One-on-one help from a current senior in the major. Bring the course that's moving too fast, and we'll work out exactly where it stopped making sense.
$55 per 60-minute session, online. Independent tutoring, not a college service.
I'm working through the same major, under the same requirements, and I've spent the last few years using this material to build software. Locava started with Lafayette students and grew to more than 10,000 users. So I can explain what a data structure is for, as well as how it works.
Most linked list and tree bugs come from one misunderstanding: two variables can point to the same object. Once you draw memory, these get much easier.
People can often get the algorithm and still lose points explaining why it works. We practice stating a loop invariant or setting up a recurrence, then writing it in plain sentences first.
Logic gates, assembly and memory can feel like three unrelated courses. We trace one small instruction all the way down so the layers connect.
The hard part usually isn't the code. It's scoping, Git conflicts and integrating work from four people. This is what I do every day.
Here's the prerequisite chain from the catalog. It shows why a shaky CS 150 gets expensive later, and why it's worth fixing early.
Start
Learn to program. Either course leads to CS 150.
The gate
CS 202, 203 and 205 all require it.
The middle
Three different skills: proofs, hardware and teamwork. CS 202 also requires MATH 182.
Upper level
CS 301 needs 202 and 203. CS 303 needs 202. CS 406 needs 203. CS 424 needs 202.
Capstone
Senior standing and CS 205.
Course names and numbers come from the official Lafayette catalog. Being listed means I can help with the material. Where I'm taking a course myself, it says so.
20 subjects
Your first real code, and the habits that make the next course easier.
Learn object-oriented programming by building a sequence of games.
How I can help. Getting from "I copied the example" to writing your own classes, and working out why a game object behaves the way it does.
Prerequisite: None. Corequisite: MATH 141 or MATH 161
Get help with CS 104Learn object-oriented programming by writing effects for pictures, sound, text and video.
How I can help. Understanding loops over pixels or samples, how media is stored as data, and how to structure your code as it grows.
Prerequisite: None. Corequisite: MATH 141 or MATH 161
Get help with CS 105The material every later course leans on.
Object-oriented design, plus the structures used to store and find data. Nearly everything later in the major requires it.
How I can help. Drawing what a structure does in memory before writing it, tracing recursion by hand, and choosing a structure for a reason you can explain.
Prerequisite: CS 104 or CS 105
Get help with CS 150How to prove an algorithm is correct and fast, and how to design one when no standard answer fits.
How I can help. Setting up a recurrence, spotting whether a problem is greedy or dynamic programming, and writing a proof that reads like an argument instead of a guess.
Prerequisite: CS 150 and MATH 182
Get help with CS 202Working on bigger systems, with other people, in the open.
Analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of large software projects.
How I can help. This is my daily work. Planning a project, using Git as a team, writing tests that catch real bugs, and designing so the next feature doesn't break the last one.
Prerequisite: CS 150, and permission of the department head
Get help with CS 205The ethical, legal and social side of computing, with a writing focus and a web lab.
How I can help. Thinking through arguments with real product examples, and the web lab. I'll talk ideas through with you and read for clarity, and the writing stays yours.
How databases are organized, designed and implemented.
How I can help. From building production apps: modeling your data, writing SQL you can reason about, and knowing what an index actually does for a query.
Prerequisite: CS 205. Corequisite: CS 202
Get help with CS 320A team builds a large software project from analysis through implementation.
How I can help. Mentorship on scope, architecture and shipping, drawn from building real products. I'm taking this course in Spring 2027, and the work you submit stays your team's.
Prerequisite: Senior standing and CS 205
Get help with CS 470What your code turns into, and what runs it.
From digital logic up through memory, instruction sets and interrupts.
How I can help. Making the layers connect: binary representation, tracing assembly line by line, and seeing why memory hierarchy changes how fast code really runs.
Prerequisite: CS 150
Get help with CS 203Concurrent processes, memory management, file systems and resource allocation.
How I can help. Core concepts, at an introductory level: processes and threads, why race conditions happen, and how memory gets managed. I'm taking this course in Spring 2027, so I'll tell you if your question goes past what I can help with.
Prerequisite: CS 203 or ECE 313. Corequisite: CS 205
Get help with CS 406Why languages work the way they do, and what computers can't do.
How languages are designed and implemented, across imperative, functional, logic and object-oriented styles.
How I can help. Functional programming and comparing paradigms, which I use in real code: closures, higher-order functions and immutability. I'm taking this course in Spring 2027, so formal semantics and translators are at an introductory level.
Prerequisite: CS 202 and CS 203
Get help with CS 301Formal models of computation: languages, finite automata, computability and undecidability.
How I can help. The intuition behind automata and undecidability, at an introductory level. I'm taking this course in Spring 2027, so for proof-heavy problem sets, send me the material first and I'll tell you what I can do.
Prerequisite: CS 202
Get help with CS 303From a linear model to a neural network you can explain.
Supervised learning, from linear and logistic regression to neural networks and deep learning.
How I can help. Understanding what a model is really doing. I've written a neural network's backward pass by hand for my Neural Net Observatory project, so we can work out gradients, loss functions and overfitting from first principles.
Prerequisite: CS 202. Corequisite: MATH 272 or MATH 300
Get help with CS 424How software gets attacked, and how to reason about defending it.
Lafayette's catalog doesn't list a course under this name, and special topics change by term, so send me your syllabus.
How I can help. The security questions you meet building real apps: authentication, input validation, how common web attacks work, and how to think like an attacker.
The math CS actually uses, taught in that context.
Logic, proofs, sets and counting. It's the math CS 202 assumes you have.
How I can help. Learning to write a proof, especially induction, and connecting each idea to the code it shows up in.
One of the options for the linear algebra and modeling requirement, and a corequisite option for CS 424.
How I can help. Vectors and matrices as they appear in machine learning and graphics, using examples from neural networks I've built.
One of the options for the statistics requirement.
How I can help. Probability and statistics as they appear in data, experiments and machine learning.
Limits, derivatives and integrals. Required for the B.S.
How I can help. For CS students: rates of change and how derivatives lead to gradient descent. Calculus-only help is better found at the college's own math resources.
Integration techniques and series. Required for the B.S.
How I can help. For CS students: where series and sums show up in algorithm analysis.
Multivariable calculus. Required for the Class of 2027 and earlier.
How I can help. For CS students: partial derivatives and gradients, the math behind training a model.
This map is for finding your way around. It doesn't replace your advisor or the official department requirements, which differ for later classes. A listed option isn't a course I took.
| Requirement | Courses |
|---|---|
| Intro course | CS 104 Introduction to Game Programming or CS 105 Digital Media Computing |
| Data structures | CS 150 Data Structures and Algorithms |
| Computing and society | CS 200 Computers and Society |
| Algorithms | CS 202 Analysis of Algorithms |
| Computer organization | CS 203 Computer Organization |
| Software engineering | CS 205 Software Engineering |
| Programming languages | CS 301 Principles of Programming LanguagesJudson: Spring 2027 |
| Theory | CS 303 Theory of ComputationJudson: Spring 2027 |
| Operating systems | CS 406 Operating SystemsJudson: Spring 2027 |
| Capstone | CS 470 Senior Project or CS 495-496 ThesisJudson: CS 470, Spring 2027 |
| Three upper-level electives | Any three CS 300- or 400-level electives |
| Requirement | Courses |
|---|---|
| Calculus | MATH 161 Calculus I, MATH 162 Calculus II, MATH 263 Calculus III |
| Discrete math | MATH 182 Discrete Structures |
| Statistics (one) | MATH 286 Introduction to Probability and Mathematical Statistics or MATH 186 Applied Statistics or BIOL 265 Biostatistics or PSYC 120 Quantitative Methods in Psychology or MATH 335 & 336 Probability and Mathematical Statistics |
| Linear algebra or modeling (one) | MATH 272 Linear Algebra with Applications or MATH 282 Techniques of Mathematical Modeling or MATH 300 Vector Spaces |
The department page lists MATH 286 first for the Class of 2027, while the catalog page lists MATH 186 first. Check with your advisor about which applies to you.
| Requirement | Courses |
|---|---|
| Lab science outside CS | One natural science lab elective |
| A two-course sequence | PHYS 131 & 133 Physics I and II or CHEM 107 & 108 General Chemistry I and II or BIOL 111 & 112 Unity & Diversity of Biology; Biomolecular Foundations of Biology |
Your syllabus, your lecture topic and where you got lost. Please share your course's collaboration policy too.
I'll ask you to explain the idea. It usually takes a few minutes to find exactly where it stops making sense.
We go through a problem of the same kind together, and then you try the next one while I watch and ask questions.
You'll know what to practice before the next lecture, exam or office hours.
Tutoring only helps if the understanding ends up in your head. You're responsible for following your course's collaboration rules, and I'll work within them.
If you're not sure what your course allows, ask your professor before we meet. For free support, also use office hours and course assistants. Starting CS 150 soon? Read the prep guide.
No. I'm a current Lafayette CS student who tutors independently. This isn't a college service, and the department and your professors don't endorse it. Your course assistants and professors' office hours are free, so use them too.
No. I explain concepts, work through similar problems with you, review how you approached something and help you debug by asking questions. Your course's collaboration policy applies to our sessions, so tell me what it says if you're asking about graded work.
No, and a course being listed doesn't mean I took it. It means I can help with the material. Courses I'm taking in Spring 2027 are labeled, and for those I'll tell you where my limit is.
Probably. Most data structures, algorithms and systems courses cover similar ground. Send me your syllabus and I'll tell you what I can help with.
Sessions are online. Book an intro call and we'll set up a time that fits around your classes.
Free. 15 minutes.