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I am a college student and have family that lives in the Charleston area. Recently, I started considering transferring to a West Virginia university. I have narrowed my options to 3 choices - Marshall, WVU, and West Virginia state. I am a computer science major and have almost finished my associates degree here, however, I want to be closer to my family, so I am considering this move. I have a few questions and I hope the nice members of this board can help me.
1. My degree is very important to me, so I am wondering which one of the three universities is the most prestigious.
2. How is the job outlook for a computer science major in WV?
3. I have heard that social life in WV universities is really good. Any insights on that?
4. If anyone has experience with transferring to WV, info would be amazing (scholarships, do they accept transfer credits easily, etc.)
Any information would be appreciated, especially if it is first-hand, as I want to know as much as I can before making this decision. Thanks in advance!
I am a college student and have family that lives in the Charleston area. Recently, I started considering transferring to a West Virginia university. I have narrowed my options to 3 choices - Marshall, WVU, and West Virginia state. I am a computer science major and have almost finished my associates degree here, however, I want to be closer to my family, so I am considering this move. I have a few questions and I hope the nice members of this board can help me.
1. My degree is very important to me, so I am wondering which one of the three universities is the most prestigious.
2. How is the job outlook for a computer science major in WV?
3. I have heard that social life in WV universities is really good. Any insights on that?
4. If anyone has experience with transferring to WV, info would be amazing (scholarships, do they accept transfer credits easily, etc.)
Any information would be appreciated, especially if it is first-hand, as I want to know as much as I can before making this decision. Thanks in advance!
1. I'd rate WVU as the most prestigious, although it's not really known as a CS school. Plus, it's only a little over an hour from Pitt and (especially) Carnegie Mellon.
2. What do you want to do with your CS degree? There are no Oracles, Microsofts, Red Hats, etc. in WV that I know of. But the North Central area is doing reasonably well, as is the Eastern Panhandle. What you really need to do is figure out how to use your degree in the Marcellus Shale industry, which is booming.
3. I've heard the same, but don't have any first hand knowledge.
4. If you're transferring credits from an accredited institution, any course with a C or better "should" be accepted. But... schools can be picky. I had a student attempt to transfer an "A" in C++ to Penn State. But because PSU had a one-week module in their C++ course that covered Mathematica, and my course didn't, they wouldn't accept it as a C++ course (they did accept it as a general elective).
Scholarship info you'll do better getting directly from WVU.
WV doesn't really have any prestigious schools out side of Bethany, which is a national SLAC. Degrees from Marshall & WVU carry equal weight. WV ST most likely does as well, though it is smaller and lesser known.
In addition to what others have said, one other thing to consider is distance from your family. WV State would obviously be the closest but as stated it would also be the smallest.
Marshall would give you a larger school with more opportunity and Huntington is only about 50 minutes or so from Charleston. This would allow you to stay with it near your family.
WVU is the largest of the three but that would put you about two hours from your family.
Here is some info for Marshall that you may find useful about the computer science program and transfer information. Hope this helps!
WV doesn't really have any prestigious schools out side of Bethany, which is a national SLAC. Degrees from Marshall & WVU carry equal weight. WV ST most likely does as well, though it is smaller and lesser known.
Please, that just is not true! There are more than 3,000 accredited colleges and universities in America. WVU is in the top 160 public universities, and is moving up the list rapidly. It is the state's only Category 1 research institution (Bethany did not make the list nor did any of the other rich kids schools that offer a good education, but not any better than available at WVU and serve mostly to have kids go to school with other rich kids). I'm originally from Wheeling, and know dozens of people from Bethany.
There are many reasons a person chooses one school or another. If you are going to study a technical field like computer science, you will want the institution with the best resources and faculty available. It isn't like you're majoring in elementary education or criminal justice. The program at WVU is the only one accredited at the doctoral level, and it has far better resources available than Bethany or any other program in the state. WVU is the state's only National University, and is easily the best known school in West Virginia.
In addition, Morgantown is just a neat place to live and study. It is not as close to Charleston as some other programs, but it isn't really that far either. It's just a couple hours away.
Computer Science Schools in West Virginia
West Virginia contains 34 schools that offer computer science programs. Marshall University, the highest-ranking computer science school in WV, has a total student population of 13,776 and is the 341st highest ranked school in America.
Of the 34 computer science schools in West Virginia, only 3 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, University of Charleston comes out as the most expensive ($24,334/yr), with Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College as the lowest recorded at only $1,483/yr.
Computer Science students from West Virginia schools who go on to become computer science instructors, web developers, computer engineers, software engineers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 32,240 people working as computer science teachers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $75,860.
Also, within the computer science schools in West Virginia, the average student population is 1,951 and average student-to-faculty ratio is 15 to 1. Aside from computer science, there are 1870 total degree (or certificate) programs in the state, with 1,415 people on average applying for a school. Undergraduate tuition costs are normally around $3,827, but can vary widely depending on the type of school.
WV State is a good school. Like others said it is really small, but I think that is more of an advantage in terms of learning experience. I'm a current student at State, but will say that all three schools are fine, and you shouldn't have any trouble finding a good job in that field. The Charleston area is seeing a recent increase in Tech jobs, and North Central WV is a technology hub in our state.
Please, that just is not true! There are more than 3,000 accredited colleges and universities in America. WVU is in the top 160 public universities, and is moving up the list rapidly. It is the state's only Category 1 research institution (Bethany did not make the list nor did any of the other rich kids schools that offer a good education, but not any better than available at WVU and serve mostly to have kids go to school with other rich kids). I'm originally from Wheeling, and know dozens of people from Bethany.
There are many reasons a person chooses one school or another. If you are going to study a technical field like computer science, you will want the institution with the best resources and faculty available. It isn't like you're majoring in elementary education or criminal justice. The program at WVU is the only one accredited at the doctoral level, and it has far better resources available than Bethany or any other program in the state. WVU is the state's only National University, and is easily the best known school in West Virginia.
In addition, Morgantown is just a neat place to live and study. It is not as close to Charleston as some other programs, but it isn't really that far either. It's just a couple hours away.
Try going to anyone outside of the state and tell them that WVU is prestigious; you'll get laughed out of town. The biggest problem with WVU isn't necessarily their programs (however most of these are run of the mill), it is their lack of selectivity and their perception as a NJ/Penn fall back school.
WVU is a run of the mill state university that is greatly over shadowed by better universities around it like Pitt, Carnegie Mellon, VT, UVA, Penn St., and OSU. Throw in Maryland and the DC schools for good measure as well.
It really boils down to this:
Prestige is almost entirely based on perception, and perception is reality. WVU is not perceived by most as a prestigious institution, its perceived as a place to go if you were wait-listed to better places like UVA, W&M, C-M, ect., or if you simply could not afford to go anywhere better. Thus WVU is not prestigious to most.
PS- To be a 'flagship' state university which receives the largest share of state funding and only be in the top 160 of public universities isn't something to be proud of.
PSS- I never said that Bethany was better than WVU, I said that they are a fairly prestigious SLAC (small liberal arts college). I was never mentioning them as a potential option, just that their name does carry some academic cache outside of the state. You really cannot even compare the two because of their two completely different academic missions.
one final note- the poster sounds undergrad, thus it doesn't matter if WVU has a phd program or not. Heck unless he/she wants to teach, its not like it matters, a masters is really high enough. However if the poster is interested in attending grad school for a phd, I'd recommend that he/she look for the best program he/she can get into and not limit themselves geographically, unless there are other factors tying him/her to the region.
Try going to anyone outside of the state and tell them that WVU is prestigious; you'll get laughed out of town. The biggest problem with WVU isn't necessarily their programs (however most of these are run of the mill), it is their lack of selectivity and their perception as a NJ/Penn fall back school.
WVU is a run of the mill state university that is greatly over shadowed by better universities around it like Pitt, Carnegie Mellon, VT, UVA, Penn St., and OSU. Throw in Maryland and the DC schools for good measure as well.
It really boils down to this:
Prestige is almost entirely based on perception, and perception is reality. WVU is not perceived by most as a prestigious institution, its perceived as a place to go if you were wait-listed to better places like UVA, W&M, C-M, ect., or if you simply could not afford to go anywhere better. Thus WVU is not prestigious to most.
PS- To be a 'flagship' state university which receives the largest share of state funding and only be in the top 160 of public universities isn't something to be proud of.
PSS- I never said that Bethany was better than WVU, I said that they are a fairly prestigious SLAC (small liberal arts college). I was never mentioning them as a potential option, just that their name does carry some academic cache outside of the state. You really cannot even compare the two because of their two completely different academic missions.
one final note- the poster sounds undergrad, thus it doesn't matter if WVU has a phd program or not. Heck unless he/she wants to teach, its not like it matters, a masters is really high enough. However if the poster is interested in attending grad school for a phd, I'd recommend that he/she look for the best program he/she can get into and not limit themselves geographically, unless there are other factors tying him/her to the region.
WVU is not a public Ivy. It's a Land Grant school and elitism is not its mission. But it is a very good school and has an excellent reputation, a fact attested in that it is one of the Top 30 schools (public or private) in the country for college graduate recruiters. Our graduates consistently are offered highly competitive salaries... higher than most of our peer institutions in the region.
The poster might be an undergrad, but he/she should consider all facits of an institution's program including the total level of competence available. I'm not going to say he/she would be making a bad decision no matter which school is chosen, and I'm not one to put a whole lot of stock in "rankings", but the fact that WVU is the only one ranked by US News does say something about the renown of the program compared with others in the state.
The 160 ranking is just fine considering that West Virginia is the poorest state, offers comparitively little in the way of state subsidy, and there are many rich and powerful states with multiple public institutions. PA and OH both have five times the population as West Virginia, for example. Virginia and Maryland have twice the population. Kentucky has 1 1/2 times the population. Four of these states have multiple national universities. But our goal is not to remain at 160. We are shooting for a Top 100 ranking and making consistent strides toward that every year.
The state could assist that effort by giving WVU the level of funding appropriate for a flagship school, but due to political bullcrap continues to operate on an outmoded and inefficient model with subsidies for a dozen public institutions which were developed long before the Interstate highway system, and most of which are basically carbon copies of each other, or irrationally trying to be a carbon copy of another school.
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