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 Southeastern Louisiana University, LSU, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Nicholls State.
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 Southeastern Louisiana University, LSU Shreveport, Louisiana Tech, and Nicholls State.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Southern University at New Orleans, Grambling State, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Southern University at Shreveport.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Louisiana Tech and Southern University at Shreveport.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Tulane University of Louisiana, Grambling State, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Dillard.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Dillard, Grambling State, Tulane University of Louisiana, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Tulane University of Louisiana and LSU.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Tulane University of Louisiana, Grambling State, Dillard, and Southeastern Louisiana University.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Dillard, Tulane University of Louisiana, Xavier University of Louisiana, and NTC.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Louisiana State University In Shreveport • Shreveport, LA
Studying Computer Systems Technology (completion in 2009)
• 9/18/2011
"I was very satisfied with my school. I learned a lot, while being able to get much hands-on experience. I also met and worked with many employers while working on my degree, which helped me get a good job after graduating. It would have been nice to have more specialized courses offered for my program, as well as more opportunities to socialize and network with fellow students."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have worked with many graduates of programs at competing schools, and I find that while they can be very brilliant and good at computer science theory, they often start the job not knowing much at all about software development practices that are used every day on the job (such as source code version control, different IDEs, build tools, unit testing, software development models, etc). Having learned real-world concepts greatly benefited me in the job market, so I would recommend to others interested in my career to choose my school, or at least a school with similar qualities. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | The school has a very good reputation for my program within our state. Since so many of the professors are involved in research, a lot of money is brought to the school via their grants. Also, these grants allow them to employ many students as research assistants. Because of this, as well as many of the professors being local industry professionals, graduates of this program are known to be very qualified for careers with much hands-on experience, instead of just theory and textbook learning. |
| Program Quality | 7 | My school was relatively small, so it did not have a large number of courses for specialized computer science areas which would have been nice. But, because of the small size, it was much easier to become involved in research opportunities and internships that would have been difficult to find in a larger, more competitive school. |
| Instruction | 9 | The quality of instruction at my school was very good, considering its size. Most of the courses were taught by professors that were actively involved in research, so they would involve students in what they were working on and find ways to relate their research to what was being covered in the course. Many of the classes were also taught by local industry professionals, and they taught us how to relate what we were learning to the real world. The courses had more of a focus towards software development, instead of computer science theory, so they were very applicable and relevant to our future careers. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The program of study was not extremely difficult for me. Because of the hands-on approach that was often used, it was much easier to learn the material than if we were just memorizing lectures and textbook examples. But, we still had a large workload as we often programmed large projects and had presentations in front of local industry professionals. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | This program had much more hands-on learning than book learning. While we did learn much computer science theory, the majority of the program was focused on real-world applications of programming and skills that we would use in our careers. We had local business professionals teaching many of the courses and they offered unique insight into the business world. For our senior project, we had to program an application as a team for about a year, which we then presented to local business professionals. Also, many students worked as research assistants for professors in computer labs, so we developed software for various research grants. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | One of the major reasons that I chose this school was because of their flexibility in scheduling. There were traditional students who attended during weekday mornings, but I already had a full-time job so I needed a more non-traditional schedule. This school offered most courses at night as well so working professionals could attend. Also, they offered many online courses and summer courses. I'm not aware of any weekend courses that were offered. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Because of the large number of grants that research professors in my program had brought to our University, my program was especially well-covered by extra resources and academic facilities. The program was housed in its own building called the "Technology Center." This building had several computer labs with state-of-the-art equipment, including various high-powered PCs, Macs, projectors (including 3D projectors), etc. These labs had very flexible hours, often open until past midnight. There was a library that was kept up-to-date with modern computer science books, and whenever books went slightly out-of-date they were given away for free to students. There was more than adequate classroom space, with each classroom having a computer for every student. There were no school-sponsored tutors or study groups, but finding private tutors or groups was never a challenge. The school tasked a professor from your program to be your academic advisor, instead of a generic administrator, which meant that they were able to advise us much better keeping our specific program in mind. |
| Social Life | 4 | The social experience at my school was slightly below average. There was not much emphasis or excitement about sports, there was not much school spirit, and there were very few Greek organizations that were not even based on-campus. Also, there was no student housing on campus, which caused most students to leave the school when they were finished with class. Occasionally, they hosted social events with free food or music, but not as often as I would expect most universities to do. |
| Placement Services | 8 | My school's job placement and career services assistants were very good. They threw job fairs every few months with all of the major local employers present. Also, we had a senior project that was taught by local industry professionals, which we then presented to a group of local employers. This was very helpful in job placement. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | This school has an almost non-existent alumni network. They do not meet other than to try to raise money for the university. I have not really received any correspondence from them since graduating. |
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