Cal CS Community Spotlight: CS Kickstart and CS Scholars

We all know that transitioning from high school to college classes can be unnerving, but beyond braving new content and coursework, making friends and finding your own community at Cal can be a difficult task too. This can be especially true when you’re an underrepresented minority student in computer science and it’s not common to find peers who share your experiences.

Fortunately, there are clubs and communities here for everyone to find their fit! As another month of summer passes by (and Fall semester grows closer) we at Codebase would like to highlight two programs for incoming underrepresented, CS-intended students with applications closing soon: CS Kickstart, a one-week program aimed at professional development, empowerment, and plain fun(!) for women in tech, and CS Scholars, a learning community for low-income, first-generation, and/or underrepresented students who haven’t taken 61A.

If at this point you don’t think you’re eligible for these programs (or you’re not an incoming freshman), please consider forwarding this to any new bears you know who could benefit from the support of these communities!

We have members and alumni at Codebase who have been through both the in-person and most recent remote iterations of these two programs — read on to learn a little more about how each program operates, as well as our own experiences and anecdotes to help you decide if you’d like to apply! This year’s application deadline for CS Kickstart is June 20th at midnight, and the application deadline for CS Scholars is June 30th at noon.

CS Kickstart

What is it?
CS Kickstart is an introductory program for incoming female-identifying and non-binary freshman at Berkeley interested in computer science. The program hosts STEM speakers, both industry level and academic level, with some speakers being Berkeley professors that you have a high chance of taking a class with at Berkeley. There are also labs, where you learn and explore different topics, such as electrical engineering and website development. You also overview some topics from classes many incoming freshmen majoring in computer science take.

This program is not just an introduction to computer science, but also an introduction to Berkeley. The program has many Berkeley counselors speak and give advice regarding class schedules and also many socials to introduce CSK participants to each other and give them a community to enter Berkeley with! CSK focuses on forming bonds between the participants and making incoming freshmen feel at home at Berkeley.

Who is it run by?
Berkeley students, most of whom were previous CSK participants!

Who can apply?
Any female-identifying and non-binary student that is an incoming freshman at Berkeley. You don’t need to plan on majoring in computer science or even STEM at all. You don’t need to have any experience with programming, but you can also have some. Just have some passion and show some interest in computer science.

When and where is it held?
This year, CSK is all remote and held online. You can attend from any place around the world!

Application details:
https://cs-kickstart.berkeley.edu/

Apply by June 20th, 2021 at 11:59 pm. The application includes 3 short essay questions and the submission of your high school transcript. The essays are very casual and just to show that you are interested in computer science!

Claire, our External Vice President for Fall, participated in CS Kickstart in Summer of 2020. Here’s her experience of the program:

CSK was the first introduction I had to the Berkeley Computer Science community. The main thing that I noticed was how friendly and welcoming everyone was. Seeing a bunch of people who were in the same boat as me, a freshman coming into Berkeley, a little daunted with CS at the school, was definitely comforting and gave me a network of people that I could reach out to.

I was part of the first remote class of CSK and I will say it had its ups and downs. I think the outcomes of CSK were definitely what made me love the program, as opposed to the actual week itself. Considering that COVID really threw the planning for CSK off track, I think the planners made the most of the situation at hand. For the program itself, I actually loved that we got an introduction to the classes that many of us were going to be taking that semester/year. I even think learning the concepts then gave me a slight advantage during the year. Other aspects like the intro to topics that I hadn’t even learned about and the talks from counselors were also extremely helpful in helping me plan for what classes I would be taking throughout the next couple of years.

My favorite part about CSK was what I experienced after the program itself. In one of the zoom sessions for CSK, there was a club info session, which was where I first heard about Codebase. If you can’t tell, I essentially fell in love with the club and found a great and supportive community within Berkeley that I plan on staying in for a long time.

Something about the remote program that was a little difficult was socializing. There were many zoom meetings and I think it was a bit harder to socialize in groups via zoom, just from the nature of remote meetings. Though I didn’t meet many people in the moment of the program, I actually met up with some people on campus during the school year and met some of the best people that I have met in Berkeley in general. (All my roommates for next year are from CSK, so that’s gotta mean something.)

In my opinion, CSK is such a worthwhile program, not just for what you will learn about Berkeley and CS culture, but for the people you meet in the moment or afterwards.

Our Codebase member Julia participated in CS Kickstart in Summer of 2018. Here’s her experience of the program:

I love CS Kickstart with my whole heart. From staying up till 4AM talking about life to fooling around in huge Silicon Valley companies or even just coding in the lab, I really loved my time with my cohort.

My reasons for joining were pretty typical. I was an out-of-state kid worried about whether or not I could find friends and frightened of majoring in a field I had almost no experience in. On paper, CSK seemed like a golden opportunity for me, offering a close-knit community, a peek into Silicon Valley life and even coding lessons. But truthfully speaking, it was so so much more than that. The CSK leaders were basically moms to us, keeping us in check during company tours, feeding us lots of good food, being vulnerable about their own struggles and giving advice I still take to heart today. Everyone was very supportive and there was quite a diverse set of perspectives and personalities to learn from.

At night, we would all sit in the dorm lounge and just talk about our pets, college life, the past summer, our families, our concerns — talking about nothing and everything at the same time. It was small moments like those that just made me feel so comfortable and reassured me that I had made the right decision. Even throughout my first two years in college, seeing those familiar faces around school, having friends to eat lunch with and even having people you could ask to be lab/project partners was something I’ll always be thankful for. Even though I got put with an especially great group of people, I know that each CSK cohort is like this. Most of my friends from CSK continue to help out with the program and I’ve met a lot of wonderful and kind individuals in every cohort that I talk to.

CS Scholars

What is it?
CS Scholars is a first-year student support program intended to serve those from under-represented communities who have had little or no exposure to Computer Science. It integrates academic support such as technical review sessions and advising, personal and professional development through seminars and workshops from student mentors, and the opportunity for incoming freshmen to find friends in a cohort-based learning community.

The program offers resources and mentors in a more personal setting, and gives students assistance through CS 61A, CS 61B, and CS 70 — it’s designed so that students can make friends that they’ll be able to rely on and support through the major prerequisites!

Who is it run by?
CS Scholars is an initiative run by the EECS department.

Who can apply?
CS Scholars isn’t limited to first-years. Here’s the official criteria — if you’re unsure, go ahead and apply!

• Undeclared Letters & Science students interested in the computer science major, OR
• Undeclared College of Engineering students interested in studying computer science, AND
• Have limited or no exposure to Computer Science, AND
• Have not taken 61A, 61B, or 70.

Identify as a member of any one of the following groups:

• Low Income (Pell Grant or Dream Act Scholarship eligible as verified by the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office), or
• First Generation College Student (Parent(s) have not graduated from a four-year college or university), or
• Historically under-represented (African American, Chicano/Latino, and Native American Students) and/or women students

When and where is it held?
You’re enrolled in 1–2 unit CS Scholars sections for the semesters you take 61A, 61B, and 70, but even afterwards you’re still a part of their community and mailing list, where they can help you with enrolment in other major requirements.

For this upcoming semester, the CS Scholars staff are really, really trying to get an in-person classroom space to facilitate community, but it is currently unclear whether it’ll be in-person, hybrid, or online.

Application details:
https://eecs.berkeley.edu/cs-scholars

Due June 30th at noon, application consists of short logistical questions, and five long answer questions (no upper or lower bound for character limit).

Isabel, our other External Vice President for Fall, participated in CS Scholars in Fall 2020. Here are her thoughts:

Starting off college with a remote semester was tough, so I’m really grateful I applied for the CS Scholars program. As an international student who took classes from home, it was nice to have had a place to just be with other freshmen in my position and spend time together every week. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but in hindsight the description of a “learning community” seems most accurate.

Unlike a club, where you might have a common interest, or a class, where a lot of the discussion is on a single class’s content, the CS Scholars community is often gathered around a culture of cheering each other on through academic, professional, and personal pursuits, while being supported by program instructors and mentors. It’s small enough so that you can vaguely get to know everyone, and the atmosphere is always really chill and candid — people are open with their struggles with class, and comfortable enough to be loud and funny.

You become familiar with mentors and tutors who are just for your small CS Scholars cohort, and who often feel like a more accessible source of help rather than going to an advisor or office hours in large lower division CS classes. Besides technical academic assistance, there’s also a huge focus on important academic and general life skills, wellbeing, and professional development through workshops and seminars.

Outside of weekly seminars, being in the program also means you’re enrolled in special discussion and lab sections only for students in CS Scholars — it’s uniquely set up so you ideally go through the CS prerequisites with the same people you’ve met from day one, and it really encourages y’all to make friends and feel comfortable leaning on each other. (These special sections also mean that enrolment goes a little smoother!)

Personally, I think the program is best fit for students who are prospective CS majors but don’t feel too confident with computer science and would appreciate the additional resources, as well as incoming students who would really like to find a support network and friendly community on campus from the get-go.

Our alum Rachel was a member of CS Scholars in Fall 2018. Here’s her experience of the program:

I joined CS Scholars the fall of my sophomore year, which was the semester that I took 61A. In general, I think that my experience in CS Scholars was okay; I think it was helpful for when I was taking the lower division courses, but I did not get too close to my cohort or the CS Scholars community. However, there are many things that you can take advantage of from CS Scholars: a study room in Cory only for CS Scholars students, subscription to an email list where you are invited to special events and have the opportunity to apply to internships, prioritized tutoring sessions, and a chance to get close to students in your CS classes.

The first thing that I really benefited from was that you could request to have a CS tutor for 2 hour intervals instead of the normal 1 hour session non-CS Scholar students get. During CS 61A, CS 61B, and CS 70 I really used the tutoring system to help understand class concepts. The great thing about being a CS Scholar is that you get bumped to the front of the line and are guaranteed a tutor when you sign up for that week!

Another thing that I liked about CS Scholars is that for 61A, 61B, and 70, you get a one unit P/NP class that you can use to help you reach the minimum units to be a full time student in a semester. The one unit class varies between each class, when I took the lower divisions classes it was a seminar for 61A and group study sessions for 61B and 70. These one unit classes were useful for me because I only had to focus on 3 other (4-unit) classes a semester.

Lastly, I had to appeal for my CS major because I did not reach the minimum 3.3 GPA. I don’t think this was the sole reason, but it probably helped to say that I was a member of CS Scholars when I was appealing.

We hope this highlight has equipped you with some more information on what value these programs bring, and whether you’d be interested in joining. Once again, the application deadline for CS Kickstart is June 20th at midnight, and the application deadline for CS Scholars is June 30th at noon.

This short guide is not at all an exhaustive list of the programs available to you at Cal, or even the programs available to you as an incoming freshman(!) — just a fraction that a few members at Codebase have experienced and can shed some light on. Take your time to explore, meet new friends, and find your people here. Welcome to Cal, new bears!