Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Computer Programmers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at United States Naval Academy, Montgomery College, Towson University, and The Community College of Baltimore County.
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 Coppin State, Capitol College, Morgan State, and Bowie State.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Bowie State, Morgan State, Coppin State, and Prince George's Community College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Anne Arundel, Hood, College of Southern Maryland, and Hagerstown Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of United States Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins, Goucher, and Loyola.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of United States Naval Academy, Washington College, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and Mount St. Mary's University.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, United States Naval Academy, and St. Mary's College of Maryland.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at United States Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, and Coppin State.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at United States Naval Academy, Morgan State, Goucher, and St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Johns Hopkins University • Baltimore, MD
Studying Technical Management (completion in 2003)
• 5/4/2011
"I got additional points of view in addition to traditional engineering knowledge and appreciation for management aspects."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | You get to see different points of view and learn methods and procedures of managing technical projects. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Johns Hopkins is a very well known private university and attracts very high quality pool of applications. |
| Program Quality | 8 | A lot of useful information, though there's no overall arch of studies |
| Instruction | More than 5 years ago | attended more than 5 years ago |
| How Difficult | 5 | Requires a lot of homework, especially in teams - but once you put in the work, it's not too tough. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Healthy mix; I think actually instruction in person was very valuable. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | There's a set sequence with not a lot of flexibility. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | I didn't use them much, but I heard from others that they're pretty good. |
| Social Life | 5 | I was not interested at all - I was married already. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I was already employed at the time. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | There's a magazine, online community and periodic events. |
The Johns Hopkins University • Baltimore, MD
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1989)
• 7/20/2011
"An academically rewarding experience - very satisfied with the program. Continue to reap benefits to this day."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I believe the university continues to enjoy a strong reputation. Curriculum continues to be relevant - updated to meet current state of practice. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | In general, Johns Hopkins has name recognition throughout the industry. The program itself is well rated. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Courses were very relevant to my work - I still use some of the key concepts to this day. I was able to gain breadth as well as depth of knowledge. |
| Instruction | 10 | It was directly relevant to my career and covered a broad range of topics. The curriculum was aligned well with what turned out to be my work over the following two decades. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Course work was rigorous, but doable in a part time program. Projects were challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Nature of the curriculum required hands on programming. But in depth understanding of the subject matter necessitated theoretical material as well (i.e., book learning). Many assignments combined both. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I was able to work full time while attending with little interference with my normal work. Options have expanded since that time. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Full resources needed to accomplish class assignments were available. Advisors were available and involved. Libraries and other media were excellent. I have used them recently when doing research. |
| Social Life | 7 | Some strong athletic programs and good alumni events. Not as easy to be involved as a part time student. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I rated average because I don't use the service, so I cannot really judge. It seems from others that these services are good. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I still participate in alumni events at least a couple of times a year (on average). The alumni association offers many events and benefits. |
Towson University • Towson, MD
Studying Computer Science (completion in 1990)
• 11/4/2011
"I graduated and got a great job. I owe them a lot for teaching me my career."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I hear good things about Towson, despite my neglect in keeping up with the program. I can't imagine it has declined past usefulness. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I have heard good things about recent TU graduates. I have no reason to believe otherwise. |
| Program Quality | 10 | I enjoyed my major, and it was a very exciting time in computer science. Towson was very supportive. |
| Instruction | 10 | My professors were all geeks and coders. Learning from people that love it is amazing. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Kids today get compilers and IDE's, but we had to build our own. Instead of focusing on making awesome software, we had to code frameworks. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were far fewer books talking about programming in the 90s. We had a lot of theory about software and machine workings, though. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I took classes in the afternoon, preferably, and there was always the one that made you wake up too early! Back then, there were no online courses. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | We had a decent amount of equipment. The whole thing was still developing, so it was very difficult and expensive to keep up. |
| Social Life | 8 | Computer guys stuck together. I had a network of friends. At the time, computers were still very strange and foreign, so that didn't help. |
| Placement Services | 1 | No one knew what to do with computer people in the 90s. Can't blame career services for that. |
| Alumni Network | I'm not sure. I haven't ever used it. |
Lincoln Technical Institute • Columbia, MD
Studying Computer Programming With Web Technology (completion in 2003)
• 11/8/2011
"It was alright, but again, what I learned was dated by graduation. It was a experience and a great accomplishment for myself."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | Only because they don't offer that course any more. And if they did, you could almost consider yourself behind the technology curve upon graduation. |
| Program Reputation | 1 | They don't offer this program anymore. Upon graduation they gave you a letter that allowed you to take a refresher course at a later date. I was the last class, needless to say, so there was no refresher course for me. |
| Program Quality | 1 | Upon graduation I was already behind the technology curve. It appears as if what I learned was dated by at least a year. |
| Instruction | 10 | The instructors were great, they made sure everyone was on the same page. Also, I like the fact that they kept everything "hands on" - it wasn't day after day of lecture. |
| How Difficult | 10 | This program was incredibly hard, 9 different classes all in a year and a half. The languages themselves are already difficult, and then you have to cram them into such a short time period. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We were on computers everyday. Everyday we were there tapping away at another program. The book work was very minimal. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | The schedule was rough and grueling - 5 days a week for 5 hours a day. We were off for Thanksgiving and Christmas days. If it snowed we were still expected to be in class. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | We had computer labs in all the classrooms with up to date equipment and resources. |
| Social Life | 10 | Everyone was there to help each other out. We all became friends very quickly and a few of us still keep in touch every once in a while. |
| Placement Services | 1 | There were no job placement services to aid in this particular career path. The only thing they offered was a job with UPS, which involved loading planes. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | There simply is no alumni network. Once you graduated, you were pretty much on your own. |
University Of Maryland: College Park • College Park, MD
Studying Mathematics (completion in 2008)
• 1/16/2012
"I enjoy the reputation of my school. The training, however, did not help me much in terms of working as a programmer."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | My school has a good reputation in its CS programs. Many of my friends in CS later got into very good companies. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The program has a good reputation, but it may be limited to the East Coast. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The school is well-known. However, the effort in helping students find a job is marginal. |
| Instruction | 4 | The classes are difficult, whereas a real work environment usually doesn't require much knowledge. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The program was fairly easy. The workload was light. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I felt that we leaned more toward book learning. Most of my programming skills are acquired later when at work. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | The schedule was very flexible. Students can arrange their own schedule to a great extent. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Computer labs, libraries, projectors and class room were very systematically administrated. Professors are kind and accessible. |
| Social Life | 2 | My social experience is very limited to my own social group. Although school spirit is high, I never attend any games. |
| Placement Services | 5 | We have a campus career fair and professors sent job-related emails to students often. However, the positions are usually limited to academia instead of industrial environment. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | I do not feel much support. I do not participate the network very frequently. |
Johns Hopkins • Baltimore, MD
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2012)
• 2/28/2012
"Highly valued degree from a well-known institution. It allowed me to get a good job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Name recognition is important. Also, the location is suitable. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | High rank for the university in surveys. Colleagues from other institutions respect us a lot. |
| Program Quality | 8 | It has a recognizable name. It had a great location. It had very passionate professors and students. |
| Instruction | 8 | Professors were passionate about teaching. There were many research opportunities. |
| How Difficult | 8 | All students are very smart. The material is usually advanced. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Good mix of academics and research. Group meetings were regular. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Various scheduling options. Professors sometimes change schedules to meet students' needs. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Large library and library resources. Many computer labs are open to students. |
| Social Life | 5 | Too focused on undergraduates. Schoolwork keeps you too busy to participate. |
| Placement Services | 4 | Did not seem tailored to my needs. Only received a few useful tips. |
| Alumni Network | I have not made much use of the network. I only recently graduated. |
University Of Maryland • College Park, MD
Studying Information Management (completion in 2009)
• 3/12/2012
"Quite satisfied with the academics. Good faculty and courses. Not so happy with the way career opportunities were available."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | One reason there were no good career opportunities was because of the recession, which I think would be improving now. I have come to know that the program has improved vastly over the last two years, and it might be good to join at this point in time. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The school's proximity to DC and a well-established name have already given credit to a new program. If you search for the best iSchools in the USA, then UMD is among the top 10. |
| Program Quality | 8 | My school is considered one of the best for Information Systems, because of the courses and its proximity to DC. I rated it an 8 because they still have work to do in the advanced courses area. |
| Instruction | 7 | Quality of instruction gave me a mixed feeling. Some classes were better taught than others. I rated it a 7, because not all courses were relevant or something that I wanted to learn, especially one of the core classes that I couldn't skip. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Program is comparatively easy for a Computer Science student. It was the other people who struggled. It was heavy in terms of reading, etc., if you were a working person; even if you were working part-time. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The majority of the program is hands-on learning. We have less tests and more projects for which we are graded. Sometimes few assignments/projects never made any sense, especially when they give very vague requirements. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | Most classes are in the evenings, to accommodate working people. We also have better course options during summers, which is something that is missing in other majors. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Professors are very courteous and accessible. The school is a little low on reading materials for this program, and I think it might be because the program is pretty new. |
| Social Life | 8 | I enjoyed being a part of UMD. In 2008-2009, I attended almost all sports events (mainly football and baseball). Compared to other programs, we have much less social interaction in our program, part of this being that most students are a working class group and not full-time students. |
| Placement Services | 8 | The career service in the university is pretty good and provides students with a lot of help. Unlike the Computer Science or ECE programs, iSchool has a very small career fair and only a few government companies come to recruit, which will have a very different hiring process. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The program started recently in 2003. It does not have much of an alumni network or interaction. The school connects you to a default alumni network, and most have no idea of this program. |
Johns Hopkins University • Baltimore, MD
Studying Software Engineering (completion in 1993)
• 3/28/2012
"A local state school seemed to have a better program than the larger program I was attending. "
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | If your employer pays for it and if you want more name recognition than knowledge. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Other programs at the facility are definitely ranked higher. Computer science just wasn't special there. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The school's focus is primarily medicine. I didn't view comp sci as their core, but folks viewed degrees from the school in high regard. |
| Instruction | 5 | I had more education than some of their instructors who only had bachelor's degrees. I just attended to get a diploma since my employer was paying. |
| How Difficult | 5 | None of my classes in my master's program were difficult. Time consuming, yes, but not difficult. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | ||
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | At the time I was attending, online options were just becoming available. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The school has an amazing library, that amazingly was almost all underground. Resources were not a problem. |
| Social Life | 1 | I didn't participate in anything. I was going for my masters after a normal work day. |
| Placement Services | Never utilized these services. Hope I never will in future, either. | |
| Alumni Network | 9 | Due to the school's medical program, their network is well established globally. Because of excellent visibility, most of networking through school was unrelated to my program. |
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