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 Lane Community College, Portland Community College, and Chemeketa 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 Portland State.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Willamette University, Lane Community College, Portland Community College, and Chemeketa Community College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Clackamas Community College, Chemeketa Community College, Portland Community College, and Lane Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Lewis & Clark, Willamette University, University of Portland, and Pacific University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Linfield, Corban, Willamette University, and University of Portland.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Lewis & Clark, Willamette University, University of Portland, and Corban.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Corban.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Oregon Health & Science University, Pacific University, Willamette University, and Lewis & Clark.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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University Of South Florida • Tampa, OR
Studying Computer Science And Engineering (completion in 2003)
• 7/6/2011
"I liked the school a lot. I learned a lot of things and also enjoyed my school life. Sometimes I had to struggle and work a lot on weekends, but that wasn't the norm."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The faculty is good and it looks like great facilities are being made available. It's in good old sunny Florida, so why wouldn't I recommend? |
| Program Reputation | 9 | I have heard good things and I know that we are hiring people from my group and school at my current work. |
| Program Quality | 8 | We had a variety of classes available in school. The faculty was good, but the facilities could have been better. I remember early on when I started the computing facilities where poor but they improved as I got closer to graduation. I don't have the latest info on how the computing facilities are now. The overall school facilities were very good. |
| Instruction | 9 | The faculty knew what they where talking about. They very interactive and helpful. |
| How Difficult | 9 | I had to spend a lot of weekends to complete my program in 4 years. I would rank it as a tier 1 school. It's not easy to get by. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Different classes had different methods. I remember in computer programming classes we had very hands-on learning with exams being different than what we had during our classes, but I also remember a few faculty who would follow the book very seriously when some hands-on learning might have been better. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | We had to take certain classes during the fall in order to be able to qualify for the next level of classes in the spring. I know that the school offered courses on the air. We used to have live and recorded video of different classes available for us to listen to and audit. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The library, lab, and classroom facilities where abundant, but computing resources where a little dated at that time. Tutors were available for under-graduate students. I myself have helped undergraduate students. |
| Social Life | 6 | When I was in school, we had a good party atmosphere, but athletics where a bit lacking Of late, I have seen that the school is doing well in athletics. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Job placement for me was mainly by my efforts; career services was not of much help. Of late I have heard from students who joined in later that career services is helping. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | I haven't used it, but I keep getting a lot of reviews and requests for contact from the alumni office. I get mails almost every month on the happenings at the school. |
Oregon Graduate Institute • Hillsboro, OR
Studying Electrical And Computer Engineering (completion in 2007)
• 7/14/2011
"It did its job. I got a good education that fit into my schedule."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It is part of OHSU now, but I assume it is a least somewhat similar. It is probably now geared more towards regular students. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | It was ranked #30 in the nation for CS when I started. They have a biology computing focus now, but I expect the curriculum is still good. |
| Program Quality | 9 | They had a strong computer science program that was much better than the school at which I got my BS. They had good hands on work that was useful. |
| Instruction | 7 | I don't use a lot of the theory I learned in school (genetic algorithms, hidden Markov models), but it gives me an edge at work. I can sometimes come up with algorithms based on my theory training. |
| How Difficult | 8 | We had a lot of projects. Implementing the theory in a regular language or Matlab was challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We did a lot of theory. We also did a lot of application/programming on real data sets. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | The school was designed for working professionals. There were a lot of evening classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The professors were pretty accessible. The library was small, but you could request almost any book to be mailed in from somewhere else. |
| Social Life | 2 | There were no school activities. It was a school for business professionals. I guess some of the professors or clubs hosted things from time to time. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I was not aware of any. Most people attending were working professionals. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | I have had no contact with alumni. The school has now been absorbed into OHSU. |
Portland State University • Portland, OR
Studying Electrical And Computer Engineering (completion in 2008)
• 10/12/2011
"My school lacks research facilities, funding, state-of-the-art laboratories, well tailored curriculums, and advanced courses, which combine to make it an average school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Portland State University has good professors, which is the only positive factor. You can count on them, but if you don't want to risk your career, please look for a better school with a higher ranking. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I came to PSU with great hopes, but I was disappointed. There is almost no research happening in the field of Electrical Engineering at PSU. There are very few research and teaching assistantships. There are no career prospects through PSU in the field of Electrical Engineering. |
| Program Quality | 5 | Portland State University is a great place to study Computer science, but not Electrical Engineering. Although my major is different from my current job, I didn't gain much knowledge about Electrical Engineering while completing my Masters. |
| Instruction | 6 | Portland State University hardly made any effort for career preparation. The quality of curriculum is about average. It doesn't cover the advanced topics in Electrical Engineering. The amount I learned was minimal and the stuff that I learned is hardly of any use in my current job. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Portland State University doesn't have classes with heavy work loads. Some of the courses are not industry oriented and have mini projects with no or very little significance. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The courses don't involve many major projects and are not industry oriented. Hands-on training is lacking in many of the courses. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 6 | Class schedule flexibility is about average. Working people can attend the class in the evening, however only few classes can be attended online or on weekends. There are hardly any good courses in the summer. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | PSU has an excellent library where you can borrow books as well as digital media. The classroom space is adequate. The availability of tutors is not so good, but the accessibility of professors is. Laboratories are not very well equipped. There are ample computer resources and study group support is good. |
| Social Life | 9 | People are cooperative and there are a number of social events that are carried out at PSU. It is a University located in a downtown area, so athletics are sub par. |
| Placement Services | 1 | Only few industries come to PSU to hire. It is the worse school when it comes to job placements and career services assistance. They don't know how to place their students or take initiative in bringing some companies to the campus. I very much regret being part of Portland State University. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I was never contacted regarding the alumni network. Moreover, PSU closed my webmail account and I lost all the messages. Portland State University video records many of the classes and archives them, however I cannot get access to the video of classes that I attended earlier. |
University Of Oregon • Eugene, OR
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1974)
• 3/15/2012
"It was the best time of my life in some ways. However, I don't think UO is all that strong, academically. I love the campus, love the town, but wish it was a better school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | As I've said: mixed bag. It's certainly better (I imagine) than the training you'd get at a community college or some "IT institute," but it's no Stanford. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | As above, I really don't know. UO's IT rep could be really good or really bad, so I have to choose "average." |
| Program Quality | 5 | I really don't have a good basis for comparison. I'm not all that familiar with how good other schools are or how UO might compare to them. |
| Instruction | 5 | It was a mixed bag, really. Some instructors had an obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter; others seemed like they were just plodding along and collecting a paycheck. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The lower level classes were pretty simple. Up at the 400+ level, things were tougher. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In CS, it was both. Lots of reading, but you (obviously) have to sit down and apply what you've just read when you write programs. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | There were plenty of class offerings. Various times/days were available. There were fairly extensive summer classes which I took advantage of during my sophomore year. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | We had a very nice computing center (for the 70's). Plenty of access to batch processing of programs (yeah, very little "online" stuff back then). Tutors were readily available. No study groups that I know of. Many professor's office hours were quite sparse, though. |
| Social Life | 5 | Average, I guess. Never been much of a party animal. I did get enthused, as did many others, over the quite successful basketball program in the early to mid 70's. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Back in the 70's, they did a pretty good job. They supplied guidance and a way to get your credentials and recommendations from instructors out there through a placement office. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | I guess they're pretty good. I'm not really active in the various alumni organizations, but they keep in touch with me via e-mail and snail mail publications. |
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