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 Metropolitan Community College-Longview, Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods, Columbia College, and Blue River.
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 Drury, Maryville, Columbia College, and Missouri Southern.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Webster University, Lindenwood, Washington University in St Louis, and Park University.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Metropolitan Community College-Business & Technology, Webster University, Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley, and Lindenwood.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Washington University in St Louis, Park University, Hannibal - Lagrange, and Rockhurst University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of William Jewell College, College of the Ozarks, CMU, and Washington University in St Louis.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Washington University in St Louis, Truman, Rockhurst University, and UMKC.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at College of the Ozarks, Washington University in St Louis, Columbia College, and Missouri State.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Washington University in St Louis, William Jewell College, Truman, and UMKC.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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University Of Missouri-Columbia • Columbia, MO
Studying Computer Engineering (completion in 2005)
• 9/8/2011
"Growing up in St. Louis, Mizzou was the perfect home away from home. There were several students who graduated high school with me and I later saw at Mizzou. At the same time, it was an opportunity to move out and live on my own."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | While Mizzou isn't well-known for their engineering school, I don't know of any school I would've rather attended. I learned a lot in my four years and have had a successful career because of it. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | As I mentioned previously, Mizzou offers a great engineering program. However, the school is better known for its journalism program. |
| Program Quality | 8 | Mizzou provided a well-rounded curriculum but is by no means the best engineering school. It has a great mix of academic and social environments. |
| Instruction | 8 | Overall, I was happy with the quality of instruction while I studied at Mizzou. However, there was one teacher that I struggled to understand due to his strong accent, and he was the only instructor that offered a handful of classes that my degree required. |
| How Difficult | 8 | As is expected with any technical degree, my program required that I spend a large amount of time studying. That said, I was still able to maintain two part-time jobs throughout my four year academic career. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The curriculum at Mizzou included several classes which were accompanied with a lab requirement. Therefore, a typical semester included roughly 12 hours of book learning and 3 to 5 hours of hands-on work. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I attended mostly classes that were offered during typical hours. Labs that were required as part of science classes were offered in the evenings. I was not aware of any weekend or online options. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The engineering school did have its own library, but I never used it and therefore can't speak to its effectiveness. There were plenty of laboratories and most classes were small enough to allow for more personalized interaction with the professors. |
| Social Life | 9 | Mizzou students take great pride in their football team. Attending athletic events and fueling the rivalry against KU was a great weekend activity. |
| Placement Services | 3 | Mizzou does offer a website for graduates to post resumes and apply for jobs in the area. Despite having interviews for three jobs I found on their website, I ended up receiving a job offer at the only job I applied for elsewhere. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | Mizzou offers an alumni newsletter. Aside from that, there isn't really an "alumni network." |
Missouri State University • Springfield, MO
Studying Computer Information Systems (completion in 2009)
• 11/1/2011
"Again, not great but not terrible. What more can I say?"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Probably, if they were interested in going into I.T. management as I was, but I'd certainly suggest that they keep their options and mind open. |
| Program Reputation | I honestly don't know. I haven't really kept up on current happenings. | |
| Program Quality | 5 | You get the feeling that they were more interested in making money. It was ok, but not quite what I hoped for. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instruction was pretty good, but there was a 60 hour on-campus/semester requirement which was squeezed into 1 week. So both students and instructors were always worn down by the end. The rest of the program was completed online. |
| How Difficult | 6 | It's pretty intense sometimes, but at the same time it was pretty much a case of “you get what you want to get out of it.” Looking back, it wasn't as difficult as I had expected, just time consuming. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We had no real hands-on experience. However, most of the instructors were not academics, and most had worked in the field. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | With most of the work being completed online, this was not really an issue. However, the on-campus portion was not flexible at all. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Resources were good. We had remote access to academic journals, etc. Books and on-campus meals were also provided. |
| Social Life | 5 | Again, we were only on campus 1 week/semester, and our program was the only thing happening during those times. So we didn't really socialize except with those in our program. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I don't know about the school, but our program staff offered nothing in this area. We all had jobs in the field already, though. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | We pretty much stay in contact through Facebook. This was even raised as an issue by a fellow student at the time, but I don't think much effort has been made in this area. |
University Of Missouri St. Louis • St. Louis, MO
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1992)
• 1/4/2012
"I think I received a great education which had led me onto a perfect career path. I think that being close to home also made it affordable. I was able to live at home and drive to school on a daily basis."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I personally would recommend this school to everyone. I believe that education is very important in life. It helps mold people not to learn just new things, but also about themselves. An education is not just about a career, but the ability to say, “I can finish what I start.” |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The school is not know for my career field. The main reason I chose the school was that it was very close to home and it was an affordable state school. |
| Program Quality | 6 | I think much of the required course work was not needed to complete my degree. I believe this is a way for schools to collect more money. |
| Instruction | 7 | The professors were well informed and easily approachable after hours for additional help. I think that a lot have careers outside the university which gave them more than just book smarts. |
| How Difficult | 9 | The hardest part for my education was the math. I had over 7 math classes required for my degree and the higher classes were extremely difficult. Also, programming is very time consuming. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The math part was very book oriented. The computer aspect was very hands on. Usually for every hour of class, I was in the computer lab for 3-4 hours. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | I loved the schedules. They had classes available year round. I had used summer classes to try and get ahead. They also have evening classes |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The class room space was adequate. I used their computer labs very often. During the time I went to school I think they had decent equipment. Advisers were always there to help, as were the professors. |
| Social Life | 2 | I was busy with both school and my job. I worked full time while attending school so my social life was non existent. I never attended any school parties or sporting events. |
| Placement Services | I know they do have a placement program there. I had heard of other students doing coop training. I never used any of their services so can not comment on this 1st hand. | |
| Alumni Network | I can't say too much about the alumni. I never really got involved myself and paid attention. Usually any mail I currently get from the school goes straight into the trash. |
University Of Missouri - St. Louis • Saint Louis, MO
Studying Information Systems, Computer And Software Engineering, Computer Programming (completion in 2007)
• 2/13/2012
"I enjoyed going to my school. I had a very good experience overall."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I enjoyed going to school there. The staff was very nice. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | The program is known to be well rounded and affordable. I didn't have to do a lot of self study when getting my job (I had to learn the Android SDK on my own). |
| Program Quality | 10 | I had a lot of schooling, but the hands on training was the best. I was a self-taught programmer, but in school I learned a lot more than I did through self-study. |
| Instruction | 10 | The teachers I had were excellent. I had a lot of help in areas I was having problems in. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Math was a problem area for me. I had good tutors to get through my courses, though. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Although it was a bit more book learning, we were still able to do hands-on oriented learning. Some instructors had a lot of notes that I took down and so I didn't need the book for some courses. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I was able to take some courses online. That helped a lot when working part time. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | I was able to find whatever I needed at the library. The library had updated materials on hand. There were a lot of computer labs I could access whenever I needed a computer. |
| Social Life | 10 | I hung out with the other computer geeks and they had their own parties. There were a lot of other organizations having parties and other social events that I went to. I made a lot of friends. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I was able to get a job right after graduation. When I needed to change jobs, I had an updated list. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I was able to get a job right after graduation. I was able to use my network to fall back on when I needed to look for different work. |
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