What are some good U.S. colleges or universities for computer science / programming?

[drhowarddrfine]

Let's see how long this story becomes.

I was working for Silicon Graphics as a system engineer. SGI re-organized and my job was eliminated. I already owned four restaurants but they were run by my general manager. However, I started looking at the books and realized what a lousy job she was doing. So I "temporaril y" took over and doubled sales in three months.

That temporary assignment lasted five years or so but I'm an engineer and not a restaurateur and dealing with those people burned me out pretty bad. So my wife wanted to take over.

I thought I'd get into graphics programming and start a business in special effects for film and tv since both were my background but part of that deal was I had to take care of my kids. So much for starting a business.

After the kids got old enough to take care of themselves, I was homeschooling them, my wife brought up the idea of having online ordering for the restaurants. I was never interested in programming for the web but, for some reason, that lit me up and the rest is more history.

OT:
For those who know what Maya software is, I was dealing with those people before the product was introduced. The software alone was $10K and the hardware would have been $20K. Nowadays you can get a free version of the software and the hardware is any PC.

I spent my first year trying to get the web site working using Windows and Microsoft software. Even had help from my wife's brother-in-law who works for a MS house and got me lots of free software. We spent far too much time trying to get all that to work and I switched to FreeBSD. Got it up and running in three months.

The Silicon Graphics building in California I worked in is now Google headquarters. I was hired by SGI as a video expert. My boss was out of Detroit. When the company re-org'd, my new boss was a JR Ewing type out of Dallas. He wanted a Fortran programmer. End of job.

[Death Slaught]

Let's see how long this story becomes.

I was working for Silicon Graphics as a system engineer. SGI re-organized and my job was eliminated. I already owned four restaurants but they were run by my general manager. However, I started looking at the books and realized what a lousy job she was doing. So I "temporaril y" took over and doubled sales in three months.

That temporary assignment lasted five years or so but I'm an engineer and not a restaurateur and dealing with those people burned me out pretty bad. So my wife wanted to take over.

I thought I'd get into graphics programming and start a business in special effects for film and tv since both were my background but part of that deal was I had to take care of my kids. So much for starting a business.

After the kids got old enough to take care of themselves, I was homeschooling them, my wife brought up the idea of having online ordering for the restaurants. I was never interested in programming for the web but, for some reason, that lit me up and the rest is more history.

OT:
For those who know what Maya software is, I was dealing with those people before the product was introduced. The software alone was $10K and the hardware would have been $20K. Nowadays you can get a free version of the software and the hardware is any PC.

I spent my first year trying to get the web site working using Windows and Microsoft software. Even had help from my wife's brother-in-law who works for a MS house and got me lots of free software. We spent far too much time trying to get all that to work and I switched to FreeBSD. Got it up and running in three months.

The Silicon Graphics building in California I worked in is now Google headquarters. I was hired by SGI as a video expert. My boss was out of Detroit. When the company re-org'd, my new boss was a JR Ewing type out of Dallas. He wanted a Fortran programmer. End of job.

Wow, that's interesting. Thank you for all of the help and information. If/when I decide on a college I'll post it. So far I've only applied to some what local places.

[tharden3]

There might be a lot of people who disagree with me, but unless you go to an Ivy League school, they don't care where your degree is from.

Something else I learned from my own experience: Taking your first two years of general education courses at an expensive University is a complete waste of money. My suggestion would be to get the gen ed classes completed at a community college (MUCH cheaper, I didn't pay for anything at my community college because of all the scholarships available) and then take your 3rd and 4th year classes at that big fancy University you have your eye on. I promise you, when you look for a job after college, the only thing they are going to look at is that you have a degree. They don't care if you transferred to a University in your third year.

The argument against that is that you might wish to be a part of University extracurricular activities on that big University campus (crew, frats, etc.). In that case, you might justify spending more money to "get the college experience." It's up to you.

Kind regards,
Tim

[tharden3]

P.S.

Employers will look for work experience if you are trying to go for a more prestigious job. Make sure that you are getting your foot in the door through internships, etc. Nobody cares if you folded clothes at the clothing boutique in the mall.

[drhowarddrfine]

Absolutely agree with tharden. My oldest went to community college down the street from us saving thousands. Fortunately, the best school in his field was also a state school just 10 miles away which also saved thousands.

No one ever, ever asked what my grades were in school and where I went to school was only a matter of curiosity and nothing more.

[karen clark]

I would recommend Stevens–Henager College for their computer programming and computer science degree. The curriculum is at par with industry standards. The college is accredited by ACCSC. Moreover, with their FastFlex program, the advantage is that you can complete your degree in a shorter duration. Their computer degree programs also prepare you for additional certifications.

[wowo]

try using this site: http://www.academyrank.com/country.p...nited%20states I found it very helpful.