UW-Madison > Computer Science

Wisconsin Emerging Scholars - Computer Science

WES-CS is a program that provides motivated students the opportunity to learn Computer Science in a challenging but friendly environment. WES-CS students enroll in the introductory CS course (cs302), and also meet in small groups of 5 to 8 students once a week for 2 hours each time. Groups are led by undergraduates who are usually former WES-CS students themselves. In the group meetings students work together on interesting problems designed to help them really understand and enjoy the topics taught in cs302.

As a WES-CS student you will: have the same assignments and exams as non-WES-CS students, earn 1 extra credit for your participation, be invited to learn more about CS careers via visits to local companies and/or special dinners with speakers, learn new approaches for solving CS problems, make friendships that will last through your years at UW, probably get better grades than non-WES-CS students, have fun!

 

This is the 9th year for WES-CS. WES-CS students really enjoy the program. Here are some quotes from interviews with WES-CS participants:

• "The WES program helped a lot since we worked in small groups because we got more one-on-one attention. I wish my discussions were like this for every class!"

• "I have several lectures that same day, and I originally thought, Oh my God, by the time this comes around I'm going to be like, get me out of here. But it's actually really enjoyable. It has to be the fastest two hours of my day."

• "We really help each other out. Some people are better at certain things than others, so when someone has a question someone will step up and explain it. When that person who was originally explaining might have a question on something, another person can explain it to them, so it's really well-rounded in that aspect."

How to Enroll

Preference for WES-CS is given to incoming freshmen, who register when they attend SOAR during the summer. Other students will be allowed to register when SOAR is finished.

WES-CS Exercises

To see the exercises from Spring 2011, click here

Related Programs

WES-CS was initially funded in part by NSF through their Information Technology Workforce program as part of a cooperative grant that includes seven other schools: Beloit College, Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Loyola College in Maryland, Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

For more information about the WES-CS program contact the program coordinator by email: wes-cs@cs.wisc.edu.