanings” (10). The authors are saying that students are required to use the same skills within literacy courses that they are required to use within programming, just manifest in different ways. Therefore, skills that are taught in literacy primarily can assist in improving programming ability.

Marthie Schoeman’s article discussed above, “Reading Skills Can Predict the Programming Performance of Novices,” further displays how literacy skill can affect programming performance. This article discusses a study of the relationship between reading skills and the ability to code. The method of the study involved performing an initial eye tracking test on participants as they were reading to determine their reading proficiency. The participants were then given a short introductory course in programming, which would be followed by a knowledge exam (Schoeman 42). The results of the study displayed that those students with low reading skills failed the programming component, while students with higher reading skills did better overall (Shoeman 48). These results suggest that the literary skill of reading does indeed play a role in one’s ability to learn programming.

All of the findings discussed throughout the entirety of this essay display the fact that teaching programming to young people more similarly to the ways in which that literacy is taught may be more effective than just the typical STEM approach. Marina Bers’ article, “Coding as Another Language,” discusses a new method of teaching computer science to young children starting in kindergarten called “Coding as Another Language” (499). The method of teaching coding described in this article deviates from the typical STEM approach, offering the proposition that computer science teaching can be enhanced by incorporating the design of literacy instruction, due to the parallels that exists between natural languages and programming languages (Bers 504). According to Bers, research shows that teaching children how to read and write artificial languages in the same way as natural languages leads to a greater cognitive understanding of programming (503).

In Ziva R. Hassenfeld’s et al. article, “If you can Program you can Write,” the authors examine a study of elementary students learning through the “Coding as Another Language” curriculum. The article discusses results from a test on literacy and an assessment of students’ understanding of an introductory program language, drawing conclusions based upon their correlation (Hassenfeld et al. 73). The results of this study show that there is a connection between students’ literacy levels and their height of achievement in grasping an introductory programming language (Hassenfeld et al. 75). This indicates that there are fundamental understandings and constructs that are shared by literacy and computer programming, which are described in detail earlier. All of these articles suggest that the instruction of programming in early years is more effective when taught more similarly to literacy instruction than just being taught in the typical STEM approach.

The future of Computer Science is limitless, due to the increase in automation throughout societies. As the field continues to grow, programming education will become more and more prevalent within elementary and high schools across the country. The ways in which programming is taught needs to transition to a more literacy-based approach for younger children to improve the effectiveness of the education. If the instruction of programming evolves according to the findings displayed in this essay, so will the growth of the field of Computer Science. Just as most people hold the belief that literacy is not involved in the field of Computer Science, many people are unaware of its presence within all STEM fields, whether it be biology, nursing, or engineering. If the style of teaching programming is holding back the future of programming so drastically by ignoring literacy approaches, imagine how much the world is being held back by this issue.

Although approaching the instruction of computer programming from a literacy point of view is more effective than just the STEM approach overall, there are still many individuals that have disadvantages in learning programming no matter what teaching method that is used. According to Antonio Byrd’s article, “Between Learning and Opportunity: A Study of African American Coders’ Networks of Support,” racially marginalized individuals are not as likely to develop coding literacy skills for problem-solving applications (Byrd 31). A core issue for these marginalized communities gaining access to programming knowledge and experience is financial stability. Computer Programming boot camps and college education are both very expensive investments, which is often not an option for individuals from marginalized communities. Byrd expands on this by stating that even those that do not need to pay tuition for coding bootcamps are required to give of their emotional and physical labor (34). Since coding bootcamps require many hours of work a week, many individuals often have to take time away from their jobs and/or their families. This is something that many marginalized people can simply not afford. The study described in this article takes place at Clearwater Academy, where marginalized students do not pay tuition, which taught courses on programming languages such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS (Byrd 35). The results of this confirm that African American adult’s access to coding literacy is limited by the social, emotional, and economic repercussions of white supremacy (Byrd 49). Unfortunately, there is no one easy solution that completely resolves this issue, as it stems from years of oppression and discrimination. In order to best combat this issue, universities, training centers, and employers need to take steps to accommodate the needs of marginalized groups. Taking steps in this direction will cultivate the field of Computer Science to grow exponentially and move towards equality.

Works Cited

Bers, Marina Umaschi. “Coding as another language: a pedagogical approach for teaching  computer science in early childhood.”  Journal of Computers in Education  6.4 (2019):  499-528.

Byrd, Antonio. “Between learning and opportunity: A study of African American coders’  networks of support.” Literacy in Composition Studies 7.2 (2019): 31-56.

Cencelj, Zvonka, et al. “Role and meaning of functional science, technological and engineering  literacy in problem-based learning.”  Journal of Baltic Science Education  18.1 (2019):  132-146.

“Classifying Programming Languages.” Pltypes, Loyola Marymount University,

cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/pltypes/.

Dubochet, Gilles. “Computer Code as a Medium for Human Communication: Are Programming  Languages Improving?” Proceedings of the 21st Working Conference on the Psychology  of Programmers Interest Group. No. CONF. University of Limerick, 2009.

Grafwallner, Peg. “Encoding Literacy in Computer Science.”  Edutopia , George Lucas Educational Foundation, 10 Jan. 2018, www.edutopia.org/article/encoding-literacy-computer-science.

Harris, Ana. “Human Languages vs. Programming Languages.”  Medium , Medium, 1 Nov. 2018,  medium.com/@anaharris/human-languages-vs-programming-languages-c89410f13252.

Hermans, Felienne, and Marlies Aldewereld. “Programming is writing is  programming.”  Companion to the first International Conference on the Art, Science and  Engineering of Programming . 2017.

Jacob, Sharin Rawhiya, and Mark Warschauer. “Computational thinking and literacy.”  Journal  of Computer Science Integration  1.1. 2018.

Riemer, Marc J. “Communication skills for the 21st century engineer.” Global J. of Engng.  Educ 11.1 (2007): 89-100.

R Hassenfeld, Ziva, et al. “If You Can Program, You Can Write: Learning Introductory Programming Across Literacy Levels.”  Journal of Information Technology Education: Research , vol. 19, 2020, pp. 065–085., doi:10.28945/4509.

Schoeman, Marthie. “Reading skills can predict the programming performance of novices: an eye-tracking study.”  Perspectives in Education  37.2 (2019): 35-52.

Vee, Annette. “Computer Programming as Literacy.”  Coding Literacy , 2017, pp. 445–452., doi:10.7551/mitpress/10655.003.0003.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by John Parker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Microprocessor
• Essay Database >
• Essays Examples >
• Essay Topics

Free Computer Science Essay Samples

157 samples on this topic

Nowadays, you can often hear that computer science is the science of the future – and it's extremely hard to disagree with that. This is probably the first argument that rings the bell when you are about to write a 'Why I chose computer science' essay for application or scholarship purposes.

Understanding that the aforementioned field is of great interest in terms of professional perspectives, as well as long-term life and career goals, is one thing. But ensuring consistent academic performance while you study this sophisticated subject is totally another. Besides robust tech skills, it also requires a lot of writing, including extended essays on computer science. This is where WowEssays.com directory of free college sample papers can come in handy.

Our open-access catalog contains thousands of high-quality academic works, with different papers on most various computer science essay topics. Read them, draw inspiration and actionable insights, or use them as a valid model to follow.

In case your writing progress stalled, we can offer practical help beyond our selection of free samples. Our experts can craft a unique computer science college essay example according to your specific writing instructions. It'll allow you to develop your own piece much easier and faster. So, if your " write my essay for me free " are not successful, please contact us!

Free Term Paper On Project Plan Development

Executive Summary

Proper Essay Example About Computer Science Standards For Writing

Fractals in nature essay examples, knowledge discovery and data mining (kdd) improve the health care essays example, advances in information technology and its effects in nursing research paper examples.

Importance of Nursing Informatics in Healthcare

The Cold War Research Papers Examples

How did the Cold War affect the growth of technology in the United States?

Computer Literacy In Turkey: Free Sample Essay To Follow

Marketing a business online essay.

How to Successfully Market a Business Online

Free Computer Science, Information, And Technology Essay Example

Good example of essay on analysis of a professional journal.

Analysis of a Professional Journal

Phone Gap Using Cordova/Ionic: Exemplar Research Paper To Follow

Good essay on computer science in the health care industry, memorandum: free sample essay to follow.

This memo is designed to help you, the student engineer, to decide which industry to work for after graduation that will best fit your goals, style and career ambitions. It compares computer hardware manufacturer industry with the power industry using the following criteria: education, salary, companies to work for and products.

Computer Hardware Manufacturer

Inspiring Essay About How I Decided To Study Finance

In this essay, I purpose to develop an analysis on the forecasted return on my education and the expected future job. The paper has two main parts. First, I will discuss why I decided to pursue Finance including the costs and interest on my education loan. Second, I will analyze my research on the expected job and the predicted payback time.

Expertly Crafted Personal Statement On A Degree And Career In Computer Science

A DEGREE AND CAREER IN COMPUTER SCIENCE 2

Example Of Computer Science Essay

Computer Science 2

Introduction 2 Stipulation of a Computer Science Degree 2 Importance of Computer Science 3 The Purpose of a Computer Science 3 Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science 3 Ethical Issues in Computer Science 4 The ENIAC Project: Its Significance in Computer Science and Society 5

Works Cited 6

Free The Ancient Egyptian Civilization And Its Influence On The Modern World Essay Example

Modifications of rbns research paper examples, perfect model essay on problem definition 4.

Implementing Cyber-Security: Best Practices at Work

Executive Summary 3

Proposed Solutions 6 Annotated Bibliography 8 Memorandum 11

References 14

Example Of Essay On Nursing Informatics And Advanced Nursing Practice

How is maths related to computers research paper to use for practical writing help, write by example of this software program developer career research paper.

Internship Opportunities for a Software Developer

Good Thesis Proposal About How Is Math Related To Computers?

Thesis: Mathematics and computers are intertwined in which mathematic improves understanding of computer, and the computers improve the understanding of the mathematics.

Working bibliography

Lifestyle Hotel Feasibility Study In Bangkok, Thailand Essay Sample

Good example of the advantages of ethics for computer scientists report, nursing essay to use for practical writing help.

Informatics

Ethics {type) To Use As A Writing Model

Exemplar essay on the future of ai: on newell and simon’s computer science as empirical inquiry to write after, financial success vs. passion essays examples.

Diana Favarisova

Good Gender, Body And Technology Essay Example

Good report on the advantages of ethics for computer scientists, good transfer admission essay admission essay example, good example of essay on since the processes are standardized, highly skilled managers who are trained in these processes are available.

Information Technology Project Management

Good Example Of Spiritual Machines Essay

Free designing human-computer interaction report sample, good civil engineering as an engineering discipline essay example.

Introduction: Civil engineering and associated careers

Good Example Of Research Paper On Professional Nursing Organization

Personal statement on statement of purpose.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Good Essay About Career And Education Plan In Computer Science

Career Plan

Good Example Of Csci 251 Introduction To Info Security, Law, And Ethics Essay

Chapter 12 Quiz

Free The Code Of Ethics Of Nspe Essay Example

Professional ethics is an inseparable part of every profession. According to the definition, professional ethics encompass the personal, organizational and corporate standards of behavior expected of professionals. To clarify and assure ethic rules disciplinary codes exist for specific fields. These codes are required, because professionals often have to operate private data of their clients to apply their skills for making judgments and decisions unobtainable for the general public. One of the exemplary set of professional ethic rules is the Hippocratic Oath to which doctors have been adhered for about 23 centuries.

Professional aims, that engineers should do:

Free Career Research (Game Developer) Research Paper Sample

The Great Progress of the Game Development Industry

Greatest Ethical Struggle In Computer Science Essay Sample

Career research (computer science) research papers example.

Game Developer

Introduction - Game development is the process of creating a game for consoles, PC, arcades, tablets, mobile phones and other platforms. This has been one of the best and highest paying job in the world. A single game would take years before it is launched and millions of dollars are spent along the process. This job entails everyone “to create your own engine” (Whithall 1).

Job Description

Best Practices For Network Security Essay Examples

ISSC421Computer and Network Security

Introduction Security of network communications infrastructure continues to be a major challenge to network administrators as the security breaches ranging from perimeter to desktop continue to increase. This research paper is thus aimed at providing information that will be useful to business owners to understanding the various best practices that can be employed for overall network security.

Free Cloud Intrusion Detection Network Services Literature Review Example

Cloud platform is increasingly becoming popular even as most enterprises shift from a conventional computing system to this new data accessibility trend. Just as the name suggest, cloud computing allows for allows multiple users to access it simultaneously, and thus exposing it to the easier attack by unscrupulous users and unintended applications. Thus, the cloud computing environments are easier targets to intruders due to their distributed nature.

This is a typical Diagram of an IDSaaS in the Cloud

Technology And Gender Essay

Information technology personal statement example, good example of personal statement on computer science and software engineering, communication skills course work examples, example of past, present, and future presentation, free computer science admission essay example, free course work on informatics and public health.

Public health informatics (PHI) denotes the logical application of computer science, information, as well as technology to the practice of public health, learning, and research (O'Carroll, 2013). PHI is an interdisciplinary vocation that uses engineering, mathematics, information science, as well as related social sciences to significant public health processes and problems.

Free Introduction to the Sciences Research Paper Example

Example of essay on business in india.

- What is the climate for doing business in India? Is it supportive of foreign investment?

India is a very extraordinary country in all senses. When we talk about economic branch and investments partially, it is necessary to state that first of all it is a country with hyper potential. Business environment of India is very conducive and really attracts investors from all over the world.

Good Computing Careers Course Work Example

Free course work about computer scientists.

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Information Science and Technology

Essay Samples on Computer Science

Computer science is a rapidly evolving field that is transforming the world as we know it. As a student, writing a computer science essay is an excellent opportunity to showcase your knowledge and passion for the subject. It is essential to choose a relevant and engaging topic for your essay, such as the latest trends and innovations in computer science or the impact of computer science on society.

Some computer science essay topics to consider include the role of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity, the ethical implications of big data, or the future of quantum computing. These topics are highly relevant and offer plenty of opportunities for research and analysis.

It is important to note that computer science essays require a clear and concise writing style. Avoid technical jargon that may confuse your reader, and instead, focus on conveying your ideas in a way that is easy to understand. Use clear examples and analogies to help your reader grasp complex concepts.

When writing computer science essays, it is crucial to include examples to illustrate your points effectively. You can look for computer science essay examples online to gain inspiration and ideas for your essay. Essay examples at WritingBros can help you understand the structure and format of an excellent computer science essay and provide you with ideas for your research.

Computer Science Career Goals

Computer science career goals form the foundation of individuals' aspirations to explore, innovate, and create in the realm of technology. In a world characterized by rapid technological advancements, computer scientists play a pivotal role in shaping the digital landscape and driving transformative change. This essay...

• Career Goals
• Computer Science

The Development of Minecraft Game and The Science in It

Minecraft is undoubtedly one of the most influential video games of all time. Created by a Swedish game developer, Markus 'Notch' Persson, and released by Mojang back in 2011, Minecraft already surpassed a million purchases within the first month of its beta phase gaining its...

• Computer Graphics

The Integrality of Computer Technology in the Wal-Mart Corporation

Walmart corporation is an American worldwide retail company that works a chain of hypermarkets, discounted retail chains, and supermarkets. Decision making is one of the most critical activities in any organization. Walmart handles their decision making process like any other big corporation by following a...

• Organization

The Sociology of Human Relations in The Imitation Game

Friendship is one of the most important and valuable things in our lives. It lets us measure a person. Companionship is essential for the psychological wellbeing of every person. All relationships are formed through the mutual regard of individuals with affection, trust, and respect. The...

• Alan Turing

The Key Achievements of Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computers

Introduction In this report, I am aiming to highlight the key achievements of Alan Turing, and how his work innovated computing. I will be looking into what impact Turing’s Bombe had on what computers are like today, and how it got ‘the ball rolling’ for...

Stressed out with your paper?

Consider using writing assistance:

• 100% unique papers
• 3 hrs deadline option

Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computer Science

The computers today are extremely advanced. They have progressed far faster than scientists years ago would have even dreamed. A lot of the things that Science Fiction movies used as gags that seemed impossible back when they were created are now realities. Just look at...

How Scholaships Benefit the Self-Confidence of Students

As an international graduate student pursuing Computer Science at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I am submitting a scholarship application for “____” For me, this scholarship is especially important as it embodies the qualities I believe I exhibit as a person and as a student. The cost...

• Scholarship

Advantages And Disadvantages Of DeepFake Technology

DeepFake is a technology which has been around for past few years. It is a video editing technology based on complex Deep Learning computer algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (A. I. ). Basically, it uses algorithms to mark points on a human face which can be...

• Computer Software
• Modern Technology

Computer Science – An Area To Realise My Potential

The catalyst for my my interest in computer science was found back in year nine, when I discovered Apple’s Swift programming language and the iOS development frameworks. Armed with these, I devoured hours upon hours of lectures and programming talks and undertook multiple personal projects....

• Personal Growth and Development

Human Computer Interaction: Brain Computing Interface

INTRODUCTION Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology is a powerful communication tool between users and systems. It does not require any external devices or muscle intervention to issue commands and complete the interaction. The research community has initially developed BCIs with biomedical applications in mind, leading...

• Artificial Intelligence

Ice Hockey and Computer Science: My Diverging Passions

When people think of me they think of a hockey player: an athletic, aggressive kid who is always out on pond somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. They would never think of me as someone who likes to sit at a desk and write software, and...

An Expanded Definition Of Wikipedia

Starting from the year 2001 on January 15th, the world came to know about a web-based tool sophisticated enough to have knowledge of anything in the world. This same website would soon become an unreliable source for research. Founded by Jimmy Wales to support his...

History Of The Invention Of Computers

As Charles Babbage quotes ‘At each increase of knowledge, as well as on the contrivance of every new tool, human labour becomes abridged’. As Charles quoted that new things are achieved by new knowledge or thoughts, I will have to talk about people who were...

• Effects of Computers

History Of The Personal Computer (PC) And Its Effect On Modern Society

This paper analyzes the events that led up to the germination of the Personal Computer (PC). This paper also explores how the Personal Computer has affected our modern society, science, as well as technology. Aside from that, the paper describes the main parts of the...

• Effects of Technology

How To Succeed As A Solo Librarian

Almost 50 librarians from education, legal, university colleges, industry and government libraries took part in our Melbourne National Liberty User Group Conference and Masterclass in late August with some taking the opportunity to visit the MCC library. They all had a great time and we...

My Motivation To Take The Master's Program In Data Science / Computer Science

Someone once said, “Other people know who you are by what you have achieved, but you know yourself by what you are capable of doing”. If I was to introduce myself to one, I would call myself a strong, independent and adaptable woman. My life...

• Data Analysis

The Origin Of The Artificial Intelligence

Abstract From remote times, the history of the human being is developed by a successive chain of steps and sometimes jumps, until the relative sophistication of the modern brain and its culture. The historical origin of the Artificial Intelligence is usually established at Darmouth Conference...

Becoming A Computer Scientist – My American Dream

Many individuals would agree that the world’s not fair and it’s never going to be. Whether someone expects or believes that they’ll achieve their American Dream, there are times where the chances of getting to that point are slim. However, I believe that the American...

• American Dream

My Motivation To Take A Masters Course In Computer Science

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” — Albert Einstein During the carefree days of my early childhood I was fond of watching television. We had a Solitaire television set, those with wooden shutters encompassing the television body. In an untoward...

• Personal Experience

My Motivation To Study Computer Science And Mathematics At University

To me, Maths is one of the most fascinating subjects. I enjoy it as it requires a high level of rigor, clear logical flow, and requires me to critically analyze all statements, even my own. Calculus and sequences, in particular, interest me due to the...

The Techniques For Provisioning Components Of Component-Based Software Development

a. Purchase an existing Component from a Vendor Purchasers of existing components involves difficulties related with CBSD like designers and constructing agents. Clients are tested with both segment and heritage frameworks while keeping up an aggressive edge over adversaries. There is a hazard related whether...

• Computer Programming

Methods In A Software Development Project

Neither agile nor plan-driven processes/methods provide a silver bullet. Future trends are toward application developments that need both agile and plan-driven. There is more risk to select either plan driven or agile approach, to have mixture of matching practices from both approaches is of better...

The Development Of IT And Society

IT stands for 'Information Technology'. Those two words, according to Harvard Business Review, were first used in an article published in 1958 by Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L.Whisler. Words, which were used became now widespread around the world. Mainly because IT is undoubtedly one...

Malicious Website Collection System Using Machine Learning

Malicious websites are those sites which contains malicious content or files in it. It lure the user when they click on it either by taking to some other irrelevant site or downloading some malicious content in the user system without the user’s knowledge. These websites...

Ubiquitous Computing & Transportation Industries

Introduction The definition of phrase “ubiquitous computing” means a concept in software engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In a simple sentence, it means that everything that we used or face everyday will sort of computer system. The...

• Engineering
• Transportation

Best topics on Computer Science

1. Computer Science Career Goals

2. The Development of Minecraft Game and The Science in It

3. The Integrality of Computer Technology in the Wal-Mart Corporation

4. The Sociology of Human Relations in The Imitation Game

5. The Key Achievements of Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computers

6. Alan Turing: The Father of Modern Computer Science

7. How Scholaships Benefit the Self-Confidence of Students

8. Advantages And Disadvantages Of DeepFake Technology

9. Computer Science – An Area To Realise My Potential

10. Human Computer Interaction: Brain Computing Interface

11. Ice Hockey and Computer Science: My Diverging Passions

12. An Expanded Definition Of Wikipedia

13. History Of The Invention Of Computers

14. History Of The Personal Computer (PC) And Its Effect On Modern Society

15. How To Succeed As A Solo Librarian

• A Day Without Technology
• Disadvantages of Technology
• Negative Impact of Technology
• Class Reflection
• Advantages of Technology
• Cell Phones

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

presentation ppt template gratuit

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

5 Carnegie Mellon Essay Examples

What’s covered:, essay example #1 – computer science, essay example #2 – healthy self-definition, essay example #3 – future business major, essay example #4 – future international relations major.

• Essay Example # 5 – Politics
• Where to Get Your Carnegie Mellon Essay Edited

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a school with both impressive technical programs and outstanding creative programs. Because of the university’s multifaceted academic success and the tremendous opportunities students have after graduation, CMU is highly renowned and boasts a low acceptance rate.

In this post, we will go over essays real students have submitted to Carnegie Mellon. We will also share what each essay did well and where they could be improved to inspire your writing.   Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our Carnegie Mellon essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Prompt: Many students pursue college for a specific degree, career opportunity, or personal goal. Whichever it may be, learning will be critical to achieving your ultimate goal. As you think ahead to the process of learning during your college years, how will you define a successful college experience? (300 words)

7:30 am… As I open my eyes, I look at the pinboard in front of my bed. Written in red block letters are two of the many goals of my life: “Make life better and more independent for the Visually impaired; Inspire kids to explore the field of STEM, making them the future problem solvers.”

9:00 am… Keeping these goals afresh in mind, I freshen up and get ready for the first class of the day, 16-385 Computer Vision, with Professor Ioannis Gkioulekas. As he explains the Applications of Neural Networks in Object identification, a light bulb sparks in my mind: I can modify the head contraption of SPECULUR to identify objects in peripheral vision and alert the wearer via an earpiece using Text to Speech (TTS). 

1:00 pm… After class, I find myself at the CI2CV Lab for Computer Vision, where I brainstorm ways to implement my idea successfully. Frustrated after repeatedly getting bugs in my algorithm, I am surrounded by problem-hungry tartans ready to collaborate with me in no time.

3:00 pm… After lunch, I head off to the Gates and Hillman complex to meet up with Gavin Deiss, an executive board member at Teknowledge, as we discuss ways to open teacher positions for high school students. I propose, “We can include students from AiGoLearning India and teach them a global coding curriculum.”

For me, a successful college learning experience at CMU comprises many things like exploring the unparalleled curriculum, innovative labs, and facilities. However, above all is the resource of people, including my fellow tartans and scholarly professors. The diverse experiences and unique backgrounds they bring cannot be found anywhere else; hence I want to assimilate all the insights I can gather from them, during my time at CMU.

What the Essay Did Well

If you are looking for a way to play with the structure of your essay, this is a great way to go! By describing their ideal day at CMU, we get to see this student’s interests, motivations, aspirations, and drive. Not only that, the essay flows nicely and effortlessly transitions to new ideas by jumping ahead in the schedule.

When students try to employ this schedule-style of an essay they often just discuss their class schedule and maybe an extracurricular activity. This is good, but this student goes above by starting the essay in their dorm and clearly showing us what motivates them with their sticky notes: “ Make life better and more independent for the Visually impaired; Inspire kids to explore the field of STEM, making them the future problem solvers.”  They also include them working at a lab outside of class, which is a nice bridge between their academic and extracurricular interests.

Although they only highlight three opportunities at CMU, the level of detail and elaboration for each one is infinitely more important than a long list of classes and clubs. When they discuss the class, the student incorporates key topics from the class and explains an original idea they develop as a result of being in class. Notice how that’s a bit different than simply name-dropping the course and professor? We also get told about them finding bugs in the algorithm (a common experience that humanizes the student) and we get snippets of a conversation they have at their meeting.

The structure this student chose serves this essay very well until the final paragraph. Breaking from the established pattern of following a daily schedule abruptly disturbs the flow of the essay and makes the ending more mundane than the preceding paragraphs. To fix this, the student should have kept the same style throughout their response.

They don’t need to tell us “ a successful college learning experience at CMU comprises many things like exploring the unparalleled curriculum, innovative labs, and facilities, ” because we saw that in each paragraph. The important aspect of their conclusion is the “ resource of people ,” as they say. This could have been highlighted in a paragraph like this:

“ 8:00pm… Squished between friends from my Biomedical Engineering class and my badminton club on the couch in the common room, I take in the diverse perspectives all coming together to settle the argument of East Coast versus West Coast once and for all. Where else but here would I be a part of such a colorful community?

11:30pm… I drift off to sleep, excited to do it all again tomorrow. “

Prompt: Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please). (300 words)

I will never forget the feeling I had in Kindergarten when I received a failing grade because I couldn’t answer the question “where do you live?” It was a simple question, one that my classmates answered with ease. I was, however, struck by the recounting of my private home life. The 2009 recession left my family homeless and broke, living in the basement of a close friend. While we were fortunate to have somewhere to sleep, my family, especially me, internalized the negative sentiments from everyone we knew at the time. While my Kindergarten teacher didn’t mean any harm, the question reinforced my feeling of inferiority. No matter what I said, there were serious diminutions to my character: being honest about my homelessness or being dishonest about my own circumstances. I ultimately responded with the latter, saying “I don’t know.”

That day, I accepted the failing grade, and this moment became a stepping stone to a now valuable trait: healthy self-definition. Healthy self-definition relies on improving the objective truths of myself and fixing lacking characteristics into better ones. Lying to my Kindergarten teacher wasn’t healthy nor ethical to do, but the action of choosing who I wanted to be sparked the desire for healthy self-definition throughout high school. For example, I redefined myself from a dispassionate pianist to an authentic music producer. I used track and field to redefine my lack of athleticism growing up and eventually became a top-three sophomore 400-meter hurdler at my school. I had extreme social anxiety, so I used the Tech in Music Club to redefine my social ability and practice leadership and public speaking skills. In all weak aspects of my character and identity, I improved and continue to improve through these healthy redefinitions. Like Kindergarten me, I refuse to be defined by my circumstances.

This essay’s main strength is its content. At its core, this essay tells a beautiful story where a student transformed tragic circumstances into tremendous self-growth. That is exactly the kind of student that a university wants to admit!

The prompt here is very open-ended. From the point of view of admissions, it asks “what else do you want to tell us?” To a student, this can be read as “what additional information will help us get to know you and want you ?” This student identified their ability to see weaknesses as opportunities for improvement—which they label “healthy self-definition”—as something CMU would want, then used a specific anecdote to show that ability.

In addition to the content, this student followed a tried-and-true essay structure that allowed for an engaging, yet reflective essay. Opening with an anecdote, looking back on the experience, explaining the broader implications, and then tying the conclusion back to the anecdote is a simple, but effective, structure to use for your essay.

What Could Be Improved 

While the anecdote/reflection structure can facilitate an engaging essay, this student falls flat with their static writing. Essentially, the story is engaging, but the way the student writes it doesn’t do it justice. It’s repetitive, confusing, and a bit boring at times.

For example, in the first paragraph, the following phrases and sentences are all getting at the same idea and could be condensed into one concise sentence:

• “I was, however, struck by the recounting of my private home life.”
• “…my family, especially me, internalized the negative sentiments from everyone we knew at the time…”
• “…the question reinforced my feeling of inferiority…”

With regards to the second paragraph, the student introduces a value that they call “ healthy self-definition. ” When describing “ healthy self-definition, ” the student is simultaneously repetitive and unclear. The current writing requires too much energy on the part of the reader to parse through what is being said. If the student provided a concise definition of “healthy self-definition” before giving the examples from their life, this paragraph would work better. 

With some simple reorganization and more dynamic writing, the paragraph could be as follows:

“That’s when I established a personal value that I now call “healthy self-definition”—of course, it took about a decade for five-year-old me to figure out the name for my value. Healthy self-definition, at its core, means that I take time to identify my weaknesses, then redefine them as strengths. I acknowledge who I am, then find opportunities for improvement. 

I’m a dispassionate pianist, turned authentic music producer. I’m a struggling athlete, turned “top-three Cedar High hurdler.” I used to nervously linger at the back of club meetings, but now I run the very same meetings. No one could dare call me weak when I’m constantly redefining my weaknesses as strengths. Just like Kindergarten me, I will not be defined by my circumstances.”

Prompt: Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time – what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study? (300 words)

In fifth grade, my mother arranged a business for me and some friends. We must support a local business and donate our profits towards a good cause. Three ten-year-old kids, with money borrowed from our parents, purchased handmade crafts and ornaments made by disabled workers to resell. I led the operation. Scheduled for several weekends at a public market square, the commerce commenced. Despite my excitement running my first ever business, as the night arrived and the market awoke from its peaceful slumber, surging stranger anxiety stumped me. With adults swamping the space, my body unconsciously cowered. Embarrassment overwhelmed me, and I stood only able to stare at passing customers with my lips sewn shut. After the first night, three kids on the verge of tears sold two knitted dolls. My mother, sensing a crumbling business as its workers became paralyzed by fear, advised me, “As a leader, your job is to accomplish your goals not by yourself, but with your team.” Though not the typical cheers, my mother’s words roused the leader from within me. Wiping away my tears, I reconvened the team and restrategized. We assigned responsibilities: attracting customers, advertising, and collecting payments. Writing out our sales pitches and practicing with each other, we reunited with the sight of profits. The second weekend started: to every corner of the streets, we asked every possible customer. Our efforts paid off. At the end of that night, we sold out. Next weekend, us businessmen along with our parents went shopping using our profits. Looking at the Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, and model cars neatly wrapped, I proudly dropped the Christmas gifts at the local children’s cancer hospital. My first business endeavor taught me a crucial purpose of entrepreneurship: the ability to strengthen networks of people and make positive social changes.

This essay prompt is the classic “Why This Major?” essay,   which asks you to detail your interest in the field and your professional goals. The writer elaborates on their motivation to pursue entrepreneurship through a fitting anecdote about their first time leading a business.

The author shares genuine reasons that make entrepreneurship exciting to them, such as developing leadership skills and making positive social change. These are authentic reasons for pursuing their major that stay away from the superficial motives for pursuing a major such as money or prestige.

Additionally, throughout this entire essay the writer keeps their audience captivated by employing strong use of imagery. It almost feels as if one is right in the middle of the market with the writer as they struggle to navigate the chaos of the market. The line “Embarrassment overwhelmed me, and I stood only able to stare at passing customers with my lips sewn shut” makes the reader feel just as anxious as the author is in the moment. And it feels even better to the reader when the author sells out the entire stock of crafts and ornaments the following night and donates the money to charity. 

As the essay progresses, it’s hard not to wonder what is going to happen next, and the story strings together very nicely, despite having a limited word count. By the end of the essay, the reader has a better understanding of why this student has chosen to pursue entrepreneurship, because they have shared an exciting lived experience that captures the ups and downs of a fast-paced, turbulent major.

All in all, this essay was well written and the author’s point came across well. However, a few items could be slightly improved, including a few syntax errors, poor transition statements and slight thematic inconsistency. 

The second sentence of this essay “We must support a local business and donate our profits towards a good cause” appears a bit out of place and may be better suited in quotes as the mother appears to be speaking these lines. Alternatively, the writer could have rephrased to something like “We were tasked with supporting a local business…”

Similarly, in the last sentence, the author says their motivation for pursuing entrepreneurship is the “ability to strengthen networks of people,” when it may have been more succinct and less clunky to say something along the lines of “the ability to bring people together.”

Another area of improvement for the essay comes in the middle, when the author’s mother “roused the leader” within them. The author could have expanded on why their mother’s words roused them to overcome the daunting obstacle, but instead missed the opportunity to explain why they felt inspired to continue selling ornaments at the marketplace. The author may have even suggested that by overcoming their challenges at the market, they would accomplish their ultimate goal of donating their profits to charity, highlighting their sense of altruism.

The final sentence even states that the author intends to pursue entrepreneurship to make a positive social impact. However, in a thematic sense, this idea is not consistently present throughout the essay. If the author were to include more details about their desire and motivation to donate their profits to charity throughout the essay, this point would have been much more understandable.

Finally, the essay is hard to follow because it’s only one paragraph. The flow would’ve been improved if the author broke the essay up into a few shorter paragraphs.

At 8 years old, I learned that Democrats were donkeys and Republicans were elephants. By 11, I had decided which one I wanted to be. By 14, I discovered I didn’t have to be an elephant or a donkey—the political world was not black and white, but instead multifaceted with many moving parts. As I explored programming through high school, I learned how politics and computer science could be intertwined to enact change exponentially. For the Congressional App Challenge, I developed the winning app, which allows parents to sustainably trade outgrown children’s clothing. Everything in this process, from surveying real families with this need to perfecting the front end design, showed me how coding could easily be geared toward social progress. 

Beyond programming, interning for a state non-profit encouraging Muslims to participate in politics showed me the real potential of computational politics. Big data analysis was a common skill I utilized when encouraging people to vote in the 2022 general election. What furthered my interest was attending a Kode With Klossy event in New York City: I not only spent the day workshopping with Swift and iOS app development, but also heard the stories of activist Sofia Ongele, a pioneer for young women in STEM. 

Discussing sanctions and China’s Uyghur Muslim crisis with U.S. Representative Jim McGovern was my first look into the workings of international conflict resolution. The power systems behind diplomacy became a point of fascination for me. Whether it was marching miles chanting “No Justice, No Peace” in June 2020 or debating as Elizabeth Warren in my ninth grade mock democratic primary, I have taken every stride to involve myself politically. Majoring in international relations and politics and minoring in science, technology and society at Carnegie Mellon is the next step in furthering my involvement.

This essay is another great example of the “Why This Major?” archetype. The author shares why the intersection of technology and politics is the perfect fit for her, through her unique experiences and background.

The introduction is a captivating one, which follows her evolving understanding of politics. Starting with a simplistic view of “Democrats as donkeys and Republicans as elephants” at a young age, the writer matures and recognizes the complexity of the political landscape as she enters high school. This progression implicitly showcases her thoughtfulness and willingness to challenge existing beliefs which are critical to any career in politics and international relations.

Additionally, the essay adeptly integrates the realms of computer science and politics. The author provides a unique combination of academic interests that most applicants would otherwise shy away from. The writer’s successful development of an app for the Congressional App Challenge exemplifies her ability to utilize coding for social progress. By mentioning the process of surveying real families and refining the front-end design, the writer illustrates her comprehensive approach and shows how coding can be harnessed as a tool for enacting positive social change.

Finally, the author provides more unique experiences that reveal her true passions for politics and technology. She references her experiences during the 2022 election and Kode With Klossy events which each relied on bringing together both her academic interests. In the final paragraph, the author provides even more evidence to her experience in the political realm which drive home the point about her interest in her major as well as show accomplishments in a specific area which are hard to come by for most students.

From initial impressions, this essay is great at providing sufficient evidence as to why this author is pursuing international relations and politics with a minor in technology. However, one suggestion for this author, and general advice for any applicant, is not to fall into the trap of simply recapitulating all of one’s resume in an essay. This author has unfortunately used most of the 300 word count to list out her experiences and qualifications, but misses out on key opportunities to expand upon how these experiences have shaped her perspective and developed her interests over time.

In general, there is a lack of reflection on the lessons learned from the various experiences mentioned. While the writer describes her involvement in protests, debates, and internships, there is limited discussion of the personal growth and insights gained from these activities. The author has experiences including “ winning the Congressional App Challenge, to marching miles chanting ‘No Justice, No Peace’ in June 2020 or debating as Elizabeth Warren in [her] ninth grade mock democratic primary,” which could all be powerful standalone experiences for a 300-word essay. Adding a reflective element to the essay would provide a deeper understanding of the writer’s development and demonstrate their ability to learn from their experiences.

For example, the author could remove a few activities from her essay and  expand upon the experience of winning the Congressional App Challenge, discussing her thought process and emotions during the development of the app, or the impact it had based on feedback from families.  Here’s an example of an excerpt that would’ve made this section stronger:

“I decided to use the app for myself to clear out the bags of my younger brother’s baby clothes in the basement. A young immigrant mother responded to my post, saying that she hadn’t been able to afford properly-fitting baby clothes for her toddler son. A week after she picked up the bags, the mother returned with her giggly son in his ‘new’ clothing. The mother was full of gratitude, and I was just as grateful for this experience as it showed me the direct impact coding could have on improving real lives and making social progress.”

By incorporating specific examples and adding reflective elements, the essay would become more compelling, allowing the reader to better understand the writer’s experiences and their personal growth. These adjustments would enhance the overall quality of the essay and provide a vivid and engaging narrative.

Essay Example #5 – Politics

At Carnegie Mellon, I see myself defining a college experience in which I can widen my career goals in politics and learn from real-world experiences. D.C. is where I hope to work following college, as there is no place better than our capitol to explore the inner workings of decision-making in government. Through CMU’s Washington Semester Program (WSP), I aim to intern with a member of Congress to expand my understanding of the legislative process and gain experience in the nation’s center of politics. This orientation into Washington and chance to meet leaders and alumni at top think tanks would allow me to connect with all the working parts of public policy, encapsulating everything I wish to take from college. 

Immersing myself in the relevant and multifaceted courses at the Institute of Politics and Strategy is how I plan to take my learning to the next step at CMU. Electives like “Implementing Public Policy: From Good Idea to Reality” and “In the News” intrigue me; they tie in law and journalism with politics, contextualizing it in a realistic and applicable sphere. 

I hope to conduct research to delve deeper into what I’m passionate about and ripen my goal of effecting change. Under esteemed criminologist and public policy expert Professor Daniel Nagin, I see an opportunity to conduct actionable research on race and incarceration. I want to discuss the disparities in Pennsylvania’s fast growing prison populations itself and develop my paper “Slavery is Flourishing Under the U.S. Prison System.”

Expanding my learning doesn’t end with academics, however. I am eager to explore the diverse community at CMU, and start a cultural literary magazine for all students to share their lived experiences about their heritage through art, writing, and overall self-expression.

This prompt is basically the “ Why This College? ” essay presented in a different way. The goals of the prompt are the same, however: it’s asking you what makes CMU the perfect school for you, and how you will make the most of its resources to have a successful education.

This student clearly has an interest in politics, detailing specifics such as their hopes to pursue an internship, undertake course work, and do research to further their education. They show that they’ve done their research on why CMU is a fit for them, by mentioning unique resources at the college.

Furthermore, the author does a great job of providing additional information as to why they would like to pursue the activities they’ve researched. They explain how CMU’s WSP will teach them about the legislative process, how their classes will tie in law and journalism, and how their research will deepen their understanding of race and incarceration. Providing this level of detail helps admissions officers understand what this student values and is hoping to learn through their education at CMU.

Writing-wise, the student also makes sure to use varied sentence structure and smooth transitions, making the essay easy to read.

The objective of this essay is two-fold: 1) what do you hope to accomplish in your undergraduate degree program, and 2) how CMU is uniquely equipped to help you realize your goals.

The essay does a great job in answering question #1, but could do more to address the latter. We know why the student is interested in the resources they mention, but we don’t know how those things will help them reach their overarching academic and career goals. 

In fact, we don’t even know what those overarching goals are: does this student want to become a political journalist, politician, or something else? It’s okay if you’re undecided, but you should at least share some potential options, rather than simply saying that you’re interested in a broad field (like “politics”), which feels unfocused.

The student should also move the section about CMU’s program in D.C. to later in the essay, as having it right at the beginning makes it seem like they’re more interested in spending time in D.C. than on CMU’s campus in Pittsburgh.

Additionally, the final paragraph, about the student’s hope to start a cultural literary magazine,  feels unrelated to the rest of the essay, which is focused on their political interests. If they wanted to include this detail, they should’ve introduced it earlier, to give themselves time to connect it to their other ideas.

Where to Get Your Carnegie Mellon Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Carnegie Mellon essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

• Knowledge Base
• Popular Essay Topics

Computer Science Essay

• Author StudySaurus
• Category Popular Essay Topics

Disclaimer: This paper has been submitted by a student. This is not a sample of the work written by professional academic writers.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of StudySaurus.

I am a firm believer that the world will be overtaken by machines in the future. Maybe, we will be able to live the real-life Terminator scenarios. But, the overarching fact is that the world is true, being taken over by the machines and new technologies. Slowly, we have been more and more inclined to depend on technology than we used to. With a good fascination with computers, I was always aware of this as I always wanted to know more about how the technology worked. So, as a self-proclaimed technology enthusiast, I have been studying Computer Science at the college.

I was never sure what I was going to do after completing my degree and had to research about the job opportunities I would supposedly get after finishing my studies. After making a long list of job options, I was pretty sure that every one of them was as complicated as the job title they had. I will tell you, it was 2 years ago that I made the list, but now it is clear to me that it is as hard to complete the degree in the first place. So, I can imagine that the work I must put up with the jobs ranging from an IT manager to web designer will be hectic. However, there are so many things you could do with the degree that I am still not sure what kind of job I will be doing 10 years from now.

It is believed that technical skills will be high on demand in the near future. The ability to manage and discern a massive amount of data will be of high value. Software related jobs will grow by 18.8% in 2024. But it is just the tip of the iceberg. With the rise of machines and technological advancement in the work field; it is evident that the rise of jobs relating to the servicing, repairing, programming, and other software and hardware related jobs will be on the rise. It has been estimated that about 5 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2020. Therefore, I am convinced that with the background of Computer Science. I will be doing a boring job like programming software for an application or a machine for different companies. But the most fun thing I could be doing 10 years from now would be developing games. Gaming is also one of the rising industry and programming games, for me, has a nice ring to it. To my dismay, being a game developer is harder than it sounds and as the gaming industry is still evolving; they are trying to make genres that are more appealing to the buyers which make the future it holds for game dev, ambiguous.

Being a programmer is hard, and you must be a quick learner to understand what has gotten into while studying Computer Science. This holds true even after you finish your studies, as the programming languages being used for applications and software are always being updated; and you never know when a better programming language pops up out of nowhere and you have to learn it from the scratch. This is one of the never-ending battles a programmer must face. To my dismay, it is very possible that many new programming languages will rise up and I will have to learn the languages from the very start just to keep my job. This is a very evident scenario and it is possible that computer scientists will have to learn new languages throughout their lives just to keep their job.

With some astounding space exploration companies coming to surface, it is evident that computer science has offered many avenues in the field of space exploration too. By applying robotics and software enterprise, computer engineers have been building robots, gadgets, and spaceships to help explore the space. In the near future, space exploration may turn out to be a norm and it is very possible that a surge of increase in demand for computer programmers will be created. Developing software and application for space programs could be a possible job for me after all.

No one can precisely foretell the future. 2025 A.D. could be the year that the world will end, you never know. As far as I know, my job, as a computer scientist can very sure be writing codes; a lot of codes for businesses, managing websites, programming and maintaining automation, accidentally building a killer defense system AI that will try to annihilate humans. I cannot predict what I will be doing then but I can surely tell that it will be very hard to get and keep a job by then. The competition has been rising and every passing day, it is getting harder and harder for people to get a job that they were hoping to get from their degree. The rise in computer-automated “workers” doesn’t help either, as it is helping considerably to increase the numbers of jobless bums. In the year 2025, maybe you won’t have to work, and the government will give you a steady amount of money; who knows? But, what If by 2025 there will be machines and robots built, that can repair and update themselves rendering the need of programmers and repairmen obsolete? With the rise in technological advancement, in the near future, this can hold true. Although it might take more than 20 years of technological advancement for that to happen, people might find themselves jobless because of the rise of automated machines in job culture. If these kinds of events unfold and I was to be jobless, I always imagined I would be a beet farmer.

Was this material helpful?

Related essays, about studysaurus, community. knowledge. success..

StudySaurus is run by two uni-students that still get a kick out of learning new things. We hope to share these experiences with you.

Ideas ,  concepts ,  tutorials,   essay papers  – everything we would’ve liked to have known, seen or heard during our high-school & UNI years, we want to bring to YOU.

Privacy & Cookies Policy Terms and Conditions DMCA Request

• Applying to Uni
• Apprenticeships
• Health & Relationships
• Money & Finance

Personal Statements

• Postgraduate
• U.S Universities

University Interviews

• Vocational Qualifications
• Accommodation
• ​​​​​​​Budgeting, Money & Finance
• ​​​​​​​Health & Relationships
• ​​​​​​​Jobs & Careers
• ​​​​​​​Socialising

Studying Abroad

• ​​​​​​​Studying & Revision
• ​​​​​​​Technology
• ​​​​​​​University & College Admissions

Guide to GCSE Results Day

Finding a job after school or college

Retaking GCSEs

In this section

Choosing GCSE Subjects

Post-GCSE Options

GCSE Work Experience

GCSE Revision Tips

Why take an Apprenticeship?

Applying for an Apprenticeship

Apprenticeships Interviews

Apprenticeship Wage

Engineering Apprenticeships

What is an Apprenticeship?

Choosing an Apprenticeship

Real Life Apprentices

Degree Apprenticeships

Higher Apprenticeships

A Level Results Day 2024

AS Levels 2024

Clearing Guide 2024

Applying to University

SQA Results Day Guide 2024

BTEC Results Day Guide

Vocational Qualifications Guide

Sixth Form or College

International Baccalaureate

Post 18 options

Finding a Job

Should I take a Gap Year?

Travel Planning

Volunteering

Gap Year Guide

Gap Year Blogs

Applying to Oxbridge

Applying to US Universities

Choosing a Degree

Choosing a University or College

Personal Statement Editing and Review Service

Guide to Freshers' Week

Student Guides

Student Cooking

Student Blogs

• Top Rated Personal Statements

Personal Statement Examples

Writing Your Personal Statement

• Postgraduate Personal Statements
• International Student Personal Statements
• Gap Year Personal Statements

Personal Statement Length Checker

Personal Statement Examples By University

Personal Statement Changes 2025

• Personal Statement Template

Job Interviews

Types of Postgraduate Course

Writing a Postgraduate Personal Statement

Postgraduate Funding

Postgraduate Study

Internships

Choosing A College

Ivy League Universities

Common App Essay Examples

Universal College Application Guide

How To Write A College Admissions Essay

College Rankings

Admissions Tests

Fees & Funding

Scholarships

Budgeting For College

Online Degree

Platinum Express Editing and Review Service

Gold Editing and Review Service

Silver Express Editing and Review Service

UCAS Personal Statement Editing and Review Service

Oxbridge Personal Statement Editing and Review Service

Postgraduate Personal Statement Editing and Review Service

You are here

• Mature Student Personal Statements
• Personal Statements By University
• Accountancy and Finance Personal Statements
• Actuarial Science Personal Statements
• American Studies Personal Statements
• Anthropology Personal Statements
• Archaeology Personal Statements
• Architecture Personal Statements
• Art and Design Personal Statements
• Biochemistry Personal Statements
• Bioengineering Personal Statements
• Biology Personal Statements
• Biomedical Science Personal Statements
• Biotechnology Personal Statements
• Business Management Personal Statement Examples
• Business Personal Statements
• Catering and Food Personal Statements
• Chemistry Personal Statements
• Classics Personal Statements
• Computer Science Personal Statements
• Computing and IT Personal Statements
• Criminology Personal Statements
• Dance Personal Statements
• Dentistry Personal Statements
• Design Personal Statements
• Dietetics Personal Statements
• Drama Personal Statements
• Economics Personal Statement Examples
• Education Personal Statements
• Engineering Personal Statement Examples
• English Personal Statements
• Environment Personal Statements
• Environmental Science Personal Statements
• Event Management Personal Statements
• Fashion Personal Statements
• Film Personal Statements
• Finance Personal Statements
• Forensic Science Personal Statements
• Geography Personal Statements
• Geology Personal Statements
• Health Sciences Personal Statements
• History Personal Statements
• History of Art Personal Statements
• Hotel Management Personal Statements
• International Relations Personal Statements
• International Studies Personal Statements
• Islamic Studies Personal Statements
• Japanese Studies Personal Statements
• Journalism Personal Statements
• Land Economy Personal Statements
• Languages Personal Statements
• Law Personal Statement Examples
• Linguistics Personal Statements
• Management Personal Statements
• Marketing Personal Statements
• Mathematics Personal Statements
• Media Personal Statements
• Medicine Personal Statement Examples
• Midwifery Personal Statements
• Music Personal Statements
• Music Technology Personal Statements
• Natural Sciences Personal Statements
• Neuroscience Personal Statements
• Nursing Personal Statements
• Occupational Therapy Personal Statements
• Osteopathy Personal Statements
• Oxbridge Personal Statements
• Pharmacy Personal Statements
• Philosophy Personal Statements
• Photography Personal Statements
• Physics Personal Statements
• Physiology Personal Statements
• Physiotherapy Personal Statements
• Politics Personal Statements
• Psychology Personal Statement Examples
• Radiography Personal Statements
• Religious Studies Personal Statements
• Social Work Personal Statements
• Sociology Personal Statements
• Sports & Leisure Personal Statements
• Sports Science Personal Statements
• Surveying Personal Statements
• Teacher Training Personal Statements
• Theology Personal Statements
• Travel and Tourism Personal Statements
• Urban Planning Personal Statements
• Veterinary Science Personal Statements
• Zoology Personal Statements
• Personal Statement Editing Service
• Personal Statement Writing Guide
• Submit Your Personal Statement
• Personal Statement Questions 2025
• Personal Statement Changes 2024

Computer Science Personal Statement Examples

What is a computer science personal statement?

Your application form features your grades, but the UCAS personal statement is an opportunity to sell youself to the university.

This means you need to include your skills, goals and suitability for the course when drafting a computer science undergraduate or postgraduate personal statement.

Make sure you convey your talents for programming and why you are committed to this course. Read through some of our computer science personal statement examples to see what makes a good and successful statement.

How do I write a computer science personal statement?

When it comes down to how to start a personal statement, don’t tie yourself in knots. Why do you want to study computer science? Personal statements should answer this question, so open with your motivation during your introduction.

Your computer science personal statement should be easy to read, explaining why you have chosen this course and how you intend to work hard to achieve your goals. Give your computer science personal statemen to others to proofread, and ensure the language is concise, makes sense, and is grammatically correct. Don't just rely on a spellchecker for your final draft - read it through yourself, and check for errors thoroughly.

What should I include in my computer science personal statement?

• What subject areas do you enjoy that will support your application? For example, you might pick a topic from your mathematics A level that particularly interests and talk about why you find it fascinating.
• Remember that you can only write one personal statement, so it needs to be suitable for all the universities you are planning on applying to. 
• Talk about your hobbies and extracurricular activities, and how they are relevant - what have you learned from them? Have they inspired you to do anything else? For example, have you built a computer from scratch, or built a new app or website? Are you able to code? If so, what languages can you code in and how did you learn?
• If you’re applying for a postgraduate course, you may want to talk about higher level skills you possess such as innovation, and the results of your final year undergraduate project. 
• Think about your wider reading, e.g. newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. What recent developments interest you, and why are they exciting? Remember, your computer science personal statement needs to stand out from the crowd, so make it as relevant as possible, while giving it your own, unique voice.

How do I write my computer science personal statement introduction?

Try to start your computer science personal statement with a paragraph that will immediately grab the reader's attention. For example, you might relate a story about an experience with computer science when you were a child, such as a birthday present or a day trip with your family. You might also choose to open your statement by talking about one or two aspects of computer science that fascinate you, and why you find them interesting.

For example, this candidate talks about Linux and how they overcame the challenges of using this operating system:

"My views about computing changed considerably when I heard about Linux. In the late nineties it was a newer operating system and tasks like installing and configuring were considered to be quite challenging in India. However, I was intrigued by this challenge and without any formal training I was able to independently install this system. This was due to the sound knowledge I had acquired through reading a vast range of technical books. My fascination towards the evolving IT industry has been growing ever since. "

Not only does this pick out something specific from the world of computing, but shows the reader that the applicant had the persistence and ambition to figure out how to install and use the operating system using textbooks, which is the sort of student they are looking to engage on their course.

Another example is the following candidate, who chose to open their statement by recounting the time they built their first computer:

"Building my first computer was an experience I will never forget. Looking over what seemed to be a city of silicone, I marveled at how elegantly the components were arranged on the motherboard. Yet I did not feel fully satisfied, as I knew there was a whole other world of computing, which could only be explored by completing a degree in computer science.

Studying A Level mathematics has taught me that there are countless methods of approaching a problem and I have also found this to be true of programming."

Again, the student has picked out something specific and told a story, which helps to engage the reader straight away and tells them how interested they are in computing. They then go on to relate their current studies to the course, which is another strength of the opening of this statement.

Hopefully these two examples show how you might put together your own unique opening for your computer science statement, but if you're still struggling, take a look at the rest of our example personal statements .

How do I write a conclusion for my computer science personal statement?

We suggest rounding off your statement with a paragraph about your extracurricular activities and hobbies, and how they relate to your course. For example:

"I also participated at a first-aid national contest organized by the Red Cross Romania, which gave me the opportunity to be the leader of a rescue team. This helped me understand better how to face critical situations and improve my leadership skills.

I often think that computer science will give me the chance to reach higher peaks, and I really consider that it has already helped me see life in a different way. Programming gave me the chance to help many children with special needs, to meet interesting people, to discover a new world. That is exactly why I would like to study and follow a career in this field."

Further resources

For more help and advice on what to write in your computer science personal statement, please see:

• Personal Statement Editing Services
• Personal Statement Tips From A Teacher
• Analysis Of A Personal Statement
• The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
• Personal Statement FAQs
• Personal Statement Timeline
• 10 Top Personal Statement Writing Tips
• What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline.

Related resources

Replying to ucas offers.

Find out more

Choosing A Student Accommodation

Best Student Discounts

6 Personal Statement Tips

A Level Results Day

Clearing Guide

Essay on Computer and its Uses for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on computer.

In this essay on computer, we are going to discuss some useful things about computers. The modern-day computer has become an important part of our daily life. Also, their usage has increased much fold during the last decade. Nowadays, they use the computer in every office whether private or government. Mankind is using computers for over many decades now. Also, they are used in many fields like agriculture, designing, machinery making, defense and many more. Above all, they have revolutionized the whole world.

History of Computers

It is very difficult to find the exact origin of computers. But according to some experts computer exists at the time of world war-II. Also, at that time they were used for keeping data. But, it was for only government use and not for public use. Above all, in the beginning, the computer was a very large and heavy machine.

Working of a Computer 

The computer runs on a three-step cycle namely input, process, and output. Also, the computer follows this cycle in every process it was asked to do. In simple words, the process can be explained in this way. The data which we feed into the computer is input, the work CPU do is process and the result which the computer give is output.

Components and Types of Computer

The simple computer basically consists of CPU, monitor, mouse, and keyboard . Also, there are hundreds of other computer parts that can be attached to it. These other parts include a printer, laser pen, scanner , etc.

The computer is categorized into many different types like supercomputers, mainframes, personal computers (desktop), PDAs, laptop, etc. The mobile phone is also a type of computer because it fulfills all the criteria of being a computer.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Uses of Computer in Various Fields

As the usage of computer increased it became a necessity for almost every field to use computers for their operations. Also, they have made working and sorting things easier. Below we are mentioning some of the important fields that use a computer in their daily operation.

Medical Field

They use computers to diagnose diseases, run tests and for finding the cure for deadly diseases . Also, they are able to find a cure for many diseases because of computers.

Whether it’s scientific research, space research or any social research computers help in all of them. Also, due to them, we are able to keep a check on the environment , space, and society. Space research helped us to explore the galaxies. While scientific research has helped us to locate resources and various other useful resources from the earth.

For any country, his defence is most important for the safety and security of its people. Also, computer in this field helps the country’s security agencies to detect a threat which can be harmful in the future. Above all the defense industry use them to keep surveillance on our enemy.

Threats from a Computer

Computers have become a necessity also, they have become a threat too. This is due to hackers who steal your private data and leak them on internet. Also, anyone can access this data. Apart from that, there are other threats like viruses, spams, bug and many other problems.

The computer is a very important machine that has become a useful part of our life. Also, the computers have twin-faces on one side it’s a boon and on the other side, it’s a bane. Its uses completely depend upon you. Apart from that, a day in the future will come when human civilization won’t be able to survive without computers as we depend on them too much. Till now it is a great discovery of mankind that has helped in saving thousands and millions of lives.

Frequently Asked Questions on Computer

Q.1  What is a computer?

A.1 A computer is an electronic device or machine that makes our work easier. Also, they help us in many ways.

Q.2 Mention various fields where computers are used?

A.2  Computers are majorly used in defense, medicine, and for research purposes.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

IB CompSci Hub

Extended Essay

Extended Essays in Computer Science are not easy to do. Computer Science is counted as an experimental science by the IB and thus requires you to do some kind of experiment in the realm of computer science and then report your findings.

As so few students attempt a CS EE every year, coming up with a ‘good’ CS EE topic will be half your struggle.

IB guidance on EEs

General IB Extended Essay

Specific IB EE Guidance on Computer Science

Topic guidance for Computer Science

EE mark scheme (new)

EE mark scheme guidance

EE mark scheme guidance (specifically for Computer Science)

RPPF form (must be included in final submission)

Examples of Topics 

Below are some examples of what topics our students have been doing recently (including the grade they received from the IB). Obviously, you cannot take any of these topics as it would flag as cheating; they are posted to give you an idea of the TYPE of topic that gets a good grade.

Past essays  

Because of plagiarism concerns, we cannot share any essays from past students on this site, but you are welcome to visit LD Anderson’s CS EE world site:  CS EE World

Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Computer Science — Computer Science – My Choice for Future Career

Computer Science – My Choice for Future Career

• Categories: Academic Interests Computer Science

About this sample

Words: 636 |

Published: Jul 15, 2020

Words: 636 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Chua, S. W., Chen, D., & Wong, L. H. (2017). Investigating students' learning experiences in flipped classrooms with lecture capture lectures in undergraduate mathematics courses. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology , 33(2), 77-90.
• Deep Learning Institute. (n.d.). About DLI. Retrieved from https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/deep-learning-ai/education/
• Henderson, C., & Dancy, M. H. (2007). Barriers to the use of research-based instructional strategies: The influence of both individual and situational characteristics. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 3(2), 020102.
• Hockings, C., Cooke, S., & Bowl, M. (2012). Developing a sense of belonging: How the learning environment can support the retention of students from diverse backgrounds. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(3), 403-418.
• Python Software Foundation. (n.d.). The Python programming language. Retrieved from https://www.python.org/
• Reeves, T. C., & Oh, E. (2008). The impact of online learning on learners: A recension of the literature. Educational Media International, 45(4), 325-338.
• Stowell, J. R., Addison-Wesley, L., & Olsson, A. (2017). Large-scale computer science education experiments: A review of the literature. Computer Science Education, 27(2), 107-141.
• University of Washington. (n.d.). Computer science and engineering. Retrieved from https://www.cs.washington.edu/
• Yang, S. H. (2010). Problem-based learning in an online course: A case study. Educational Technology & Society, 13(4), 236-248.
• Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R. O., & Nunamaker Jr, J. F. (2006). Instructional video in e-learning: Assessing the impact of interactive video on learning effectiveness. Information & Management, 43(1), 15-27.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Education Information Science and Technology

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 755 words

4 pages / 1796 words

1 pages / 557 words

2 pages / 985 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Computer Science

Studying computer science has always been a dream of mine. From an early age, I have been captivated by the world of technology and its incredible potential to shape the future. In this essay, I will elaborate on the reasons [...]

The power of social media platforms, such as Facebook, is undeniable in today's world. With over 2.8 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook has become a household name and an essential part of our daily lives. However, [...]

The interviewee, John Smith, is a 22-year-old college student pursuing a degree in computer science. The purpose of this interview is to gain insight into John's personal and professional life, as well as his values, beliefs, [...]

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s (UW-Madison) mission statement is not just a collection of words; it is a beacon that guides its educational, research, and community activities. This essay delves into the core components [...]

The greatest revolution of 20th century is Computer and Computer Science. The world has developed far away and the biggest credit for it goes to Computer and its related science. As we live in a digital age, most industries rely [...]

RAM (random access memory) is the memory that the computer can use ‘randomly’, this is the memory that is kept available for programs to use – the memory available is measured in gigabytes (GB) and speed is measured in [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Universities Have a Computer-Science Problem

The case for teaching coders to speak French

Listen to this article

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Updated at 5:37 p.m. ET on March 22, 2024

Last year, 18 percent of Stanford University seniors graduated with a degree in computer science, more than double the proportion of just a decade earlier. Over the same period at MIT, that rate went up from 23 percent to 42 percent . These increases are common everywhere: The average number of undergraduate CS majors at universities in the U.S. and Canada tripled in the decade after 2005, and it keeps growing . Students’ interest in CS is intellectual—culture moves through computation these days—but it is also professional. Young people hope to access the wealth, power, and influence of the technology sector.

That ambition has created both enormous administrative strain and a competition for prestige. At Washington University in St. Louis, where I serve on the faculty of the Computer Science & Engineering department, each semester brings another set of waitlists for enrollment in CS classes. On many campuses, students may choose to study computer science at any of several different academic outposts, strewn throughout various departments. At MIT, for example, they might get a degree in “Urban Studies and Planning With Computer Science” from the School of Architecture, or one in “Mathematics With Computer Science” from the School of Science, or they might choose from among four CS-related fields within the School of Engineering. This seepage of computing throughout the university has helped address students’ booming interest, but it also serves to bolster their demand.

Another approach has gained in popularity. Universities are consolidating the formal study of CS into a new administrative structure: the college of computing. MIT opened one in 2019. Cornell set one up in 2020. And just last year, UC Berkeley announced that its own would be that university’s first new college in more than half a century. The importance of this trend—its significance for the practice of education, and also of technology—must not be overlooked. Universities are conservative institutions, steeped in tradition. When they elevate computing to the status of a college, with departments and a budget, they are declaring it a higher-order domain of knowledge and practice, akin to law or engineering. That decision will inform a fundamental question: whether computing ought to be seen as a superfield that lords over all others, or just a servant of other domains, subordinated to their interests and control. This is, by no happenstance, also the basic question about computing in our society writ large.

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, students interested in computer science could choose between two different majors: one offered by the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and one from the School of Engineering. The two degrees were similar, but many students picked the latter because it didn’t require three semesters’ worth of study of a (human) language, such as French. I chose the former, because I like French.

An American university is organized like this, into divisions that are sometimes called colleges , and sometimes schools . These typically enjoy a good deal of independence to define their courses of study and requirements as well as research practices for their constituent disciplines. Included in this purview: whether a CS student really needs to learn French.

The positioning of computer science at USC was not uncommon at the time. The first academic departments of CS had arisen in the early 1960s, and they typically evolved in one of two ways: as an offshoot of electrical engineering (where transistors got their start), housed in a college of engineering; or as an offshoot of mathematics (where formal logic lived), housed in a college of the arts and sciences. At some universities, including USC, CS found its way into both places at once.

The contexts in which CS matured had an impact on its nature, values, and aspirations. Engineering schools are traditionally the venue for a family of professional disciplines, regulated with licensure requirements for practice. Civil engineers, mechanical engineers, nuclear engineers, and others are tasked to build infrastructure that humankind relies on, and they are expected to solve problems. The liberal-arts field of mathematics, by contrast, is concerned with theory and abstraction. The relationship between the theoretical computer scientists in mathematics and the applied ones in engineers is a little like the relationship between biologists and doctors, or physicists and bridge builders. Keeping applied and pure versions of a discipline separate allows each to focus on its expertise, but limits the degree to which one can learn from the other.

Read: Programmers, stop calling yourself engineers

By the time I arrived at USC, some universities had already started down a different path. In 1988, Carnegie Mellon University created what it says was one of the first dedicated schools of computer science. Georgia Institute of Technology followed two years later. “Computing was going to be a big deal,” says Charles Isbell, a former dean of Georgia Tech’s college of computing and now the provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Emancipating the field from its prior home within the college of engineering gave it room to grow, he told me. Within a decade, Georgia Tech had used this structure to establish new research and teaching efforts in computer graphics, human-computer interaction, and robotics. (I spent 17 years on the faculty there, working for Isbell and his predecessors, and teaching computational media.)

Kavita Bala, Cornell University’s dean of computing, told me that the autonomy and scale of a college allows her to avoid jockeying for influence and resources. MIT’s computing dean, Daniel Huttenlocher, says that the speed at which computing evolves justifies the new structure.

But the computing industry isn’t just fast-moving. It’s also reckless. Technology tycoons say they need space for growth, and warn that too much oversight will stifle innovation. Yet we might all be better off, in certain ways, if their ambitions were held back even just a little. Instead of operating with a deep understanding or respect for law, policy, justice, health, or cohesion, tech firms tend to do whatever they want . Facebook sought growth at all costs, even if its take on connecting people tore society apart . If colleges of computing serve to isolate young, future tech professionals from any classrooms where they might imbibe another school’s culture and values—engineering’s studied prudence, for example, or the humanities’ focus on deliberation—this tendency might only worsen.

Read: The moral failure of computer scientists

When I raised this concern with Isbell, he said that the same reasoning could apply to any influential discipline, including medicine and business. He’s probably right, but that’s cold comfort. The mere fact that universities allow some other powerful fiefdoms to exist doesn’t make computing’s centralization less concerning. Isbell admitted that setting up colleges of computing “absolutely runs the risk” of empowering a generation of professionals who may already be disengaged from consequences to train the next one in their image. Inside a computing college, there may be fewer critics around who can slow down bad ideas. Disengagement might redouble. But he said that dedicated colleges could also have the opposite effect. A traditional CS department in a school of engineering would be populated entirely by computer scientists, while the faculty for a college of computing like the one he led at Georgia Tech might also house lawyers, ethnographers, psychologists, and even philosophers like me. Huttenlocher repeatedly emphasized that the role of the computing college is to foster collaboration between CS and other disciplines across the university. Bala told me that her college was established not to teach CS on its own but to incorporate policy, law, sociology, and other fields into its practice. “I think there are no downsides,” she said.

Mark Guzdial is a former faculty member in Georgia Tech’s computing college, and he now teaches computer science in the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. At Michigan, CS wasn’t always housed in engineering—Guzdial says it started out inside the philosophy department, as part of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Now that college “wants it back,” as one administrator told Guzdial. Having been asked to start a program that teaches computing to liberal-arts students, Guzdial has a new perspective on these administrative structures. He learned that Michigan’s Computer Science and Engineering program and its faculty are “despised” by their counterparts in the humanities and social sciences. “They’re seen as arrogant, narrowly focused on machines rather than people, and unwilling to meet other programs’ needs,” he told me. “I had faculty refuse to talk to me because I was from CSE.”

In other words, there may be downsides just to placing CS within an engineering school, let alone making it an independent college. Left entirely to themselves, computer scientists can forget that computers are supposed to be tools that help people. Georgia Tech’s College of Computing worked “because the culture was always outward-looking. We sought to use computing to solve others’ problems,” Guzdial said. But that may have been a momentary success. Now, at Michigan, he is trying to rebuild computing education from scratch, for students in fields such as French and sociology. He wants them to understand it as a means of self-expression or achieving justice—and not just a way of making software, or money.

Early in my undergraduate career, I decided to abandon CS as a major. Even as an undergraduate, I already had a side job in what would become the internet industry, and computer science, as an academic field, felt theoretical and unnecessary. Reasoning that I could easily get a job as a computer professional no matter what it said on my degree, I decided to study other things while I had the chance.

I have a strong memory of processing the paperwork to drop my computer-science major in college, in favor of philosophy. I walked down a quiet, blue-tiled hallway of the engineering building. All the faculty doors were closed, although the click-click of mechanical keyboards could be heard behind many of them. I knocked on my adviser’s door; she opened it, silently signed my paperwork without inviting me in, and closed the door again. The keyboard tapping resumed.

The whole experience was a product of its time, when computer science was a field composed of oddball characters, working by themselves, and largely disconnected from what was happening in the world at large. Almost 30 years later, their projects have turned into the infrastructure of our daily lives. Want to find a job? That’s LinkedIn. Keep in touch? Gmail, or Instagram. Get news? A website like this one, we hope, but perhaps TikTok. My university uses a software service sold by a tech company to run its courses. Some things have been made easier with computing. Others have been changed to serve another end, like scaling up an online business.

Read: So much for ‘learn to code’

The struggle to figure out the best organizational structure for computing education is, in a way, a microcosm of the struggle under way in the computing sector at large. For decades, computers were tools used to accomplish tasks better and more efficiently. Then computing became the way we work and live. It became our culture, and we began doing what computers made possible, rather than using computers to solve problems defined outside their purview. Tech moguls became famous, wealthy, and powerful. So did CS academics (relatively speaking). The success of the latter—in terms of rising student enrollments, research output, and fundraising dollars—both sustains and justifies their growing influence on campus.

If computing colleges have erred, it may be in failing to exert their power with even greater zeal. For all their talk of growth and expansion within academia, the computing deans’ ambitions seem remarkably modest. Martial Hebert, the dean of Carnegie Mellon’s computing school, almost sounded like he was talking about the liberal arts when he told me that CS is “a rich tapestry of disciplines” that “goes far beyond computers and coding.” But the seven departments in his school correspond to the traditional, core aspects of computing plus computational biology. They do not include history, for example, or finance. Bala and Isbell talked about incorporating law, policy, and psychology into their programs of study, but only in the form of hiring individual professors into more traditional CS divisions. None of the deans I spoke with aspires to launch, say, a department of art within their college of computing, or one of politics, sociology, or film. Their vision does not reflect the idea that computing can or should be a superordinate realm of scholarship, on the order of the arts or engineering. Rather, they are proceeding as though it were a technical school for producing a certain variety of very well-paid professionals. A computing college deserving of the name wouldn’t just provide deeper coursework in CS and its closely adjacent fields; it would expand and reinvent other, seemingly remote disciplines for the age of computation.

Near the end of our conversation, Isbell mentioned the engineering fallacy, which he summarized like this: Someone asks you to solve a problem, and you solve it without asking if it’s a problem worth solving. I used to think computing education might be stuck in a nesting-doll version of the engineer’s fallacy, in which CS departments have been asked to train more software engineers without considering whether more software engineers are really what the world needs. Now I worry that they have a bigger problem to address: how to make computer people care about everything else as much as they care about computers.

This article originally mischaracterized the views of MIT’s computing dean, Daniel Huttenlocher. He did not say that computer science would be held back in an arts-and-science or engineering context, or that it needs to be independent.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Mass Tech Layoffs? Just Another Day in the Corporate Blender.

By Ashley Goodall

Mr. Goodall, who previously worked as an executive at Deloitte and at Cisco Systems, is the author of the forthcoming book “The Problem With Change.”

Silicon Valley, home of so many technological and workplace innovations, is rolling out another one: the unnecessary layoff.

After shedding over 260,000 jobs last year, the greatest carnage since the dot-com meltdown more than two decades ago, the major tech companies show little sign of letting up in 2024 despite being mostly profitable, in some cases handsomely so. In their words, the tech companies are letting people go to further the continuing process of aligning their structure to their key priorities , or “transformation” or becoming “ future ready .” Behind these generalities, however, some tech companies are using what has hitherto been an extreme measure in order to engineer a short-term bump in market sentiment.

Investors are indeed thrilled . Meta’s shares are up over 170 percent amid its downsizing talk. And where stock prices go, chief executives will generally follow, which means it is not likely to be long before the unnecessary layoff makes its appearance at another publicly traded company near you.

These layoffs are part of a tide of disruption that is continually churning the work days in corporations everywhere. If you’ve spent any amount of time working at a company of pretty much any size, you’ll be familiar with what I call the resulting “life in the blender”: the unrelenting uncertainty and the upheaval that have become constant features of business life today. A new leader comes in, promptly begins a reorganization and upends the reporting relationships you’re familiar with. Or a consultant suggests a new strategy, which takes up everyone’s time and attention for months until it’s back to business as usual, only with a new mission statement and slideware. Or, everyone’s favorite: A merger is announced and leads to all of these and more.

Now, no business prospers by standing still, and there is no improvement without change. Course corrections, re-orgs and strategic pivots are all necessary from time to time. Technological changes continue to demand the restructuring of major industries. But over the last quarter-century or so, the idea of disruption has also metastasized into a sort of cult, the credo of which holds that everything is to be disrupted, all the time, and that if you’re not changing everything, you’re losing.

You can take courses in disruption at the business schools of Stanford, Cornell, Columbia and Harvard. You can read, on the cover of a leading business magazine, about how to “Build a Leadership Team for Transformation: Your Organization’s Future Depends on It.” And if it is the catechism of chaos you’re after, you can buy the inspirational posters and chant the slogans: Fail fast; disrupt or be disrupted; move fast and break things. Part of this, of course, is a product of the hubris of the Silicon Valley technologists. But part, too, is the belief that the fundamental task of a leader is to instigate change. It is hard to remember a time when there was any other idea about how to manage a company.

Moreover, because a majority of corporate executives — together with the consultants and bankers who advise them, the activist investors who spur them on and the financial analysts who evaluate their efforts — have been raised according to this change credo, the constant churn becomes a sort of flywheel. A leader instigates some change, because that’s what a leader does. The advisers and investors and analysts respond positively, because they’ve been taught that change is always good. There’s a quick uptick in reputation or stock price or both, the executives — paid, remember, mostly in stock — feel they have been appropriately rewarded for maximizing shareholder value, and then everyone moves on to the next change.

But it’s hardly clear that this is having the desired result. Studies of merger and acquisition activity have pegged the rate at which they destroy — rather than increase — shareholder value at something between 60 and 90 percent; a Stanford business school professor, Jeffrey Pfeffer, has argued that layoffs seldom result in lower costs, increased productivity or a remedy for the underlying problems in a business; and few of us who have lived through re-orgs remember them as the occasion for a sudden blossoming of productivity and creativity.

Seen through the eyes of the people on the front lines, the reason for this gap between intent and outcome comes into tighter focus. After all, when the people around you are being “transitioned out,” or when you find yourself suddenly working for a new boss who has yet to be convinced of your competence, it’s a stretch to persuade yourself that all this change and disruption is leading to much improvement at all.

“It’s exhausting,” one person I spoke to about change at work told me. “It’s soul-sucking,” said another. One person told me that after the combination of two departments, his people were like deer in the headlights, unsure of what they should be working on. Another had 19 managers in 10 years. Another told me that perpetual change drained the energy from work: “You say the right things in the meetings, but you don’t necessarily do what needs to be done to make it happen.” Another learned to watch the managers and be alert when they stopped dropping by or communicating: “It is like before a tsunami, when the water goes. You don’t see the water, and then the tsunami comes — all of a sudden, it comes, hard. When everything is calm, I worry.”

Of the dozens of people I spoke to, every single one had some sort of change-gone-bad story to share. And these sorts of reactions are about more than simple frustration or discontent. They are rooted in the psychological response we humans experience when our sense of stability is shattered and our future feels uncertain, and indeed the scientific literature has much light to shed on exactly why life in the blender is so hard on us. Experimenters have found, for example, that our stress is greatest when uncertainty , not discomfort, is at its peak — and uncertainty is the calling card of change at work. Then there is the question of agency: a well-known series of experiments conducted by Steven Maier and Martin Seligman in the 1960s discovered that when we sense we are not in control of a situation we give up trying to make things better — this is “learned helplessness” setting in.

Other researchers have described our fundamental need, as a species, for belonging , and the importance of our social groupings — which helps to explain why we don’t like it when our teams are disassembled, reshuffled and reassembled. And others still have shown that we have — perhaps unsurprisingly! — a deep-seated need for things to make sense in our environment, a need that is so often thwarted by the generic C.E.O. statements and exaggerated cheer-speak with which most change initiatives are communicated.

But while the essential response of the human animal to uncertainty and disruption is hard-wired, the degree of change we introduce into our workplaces isn’t. It’s often a choice. We’ve reached this point because the business world seems to have decided that change is an unalloyed good, and so there is no amount of it that is too much, and no cost of it that is too great.

Were more leaders to be guided by the science of change, or by the stories that people on the front lines share, they would quickly discover that it is stability that is the foundation of improvement. Only once we begin to honor people’s psychological needs at work, by thinking twice before launching into the next shiny change initiative and by paying more heed to the rituals and relationships that allow all of us to point our efforts in a useful direction, can we begin to do justice to the idea that a company must be, first, a platform for human contribution if it is to be anything else at all.

Ashley Goodall, who previously worked as an executive at Deloitte and at Cisco Systems, is the author of the forthcoming book “The Problem With Change.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X and Threads .

CBSE Board Exam 2024: Check High Mark Questions From Previous Year Computer Science Paper

Papers are available from the board year 2019 on the official website of the cbse..

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct the board exam for Class 12 Computer Science on April 2, 2024. Students appearing in the exam can visit the official website of the CBSE to check question papers of the previous years to familiarise themselves with the paper pattern. Papers are available from the board year 2019 on the official website of the CBSE .

High mark Computer Science questions from previous year paper:

Q) Write one difference between OSV and text files. Write a program in Python that defines and calls the following user defined functions: (i) COURIER ADD: It takes the values from the user and adds the details to a cv file 'courier. csv'. Each record consists of a list with field clements as cid, s_name, Source, destination to store Courier ID, Sender name, Source and destination address respectively. (ii) COURIER SEARCH() : Takes the destination as the input and displays all the courier records going to that destination. OR Q) Why it is important to close a file before exiting? Q) Write a program in Python that defines and calls the following user defined functions: (i) Add_Book: Takes the details of the books and adds them to a csv file 'Book.csv. Each record consists of a list with field elements as book_ID, B_name and pub to store book ID, book name and publisher respectively. (ii) Search_Book : Takes publisher name as input and counts and displays number of books published by them.

Q) Shreyas is a programmer, who has recently been given a task to write a user defined function named write bin() to create a binary file called Cust_file.dat containing customer information - customer number (c_ no), name (c _name), quantity (qty), price (price) and amount (amt) of each customer. The function accepts customer number, name, quantity and price. Thereafter, it displays the message 'Quantity less than 10....Cannot SAVE', if quantity entered is less than 10. Otherwise the function calculates amount as price*quantity and then writes the record in the form of a list into the binary file.

Promoted Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

import pickle  def write bin(): bin file= ___ #statement 1 while True: c_no-int (input("enter customer number") ) c_name=input ("enter customer name") qty=int(input ("enter qty") price-int (input ("'enter price")) if ___#Statement  2 print ("Quantity less than 10. .Cannot SAVE") else: amt= price   *qty c_detail = [c_no, c_name, qty, price, amt] _____ #Statement 3 ans-input ("Do you wish to enter more records y/n")  if ans. Lower ()= =-'n': # Statement 4 # Statement 5 # Statement 6

Students can check the complete question paper on the official website of the CBSE. The board has also published sample papers and marking scheme for the Computer Science exam.

Track Budget 2023 and get Latest News Live on NDTV.com.

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world .

Track Latest News and Election Results Coverage Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.

Watch Live News:

• Mobile Site
• Staff Directory
• Advertise with Ars

Filter by topic

• Biz & IT
• Gaming & Culture

Front page layout

image processing —

Playboy image from 1972 gets ban from ieee computer journals, use of "lenna" image in computer image processing research stretches back to the 1970s..

Benj Edwards - Mar 29, 2024 9:16 pm UTC

On Wednesday, the IEEE Computer Society announced to members that, after April 1, it would no longer accept papers that include a frequently used image of a 1972 Playboy model named Lena Forsén. The so-called " Lenna image ," (Forsén added an extra "n" to her name in her Playboy appearance to aid pronunciation) has been used in image processing research since 1973 and has attracted criticism for making some women feel unwelcome in the field.

Further Reading

In an email from the IEEE Computer Society sent to members on Wednesday, Technical & Conference Activities Vice President Terry Benzel wrote , "IEEE's diversity statement and supporting policies such as the IEEE Code of Ethics speak to IEEE's commitment to promoting an including and equitable culture that welcomes all. In alignment with this culture and with respect to the wishes of the subject of the image, Lena Forsén, IEEE will no longer accept submitted papers which include the 'Lena image.'"

An uncropped version of the 512×512-pixel test image originally appeared as the centerfold picture for the December 1972 issue of Playboy Magazine. Usage of the Lenna image in image processing began in June or July 1973 when an assistant professor named Alexander Sawchuck and a graduate student at the University of Southern California Signal and Image Processing Institute scanned a square portion of the centerfold image with a primitive drum scanner, omitting nudity present in the original image. They scanned it for a colleague's conference paper, and after that, others began to use the image as well.

The image's use spread in other papers throughout the 1970s, '80s, and '90s , and it caught Playboy's attention, but the company decided to overlook the copyright violations. In 1997, Playboy helped track down Forsén, who appeared at the 50th Annual Conference of the Society for Imaging Science in Technology, signing autographs for fans. "They must be so tired of me... looking at the same picture for all these years!" she said at the time. VP of new media at Playboy Eileen Kent told Wired , "We decided we should exploit this, because it is a phenomenon."

The image, which features Forsén's face and bare shoulder as she wears a hat with a purple feather, was reportedly ideal for testing image processing systems in the early years of digital image technology due to its high contrast and varied detail. It is also a sexually suggestive photo of an attractive woman, and its use by men in the computer field has garnered criticism over the decades, especially from female scientists and engineers who felt that the image (especially related to its association with the Playboy brand) objectified women and created an academic climate where they did not feel entirely welcome.

Due to some of this criticism, which dates back to at least 1996 , the journal Nature banned the use of the Lena image in paper submissions in 2018.

The comp.compression Usenet newsgroup FAQ document claims that in 1988, a Swedish publication asked Forsén if she minded her image being used in computer science, and she was reportedly pleasantly amused. In a 2019 Wired article , Linda Kinstler wrote that Forsén did not harbor resentment about the image, but she regretted that she wasn't paid better for it originally. "I’m really proud of that picture," she told Kinstler at the time.

Since then, Forsén has apparently changed her mind. In 2019, Creatable and Code Like a Girl created an advertising documentary titled Losing Lena , which was part of a promotional campaign aimed at removing the Lena image from use in tech and the image processing field. In a press release for the campaign and film, Forsén is quoted as saying, "I retired from modelling a long time ago. It’s time I retired from tech, too. We can make a simple change today that creates a lasting change for tomorrow. Let’s commit to losing me."

It seems like that commitment is now being granted. The ban in IEEE publications, which have been historically important journals for computer imaging development, will likely further set a precedent toward removing the Lenna image from common use. In the email, IEEE's Benzel recommended wider sensitivity about the issue, writing, "In order to raise awareness of and increase author compliance with this new policy, program committee members and reviewers should look for inclusion of this image, and if present, should ask authors to replace the Lena image with an alternative."

reader comments

Channel ars technica.