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Ok. I’m starting to look at university's to go to and I was wondering which ones have some of the best computer majors. I mean like have the best computer programs. If anyone out there could tell me which ones are good to expand on my computer knowledge it would be great. Thanks.
PS. I prefer it to be within the US but anywhere is fine.
I am currently in my 3rd year at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton New Brunswick Canada. Check it out at www.unb.ca or www.cs.unb.ca for the computer science page.
We have a very good computer science program and it was one of the first in Canada.
There are a lot of courses one could take. There is the basic programming and software engineering courses in Java, plus some logic and digital circuts and algortihms and data structures courses that are core. There are Computer Telephony courses, Human Computer intearction, computer-based drug design if you like chemisty too, Computer security, Parallel processing. You can check them all out at http://www.cs.unb.ca/undergrad/html/course_descs.html
We have a co-op program so there is definitely an oppotunity to get some real world experience before graduation. The tuition is fairly cheap too.(for a canadian citizen it's $4200 Canadian)
The questions that come to mind are where do you want to live and what are your interests. Various schools have computer programs and each has its strengths. I'd look on the west coast of the United States in some of the areas where industry is engaged in research of future applications. The people teaching there usually have contacts with the schools for courses that are current and relevent, also there may be good employment opportunities after graduation.
I don't know how it works in the US, but here Univeristy and College are seperate. Right now I'm in a Computer Systems Technology program at college...(It's basically network administration).. I have friends that went to Uni for computer programs.. all they got was theory.. they never actually applied any of it. and they all ended up back in college to get practical experience. I looked into a bunch of universities here and a bunch of college's when trying to decide where to go.. and I do believe this is the best program I found. I have 2 friends at the two universities i wanted to go to.. and they're both doing theory.. one guy wrote 2 lil java programs all year long.. and they have some freaky electives that have nothing to do with computers.. Where as I have nothing but computers.. The caf. and computer building are equiped with wireless network + their are 4 wired labs (inthe computer building) and 3 or 4 others around the school. As part of our tuition we recieved laptops with wireless enabled and every class we have has wired network connections. To give you an example of what we're doing.. right now my courses are
Networks II (Second Semester of the CCNA Program + The Nortel Cert. Course)
Operating Systems (Windows NT + Windows 2000 Server Administration)
Hardware (IRQs, I/O Addresses, Ports, Building Computers, Pin-outs)
System Documentation & Procedures (Proper writing/email procedures)
Professional Development (A Joke course where we're put in teams and work on different things, to learn about team work and the proper ways to operate a team)
By the time I graduate i'll have had courses on every x86 based OS, Mail Server, Web Servers, Database servers, Datases, programming, Networking (CCNA, CCNP and Nortel Cert), Ethics and Contracts, A few Writing courses, a bunch of management courses, Disaster Recovery Techniques, and a few courses on hacking and security + others..
I highly recommend it if you are interested in comming to Ontario for school
Fanshawe College
Chances are good that you would ( and should) stay in the United States to get an appropriate Computer Science/Engineering education.
Below are a list of the best Computer Science schools in the country (keep in mind that unless you have a 1600 on your SATs and very good grades, you won't go to these schools)...
Massacheusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
University of California at Berkley
Carnegie Mellon University
I would say those are the premier schools for Comp Sci...
Next tier down would be:
Georgia Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (where I go)
I'm not too sure about Computer Engineering, but I think the list holds for that as well.
But be sure about what you mean by "learn more about computers." With Computer Engineering you will be learning how to build microprocessors and other sorts of integrated circuit components, as well as the devices that they are used in. With Computer Science you will be learning how to program those devices made by Computer Engineers, specific emphasis is put on mathematical theory behind computation, so don't think it is just programming, a lot of it is the theory behind the programming.
If what you want is to learn how to be a network admin, then I'd suggest a community college or a place like Devry, or even just get certified on your own.
Hope it helps!
Regards,
Wizeman