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 Western Governors University, Utah Valley State, Dixie State, and Salt Lake 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 University of Utah, Utah State, Southern Utah University, and Westminster College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Westminster College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Davis Applied Technology College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Western Governors University, Brigham Young, Westminster College, and College of Eastern Utah.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of College of Eastern Utah, Westminster College, Utah State, and University of Utah.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Brigham Young, Westminster College, and University of Utah.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Western Governors University.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Utah State, Westminster College, College of Eastern Utah, and University of Utah.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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BYU • Provo, UT
Studying Electronics Technology (completion in 1984)
• 8/30/2011
"I was very pleased by the majority of the professors, but a few really negative experiences made a bad impression. The campus atmosphere is pleasant and people are great."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The good professors are really good, with big name experience. There are many career related companies in the area who hire a lot of graduates as well as undergraduates. And, as I said before, the environment is great! |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I am not familiar with the schools reputation. However, most people I associate with went to this school. |
| Program Quality | 8 | The program is challenging and interesting. But some courses discourage students with advanced knowledge. |
| Instruction | 7 | Many teachers are very qualified through industry experience. Some teachers just present material and let assistants do all the grading. |
| How Difficult | 8 | The schedule is very heavy with many courses requiring labs in addition to class and homework time. Many professors expect some self-teaching in order to master the subjects. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It seems pretty well balanced. There is enough theory taught, and there are plenty of practical assignments. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | The school is a day school, and upper level classes often have only one section. Some night classes are offered, but the selection is severely limited. Home study courses related to my area of interest are not available at all. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | There are large computer labs available to the general student body. Classrooms are large, clean, and well equipped with media podiums (computers, projectors, etc.). The library is enormous and has several thousands of books in my area of interest. Most professors encourage student visits for support, as well as having assistants and tutors. |
| Social Life | 9 | Good sports team. Lots of social activities such as dances concerts, and theater. |
| Placement Services | 6 | Professors referred me to employers. The counseling center had several job notices posted. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I am unable to comment on this aspect of the school. I have never attempted to get involved in the network despite several contacts. |
Utah State University • Logan, UT
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2014)
• 1/16/2012
"A friendly learning environment with solid programs. Not too big, and not too expensive!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It's a fun place to be if you want to avoid a very big university, but still have a solid Computer Science program. I might transfer to a big engineering school or something, but it's at least a fantastic place to start. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | At it's heart an agricultural school, but it's hard to go wrong for CS in Utah. They have a very well-developed program and great staff in their CS department. |
| Program Quality | 9 | Fantastic CS program, good classes. Just starting out on a degree after spending a couple of years in the field, and even though I'm currently taking entry level courses, I'm having a blast. |
| Instruction | 8 | Very good lectures so far, with professors and instructors keeping close tabs on the feedback of their students. Information is very relevant to the field, and presented well. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The workload for CS classes isn't negligible, with frequent reading, worksheets, programming projects, etc. Completely appropriate, but challenging at times. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | So far there's been a solid emphasis on getting hands on experience, which is fairly critical for a CS program in my opinion. Plenty of programming projects and lab experience. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | It's not a huge school, so for many classes there's only going to be one or two sessions, and they'll both be during the week in the morning or afternoon. There are certainly online options, though, as well as night options for classes with more than a few sections. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Very friendly atmosphere, with readily accessible computer labs, space to study, and easy access to professors. Additional support and tutoring is available for a good portion of the classes, especially the more difficult general education courses. |
| Social Life | 8 | There's certainly a fair bit of school spirit. We have a fairly good basket ball team right now, along with somewhat frequent social events. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I haven't used their services aside from the student job boards. I've certainly heard good things, though. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | Still attending the school, haven't participated in anything alumni related yet. However, I've found everyone I've talked to in student services to be very helpful and friendly. |
University Of Utah • Salt Lake City, UT
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2006)
• 2/4/2012
"I don't regret going to the U of U. It is the flagship state college in Utah."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The University of Utah gave me a strong foundation in Computer Science and software development that has helped me be successful in the marketplace. I feel like I learned a lot and enjoyed my time as a student there. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | I have a limited exposure to other school's computer science programs. Most of what I know first hand is from the people that I work with, and it seems the University of Utah comes out on top compared to other schools. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The University of Utah has an excellent Computer Science program. They excel especially with things like Computer Graphics. |
| Instruction | 6 | I feel like I entered the job market with the skills I needed to succeed. The evidence of this is shown when each year I get a raise that is significantly higher than that of my peers at the company I work for. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The Computer Science program at the U of U is probably about average difficulty overall. I went out of my way to take some of the more challenging classes because I was trying to dual major in computer science and computer engineering (although I never finished the computer engineering part). During my last two semesters I even took a few Masters level classes. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It is a research school, so they were frequently very heavy on the the Theory. This was probably partially balanced out with all of the hands on labs that were attached to many of the classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | At the time I was going to the U of U I was a traditional student who could attend classes at any time during the day. If I were to try to go back now while working a full time job, it would be difficult because they offer few classes in the evenings and weekends, and I don't know of any online classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | They recently built a new building for the School of Computing and the College of Engineering. Before this facility was built, they were average, but now they have much better space for computer labs. I was always able to get in touch with the professors when I needed to. |
| Social Life | I was not very social when going to college. There were plenty of events going on, but I never went to any of the football games. | |
| Placement Services | 5 | I did not take advantage of the school's Job Placement and career services so I don't really know. I got my current job through my own personal network and it was lined up well before graduation. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I am only slightly involved with the University of Utah's alumni network. My involvement is mostly through the LinkedIn alumni group for the school. |
University Of Utah • Salt Lake City, UT
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2011)
• 3/16/2012
"I'm very satisfied with my time at the U of U. I think it prepared me to be a good problem solver and focused my mind to be a good programmer."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The U of U has a great reputation and getting a CS degree from there looks good on any resume. In addition, the resources are foremost in the region. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The University of Utah has a really good reputation for CS. We students often talked about how one of the first nodes of the Internet was at the U. |
| Program Quality | 8 | The U of U is a good school for computer science and has a lot of famous CS alumni. I always felt like it had the resources for me to properly pursue my studies. However, I don't think it gave enough proper connection between students and faculty. |
| Instruction | 7 | I feel very well-versed in CS theory and how to be a good problem-solver. However, there were only a couple classes that dealt with the realities of working in the industry and they were only half-hearted. |
| How Difficult | 4 | I never felt particularly challenged by my workload. Most of the time the programming work was straightforward. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The CS program at the U of U disdained lots of bookwork. Most of the time we were doing programming projects that were very hands-on. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | The U of U has classes at lots of hours, and many online courses. I never had to worry about being limited by difficulties in my schedule. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The U of U has a large number of great computer labs, robotics workshops, and libraries. I participated as a tutor and the U's tutoring services were substantial. |
| Social Life | 3 | There was very little social experience on campus. There were only a few social campus gatherings, and with many students commuting or attending part-time there wasn't a sense of social unity. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I personally didn't use the U of U's job services after graduation. However, while I attended I was able to find profitable and educational fellowships. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I was able to do some networking with alumni through some of the faculty and part-time jobs. However, the networking that got me my first post-college job was completely unrelated. |
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