I am planning to enrol in the university soon and I planned to take up Computer Science.

The problem I find is that there are a lot of universities in the world and I do not know which one of them is a good university. As taking up a course in a foreign university is costly, it is of utmost importance to me to select a good university.

Can anyone suggest any university that is good in Computer Science or Computing? I would also like very much to know how a good university conducts its course. How are their courses structured?

I have received complaints from my peers that the way some universities conduct their courses are ridiculous. It seems some universities over emphasised on programming in their assignments.

For example, a friend of mine took Expert Systems in his university. He feels by right the students should be given more opportunities to do research on it and understand the subject. However, the students in his university was given a programming assignment instead. To compound the matter, the assignment was a complicated, programming assignment where he had to create an expert system from scratch. The university also never gave them a reading lists or a reference book for the subject, but only power points notes for the subject.

In another case involving another student I knew, she complained that in her subject Programming and Algorithm, there was a major change in the language used for the subject. It was previously Java, but when she took the subject, they changed it to C. The lecturer also added a whole new topic to the subject - Metrices. The girl felt this was too major a change for the subject. Besides, isn't Metrices more suited for Computer Networks? So, why must they use it for a programming subject?

Another complaint some of these students spoke of is the neccessity for them to pass their overall assignments in order to pass their subjects. They also felt that programming is a very precarious issue. All it needs is one mistake and the whole program crashes. This will make the student fail the assignment or get low marks. Hence, all is needed is one small mistake, the programs crash and the student will fail his subject. Because of this, students waste precious time doing their assignments, instead of using their time for more research. So, the end result was that students in these universities hardly do research and learn anything but waste time doing programming assignments.

A friend of mine also told me in spite of their shortcomings, the staff of his department are very arrogant and insists their university is the best in spite of the fact it was a poor second. A lecturer in his department also chose only to speak to certain students he likes and ignore the rest, even when some of the rest had approached him for assistance. Another arrogant lecturer who was in charger of the school's computer networks refused to see him and attend to him even though his account with the school computer was down. He was left standing outside the lecturer's room for half an hour before another lecturer saw him and told the lecturer his problem.

Hence, I would like to ask, how should a university, especially a good university, conduct its courses? Is it all programming? Must they also pass their assignments in order to pass their subject? Should lecturers be forcoming in helping the student in their work?

For example, how should a university teach its Expert System course? Should there be a major programming assignment in it? Must students pass the assignments. Likewise, what software should a university used for its graphical programming? Is 3D Studio Max suitable?

Can someone tell me, in detail, how a good university conducts its courses?

I am very worried. I would really want to choose a good university to get a good start in establishing myself. It seems not all universities are equal and some are just awful

Thank you.

Clough

I am glad that you are asking questions of others who have received instruction in computer science.

There may be people on this site who are well-versed in computer science and who have gone to a university where the educational process pleased them. If there are such people here, then I hope that they will answer your questions.

Please remember, that it is not the teacher who determines how good a student you are. It is the student who makes the difference. A teacher only "lights the fire" to motivate students and to guide them. Perfect practice by the student in the knowledge of what he or she is trying to learn is of the utmost importance. In any university, you will find good and bad teachers. Sometimes, in order to achieve your goal, then you must just put up with the idiosyncrasies of certain professors.

You might want to try the following link for more information concerning universities.

university computer science - Google Search