Best uni for Computer Science
 

At the moment I am planning on doing a Access to science course at York college and if I do well I should be able to get a place at York Uni.

I don’t have any A levels, then again that’s what the access course is for, to get into York Uni I need to finish it with 3 Mathematics modules grade AAA, 3 physics modules AAA, and two more of my choosing at BB, and they will be at A Level standard.

But I have been doing some digging I now see that after that course I could very well be able to gain entry to other top Unis like kings college (!). According the guardian (heh) York is ranked third for comp sci, but I will no doubt be applying to the top ten or so when I finish the access course.

What dear posters is, in your opinion, the best uni for computer science? or where have you heard good things from?

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Look at the syllabuses; if they teach something like Java in the first year and shy away from more abstract topics then its likely to be junk. Imperial has a really good comp sci program thats heavy on theory, cant really comment on any others.

edit: Just skimmed the York syllabus, they use SICP for the first year programming class which means its probably going to be a decent course although there seems to be a _lot_ of hardware-orientated modules which I'm somewhat dubious about.

The Kings College syllabus looks fairly solid although they dont have detailed module descriptions. It seems more focused on computation and programming rather than on hardware architecture compared to the York course.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

My best mate has just finished his 3rd year doing Comp Sci at Manchester Uni. I can put the two of you in touch if you'd like to ask him about how he found it etc?

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/display...,13394,00.html

may be of some help

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Can you get into a top University with an Access course? Sure this may allow you get into a University but a top university is a different matter. A friend of mine did an Access course last year and he is now at Aston University. But I don't know many who went on to redbricks/60s universities.

Also if say for example Hull was the best University for Computer Science. I wouldn't go there personally. Don't just look at which uni does the course best, look at other factors.

Just because say Hull is the best in the country for comp sci doesn't mean future employers will know that. They will just look at Hull and think its a bit shit compared to say York, even though York may not have the best comp sci department.

Also get a feel for the place. Going back to the Hull thing, you wouldn't really want to live there would you. Consider where you would like to live, what type of university, the course etc etc.

Go visit the unis as well and get a feel for them, the best way in my opinion.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I did CS at Warwick and it was pretty good. Intro to Programming was taught using Java, but this is followed by a Functional Programming course taught using SML. The first year is pretty maths-intensive- a double-credit course in 'general' maths, a course in Discrete and an optional module in Statistics makes up about 50% of the year.
The campus is really nice, pretty big and plenty of green, but the nearest town/city is Coventry (Warwick itself is about 10 miles away), a lot of which is rather grim. The areas students tend to live are decent enough, but a lot end up travelling up to an hour (on the bus, 20-30 mins in a car when it's busy) each way to live in Leamington.

Uni is very much what you choose to make of it though, and up to a point, which uni you go to makes very little difference- coming out with a good result and plenty of 'soft skill' experience will matter far more to employers.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I disagree personally.

University should be seen as an experience/party first, education second. If you are bright enough you can combine the two and have an awesome time. Like I did and I am sure many others here.

If I went to say UCE in Birmingham, my life would have been shit. Yeah sure I could have probably got the same skills and same grade but university isn't about it, its about the party. Ensure that you go to University where you can have a party.

Leamington Spa is a pretty cool place.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

nonsense.

If you care that much about the experience then youd probably have more fun taking the 4 years off and going travelling than you would attending uni.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Youre not looking at the broader picture. It isnt about getting a job, its about being good at what you do. If you go to some Java factory then you might graduate with a degree but if you dont really understand the fundamentals of what youre doing then youll probably struggle in the future when confronted with new things compared to someone who's had a solid education. Theres a tendancy at some universities (eg the compsci course I done at strathclyde) to dumb things down and focus on producing people with "marketable skills" rather than people who actually understand computer science.

The other big thing to look at with a compsci course would be its links with industry, because getting some kind of internship is probably really important in such a saturated market. To what extent do companies actively target students from your uni, and so on.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I think my experience with University must differ from yours.

I went in, got a degree, a good one at that, did my work, became a little specialised in a field and left.

However in those 3 years I lived a great 3 years. Meeting new people, living with friends, student stuff in general. I learnt far more from my experience at university than I did in a lecture hall.

Still 3 years of University will probably go down as the best 3 years of my life. I am sure those who experienced university my way will be able to put it better.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

When it comes to IT/CS there is no best university really. IT is strictly practical so you need to develop skills on your own, learn how stuff work or even better learn how to make stuff (softwares/applications). Uni diploma usually makes it easier when recruiters are looking for candidates. I remember a dude in my uni failed his exams and got employeed for 40k pounds/year in London due to having amazing skills in software development (self-taught)!

Good luck with your choice!

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

The CS Department at Hull is actually really good. It's got extremely strong links with the industry, especially Microsoft, and I know several people who have gone off to jobs with company's like EA and Team17. Last year the Top 3 UK teams in Microsoft's Imagine Cup were all from Hull Uni as well as the winning UK team this year.

I've just finished my second year of a BSc in Computer Science with Games Development, and I'm loving it. The first year is a common year between all the different flavours of CS offered here and included topics such as programming using C#, Professionalism, Software Engineering and Computer Hardware. The second year is more specialised, but I covered modules on programming in C++, AI and Prolog programming, CASE and UML, Networking and using OpenGL.

As for the university itself, it's really quite a nice place, it's a proper "old-school" redbrick and the SU has won several awards for being the best in the country.

The city isn't that bad either. It's got it's rough patches, but so has every other city. It's certainly no worse than say Birmingham, and there's a lot of re-development going on in the city centre too.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I share many of your views about what University should be about (or the academic process generally) but I think that you're coming from the perspective of someone who (I assume) will be among the top x% of comp sci graduates generally and who can afford to be slightly more...relaxed about eventual job prospects. Sure, the recruitment people for the top 50 companies (whomever they are) can probably tell that someone who has a solid background in Lisp or Smalltalk (or whatever it is they teach in more pure courses, I've no idea) can learn ASP.Net or whatever trivially, but if you're dealing with an average recruiter at an average company (which most people will be) they are going to be looking for "marketable skills" as you call them.

In the IT industry generally I'm continually shocked by basic ignorance shown regarding basic computing by people who make reasonable money as System Adminstrators/Network Managers/whatever. The woman who manages our Exchange/email system (1000+ users, multi-site setup, etc) told me recently she didn't use the internet at home on her primary PC because she thought that if she went online Microsoft would detect her pirated copy of Office and somehow inform the police.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I know the department is pretty good that's why I mentioned it.

Hull compared to Birmingham?

You are shitting me right? Birmingham is far to superior to Hull in every way.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

You're not really disagreeing, you misunderstood.
By saying the particular university makes no difference, I was talking in terms of 'marketability' to employers. It obviously makes a difference to the student, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say that education should come behind 'partying', I would agree that if you're not going to be having a good time while at university, then it's bound to affect (negatively) the educational part.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Hull's CS department is fairly well renowned for its links with Microsoft and other large companies, it's just unfortunate that it's located within Hull.

Edinburgh is where I did my CS degree, it is probably the top AI research location in the UK and its CS department was, last I checked, the highest rated in the UK on several scales. It's more theoretical than a lot of CS courses - you won't learn C#, or even C++ but are expected to pick the languages up as required by courses. That's a good thing mostly, though not what you'll be looking for if you're after a coding job straight after uni because you'll probably not have much practical experience. It's not an easy course, and reasonably mathematical in places (you're compelled to take certain mathematically-based streams), but I enjoyed it and had access to some excellent AI and CS research through the course and my dissertation.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

It depends on the employer I would imagine. A random company probably won't care, but if you're trying for Google/MS/IBM or whomever I assume that having MIT on your CV might put you ahead of the guy from South Bank University. Even then though, from reading about the Microsoft recruitment process, it doesn't sound like you could just rely on a good background whereas I presume if you get a good degree from Harvard you can probably walk in most non-technical management programs

Generally though, yeah I agree with your point. I may be being naive but I would think it's easier to tell if someone is "good" at IT-esque stuff than in other fields. In the medium term one social sciences idiot is much like another (and I say this as a social sciences idiot) so you would probably resort to looking at their academic qualifications more often than not.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

It's stupid to judge a program by which language they use in their introduction course. Somewhere along the line you have to learn to program from scratch. Java is excellent at that because it doesn't distract you with advanced concepts like c++. There's plenty of time to teach more in-depth concepts later on.

I'm not defending schools who *only* teach java. I'm defending java as an introduction language to programming.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I am not a city person. I do not like cities particularly much. With this in mind I can tell you that I have found living in Hull for two years bearable, even quite enjoyable some times. To me both Hull and Birmingham are equally shit, yes they've both got their nice bits, but I wouldn't really want to live in either, or any city for that matter (with the exception of York which is a truly beautiful and breathtaking city)

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Don't touch Aberystwyth with a barge pole

1) They've got all the equipment of a top class Comp Sci department but don't have the teaching staff to back it up
2) Its in Wales

And I am the voice of experience!

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Then you are doing something horridly wrong, since you now will get more independance, more freedom and more resources, which, in my book, makes you be able to do more and have more fun.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I'm guessing it is the same for Pig as me but I have no more independence or freedom now than I did in university. I had moved out, lived miles from home, and just saw my parents and stuff whenever I wanted. Pretty much exactly the same as I am now. You could probably argue that I actually had more freedom in university as I didn't have to worry at all about work so could do what I wanted when I wanted (I rarely missed lectures but if it was something interesting enough I could, I can't just up and leave work when I feel like)I agree with the more resources bit but I seem to have far less time to actually enjoy that.

There is also something nice about when you are away from home for the first time and being around so many friends at the same time rather than spread out all over the country.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Birmingham is the Venice of the North !

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Much better. :D

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I think that your university plays a huge role in the sort of job you get, but it goes so much deeper than whether employers care about your institution when considering application forms. Its more about the sort of environment youre in, and the opportunities that are presented to you. For example, when I was at Strathclyde, students were vaguely aware of the existence of a 'careers service' but it was never a major deal and most students had a really relaxed attitude to job prospects. At Imperial its a completely different world - companies active target the university with various programs (eg talks about industries, CV workshops, internship opportunities, job fairs, whatever) and its pretty much impossible to walk over 20 foot around campus without seeing some poster for a careers related workshop/seminar. Although I do a math degree I'm also on the computer science student mailing list and my email account generally receives about 3-5 mails a week from various uni/student groups giving details about comp-sci related companies that are actively trying to recruit imperial students for various programming stuff and encouraging them to apply, whether its part time jobs/internships/post-uni work, or whatever. As well as this, theres more education about the sort of non-academic 'soft-skills' that companies look for and opportunities to develop them, as well as more access to things like CV design, mock interviews, etc etc. The level of exposure to industry here is just on a different planet and thats going to have a major effect on the way that people relate to their future career prospects.

I would guess that its like the difference between state schools and private schools - private students have a far higher chance of going to a good uni (eg Oxbridge) because its continually drilled into them that this is what they should be aiming for, whereas state school students often wont learn to view it as the sort of thing that 'people like them' do and hence will ingrain less ambitious attitudes which end up holding them back (theres probably many other ways that private school students ingrain more positive attitudes than state ones but thats the most relevant in this context).

edit: Even aside from the career aspects, you cant really underestimate the difference in attitude that comes from being surrounded by fairly (academically) bright people who tend to be relative high-achievers. Theres been some fairly interesting studies done in about various manifestations of the placebo effect in an educational environment (although like a lot of social psychology its mainly just a restatement of common sense).

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Likewise, the Welsh valleys should be nuked.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

Don't be so vulgar. Some chemical weapon to wipe out the population whilst leaving the wildlife intact would be far more agreeable.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I thought they were the same thing.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

If you value that so much, that independance and freedom, don't you think you should try to make your work a bit more flexible?

It seems as though you get too much money and too little time, hand in some money, get some more time, or get it to be more flexible ...

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I really enjoy my job and there isn't really anyway to make it more flexible and I'm not quite sure why you assume I have too much more though, I just said I had less time to enjoy it in, it all still gets spent unfortunately :( Even if I did change my working time though unless all my friends also did that then it wouldn't really make much difference. The advantage of uni, we all had sweet **** all to do.The independence/freedom thing are perfectly fine for me as they are anyway. You had earlier said that you should have more of them now and therefore your life should be better than in uni, I was just trying to explain why that isn't necessarily the case, you can have more or less the same amounts in both situations.

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

I agree with Shoshuro here. People with IT related degrees are two a penny and while a degree may be a good feather in your cap it really isn't something that's going to impress a recruiter on its own. You need to be able to be able to have provable practical skills and experience and not just the theoretical skills that a degree gives.

Another thing is that its getting more common now for HR departments to not pass on to the person looking to fill the role information like your education, They get your cv or application and if you match the basic requirements they pass on the core information about you that's relivent to the role which doesnt include what uni you went to.

So don't just choose your uni based on what others deem the best course or one that has the best name. Choose the course based on the campus that you will most enjoy, which course you think your enjoy the most and as Nod mentioned which ones gives you the best chance to gain experience in industry while on the course

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

On that note I should mention that Hull Uni offers degrees with a Year In Industry, or if you do the 4 year MEng course, the Masters year includes 6 months at SEED, the Departments own in-house development studios

Re: Best uni for Computer Science
 

At University, my week consisted of four hours of seminars. There aren't many jobs where I could do four hours a week and still have money for...well, anything.