Texas A&M Commerce VS. University of North Texas

[veronica7]

Originally Posted by TexasVines

this is not how it works at all.....there are specific criteria laid out already

endowment
PhDs awarded
Restricted Research Expenditures
member of NRL or PBK

and some others

any or all of the universities can reach the goal......there is also not a massive amount of money that will come from this there is already specific amounts out there to be obtained depending on criteria met with the majority of the money available after most of the criteria (and a few specific ones) are met

this also has little to do with business programs specifically since business programs are not usually research oriented at most universities and there are few grants available for most areas of business research

the reason that TAMU-C is not in the mix is because they offer only a few PhDs the are mostly an undergrad and masters level university

UNT is currently in dead last in most of the criteria to obtain the extra funding available and they are specifically last in several of the areas that MUST be met before additional funding is obtained

UTD is well ahead of the others in the metromess in the goals and criteria needed for additional funding, but still behind UH and TTU in most of those criteria

from the latest info available UH, TTU..UTD........UTA, UTSA....UNT UTEP would probably be about the order of where each stands with all the last 4 having many numerous, yet different, areas they need to improve upon and IMO several of those areas will be much easier for some to improve upon than others

as for the TAMU-C VS. UNT.......I had a horrible experience at UNT and I would not recommend it to anyone for anything other than music or basic education degrees, but I believe they will have a much broader department, their accounting program will be held in higher regard, and they will have slightly more name recognition

the college of business is better run than the program I was in at UNT (computer science) and they are getting a new building

at the same time I would imagine if you picked the wrong field at either university you would be disappointed in the worth of a masters in business or an MBA from either of them and yet if you picked the right field at either school, applied yourself, made a name with your professors, looked for in school QUALITY experience, and made the grades you would have a degree of the same worth form either school

I would narrow the field of study (accounting, BCIS, ect) look at the number of professors in that department at each school, try and meet several of them, visit the schools, look at the class sizes, and facilities, and choose the one where you feel you can make the best grades, make the biggest name for yourself, and take advantage of the most internships ect.

based on my experience there UNT is pretty close to a degree factory in most areas....but they are larger and better known (though probably only slightly outside the metromess) and that might be a slight edge if you feel all things are equal

From this quote it looks like you are or were a computer science major at UNT. Did you eventually go to Commerce for computer science?

Which University Commerce or UNT would you recommend for computer science and why?

Graduation rate?
Employment rate for C.S.? Sincerely appreciate your and all advice!

[TexasVines]

Originally Posted by veronica7

From this quote it looks like you are or were a computer science major at UNT. Did you eventually go to Commerce for computer science?

Which University Commerce or UNT would you recommend for computer science and why?

Graduation rate?
Employment rate for C.S.? Sincerely appreciate your and all advice!

I have not been a student at TAMU-Commerce at all, but I have been a student at several other universities in Texas and yes I was a CS student at UNT

I would NOT recommend the CS program at UNT at all what so ever

1. (this was not the case while I was there) but the CS department is located at the "research park" up off of highway 380 so it is NOT located with the main campus and it is NOT possible to walk or ride a bike (unless you have hours) between the research park and the main campus.....the bus system at UNT is crap as well so unless you are taking specifically CS classes and not taking other core courses or courses towards a minor you will be taking classes split between two different locations

that is a JOKE it is a pathetic way to run a university.....the parking at UNT is terrible (parking at many universities is terrible, but it is as bad or worse than anywhere at UNT) so if you are taking CS classes at NTDP (North Texas Discovery Park) and classes at the main campus you will have a terrible time dealing with parking because there is a massive parking issue on the main campus and the split campuses prevents you from doing what I would recommend to ANY college student at ANY university and that is buck up and pay the price to rent well within walking or bike riding distance from campus and don't deal with the parking issues......how would that work with a split campus.....it WON'T

2. the CS department at UNT specializes in faculty turnover, poor quality (and down right incompetent) adjunct and temp faculty, over loaded classes, and the inability to get needed classes to graduate....just about every competent faculty member they get that teaches the 100-300 level classes leaves pretty quickly to get the hell away from the dysfunction

3. the CS department (and the college of engineering in general at UNT) struggles with ABET accreditation issues...I will be the first to say that an ABET accreditation for a CS degree is not a true NEED, but if you are going to go through the exercise of obtaining it then you should strive to maintain it instead of letting faculty quantity and quality fall to the level that you are placed on ABET accreditation probation

ABET accreditation is MUCH more important for other engineering degrees because it is needed to help spped the advancement to take the EIT (engineering in training) test and then to become a PE (a licensed professional engineer)......the UNT engineering college struggles greatly with obtaining ABET accreditation for their various departments and it has even left some graduates with degrees that do not have the value they should hold because ABET accreditation was not obtained in time for that group of graduates to state to their potential employers that they graduated from an ABET accredited program

the entire college of engineering is under funded, ignored, treated as an after thought, loses quality faculty regularly, and hires incompetent faculty on an adjunct and temp basis to try and fill the holes

I would look at the UTD CS program first, UTA next, SMU, TCU, TAMU-Commerce, and then TWU before I would even consider the UNT CS department.....it is a flat JOKE

[veronica7]

Thank you for your feedback. It's good to know that ABET is not a neccesity for C.S. Majors.

I heard UTA struggles with TAs and professors who have difficulty communicating with students.

I think UTD is too high in standards. My SAT in Math was 640 and my math classes at Collin College have not been the greatest. However, I am passionate about wanting to be a C.S. major and career.

Thanks for your advice.

[TexasVines]

Originally Posted by veronica7

Thank you for your feedback. It's good to know that ABET is not a neccesity for C.S. Majors.

I heard UTA struggles with TAs and professors who have difficulty communicating with students.

I think UTD is too high in standards. My SAT in Math was 640 and my math classes at Collin College have not been the greatest. However, I am passionate about wanting to be a C.S. major and career.

Thanks for your advice.

it will be the nature of the beast that CS departments especially at larger universities have TAs and professors that struggle with "Engrish"......it is still better to have ones that actually know their subject matter and are qualified to teach it even with language difficulties VS ones that have the language difficulties are ARE NOT qualified to teach much of anything much less CS classes

as for transferring into UTD generally once you become a transfer student your SAT scores are no longer relevant and the transfer guide for UTD says a student with 42+ hours that has taken a particular group of classes (core courses like English ect.) only needs a 2.5 GPA to transfer in

Admission Process For Transfer Students - UT Dallas

click on the transfer guide to the right......here is my advice......1. if you do not have a 2.5 GPA as of now you will probably struggle with CS at any university and 2. if you are still set on CS and have decided UTD is where you want to be then the great thing about a 2.5 GPA requirement with only a small group of specific courses needed within those 42+ hours is you can always take some EASY courses that you know you will make an A in to boost your GPA and wait until your GPA is above a 2.5 to transfer in.....of course you will want to go IN PERSON to the UTD admissions office and talk to someone and specifically ask them if that will work and ask them if there is a higher GPA required if you reach another credit hour bench mark like 60 transfer hours.......generally the admissions office might want to try and beat around the bush at first, but if you make sure that you have 100% of the admissions requirements printed out and in your hot little hand to show them you know what the WRITTEN requirements are they will break down and tell you yes you can do something to bump your GPA up and here is what you need to do......make sure they know you are looking at a specific degree program as well so there are no special requirements for it and make sure you get everything IN WRITING and document who you talked to

you can also talk to the CS advisers when it is a slow time for them (generally in the middle of a semester when students are not trying to register for classes) because department advisers sometimes just want some warm bodies because that is how their specific department will have more students and get more funding.....again get it in writing and make sure you have your info and plan in hand when you approach them

talk to the university admissions at first then the CS if you want to or feel you need to (you probably should)

if you have ANY chance at all of getting a CS degree from anywhere then a 2.5 GPA with 42+ community college hours should not be an issue for you...if you farted around at first before getting serious then you need to take more classes (try and take as many as possible that transfer in as core courses and electives to your chosen university) and make sure there are no higher requirements (like a 2.75 gpa for those with 60+ credit hours) and prove to yourself and your chosen university that you are now a serious student and then transfer

my advice stands very firm on the order of universities to choose from above

[North texan]

UNT big time.....

[Ag77845]

Originally Posted by veronica7

Thank you for your feedback. It's good to know that ABET is not a neccesity for C.S. Majors.

I heard UTA struggles with TAs and professors who have difficulty communicating with students.

I think UTD is too high in standards. My SAT in Math was 640 and my math classes at Collin College have not been the greatest. However, I am passionate about wanting to be a C.S. major and career.

Thanks for your advice.

I went to Texas A&M college station, and I have to say some professors and TAs (especially TAs) in big public research universities don't teach well. Many of them are great researchers but not good instructors who are proficient in English.