Coded for success
Growing up just a mile from campus, Parker didn’t plan to attend Northwestern at first. Once he visited, however, he changed his mind because of the opportunity to meet people from a wide variety of backgrounds. He developed many relationships by being a member of the Raider soccer and Rocket League esports teams, experiences he highly recommends. A software engineering major with a minor in business administration, Parker was also a member of the Northwestern coding team that placed 16th out of 95 teams in a regional programming competition.
Relevant data
The biggest strength of Northwestern’s software engineering major is how useful all the information is. Since the technology field is changing every day at a rapid pace, it’s hard to keep up with all the new topics, but the faculty do a great job of making sure what’s being taught will be used throughout your career. I see people deep into their careers using and talking about everything I have learned thus far, which is very comforting when diving into a field that can seem so intimidating.
Challenged and supported
The faculty in the computer science department are fantastic. They do a great job of pushing students to find solutions on their own while also helping them when appropriate.
Pushed to find the answer
Something I have appreciated about the computer science department since day one is how most of our assignments and projects aren’t from the book. The faculty like to get creative when coming up with assignments. That really challenges you, because there aren’t many answers online that will help you and you need to find the answer on your own. It can be frustrating at times, but in the end, it helps tremendously with learning.
Digging deeper
One way I try to stand out is by spending personal time researching and studying topics that aren’t being covered in my current classes—or for the topics that are being covered, digging into them on a deeper level. That helps me enter new classes or my current classes feeling more prepared and confident because I already have a good understanding of the topic being taught.
