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Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

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Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#41

Post by rick888 »

derefr wrote: post #25
davi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're in a good class with other smart people, you get to see their brains in action. You end up talking about interesting things with the classmates you like, and who like you. This is the foundation of a genuine intellectual network. It is difficult to obtain this seed network in any other way, except perhaps by email in a hopping open source project, or by getting into an interesting clique like Y Combinator…

True—I think I just have a problem with the fact that the University is the one in control of it. If, instead, the social network was the core organization and free to join, and the students rented out/purchased the buildings and equipment, and hired the lecturers and administrative staff, I can imagine it costing a might bit less and having a much tighter feedback loop in instructor, student, and course quality. (Pl…

"True I think I just have a problem with the fact that the University is the one in control of it. If, instead, the social network was the core organization and free to join, and the students rented out/purchased the buildings and equipment, and hired the lecturers and administrative staff, I can imagine it costing a might bit less and having a much tighter feedback loop in instructor, student, and course quality. (Plus, matchmaking would be made an explicit goal, rather than assumed.)"

Students generally don't have any money. Even if those same students put all the money into your new group idea, there would need to be some form of central administration that manages all of the hiring, courses, etc. Also, it's not really free to join if the students need to rent the buildings, equipment, and lecturers (and wouldn't be fair to the ones that pay if it was).

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#43

Post by looprecur »

I have been reading an unfortunately large amount of articles here on Hacker News seemingly deterring prospective students like myself from entering a university, especially from the field of Computer Science. They cite large tuition/living costs and "wastes of time" as not worth the potential four year education gained. These articles and blog posts claim that jumping straight into industry is an acceptable and perhaps even favorable alternative.

I don't think this viewpoint is credible, and you shouldn't listen to it. What is true is that, for many people going into college, it's a misuse (but a required one, often) of time because they're destined for non-college jobs. Widespread higher education is a waste of society's resources, and a lot of colleges out there aren't very good. But this decision isn't about society and its resources; it's about what's best for you.

What's best for you is probably to get a college education. It's very hard to get a decent job without one (and not so easy to get one if you have one, but that's another story).

Read every post on this thread. The advice here is great, and a good CS education will put you miles ahead (in terms of skill) of where you'd be without one. If, for some reason, you end up at a school that doesn't have a good CS program (a "Java school") then major in math and take the CS courses you like, plus independent studies.

As for which universities and colleges are decent, there are about 200 good universities and liberal arts colleges in the US, including most state flagships. You don't have to go to an Ivy or MIT to get a good education, and the drop off from Harvard to (for example) Penn State is measurable but not that steep; the academic job market is so rough that a lot of brilliant professors are ending up at middling universities. After you leave the top 200, the dropoff is much more severe.

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#45

Post by JangoSteve »

In general people like to root for the underdog. Especially here on HN, people like to root for the person who defies all odds to achieve success, the guy no one would have expected to become successful. Why? Perhaps because when we see it, it makes us feel as though we can do anything we put our minds to. And we don't need to go massively in-debt to "the man" in order to do it.

That being said, I posted an essay to HN not long ago which received a lot of positive feedback from the general public. However, it received not so much as one up-vote here on HN and vanished into obscurity. It was entitled "Want to be an Entrepreneur? College May Help."

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1315158

Just remember, as great and intelligent as the HN community is, it is still a very specialized group of people. No matter how unbiased a given community is, you will never find very diverse points of view as long as you solicit only one source for information.

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#46

Post by bg4 »

bdickason wrote: post #35

Don't go to Purdue. Whatever you do, avoid it at all costs for CS. Yes, you will learn Java. Yes you will learn compiler design. But you will not learn ANYTHING about real world programming and you will find very few people with an entrepreneurial spirit. If I had to recommend schools it would go in this order: 1) Stanford 2) Carnegie Mellon 3) Anywhere in NYC (only because you are exposed to the opportunities of the…

Purdue has a thorough curriculum and they've made changes to help students better choose the direction they want to pursue (whether it be traditional theoretical computer science or something more applied, like software engineering).

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/academic_programs/undergraduate/cur... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuY5XeEhX4g

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#47

Post by mronge »

tsally wrote: post #3

You might be interested in this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=901782 . My response in that thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=901808 . A couple additional notes. If you're interested in creating things, a small CS program probably wont suit you. Those tend to be far more theoretical; what you want is a CS department with strong systems. You might also consider getting a degree in something else…

I also recommend UIUC. They have an excellent, rigorous program with an incredible student ACM chapter. The ACM chapter does lots of great technical projects that really help polish up your skillset (plus the projects are loads of fun) UIUC grads were highly regarded at companies Ive worked at (cs program is generally ranked 5th, ee is highly ranked as well)

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#48

Post by Locke1689 »

tsally wrote: post #3

You might be interested in this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=901782 . My response in that thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=901808 . A couple additional notes. If you're interested in creating things, a small CS program probably wont suit you. Those tend to be far more theoretical; what you want is a CS department with strong systems. You might also consider getting a degree in something else…

Similarly, if you're interested in Northwestern University (per that thread) you're welcome to contact me. I am an undergrad and also the current ACM chapter president there.

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#49

Post by Locke1689 »

elblanco wrote: post #12

If cost is an issue, go to your local state uni (not private). The education will at least be credible and diverse, and you'll earn back your tuition in just a couple years out. Depending on where you live, some state schools are among the best in the country. It's terribly hard to justify going out-of-state or to a private school on a purely monetary basis unless it's someplace really very special or you get a free…

At least at my school, there was an informal hierarchy of undergrad majors that indicated relative hardness (and therefore respect): Math > Physics > EE/Engineering > Computer Engineering > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Information Systems > Biology > all soft sciences like poly sci and intl relations > Art > Criminal Justice.

Former physics minor: your hierarchy is useless. Advanced classical mechanics (a weed-out course) is no harder than EECS 310 (discrete math).

Re: Ask HN: So What Universities Are Good?

#50

Post by vlad »

Check out University of Massachusetts Amherst: http://cs.umass.edu

Read about courses offered this fall: http://www.cs.umass.edu/ugrad-education/fall-10-course-descr...

You can complete one of the 11 tracks leading to a B.S. in Computer Science.

As well, you can complete the new B.A. in Computer Science. Instead of requiring Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, and three science courses like Physics I, II and Biology, this program requires only Calculus I and II for Life Sciences. The B.A. is designed for students who want to double major in a non-science field, and are required to take four courses relating to computing/technology in that second major. (As well, the student must take five Computer Science electives, like students pursuing B.S. degrees do.)

It's not difficult to do undergraduate research by doing an independent study with a professor for a grade, or by working for a professor for money during the school year (which is probably a bit harder than for credit). One would probably be expected to have completed the introductory coursework (data structures, algorithms, discrete math), of course. Yet another option is joining the honors program and writing an honors thesis, which could tie into the undergraduate research you could do.

In the summer, there is an official REU program with a stipend and housing. On top of that, professors also frequently have funds to pay skilled/upperclassmen undergraduates for conducting research, similar to what happens during the school year.

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