Princeton SPE:   Student Reflections


The SPE had a very positive effect mainly because it gave me the knowledge and confidence to compete with other students who had extensive programming backgrounds. COS 126 which left me very dubious of my skills, but SPE was a real shot in the arm. It helped a great deal in COS 217 and vastly heightened my interest in CS. The program was great. It was highly independent but equally as supportive in answering questions and help. Not to mention fun! I had a great time, but most importantly it gave me much more confidence in the four COS classes taken the following school year.

       - Michael Bulboff '02 (Computer Science major)

The SPE helped me in that it made me more comfortable around computers; before coming to Princeton, I had limited experience with computing and the SPE helped broaden my experience. Programming in JAVA was also a nice change of pace from programming in C; it felt good to learn a new language and be able to adapt to it.

It made me feel comfortable in the CS building and now I regard it as my second home. I like being in the building. What I really liked about the SPE was getting to know other people who were interested in CS; I've had other classes with them and we can discuss what we're currently working on and help each other out.

       - Amy Chen '02 (Computer Science major)

I definitely found SPE to be useful. Even though during the summer I programmed in Java but during the year I program in C, I believe the key to SPE was teaching me to think like a programmer. My ability to approach a problem, in addition to just understanding C based languages, improved vastly. I believe SPE is an excellent venue for inexperienced programmers to improve their skills because there is less deadline pressure, no other courses to worry about, and no grades, so the student can focus on implementing a program of their choice. I thank SPE for my enjoyment of coding now (I very much disliked coding when I took 126).

       - Lisa Hsu '02 (Electrical Engineering with a CS certificate)

SPE definitely encouraged me to be a computer science major and to take more classes in cs, but a stronger interest in other fields drew me away from those aims. I feel that the technical knowledge and experience of focusing on a single project for (far over) forty hours a week for four weeks gave me a new lens through which to look at problems that arise in the fields I am interested in, and also helped me improve methods of studying. SPE is an excellent program. I would reccomend it to anyone regardless of programming ability.

       - Sarah Marriage '02 (Architecture or Math)

I've taken CS217 and 226 since then. SPE helped me feel much more comfortable in 217, where we were expected to write large working programs from scratch, unlike in 126.

       - Noemi Milman '02 (Computer Science or Politics major)

SPE had a very positive impact on my choice of major, and gave me the confidence to take many CS classes that I don't think I would otherwise have dared to take. (I took 3 classes in the semester after SPE.) The SPE experience proved to be specially useful in CS217 which is a very programming-intensive class. I would strongly encourage everyone to participate in this program because the opportunity to program something that you're interested in without the pressure of grades and deadlines taught me a lot.

       - Mariyam Mirza '02 (Computer Science major)

I have taken, CS217, CS226, CS341 and CS306 since. SPE was helpful in that I got to know another language than C - java and I became a lot more comforatble with programming.

       - Shubha Nabar '02 (Computer Science major)

The SPE played a significant role in my decision to choose engineering as my major. It helped me to witness and experience a number of real world applications of the theory I had been learning in my engineering classes prior to the SPE.

       - Patrick Smith '02 (Operations Research and Financial Engineering)

SPE has definitely provided a positive experience that will be useful in future classes and work (involving computer programming, designing, debugging, collaborative/mentoring work, etc.) SPE did not really affect my planned major or certificates, but it did reinforce confidence in my ability to take cs courses and computer work. I hope to remain an AB architecture student with a computer science certificate.

       - Janice Dru '03 (Architecture major with a CS certificate)

SPE was a great experience for me that I would recommend to anyone who wants to improve their programming skills. I found SPE to be helpful in the two programming courses, COS 217 and COS 226 because SPE gave me more experience programming and learning material on my own. SPE helped to confirm my desire for becoming a computer science major.

       - Corinne Nathan '03 (Computer Science major)

SPE helped me out a lot, especially when confronting big programming assignments like the notorious ISH shell in 217. SPE taught me how to systematically space out my assignments and not try to do everything all at once. I came into Princeton pretty much decided on being a CS major, but SPE had a positive impact. I had never programmed before my freshman spring semester, and SPE gave me some much needed experience while at the same time being able to work on something I was interested in.

       - Bismark Paliz '03 (Computer Science major)