Information for Prospective and Accepted Students

We welcome prospective and accepted students and their families to the Computer Science Department at Rensselaer!  Use this webpage to familiarize yourself with our department and get your questions answered.

About the Department

The undergraduate program in computer science prepares students to solve real-world problems and carry out fundamental research.  Our undergraduates distinguish themselves by landing high-income jobs at such companies as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Bloomberg, Epic Systems, Facebook, Amazon, and numerous other companies both large and small.  Many of our students go on to prominent graduate schools.  Given our strengths and successes, for the last few years, our incoming class of first-year students has increased and been among the largest ever in our 37-year history.  And recently, in the Fall 2018 semester, computer science became the largest undergraduate major at Rensselaer.

Our undergraduate program is both rigorous and flexible.  Our rigor makes our students highly desirable for employment after graduation, with the average starting salary for computer science students graduating in 2020 or 2021 at just over $96,000.  Our program's flexibility enables our students to earn dual majors in computer science and another discipline, including various fields of engineering (e.g., computer and systems engineering), as well as mathematics (MATH), information technology and web science (ITWS), business and management (BMGT), games and simulation arts and sciences (GSAS), electronic media arts and communication (EMAC), and many more.  Close to 40% of our majors are dual majors, and many students also pursue minors in other fields.

Select the URLs below for more specific information (all URLs open in a new browser window):

Spring 2022 Events

Upcoming events in Spring 2022 that focus on prospective and accepted students are listed below.

  • Women in CS Webinar [Wednesday, March 9 @ 4:00PM EST]: At this session, female student leaders talk about their experiences, in particular with our student-organized mentorship program, Rensselaer's women in computing chapter ACM-W, informal gatherings, and other resources specifically for women in the department.
  • Meet a Faculty Member in CS [Monday, March 21 @ 4:00PM EDT]: Our professors make themselves available to meet and discuss the department, their coursework and research, and answer your questions.  In this session, hear Professor David Goldschmidt describe life in the department, in particular software-focused courses and programs.  Click here to view a recording of this event.
  • CS Student Webinar [Thursday, March 24 @ 7:00PM EDT]: Hear from a panel of current students as they describe their experiences at Rensselaer and answer your questions.  Click here to register for this event.
  • Meet a Faculty Member in CS [Wednesday, March 30 @ 4:00PM EDT]: In this session, meet Professor Elliot Anshelevich and speak with him about algorithms and theoretical computer science.  Join the event here on March 30.
  • Meet a Faculty Member in CS [Tuesday, April 5 @ 4:00PM EDT]: In this session, hear Professor Barb Cutler describe her focus on graphics and computer vision, as well as her work on the open source Submitty project.  Join the event here on April 5.
  • 1:1 Meetings with Students [Thursday, April 7 @ 7:00PM EDT]: Meet one-on-one with current students!  Registration TBA.
  • Meet a Faculty Member in CS [Thursday, April 14 @ 4:00PM EDT]: In this session, hear Professor Bülent Yener describe his research in network science and cybersecurity.  Join the event here on April 14.
  • Meet a Faculty Member in CS [Monday, April 25 @ 4:00PM EDT]: In this session, hear Professor Jim Hendler describe his work in artificial intelligence and departmental research in machine learning.  Join the event here on April 25.
  • Virtual Club Fair [Thursday, April 21 @ 7:00PM EDT]: Hear from student-led clubs and organizations in our CS-focused Virtual Club Fair.  Registration TBA.

CS Clubs and Organizations

Our students are very active in extracurricular activities.  Within our department, students participate in the RPI Computing Club, Upsilon Pi Epsilon (or UPE, the computer science honor society), RPISEC (the computer security club), ACM-W (women in computing), HackRPI, and Coding&&Community.  With well over 200 student organizations on campus, students find many opportunities to pursue their extracurricular interests.

Select the URLs below for flyers and/or links to websites for these organization (all URLs open in a new browser window):

CS News

A few recent news and articles involving our students and faculty are included below (all URLs open in a new browser window).  Also consider following our Twitter feed (click here)!

Past Events

Recorded events from Spring 2021 that focused on prospective and accepted students are listed below.

Below is a summary of past 2020 events specific to computer science for which we have recordings.  Use the URLs below to navigate to these events.

  • Meet a Professor [April 2020]  Our computer science professors were available to meet and discuss the department, their coursework and research, and answer your questions.  Of the six sessions we held, we did record one of them, so feel free to watch and listen in below.
  • Women in Computer Science Panel [April 6, 2020 at 6:00PM EDT]  At this session, female student leaders talked about their experiences, in particular with our student-organized mentorship program, Rensselaer's women in computing chapter ACM-W, informal gatherings, and other resources specifically for women in the department.  Click here to watch a video of this past event.
  • Accepted Students Day (ASD) Celebration [April 4, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT]  Professor and Department Head Chuck Stewart introduced our department, our curriculum, and our students via a live online presentation that also included a Q&A session.  Click here to watch a video of this past event.
  • Computer Science Student Webinar [March 26, 2020 at 6:00PM EDT]  At this session, a panel of current students were available to answer questions and describe their experiences at Rensselaer.  Click here to watch a video of this past event.