[H-GEN] Uni Courses
Mark Suter
mark at zwitterion.humbug.org.au
Tue Jul 13 03:23:34 EDT 1999
(Note reply-to: being general at humbug.org.au vs Mark Suter <mark at zwitterion.humbug.org.au>)
On Monday, Conor Cunningham wrote as follows.
CC> Well, tis that time of year when folks like myself have to fill in those
CC> QTAC forms. I was wondering if anyone who goes/has been to UQ or QUT
CC> studying IT associated subjects would be prepared to give me their
CC> oppinion on course and which UNI they think is best. If you could please
CC> reply to me directly at cunningham at uq.net.au as to avoid clogging up the
CC> list with info people probably dont wont to see
The day after, Raymond Smith wrote as follows.
RS> This is somewhat of a holy war issue on the HUMBUG lists -- hence the
RS> deafening silence. But you do deserve an answer. My background: UQ
RS> BSc(CompSci) student been working for CiTR for two years now. I entered
RS> CiTR along with a QUT graduate so I have some basis for comparison.
Now that Raymond has responded, I now feel safer in jumping in (yes,
to the list). Please note that where I've not responded to Raymond,
I have nothing worthwile to add - I detest the, "me too!"
RS> Summary: either is fine.
I wouldn't disagree; however, I feel that for a given person, one may
be better. I certainly feel that UQ was the best for me - BSc Hons
(Comp Sci) 1997.
For the "completely unbiased academic" view, the following sites may
be of use :-)
http://www.uq.edu.au/about/profile/
http://www.qut.edu.au/draa/10-150/
QUT seems to have a better site for prospective students, although
UQ isn't without a website, as follows.
http://www.qut.edu.au/prospect.html
http://www.qut.edu.au/pubs/apply/apply_ug_qtac.html
http://www.uq.edu.au/student/getting-in/admission/undergraduate.html
RS> UQ has more of a research focus, and a theory feel to its subjects. It
RS> also has had poorer equipment, but better Internet access. It has a much
RS> better library, and a nicer campus than Gardens Point. It also has many
RS> more electives, especially if you go the BSc/BA path. If you want a well
RS> rounded education, and want to study many different things, UQ is great.
UQ is one of the "great" Universities and this generally means that it
has more of everything. For example, you can do many more courses at
UQ than at QUT. Of course, this is only quantity :-)
The campus *is* much better at UQ. QUT has three campuses, UQ has
one campus with some satellite campuses. As always, YMMV.
RS> QUT is the university for the real world. Its subjects tend to be more
RS> practical. You will learn about ow TCP/IP stacks work. You do get much
RS> more hands on experience. QUT also offers an industry experience for
RS> credit points program. If you like hands on, practice QUT is great. Its
RS> courses are also more structured than UQ qith much more specialisation.
If you want to just do the course and be "ready" for a given job,
then UQ is not for you. For a job like my present one, Systems
Administrator, there isn't a "set course" and I'd advocate the more
general and theoretical UQ experience. Of course, this requires that
a lot of experience be obtained outside the actual degree :-)
That said, it's all too easy to go through UQ without ever having
written a usefull bit of code or installed an OS. In a certain way,
it's like Unix, a lot of choice and power - make of it what you will.
RS> What about employment? On paper UQ graduates are employed at a faster rate
RS> than QUT graduates, but anecdotal evidence suggests that many small
RS> software firms tend to hire first from QUT for your 'hands on value'. In
RS> practice, you learn as much in your first year of work as you do in three
RS> years of undergrad and a degree is really only a right of passage to your
RS> first job.
If the individual isn't interested in ongoing learning, then that
initial advantage will not last. QUT is geared, in part, to make you
"ready" for that first year.
RS> My QUT friend and I have noticed no long term effect from choosing QUT or
RS> UQ. He was a little faster coding starting off, and I knew a little more
RS> about businsess process and design. That was aboput it. These days we are
RS> equivalent.
This is more a comment about the both of you and not really about
the courses. For a given group of people, some of them will get more
from UQ that QUT, and some of them vice versa. For a smaller set,
they will get what *they* want from any half-decent course.
RS> The choice between UQ or QUT depends on what _you_ want from an education.
RS> The two universities do have different academic cultures and lifestyles
RS> and you need to choose the one that best matches you.
RS> (Apologies to Griffith Uni students and Alumni, I can't comment on your
RS> university although it does seem to be a cross between QUT's personality
RS> and UQ's campuse setting.)
Griffith doesn't appear to be in direct "competition" with UQ or QUT
and has chosen to take a different path and do that better than either
of the other two.
QUT is probably a more consistent experience; however, UQ has the
potential to be a richer experience. It is ultimately up to the
individual student to define what their experience will be.
Know what you expect - know thyself. Please, if something interests
you then find the time to chase it down. I understand that you wont
always be able to indulge yourself; however, if you never indulge
then you are wasting the "place of light and learning"[1] that you
are attending.
Always question what you are told.
Yours sincerely,
-- Mark John Suter | I know that you believe you understand
suter at humbug.org.au | what you think I said, but I am not sure
PGP encryption is OK | you realise that what you heard is not
Ph: +61 4 1162 2316 | what I meant. anonymous
[1] This is from a book about UQ. I think that it is the subtitle.
Article 19: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
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