Is UVA a poor choice for engineering? Specifically CS?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yes, UVA is a terrible, terrible choice for CS and engineering. Please do not apply. Every year tons of Virginia kids get rejected and pay double to attend other programs. Thank you for dissing the program so that others may face better admission odds.

They can go to VT, W&M, or even GMU, and the outcome would be the same if rejected by UVA and money is an issue.

…..and that’s the point. UVA is not a leader in STEM disciplines. It’s not that it is a poor choice, its just there just are many better programs throughout the US. Instate its probably your best best, along with VT.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm an executive in a tech department at a big firm. The focus for us is not "where did you get your degree" but "how can you contribute". A CS degree is a big plus, of course, but the institution where you received it matters little. Keep in mind that more than half of our workforce got their degrees outside of the US.

+1. It took me three years after my sub-par UVA Eng. BSCS degree to catch up and be an equal contributor.

I'm in no way related to UVA, but I suspect the "3 years to catch up" is a reflection of you rather than the school TBH. I know kids who graduated in 3 to 3.5 years that are doing extremely well.

+1 My niece's boyfriend is already in 6 figures just 4 years out of UVa engineering. There's nothing wrong with the program.

Other top 50 schools' grads would start with 6 figures.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm an executive in a tech department at a big firm. The focus for us is not "where did you get your degree" but "how can you contribute". A CS degree is a big plus, of course, but the institution where you received it matters little. Keep in mind that more than half of our workforce got their degrees outside of the US.

+1. It took me three years after my sub-par UVA Eng. BSCS degree to catch up and be an equal contributor.

I'm in no way related to UVA, but I suspect the "3 years to catch up" is a reflection of you rather than the school TBH. I know kids who graduated in 3 to 3.5 years that are doing extremely well.

+1 My niece's boyfriend is already in 6 figures just 4 years out of UVa engineering. There's nothing wrong with the program.

There are several UVA CS kids that start off well into the six figures out of college.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Computer Science is not engineering, OP. It's not an engineering discipline.

Do not listen to this poster. Most colleges put CS under the school of engineering. So yes, it is an engineering discipline.

At UVa, the BACS in the College is a WAY BETTER option than the $h!t for brains dept in the E-school. Yes, most colleges consider Comp Sci as Software Engineering, but if the department is weak, enroll in a better dept and just do all the CS electives, join a coding academy, or do MIT's OCW and find some buddies to practice pair programming, code reviews, team work, etc.

How do you then participate in job fairs companies looking for CS majors participate in?

Show up and hand in your resume with a github portfolio.

This. I have a CS degree from UVa. Never had a problem finding a job. Tech folks are much less hung up on where you went to school and much more hung up on what you actually know and can do. I choose UVa over tech schools because I wanted a diverse school academically & socially and wanted options in case.

+1 Fellow UVA E-school CS alum. The overall school experience matters as well. The education is a bit cookie-cutter, meaning it offers a very traditional theoretical curriculum. You could find similar course progression at most schools that are not the MITs or the CMUs of the world. But I don't regret my experience as it gave me a solid engineering foundation with enough CS to not ever needing to go back for a masters.

You don’t have to go to the MIT’s or CMU’s of the world to get a strong STEM education. Unfortunately, the UVA’s of the world really don’t provide it.

HAHA. I know a UVA kid now doing a PhD in electrical engineering at Princeton.

There are always outliers. UVA is not know for STEM. This is nothing new.

Not being known for something doesn't mean you're weak at it! MIT isn't known for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Do you think that means its graduates won't find good jobs?

UVa is strong across the board.

Stanford is strong across the board. UVA is not.