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 Kettering, Henry Ford Community College, Schoolcraft College, and Grand Rapids Community College.
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 Wayne State, University of Michigan-Flint, Lake Superior State, and Lawrence Technological University.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Andrews, Lawrence Technological University, University of Detroit Mercy, and Wayne State.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Spring Arbor University, Andrews, Jackson Community College, and University of Detroit Mercy.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Andrews, Calvin, Baker College, and Kettering.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Albion, Calvin, Andrews, and Michigan Technological University.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Kettering, Michigan Technological University, Albion, and Calvin.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Lawrence Technological University and Andrews.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Andrews, Calvin, Albion, and University of Detroit Mercy.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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University Of Michigan • Ann Arbor, MI
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 1998)
• 4/29/2011
"My schooling gave me pretty much everything I needed to succeed in my field. As a bonus, I met a lot of great friends there."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The University of Michigan is an excellent school for any of the computer-related sub-fields. The proper facilities and infrastructure are there, as are the professors and general academic atmosphere. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | I believe Michigan's reputation remains strong in the field of computer science and computer engineering. There may be other schools with better reputations (e.g. MIT), but most Big Ten schools have a pretty solid reputation for a number of different schools of study. |
| Program Quality | 9 | Michigan has an excellent infrastructure for engineering at both the graduate and undergraduate level. There are a number of dedicated professors who have an excellent understanding of their respective fields, including in the field of computer hardware and software design. |
| Instruction | More than 5 years ago | I attended school more than 5 years ago. |
| How Difficult | 6 | I thought the work load was basically average, or what I'd expect. It wasn't trivial, but if you have interest in your field of study and a dedication to do the work, it's not really that bad. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Like anything, there's a mix of hands-on training and background material. You can't really have one without the other. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Classes were offered both during normal semesters and during summer semesters. At the time there weren't really an online options. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | There are considerable computer resources available at Michigan. Not just PCs, but also infrastructure and dedicated/specialized pieces of equipment (e.g. mainframes with a huge number of parallel processors). |
| Social Life | 6 | Michigan is not necessarily considered a party school, but there are a lot of people there who seem to have a pretty good time. The school has a very good reputation for athletics. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I didn't really available myself of the school's job placement or career services. I believe they exist and are probably of an acceptable quality level. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | I understand that the school has a significant alumni network, although I don't personally have much involvement with it. Many of the buildings on campus were built exclusively through alumni contributions. |
Eastern Michigan University • Ypsilanti, MI
Studying (completion in 2014)
• 7/11/2011
"I was very satisfied with my school. However, some of the professors could have been nicer."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Eastern Michigan University is an awesome school for those who are looking for a real education but might not have the time to go to school full-time in the fall and winter. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | I think that Eastern Michigan University has an (unfair) bad reputation in their CS department. A lot of that reputation might be because of it's proximity to U of M. |
| Program Quality | 8 | On the technical side, my school was more than sufficient. I've found multiple cases where mathematics I learned were applicable to the workplace. However, actually coming into an office and doing work is a different story. |
| Instruction | 10 | All of my instructors at Eastern Michigan University were great! They were very thorough and helped me to really understand the material. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Some of the mathematically rigorous classes were very difficult. The easiest classes for me were the labs. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were various methods implemented by professors, but books seemed to be more prevalent. I chose to use the books along with the labs. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Eastern Michigan was very flexible. They allowed me to go to school during the summer and spring semester for classes that didn't pertain to my major. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Very up-to-date software and computers. We were able to run on a variety of platforms including Windows, Linux, OSX, FreeBSD, and others! |
| Social Life | 5 | I spent more time on the computer than I did at social functions. I feel like if I did spend more time with others, I would have given this a 10. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I did not go through my school's job placement program. I chose to look for jobs on my own. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I do not participate in alumni events. I voted Average only because I could not say either way. |
Michigan State University • East Lansing, MI
Studying Computer Science And Engineering (completion in 2010)
• 7/13/2011
"I am happy that I am a (MSU) Spartan. The school is terrific, not only academically but also in other aspects, like sports. The degree provides a big network and good job opportunities."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Definitely. It might not be as good as MIT or Stanford, but it still provides opportunities almost as good what those schools provide, in particular for software engineering. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Both the school and the professors we work with provide good references for us at MSU. |
| Program Quality | 8 | Michigan State University is one of the best universities in Midwest. Thanks to the connections and network of the professors, I was able to get a job at IBM. |
| Instruction | 6 | We have professors who do good research and know a lot. They generally take teaching seriously, too. But classes are rather theoretical and do not help too much in software engineering. |
| How Difficult | 4 | If you work hard, the program is easy to finish in general. But you have to be above some threshold - otherwise you would not be admitted in the first place. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I would say MSU is more like a book-learning school, at least for computer science. However, we still need to make software projects for the classwork. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | We do not have great flexibility in the CS department, i.e. no evening classes. But you could still have a flexible day time schedule. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | MSU is a big school which has money. In addition to this professors, also provide money via research grants. |
| Social Life | 8 | MSU has a big and great campus. Football and basketball teams are very successful, making MSU a great school for athletics. |
| Placement Services | 7 | I would say job placement is successful if you have a grad level degree. For career service, every department has at least one staff member. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The alumni network for computer science and engineering is not that strong. But for the research group I was working with, the graduates who are working with companies like Yahoo or IBM were able to help us find jobs. |
Davenport University • Grand Rapids, MI
Studying Computer Gaming And Simulation (completion in 2011)
• 8/5/2011
"I may be biased, as I received a generous scholarship, but I think Davenport was fantastic overall. The facilities were excellent, the material was relevant, and the instructors were competent. There was very little to complain about."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If you have the passion and drive, you can become a programmer no matter where you go to school. However, going somewhere with small class sizes and hands on learning material (like Davenport has) will provide quite a few benefits to students with a subject as complex and intimate as programming. |
| Program Reputation | 3 | Davenport is not a well known school, and I think they are mostly considered a business school. I think that they should be more widely recognized as a tech school, because I feel my education was above average. |
| Program Quality | 8 | Davenport provided me with a great baseline skill set to enter the workforce. Although I have been learning nonstop since I began my career, the education I received has been invaluable to my work. |
| Instruction | 9 | The curriculum was just about as relevant as it could be, taking into account the constantly changing nature of the IT industry. I was basically "taught to learn," which has proved to be an invaluable skill. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Programming is a difficult topic for many people, especially those who do not love technology. It is very difficult to remember the syntax of many different languages, and also to know which one will be the best option for a particular problem. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Davenport always had hands on exercises in all of my core classes. We were always given a hands on assignment, never written, to familiarize ourselves with the material. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I was able to schedule my classes all within 4 days and had many at night to avoid conflicts. The small class sizes meant I never had to fight hordes of people to sign up for classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Every building on the campus was less than 7 years old. In each of the four years I attended they built a new facility. |
| Social Life | 7 | As a programmer, I'm not exactly a social person, so my rating may be wrong. However, we did not have the athletic programs that bigger schools do, but I believe Davenport is on par with schools of similar size. |
| Placement Services | 7 | I am constantly being emailed career opportunities. Davenport career services has always helped with resume checking, etc, and has always done a fine job. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | As a pretty recent graduate, I have not been in contact with the Alumni too much. However, they have already had at least one event for grads, and they are constantly populating my inbox with career opportunities. |
Lawrence Technological University • Southfield, MI
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 2006)
• 8/8/2011
"I just thought that I could have learned more, both from the practical angle and the theoretical angle. I wanted to be challenged more, and be engaged more by the school, but that simply never happened."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | If you are geared in the manner in which I am, where you need to be challenged to be at your best, LTU is simply not a strong option for you. The coursework is mostly mundane, and even with that it will be difficult to be at the top of the class given the high degree of academic dishonesty present. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Their reputation is a mixed bag. The school is still mostly regional. It is fairly well thought of within the region, but virtually invisible outside of it. |
| Program Quality | 3 | My school simply did not do enough to challenge the students. I feel that getting a 4 year degree should be hard work. But the amount of work required within my degree program wasn't sufficient to provide the adequate knowledge required to be successful in the field. |
| Instruction | 3 | Most of the instructors were personable, and made themselves available to help you. But, like the program in general, they didn't do enough to challenge you, and left you woefully under prepared for the marketplace. |
| How Difficult | 3 | My school wasn't terribly difficult at all. The typical rule of thumb that I was taught was that you should expect to spend 3 hours of work outside of the class for every contact hour. But my experience was closer to half an hour for every contact hour. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a pretty decent mix of practical and book learning. All students in engineering are required to complete a senior project that was a practical working project. But you were in your books everyday for most classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | I am probably somewhat biased on this. For the most part, the classes that you needed to take were offered every semester, and more esoteric electives would be offered at least every couple of years. But the nature of the schedule made it difficult to schedule high work loads. |
| Academic Facilities | 2 | The library was basically useless, and I know of very few students who ever went there. The computers were outdated and slow for the most part, and not well maintained. The classroom space didn't have a good setup for the modern student, and it had inadequate electrical outlets, poor projector setups, and bad boards. The professors were generally available, and I never needed the tutors or study groups. |
| Social Life | 2 | LTU is primarily a commuter school, and as a commuter student there weren't a large number of social activities available. Additionally, finding out about the opportunities that were available was difficult at best. |
| Placement Services | 3 | They provide some valuable assets, especially in terms of resume preparation. But they do not do a good job of developing and maintaining a network of co-op and internship providers. Nor do they do a good job of explaining the importance of those programs. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | Surprisingly, given that they are a private school, and should be relying on money from their alumni network to fund capital projects, LTU has a horrible alumni network. I don't think that I have heard from them a single time since I graduated, but I hear from my private high school's network 3-4 times a year minimum. |
Michigan Technological University • Houghton, MI
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2006)
• 9/13/2011
"I enjoyed my time a lot and would do further study there."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I liked that it was a very nice campus and was isolated. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Good regional reputation. Further away, many have never heard of it. |
| Program Quality | 8 | Wish they did more of a focus on Software Engineering. Good school though, and taught a ton of stuff. |
| Instruction | 8 | Instructors were very knowledgeable, though curriculum was behind industry standards. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Classes were tough, but rewarding. I still apply old homework assignments to my job. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | A good mix of both styles. Books teach concepts, and the hands on shows you how to apply them. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Pretty average. They were starting to do online class work/videos during my last year. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Good computing labs to use, though the library was out of date. |
| Social Life | 8 | There are lots of people on campus and fun times to be had. |
| Placement Services | 1 | Job fairs were about all the help there was. Very little support. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | Networks send a few emails, but nothing particularly helpful. You will be hounded with calls for money and support though. |
Michigan Technological University • Houghton, MI
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 2003)
• 10/13/2011
"I came out a stronger person (able to educate myself) because of the inadequacies in this school. Exposure to some key faculty who provided unique experiences made the school worthwhile."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | The school taught me how to educate myself. This was an expensive way to learn that skill, but at the end of the day I do feel like I was exposed to a few key educators who made the whole effort worth it. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Michigan Tech is an engineering school with a long history of supplying the best and brightest to the automotive industry in Detroit. They have a reputation for turning out "practically minded" engineers. I fear they have lost focus of this goal, however. |
| Program Quality | 4 | The university did not provide much practical training. The professors were more focused on computational theory than on actual applicable skills. The program taught very little of the "soft skills" required to succeed in the real world. In addition, the technologies taught were somewhat out of date. |
| Instruction | 7 | The topics taught were explored well. However, the majority of the professors were not interested in real world applicability - they instead were focused on research and theory. |
| How Difficult | 10 | I studied at least 60 hours a week. Instructors gave little guidance, and as such I felt as if half of my college career involved teaching myself. At the time I thought this was a negative, however I have since learned that the skill of teaching one's self is perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned at that school. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The labs were sparse and inadequate. We spent more time on antiquated theory than on actual design practice. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Summer classes were an option which I took advantage of. Evening classes and online classes were not available at the time (2003). |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | We had a new computer science building along with significant investment from intel. In addition, GM was constantly funding real world design projects. The undergrad classes taught in the 4th year computer engineering program covered topics usually reserved for grad level seminars. |
| Social Life | 4 | The outdoor activities were wonderful. However, people did not seem to be very social. Perhaps this was a function of everyone being engineers. |
| Placement Services | 2 | The career center offered little more than antiquated interview tips and basic exploration software to help us figure out jobs we may enjoy. I would have preferred more options to learn interviewing and soft skills. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | Aside from an occasional email to attend a baseball game, I get little communication. The only area they seem efficient in communicating about would be requests for funding. |
Oakland Community College • Orchard Ridge, MI
Studying Software Engineering (completion in 2012)
• 12/8/2011
"I learned what I was interested in at this college. I am now able to use what I learned for a job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | Because I go to a community college, the results were less than satisfactory. I would encourage someone to learn Computer Science at a trade school or university. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | For a community college, they have extremely good programs. Also, there was a wide variety of classes available. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The program I was in was not very in depth. However, it prepared me for the requirements of the field. |
| Instruction | 5 | The instructors taught me what I needed to know, and were very knowledgeable. On the other hand, they were very dry, and it was hard for me to focus. |
| How Difficult | 1 | I've had a knack for computer science ever since I was a freshman in high school. Also, the classes that I took were very simple. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The instructor would have us take notes on syntax of programming languages. Then we would use a compiler to use what we learned. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I am only taking a few classes a week. Therefore, I can work whenever I see fit. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | I was able to go to the computer lab and work whenever I wanted. Also, I was able to use the large library whenever I needed. |
| Social Life | 1 | I took classes without hardly meeting anyone. However, I did car pool with people that I knew before college. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I am self employed. I have no need for job placement. |
| Alumni Network | I am still in community college. Because of this, I have no knowledge of the alumni network. |
University Of Michigan • Ann Arbor, MI
Studying Computer Science Engineering (completion in 2010)
• 1/17/2012
"I got a great degree from my school which allowed me to get a great job. Plus, I had a great time doing it!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The computer science engineering program at the University of Michigan is tough, but if you can make it through you are almost guaranteed a good job. The large student body gives you the opportunity to pursue your interests by joining clubs, sports, leadership boards, or greek life. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | While not as good as some of the Ivy League schools, the University of Michigan has one of the best public engineering programs in the country. Many top companies recruit for students there. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The engineering school at the University of Michigan prepared me very well for a career in application development. Many top companies recruit at the University of Michigan, which is how I got my job. |
| Instruction | 8 | Some teachers were very boring and didn't include real life applications in their teaching, but for the most part teachers were engaging, available outside of class, and helped us relate our studies to our future careers. I learned a lot in getting my degree that helped me to get my job. |
| How Difficult | 9 | The computer science engineering degree at the University of Michigan is challenging, and many people drop out in the first two years. Many of the intro engineering classes are difficult to "weed out" students who don't have what it takes. However, all the hard work is worth it! |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | This varies largely from one professor to the next. A lot of the lower-level classes are book dependent. As you start taking more specialized classes, they tend to revolve around hands on projects more. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | There are no weekend or evening options for this program. There are no online options. There are very limited offerings in the summer. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | There is a very excellent library on the engineering campus that has long hours and lots of study space and computers. The computer science building is very new and modern, with two large computer labs and group study space. |
| Social Life | 9 | The University of Michigan has a lot of support for athletics among the student body, and tailgating before football games is a huge social activity. There are also many club and intramural sports, as well as many sororities and fraternities. |
| Placement Services | 6 | The engineering school at the University of Michigan has two career fairs a year where top companies come to recruit for full time jobs and internships. They also offer resume writing workshops. However, if you are unable to find a job at a career fair, I don't think there is much individualized help available. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | The University of Michigan has one of the largest alumni groups in the world. The local club that I belong to here coordinates volunteering, outdoor activities like kayaking and hiking, and football watching parties. |
Grand Valley State University • Allendale, MI
Studying Information Systems (completion in 2011)
• 1/23/2012
"I'm a big fan of my school. I learned a lot and had a great time while going there. The athletic program allows for plenty of extra curricular fun without having to spend any money - tickets are free!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend this school to anyone not in the film/video area or in the philosophy program. The campus is lively and there is plenty to do in the area if you know where to look. Plus, there are plenty of ladies running around, which is a great thing for people in this program! |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The school's reputation is pretty solid in this area, but it is also relatively unheard of outside of Michigan. I work with a bunch of alumni and we all think pretty highly of the school, but there really isn't enough sample data to make an informed conclusion. The opinion of the people outside of our department is pretty high too, but the company I work for hires a lot of graduates from local schools. |
| Program Quality | 6 | The program at my school was pretty good. We had a pretty intense focus on planning our apps from the entire development cycle all the way through testing. The main criticism I have is the lack of languages taught. We really only had C++, Java, and VB as options for classes. |
| Instruction | 9 | The instructors were pretty solid and were knowledgeable of the material they were teaching. They also have industry experience and were able to answer any questions we students had and were able to explain concepts like, recursion and network communications, clearly to newer students. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The program was tough and very competitive to enter. The weed-out classes were intense and fast-paced. They gave us a small break in workload for a couple semesters and then really hit us with the capstone project. The project was interesting and satisfying, but I'm not sure I'd want to go through that again. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We had a good mix of hands-on learning and book learning. We had plenty of lecture but also had programming projects throughout the semester for the programming courses. The worst I experienced was my datacom class which was mostly book learning and had very little hands-on programming. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | The course selection was pretty good when taking gen eds, but once we got more into our CS classes we would only have one section we would be able to take each semester. Some classes were only offered one semester per year and if you missed it, you would have to wait a full year to take it again. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Professors were very accessible during office hours and through appointments. Tutoring services were kinda lacking but everyone had their own work to do, apparently. The library is a little outdated, but the computing facilities for the CS and IS majors are great. |
| Social Life | 9 | I made a lot of new friends at this school even though I'm older than your average college-age student. We had a great athletic program and plenty of social opportunities. Clubs and social events were plentiful. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I didn't use the school's career services to find this job, or really any position I've had. This is the first professional position I've held since graduation and I found this job through a web search. I've heard of some success with them from other graduates, but haven't had experience with them myself. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | The position I'm currently in is one that is is overseen by an alum from my school, but the school itself didn't facilitate any of the processes I went through to get this job. I just happened to apply for a position with a company where the department hiring was run by an alum. I know there are career services and all that, but I haven't had to use them, so I can't comment. |
Michigan State University • East Lansing, MI
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2005)
• 3/16/2012
"Great school. I loved attending Michigan State."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | This school had a great balance between education, fun, social events, sports, and everything else. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | This school is known for producing above average developers. There are, however, better schools. |
| Program Quality | 7 | Michigan State University is an excellent school. There are better schools for programming. |
| Instruction | 7 | Great teachers. The teachers could have taught with different methods to be more effective. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Achieving my bachelor's degree was a lot of hard work. I often stayed up all night working to get my projects done. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Besides having books and classes to learn programming, we also often had lab time where we would learn by programming and then also get projects assigned to do on our own. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I was able to choose classes usually in the morning, day, or night. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | There were lots of labs with many computers equipped with the necessary hardware and software to complete the required tasks and learn programming efficiently. |
| Social Life | 10 | I would not have changed a thing. Sports are fun and important, parties are great, and there are always events going on. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I did not go to them for assistance. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I have not participated and do not know how it is. |
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