My son has been accepted to both and can’t decide.
- Are the two programs equivalent?
- If you got accepted into both what helped you decide?
- Are there any major differences we should know about?
Thanx!
UCF. I know someone who is a recruiter in the field. That’s pretty much all I know, but he says UCF is the best and they do their primary recruiting there. (Doesn’t mean you can’t get a good computer science education elsewhere if you like the school or have other reasons for going elsewhere) FWIW.
Recruiters go to UCF because of the number of students. They’re the biggest university in the state. They can get more applicants in a day than at FSU. Many tech companies also have offices in Orlando.
While neither school is particularly well known for CS, FSU’s CS grad program ranks higher than UCF’s in US News. FSU is rated a 2.3 and UCF is rated a 2.2.
Thank-you trish and lol!
On the topic of job fairs - universities love to brag about job fairs, but most people walk away empty handed at them. Hundreds of students line up for a small number of jobs. The recruiters at career fairs also go to many other universities to hire for the same positions. Hundreds if not thousands of people are competing for the same position.
The people who get hired from job fairs are the ones who stand out from the crowd like people who did an internship. If you only have a degree and no experience like most students, you’re most likely going to get your first job by applying online.
UCF CS is well known among employers as they have done well in national competitions for many years. Their Cyber defense teams is well recruited. These are the tip top students that are catching the recruiters attention.
The Orlando area, especially the DoD contractors around the Research Park, offer a lot of internships for good CS students, not just the tip top. With a big school like UCF there are a lot of opportunities, but you need to stick out.