Best universities in the world to study computer science and engineering

Most of my immediate colleagues are from 6 of the top 10 on the CS list. All very smart guys. I am doing just fine without it, but I would have liked the experience of studying at one of these.
 
I was a bit underwhelmed by MIT. Nice place but uh... Dunno... Not leagues ahead of Stellenbosch IMO. Maybe it's the lecturers? And yes, I got to see the media lab.
 
What is it like to work at Google and not have a PhD?
https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-work-at-Google-and-not-have-a-PhD
I smiled when I read one of the comments:
I work at Google, on a team that's relatively PhD-heavy (over 50%). I don't have a Master's or PhD.
<SNIP>
Feelings of inferiority? Trust me, everyone at Google has them, regardless of which letters come after their name--it's called "impostor syndrome". We freak out, remember it, acknowledge it, have a laugh, and move on.
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BlindMelonChitlin said:
I was a bit underwhelmed by MIT. Nice place but uh... Dunno... Not leagues ahead of Stellenbosch IMO. Maybe it's the lecturers? And yes, I got to see the media lab.
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??? What are you basing this off of?
 
Back home: Seeing all the carnage that is happening(or starting to happen) how is Monash University South Africa from a private university education perspective?Otherwise I somewhat agree with the list of varsities in this article(because I've only heard of them based on reputation and not first hand experience from anyone I know).
 
siraman said:
Back home: Seeing all the carnage that is happening(or starting to happen) how is Monash University South Africa from a private university education perspective?Otherwise I somewhat agree with the list of varsities in this article(because I've only heard of them based on reputation and not first hand experience from anyone I know).
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I haven't personally been to Monash but I do have friends studying IT there and while Monash SA is a satellite campus for the Australian main campus, it's not nearly in the same league. I'm at the University of Pretoria myself and when I compare the assignments and work we do here to theirs, we are light years ahead, they seem as though they're sort of a high school AP IT class.
 
I chose UNISA because I had no idea what I was doing, and I needed to do it while working full time. So these sort of stats don't matter to me, until the time I get denied because of going through UNISA :D
 
My question about these unis and top this and top that...do they get golden books or what? Whats the difference between a programming book between Harvard and Oxford? One has the photo of their team winning the canoe race...what else?
 
freddster said:
My question about these unis and top this and top that...do they get golden books or what? Whats the difference between a programming book between Harvard and Oxford? One has the photo of their team winning the canoe race...what else?
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The pace of the work can be significantly faster than what you'll find at universities with lower standards. The result is that you can get to the difficult stuff more quickly, and cover a greater scope of work within the subject matter.

At least some significant metrics for rating universities is comparing number of articles published and number of PhDs being generated.
 
siraman said:
Back home: Seeing all the carnage that is happening(or starting to happen) how is Monash University South Africa from a private university education perspective?Otherwise I somewhat agree with the list of varsities in this article(because I've only heard of them based on reputation and not first hand experience from anyone I know).
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You don't want to go there. Monash SA is the CTI of universities. For people who don't register in time or can get into a proper university.

IMO it's more important to choose the correct department than worry about strikes and traditional universities
 
freddster said:
My question about these unis and top this and top that...do they get golden books or what? Whats the difference between a programming book between Harvard and Oxford? One has the photo of their team winning the canoe race...what else?
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Higher standards (level of difficulty and pace), so better lecturers, better supervisors, better students (one learns a lot from one's peers) and generally, better equipment. As Messugga pointed out, better publications (both quantity and quality) from grad students and academics.
 
cguy said:
??? What are you basing this off of?
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A trip to the media lab last year. I presented at humtech2015 and was invited to join the MIT team at Kumbh Mela. Nice bunch and like the media lab but regarding education and opportunities, if you have money, you can do a lot. Not unique to MIT. I just don't see a >300+ place difference personally between Maties and MIT. I'd love to know what the diffs is based on.
 
cguy said:
Higher standards (level of difficulty and pace), so better lecturers, better supervisors, better students (one learns a lot from one's peers) and generally, better equipment. As Messugga pointed out, better publications (both quantity and quality) from grad students and academics.
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BlindMelonChitlin said:
A trip to the media lab last year. I presented at humtech2015 and was invited to join the MIT team at Kumbh Mela. Nice bunch and like the media lab but regarding education and opportunities, if you have money, you can do a lot. Not unique to MIT. I just don't see a >300+ place difference personally between Maties and MIT. I'd love to know what the diffs is based on.
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The reasons are pretty much the ones I listed above. There's no magic in the buildings or poshness of the place, it's all about the talent they attract (both staff and students). The reason for the high ranking isn't something you're likely to just "see" from a visit. It's more something you would experience working with their graduates (or students/staff if you're still studying there).
 
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cguy said:
The reasons are pretty much the ones I listed above. There's no magic in the buildings or poshness of the place, it's all about the talent they attract (both staff and students). The reason for the high ranking isn't something you're likely to just "see" from a visit. It's more something you would experience working with their graduates (or students/staff if you're still studying there).
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That makes sense - the talent it attracts. That said, you can make the most of any good uni, but yeh - I agree with that.
 
BlindMelonChitlin said:
A trip to the media lab last year. I presented at humtech2015 and was invited to join the MIT team at Kumbh Mela. Nice bunch and like the media lab but regarding education and opportunities, if you have money, you can do a lot. Not unique to MIT. I just don't see a >300+ place difference personally between Maties and MIT. I'd love to know what the diffs is based on.
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The difference doesn't end up being based on the undergrad education you receive there, University rankings are usually calculated by the amount of noteworthy research and journals a specific faculty churns out and what their respective alumni are achieving throughout the world. So in terms of the undergrad level I think you will probably get a more advanced education at MIT than Maties but not one that warrants a huge gap of 300 but it does sound pretty to say your CS degree stems from MIT
 
Brentontw said:
The difference doesn't end up being based on the undergrad education you receive there, University rankings are usually calculated by the amount of noteworthy research and journals a specific faculty churns out and what their respective alumni are achieving throughout the world. So in terms of the undergrad level I think you will probably get a more advanced education at MIT than Maties but not one that warrants a huge gap of 300 but it does sound pretty to say your CS degree stems from MIT
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FYI, 60% of the criteria used comes from the academic performance & reputation of the institution. This is still more than just a little important for undergraduate education though, since being taught by experts on subjects is invaluable, working with TA's/Tutors of the caliber that can do graduate work at these universities is invaluable, and working with students smart enough to survive the selection process of entering and surviving MIT, raises the bar immensely.
 
BlindMelonChitlin said:
A trip to the media lab last year. I presented at humtech2015 and was invited to join the MIT team at Kumbh Mela. Nice bunch and like the media lab but regarding education and opportunities, if you have money, you can do a lot. Not unique to MIT. I just don't see a >300+ place difference personally between Maties and MIT. I'd love to know what the diffs is based on.
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You really don't k know what MIT is all about. It's one of the hardest schools to get into in the US. It's a breeding ground of technology, which the govt regularly recruits from for its special programs.
 
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