Does it matter where you get your CS degree from?

felinu · 10-12-2012, 02:30 PM

I'm looking at Oregon State University (public research university) and Lewis & Clark College (small, private liberal arts). OSU is ABET accredited and L&C is not.

I'm not exactly sure what I want to major in, but I want to have good job prospects. I'm interested in Computer Science, but I don't know anything about programming.

Anyway, how much does it matter where you get your CS degree from? Does getting it from an accredited university open more doors for you, career-wise?

PCHope · 10-12-2012, 02:48 PM

It does matter to certain degree where one gets the computer science degree:

1. The truly top programs, such as cmu, MIT, Stanford, etc.
(some gap, particularly for the hottest companies)
2. Other ABET accredited programs.
(large gap)
3. Not accredited programs.

ucbalumnus · 10-12-2012, 04:48 PM

Strictly speaking, ABET accreditation in CS matters only in a few niche areas like patent law.

However, it can serve as a good baseline of quality without having to do a detailed individual evaluation of the courses and curricula yourself. Degree programs without ABET accreditation can be very good (e.g. Stanford) or rather limited (e.g. Amherst).

Look for the following typical upper division CS courses in the course catalog and schedule:

algorithms and complexity
theory of computation
operating systems
networks
databases
software engineering
compilers
security
digital design and systems
computer architecture
electives like graphics, artificial intelligence, user interfaces, etc. based on your interest

jwxie · 10-15-2012, 02:25 AM

Certainly it does. I went to FB hackathon last month and they didn't remember my school name even though we went there. Their recruiters only remembered Cornell, Columbia, NYU and Stony Brooks.
It does matter because of alumni network. If you see Google recruiting at Stanford, you wouldn't be suprised. But if Google started recruiting people at a community college for their software engineering team, you'd be "O_o".

It does, whether it's Google or your local web design firm. In general, you want to be familar with your basic CS (algorithm, data structure, OS, complexity, database, and security). You want to be familiar with basic tools like how to debug and how to write tests. You want to get a job at top companies than you better do things that they find useful. They don't need another engineers who can implement a Red-Black Tree without looking up an algorithm text book. They don't.

They need people with special skill. If you are a javascript lover and you can write amazing things with javascript (inside out), you will probably have a chance with the Chrome team. If you work on distributed system or provisioning system, you probably will have a chance with their site availability engineering groups.

Stay chill, explore possibility at your school and go out there to find things to do. Maybe contribute to an open-source project you like. You should invest time looking around on the web or bugging your friends or professors and find out what they are working on. They may become your life savers. My friend introduced me to this lab and I love what they do.

sumzup · 10-15-2012, 02:59 AM

Quote:

They don't need another engineers who can implement a Red-Black Tree without looking up an algorithm text book. They don't.

You do, however, need to be able to pass coding interviews involving heavy use of algorithms and data structures (perhaps not red-black trees, but still).

terenc · 10-15-2012, 05:26 AM

On the flip side, you have TONS of people in Silicon Valley who went to no-name schools or never even attended school (not even dropped out) and self-taught themselves everything. The tech industry is very meritocratic, and what matters is your technical ability. That being said, going to a top school means having more connections, which always helps.