Andrew Caniff

BS in Computer Science

Why did you choose to major in CS?

I started programming in my sophomore year of high school, and fell in love with it. I had always favored mathematics, problem solving, and logical thinking, and programing sort of gathered all of my strong suits into a cohesive area of study. I knew then that I wanted to choose a major with an emphasis on programming, and with very few computer programming majors offered in universities, computer science seemed the best choice

Why did you choose your CS degree program at Bucknell

I wasn't completely sure which degree I wanted when I started at Bucknell, but I had chosen to work towards a Bachelor of Science by my first semester. For me, what it boiled down to was that I could complete a B.S. in three years, whereas I would need to stay a fourth if I wanted to pursue a CSE degree.

What is particularly good for you in studying CS at Bucknell?

The best part about studying computer science at Bucknell atmosphere of the department. Because of its small size, not only do I know all of the faculty, but I also know a great deal of computer science students outside of my graduating class. Class sizes are never too large, and so it's a great deal easier to get help from a professor when you need it. Another major bonus of having a small faculty is that you will have several professors more than once. This makes forming relationships with professors much easier, and can lead to research opportunities, as well as more sincere and relevant recommendation letters.

Advice for incoming students

The best advice I can give is to get involved in ACM. It is the best way to meet other computer science students, and it can help foster friendships across the different classes. I also can't recommend participation in the programming competitions enough. They have been some of the best experiences of my time at Bucknell. I'll admit that they can be a stressful couple of hours, but they are a lot of fun if you enjoy programming, and are a great atmosphere in which to get to work together with other students on programming challenges. I've participated in all but one in my time here, and I wish someone would have convinced me to do it my first semester so I would not have missed out on such a rewarding experience.

Projects

I'd say the project that I am most proud of is my independent study from my final semester at Bucknell. It was a basic enough problem, translating parts of C code to another custom language, but I really enjoyed the free reign that I was given over how to solve the problem. I think the best part about programming is that you can solve a problem in so many different ways. I had just started to teach myself Python over winter break, and I decided it would be a great opportunity to really gain an understanding of the language, so I chose to do the bulk of my work in Python. Now I feel like I have a really strong grasp of the language, and see new and better ways to solve old problems.