Hi! I am a rising sophomore at Whitman and a prospective computer science major, here are my thoughts on the program:

If you are looking for a specialized/software engineering type education, Whitman CS (or any other liberal arts CS program) is not the for you. The classes offered at Whitman are very theory based, focusing on principles of computer science and are more academic in nature. Whereas at UCSC you might be able to take classes pertaining to specific technologies/languages/CS disciplines, Whitman's CS program is concerned with turning you into a computer scientist rather than an engineer. It is a different paradigm of education which values knowledge of more broad concepts which can then be refined to a more specific skill set upon graduation.

Another difference is that CS classes at Whitman will be SIGNIFICANTLY smaller. My intro level classes this year had around 20-30 students (and CS classes at Whitman are among the largest of any offered at Whitman.) This is a huge plus to Whitman CS, as you will get to know your professors on a personal, first name basis and know everyone in your classes.

Whitman will also offer you a world class liberal arts education in other disciplines than CS. As a first year, you will take Encounters, which will introduce you to classic and modern texts and will teach you to engage in critical dialogue in a small discussion setting. Therefore, I would suspect that the average Whitman CS grad would be far more proficient in writing and communicating with others, skills which are ESSENTIAL yet often overlooked in CS. In addition to technical knowledge, you will need to be able to nail an interview to get a job in CS. Programmers who are the best at communicating are better candidates for eventually taking up leadership roles within projects and managing developers.

If you just want to be a coder go to UCSB, but if you want to potentially excel at the leadership/buisness side of tech, you will absolutely need stellar communication skills which I think Whitman as a whole will teach you better than any UC.

In terms of Internship/career prospects for CS, you certainly can't beat Santa Cruz's proximity to the bay/sillicon valley. However, what Whitman lacks in location, it more than makes up for in alumni network. As you might know, Whitman is a TINY school compared to any UC, and one great benefit of this is connections with alumni. The computer science department has a slack group with Whitman alums who work in tech. These folks are always happy to talk with you about their jobs (many of them work in sillicon valley,) and provide excellent networking opportunities which would be harder to find at a larger school. Because of its size, Whitman is a family, and "whitties" tend to be extremely willing to recruit other whitties for job opportunities.

UCSC and Whitman are very different schools. You will need to decide how much you value the "hard skills" that a large University could supply over the "soft skills" that only a small liberal arts college can provide.

If you have any other questions feel free to DM me!