Extracurriculars for Future Computer Science Students

First and foremost, do something you enjoy and "have a life". Developing social skills, playing sports, and having hobbies will go a long way toward making you well-rounded and balanced, self confident, and capable of coping with stress. It is these traits, more than anything else, that will carry you through university. If you enjoy tinkering with computers and like to pursue that as a hobby then I would suggest learning html, css, and some javascript to build a browser app, creating a flash game for tablets, or assembling a robot. You can also participate in math / programming contests, but no matter what you do, try to do it with others as part of a team. This will give you an opportunity to meet like-minded people and further develop your personal skills.
 
Do these activities make a difference in terms of acceptance into the program? Not really--some schools factor them in but the effect is next to nothing. Do the technical skills help in terms of preparation? Somewhat--it helps if you are familiar with a programming language but your university may start with another language, employ a higher degree of rigor, or operate at a different abstraction level. Do the personal skills make a difference? Enormously!

Hamzeh Roumani, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, York University, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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Tamsmaj wrote:	u?? o???? Posted on Mar 22, 2012 at 10:42
longboarder wrote:	dish ish ashum Posted on Mar 22, 2012 at 10:41
longboarder wrote:	dish ish ashum Posted on Mar 22, 2012 at 10:41
Tamsmaj wrote:	u?? o???? Posted on Mar 22, 2012 at 10:41
longboarder wrote:	dish ish ashum Posted on Mar 22, 2012 at 10:41

 

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