Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Software Engineers For Applications
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Moraine Valley Community College, College of DuPage, Northern Illinois, and University of Illinois.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois University, Roosevelt University, and Blackburn.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Chicago State, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, and UIC.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider John A Logan College, University of St Francis, Governors State, and Chicago State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Wheaton College, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Lake Forest College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Monmouth College, Blackburn, Knox, and Illinois College.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, and Wheaton College.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Saint Xavier University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and University of St Francis.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, University of Chicago, Knox, and Northwestern University.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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University Of Illinois • Urbana, IL
Studying Mathematics (completion in 1992)
• 7/17/2011
"U of I provides a comprehensive education. Solid academics are paired with a variety of other available activities. It's really one of the great universities in our country."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Illinois has 4 seasons, a beautiful campus, and a true college atmosphere. The academics for computer science are excellent. A great choice! |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Actually, I'm not 100% sure of their current ranking. Considering that NCSA Mosaic (first browser) came from Illinois just 20 years ago and considering how strong the program was back then, I doubt they would let it slip. |
| Program Quality | 10 | An applied Mathematics degree from Illinois provides a solid foundation for critical and logical thinking. Computer sciences courses provide a solid fundamental foundation for programming in a variety of languages. |
| Instruction | 10 | Illinois tends to be a bit theoretical oriented in Math/CS. This is a good thing, however, as it forces a much stronger understanding of the material vs. just taking programming classes. |
| How Difficult | 9 | As mentioned before, since classes are a bit more theoretically oriented, they are difficult. Abstract concepts, especially in fields relevant to computer programming like Graph Theory, Linear & Non-Linear Programming, Combinatorics, etc., are not easy. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The curriculum is definitely tilted towards the theoretical side at Illinois. There are courses with labs and projects, but theoretical work still dominates. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | The full-time professors typically teach daytime classes. It would be hard to get a quality education without going to those classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Illinois has huge computer science labs and facilities. The NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) was located on campus when I was in college, and over the past few years they have added even more facilities. |
| Social Life | 9 | U of I has a big fraternity / sorority influence. That I did not like. However, there are plenty of bars and parties near campus as that's where all the students live, so it is a very lively atmosphere. |
| Placement Services | 7 | I was trying to get a job after the recession in 1990-1991. The school simply did not have enough recruiters that were hiring coming through. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | U of I has an extensive alumni network. They are always doing events and fundraisers, even in my state, which is not so close to Illinois. |
Northwestern University • Evanston, IL
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2011)
• 10/10/2011
"Awesome time, I really appreciated what I was able to do there. I got tons out of it."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It is a great school. Tough to get into and can be expensive, but worth it. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | I thought the program was better than how it was rated. I don't fully appreciate it yet. |
| Program Quality | 8 | My degree got my career, so it worked out great. I wish I had taken more electives. |
| Instruction | 9 | Great teachers, I really enjoyed their passion. I was fortunate enough to have a very engaging and exciting curriculum. |
| How Difficult | 8 | It was definitively hard. I was pressed for time often. It was worth the sacrifice. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | More hands-on. In this field you kind of need to be. You learn from doing. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | It was hardly ever a real problem. Some people would complain, but I never found it too frustrating. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | Great number of resources available. I utilized my TAs often. |
| Social Life | 7 | I had a lot of fun. I would have had more in a different major, but that doesn't matter. |
| Placement Services | 6 | I did my own work for employment. The services available helped a lot, but it also helps to network. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I had a lot of help and guidance. I was able to get a hold of a lot of very experienced people from Northwestern. |
University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign • Urbana, IL
Studying Mechanical Engineering (completion in 2010)
• 12/4/2011
"U of I provided me with a great set of basic skills that I am honing at my job. U of I taught me critical thinking skills that allow me to understand/solve problems that I have little or no previous exposure to. I acquired a set of skills at U of I that is allowing me to be successful in my professional career."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | For anyone who wants a top-notch education that is demanding and will challenge you every day, I would suggest U of I. We get to work with some of the best equipment in the nation and have some of the brightest minds in the world teaching us. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The university does not get the respect it deserves. It has been consistently ranked in the top 10 engineering schools for a while now, and it seems like it is often overlooked by prospective students. |
| Program Quality | 10 | It is one of the best programs in the nation and prepared me for my job. My only gripe is that we did not do enough real-world projects. |
| Instruction | 8 | All professors were very knowledgeable on the subjects they were teaching. I did teach myself a lot of the material, because it seemed like some professors were preoccupied with their research. |
| How Difficult | 9 | I did not see any student from a major outside of engineering that had to do as much or more work than me. Most of my elective classes seemed more like a burden than a help, because they were taught at a level below my mental capacity. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The first three years of instruction were very book learning oriented, but senior year, I spent most of my time working on projects. I wish there were more open-ended projects earlier in my academic career; I think it would've helped me understand things more easily. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | It was sometimes difficult to make a good schedule, because a lot of the classes were so small. Also, flexibility was limited, because there is a set curriculum for engineering majors. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | U of I has top-notch facilities, especially the mechanical engineering department. Our department had 5 separate computer labs and all sorts of testing equipment that were made readily available to students. We had more equipment than most large companies have. |
| Social Life | 10 | Although most of U of I's athletic teams are struggling, the school still fully embraces them. If there wasn't a sporting event to go to, there was always a party. You could walk down any street on the weekend and find a party to go to. You only have to be 19 to go to bars, so there is always something to do. |
| Placement Services | 10 | There is an abundant amount of career services for engineering students at U of I. Engineering Career Services (ECS) provides things from resume reviews to contract negotiations. Also, U of I is a destination for a lot of top companies. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I have not been out of school long enough to accurately assess this question, but I do work with 5 other graduates from the same university. A lot of alumni networks are built on sports, and U of I is struggling with most of its sports right now. |
Northwestern University • Evanston, IL
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2006)
• 12/2/2011
"I have no problems with the education I had, even though I would have preferred one or two things to be slightly different. I'm generally satisfied."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If they are willing to study, but they also want not to be forced to their limits (considering they are capable), and if they also want to have a good social life at college, I strongly suggest my program at Northwestern. I am satisfied, and I'm sure others would be, too. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Although it's not in the top 20, I think Northwestern's program is in the top 40-50. People don't think of Northwestern when you mention computer science, but it's still among the 50 best programs, and I think that's still pretty good. |
| Program Quality | 8 | There are better computer science programs than Northwestern's, but it's up there. I had good teachers and a good education. I was satisfied. However, since I wasn't going to stay in academia, I would have appreciated if a little less theory classes and more practical, project-related classes were available. |
| Instruction | 9 | I never had any complaints about my teachers, except for the occasional problems every student at every college has, of course. My instructors were top-notch. |
| How Difficult | 6 | I didn't have any problems. It wasn't easy; one cannot just breeze through without studying, but if you study a reasonable amount, it wasn't that hard. This depends on the student's level of interest and abilities, obviously. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We definitely had both. Between theory (like algorithms) and application (coding projects), I would have preferred it to be leaning towards practice, but it was a more or less even mix. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I don't remember ANY weekend/evening options or online options. However, whenever we had class, teachers were willing to move the class schedule around, to fit all participants' schedules better. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The school didn't lack any computers or resources. I was never in awe of shockingly advanced resources or anything, but we had all we needed (which isn't much, actually; just a lot of decent computers). |
| Social Life | 8 | We had parties, and I made a lot of friends. I generally had a great time at Northwestern, in a social sense. |
| Placement Services | 6 | We did get some assistance. There were job fairs, a website, and emails about job openings, etc. But I found a job all on my own. I'm not sure what more they could have done, but I didn't exactly feel like, 'I don't need to worry; my school will find me a job.' |
| Alumni Network | 4 | Although I know of the alumni network and people getting jobs using these connections, I never had a relationship/interaction with alumni. I don't know if this is telling of my own shortcomings in networking, or the weakness or lack of reach of Northwestern's network. |
American InterContinental University - Online • Hoffman Estates, IL
Studying Information Technology (completion in 2005)
• 1/4/2012
"For the most part, I am satisfied with the school. I found UoP to be too time consuming and AIU being not enough. The courses were difficult, but I feel my grades were too high for the work I did."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would recommend AIU, but I would also recommend doing research on other schools as well. I would recommend looking into how often the instructors are available, if live chat/lecture sessions are included, how many aspects of the curriculum field are available, and how deep the school gets into each field (quick overview vs. in-depth teaching). |
| Program Reputation | I don't know the school's current reputation. I graduated 7 years ago and never looked back. | |
| Program Quality | 8 | It was OK. I think the curriculum was a great overview, but there are too many aspects of the Computer Science field for any school to focus on. If I had to change fields (e.g. database administration to systems security), the training I received in school would not have been sufficient. |
| Instruction | 4 | I got my full education via an on-line course. I started with the University of Phoenix and then moved over to American InterContinental. I moved because the instructors at UoP were never around. At least at AIU, we had a lecture/chat session twice a week. Still, too many times, if I was stuck and needed help with something, the answer I received was "read my lecture and read your assignment." |
| How Difficult | 1 | Far, far, far too easy. I graduated Summa Cum Laude and probably shouldn't have. I think half of my class graduated Summa Cum Laude. That should tell you something right there. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | AIU definitely had a good mix of book vs. hands-on. Most classes involved labs or projects in web design, project management, database building, creating VB programs, and hands-on activities with SQL Server programs. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | AIU had both online and brick-and-mortar classes. I chose the on-line option due to its flexibility. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | I would say that AIU's academic facilities and resources were excellent. Although the course was an on-line course, AIU had an excellent library. They also had a service where you could have someone critique your work for spelling/grammar/punctuation and send it back to you. Their textbooks and references were excellent in almost all courses. |
| Social Life | Considering the fact that I followed an on-line curriculum, I have no idea what AIU's social activities were. | |
| Placement Services | I don't know about their job placement and/or career services because I had no need for them. I had a good, secure job at the time. | |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I really don't know because I never got involved with the Alumni. Seven years later, it is still functioning, as I still receive information on it. |
DeVry • Chicago, IL
Studying Computer Engineering Technology (completion in 2011)
• 2/12/2012
"Everything I could have hoped for. It saved my life."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | My uncles and I have degrees from there. And now we're rich! |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Many companies look for DeVry graduates. My degree gave me a lot of options. |
| Program Quality | 10 | DeVry was awesome. I did online classes. They were so helpful. |
| Instruction | 8 | Lectures were done very well. Could have used more webcam classrooms. |
| How Difficult | 8 | The core classes were right up my alley. The degree requires a lot of math. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It was a good mix. We had lectures and electronic labs. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I took online classes. I worked around my schedule. |
| Academic Facilities | I am unaware, as I took online classes. | |
| Social Life | I took online classes. | |
| Placement Services | 10 | I barely did a thing. They had me working straight out of school, making 80K a year. |
| Alumni Network | I am unaware. I do not participate. |
McHenry County College • Crystal Lake, IL
Studying Associate Of Science (completion in 2011)
• 3/6/2012
"It had what it needed to give degrees, but it did not provide enough of a challenge for me to truly feel like I earned it. Overall, it achieved its goal, and I did learn, so I give it the benefit of the doubt."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The college gives you a basic understanding of the field, albeit not much more than basic. When I entered the programming courses, I already knew all of what they taught, because I had taught myself as an enthusiast. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | It is a community college, which deducts some points for lack of challenge. But overall, it's decent; the proof is they have free company-sponsored tuition for those who apply for it. However, at the time of my admission, no such program existed. |
| Program Quality | 7 | They provide decent computer science programs, but they aren't accelerated enough for my liking. I've since moved on to University of Illinois Springfield, which has more challenging courses, and I am working on my bachelor's. |
| Instruction | 7 | The instructors were knowledgeable, but the courses went too slowly. I prefer to jump right in and begin learning immediately. |
| How Difficult | 6 | It's a county college, so the difficulty is rather low. This is good for most, but I prefer a challenge. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | A majority of the work was hands on, such as in chemistry and programming. There was certainly plenty of book studying at home, but that's typical and necessary for any college. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | The flexibility was very high. They had at least 5 different day configurations for each class I took. Overall, I was satisfied. It worked around my part-time job just fine. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The college had average academic supplies; it was not lacking, but it was not spectacular either. Every class had what they needed for proper teaching, and the academic advisers were helpful. |
| Social Life | 7 | I'm not much of an athlete, and I'm not overly social either. They seemed to have plenty of events posted on bulletin boards, but I have attended none. |
| Placement Services | 8 | The career center staff is knowledgeable and certainly can help guide those who do not know which career they want to enter. I myself have only walked by, but I have heard testimonials, and they have a library specifically for career finding. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | The support staff is friendly and to the point. The alumni network is decent; I've made friends there and have participated in study groups. |
Eastern Illinois University • Charleston, IL
Studying Math & Computer Science (completion in 2010)
• 3/25/2012
"They gave me a chance I couldn't have gotten other places. They allowed me to go forward with my education and end up with a good career and a bright future."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | You get what you put into it. If you work hard, you'll be ready to face the world. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | We get overshadowed by U of I, but we're better than people think. We're a dedicated bunch. |
| Program Quality | 7 | A lot of good people, but they let a lot of unqualified people slip through the cracks. |
| Instruction | 7 | Like any place, there were good teachers and bad teachers. Luckily, more good than bad. |
| How Difficult | 8 | I doubt there's any legit masters program that's not difficult. It helped me learn a lot. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Computer science should be theoretical. If you want real life work, major in something else. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I believe they offer some distance learning resources. I never actually used any, though. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | They provided more than everything I needed. I never lacked any resources. |
| Social Life | 8 | I made friends I'll keep the rest of my life. Great people and atmosphere. |
| Placement Services | 6 | I went to career fairs every year. I only got one job offer in 3 years of going. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I think they send out a newsletter, but I never check it. I'm not going to donate either. |
Aurora University • Aurora, IL
Studying Computer Science/Business (completion in 1996)
• 3/21/2012
"I love the class sizes and the flexibility to attend in the evening. I just wished that my school was bigger and that I had the experience of attending a large university."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Software development is a challenging and rewarding career for the right type of person. You have to really like developing software in order to be good in this profession. You can't do it for the money. You do make good money and the technology is always changing, which is why I like doing what I do. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | My school is a small school and not one of the Big Ten universities. Therefore, its reputation didn't hurt or help me. |
| Program Quality | 8 | My undergrad courses provided me with the logic skills needed to be a good software developer/engineer. The languages that I learned while I was in college are no longer used, however, I still use the logic and reasoning skills that I learned to develop and design various applications. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instructors had real world experience so many of the assignments were applicable to what I learned once I graduated from college. I also had the privilege of working as a programmer while I was in college, which helped me as well. |
| How Difficult | 9 | The workload was extremely difficult because when I was in college, you didn't have your own computer. Comp Sci students spent hours in the computer lab working on their programming assignments. There also was no google so you couldn't look up your answers. You had to figure it out on your own, ask the professor, or work with tutors. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My Comp Sci program was very hands on due to all of the programming classes. My business classes and core classes were all book based classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I took my Comp Sci classes in the evening which was extremely useful. I was able to work during the day and then attend school full time in the evening. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | I felt that the resources were adequate at that time. I travelled to different universities and I felt that the facilities and resources were comparable. |
| Social Life | 4 | Since the school was small, the parties and athletics were very small compared to larger universities. I did have fun while attending college, but we did many things off campus. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I don't think I can provide a fair ranking of the career services. Since I had a internship from an outside program, I didn't use this service. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I didn't use my school's alumni association after I graduated. My paid internship provided me with the experience that I needed to land a position after I graduated from college. |
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