UCF and UTK are both public universities. They are both classified as Research 1. And UTK is the flagship campus at Tennessee. However, UCF is in Florida and is rising. Specifically, i look at computer science program at engineering schools. Can anyone have any comments regarding the overall and CS academic reputation about the two schools? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
U of Central Florida was originally called “Florida Tech” up through 1978. It was always focused on technology based education. It has grown to be one of the largest public schools in the nation and added a medical school recently.
UTK is near OakRidge National Labs and maybe a tad stronger in CS, though due to many joint programs, supercomputer research, physics, EE and materials science research that overlaps Oakridge’s mission, as a Department of Energy Lab.
@Coloradomama So, in your mind, it is difficult to rank the two universities, right? But, when people are talking about Florida public universities, UF and FSU are tier 1, UCF, USF might be tier 2 in Florida. Can we also compare and rank UCF and UTK in a way like that?
I’m not a big Orlando fan, but all the student I know who attend UCF love it. Its engineering programs are very innovative and get a lot of press. A few years ago they had a line a mile long for kids to get artificial hands made on 3D printers. Very cool.
You need to look at the things that will make a school a good fit for YOU. Basketball? UK. Football? UCF. Being near the ocean? Prefer a ‘4 seasons’ climate? Travel to either school? Size? I think you can have a similar educational experience at either school.
@twoinanddone I mainly look at academic/public reputation first, and then location/life. This is because if one is from a reputable university, it is easier to find a job.
Some of that tiering is directly related to age of the university. Remember that UF and Florida State are older schools.
Orlando has plenty to do and UCF is on the east side, closer to really nice biking in Seminole County, the east coast Atlantic side beaches, and easy to get to other nice destinations like St. Augustine, the oldest city in Florida with nice beaches, and there is a whole village of housing and restaurants geared to students near Ovieto and UCF.
When you are at UCF is does not feel at all close to Disney World, which is on the far SW side of Orlando. Orlando as a city is an amazing melting pot, with SE Asian immigrants, Cubans, African Americans, and many Caribbean residents now, as well as the old Florida Crackers!
I think there is more to do in Orlando versus Knoxville and the UCF campus is prettier, but I understand you are looking for more beefy evidence of which CS program is better.
Try this, compare the class requirements of each program, and see if they are similar. How much engineering is required? How much humanities and social sciences, and how many math and CS classes? Look at the list of CS professors at each college and compare their research interests. So if say cybersecurity might be of interest, is
there a specialist in that subfield? Are there special research consortiums that interest you at one or the other?
@Coloradomama Yes, so from location perspective, Orlando (mid-size, urban, affordable prices, a lot of fun places) >> Knoxville.
UT Knoxville offers an EECS department, and their website is easier to figure out than UCF, for what types of degrees and specializations are available.
https://www.eecs.utk.edu/academics/undergraduate/
UCF offers faculty 'clusters" in bioinformatics, cybersecurity and other non CS related fields.
https://www.ucf.edu/faculty/faculty-research-clusters/
I don’t know how that impacts undergraduates though, so a visit might be helpful.
I am admittedly a UTK homer, but the Great Smoky Mountain National park is in our backyard. I wouldn’t say Orlando is the better location. UTK has done a great job of updating everything in the last decade.
As far as school prestige goes, don’t trick yourself into thinking that one will open more doors than the other. They are both good schools.
A piece of advice, go where it fits you and get an internship. It will take you a lot farther than school prestige.
@WaskDremin: so, they are in the same rank?
@JackFoo I’m not @WasIDremin but yes, they are the same tier. While most rankings are presented as ordered numerically, the reality is that many schools are of similar qualities. Anyone telling you there’s a significant difference between the two will have to split quite a few hairs.
As far as the CS programs go they both seem to check out. I would note that UTK offering an EECS department actually shows a less mature CS program generally, as CS departments tend to become their own separate areas over time, often becoming their own colleges entirely at the top schools. I wouldn’t put much stock into that though as the CS degree they offer in terms of classes is very balanced and CS focused judging off the class names and requirements outside of CS classes. You’ll get more or less an identical CS educations from both. The only difference is that there is significantly more CS research at UCF if that is of interest.
I’d basically boil this down to:
- What's the better fit?
- Do I care enough about advanced CS research to give UCF any sort of boost, and if so, how much?
So, it seems the CS reputation in UCF is slightly better that of UTK