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 a special discussion section of the introductory CS course (cs302), and meet in small groups once a week for two hours each time. Each meeting is led by a Team Leader (an outstanding previous cs302 student), and involves working in groups on interesting problems designed to help you really understand and enjoy the topics taught in class.

WES-CS students: have the same assignments and exams as non-WES-CS students, earn 1 extra credit for their participation, learn new approaches for solving CS problems, make friendships that will last through your years at UW, usually get better grades than non-WES-CS students, have fun!

 

Fall 2006 will be the third year for WES-CS. Students last year really enjoyed 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

To enroll in WES-CS you should be prepared to work hard with other students to solve problems together.

You need to be authorized to register for the WES-CS section. For authorization, visit the Computer Science Department representative at SOAR during the summer or contact one of the following:

Perry Kivolowitz		Susan Horwitz
perryk@cs.wisc.edu		horwitz@cs.wisc.edu
262-0620		262-7946

WES-CS Exercises

To see the exercises from fall 2004, click here

To see the exercises from fall 2005, click here

To see the exercises from fall 2006, click here

To see the exercises from spring 2007, click here

Related Programs

WES-CS is 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.