Although management, economics and law remain in the “top” areas of training at the university for many years, recently the prestige of IT specialties has also grown markedly. The question arises for applicants and their parents which university to apply to и for what specialty?
Is a higher education in IT really necessary?
I don’t even want to raise this topic - so many copies have been broken on this issue in the debates in the professional community. But still, I note that there are areas where the presence of a “tower” is either mandatory or provides additional benefits: working as an engineer (designing for telecoms, data centers, etc.), working for the state. enterprises, studying Machine Learning, moving abroad, entering the MBA program, etc.
On the other hand, if you go to 62% programmer vacancies do not require higher education, but — 61%. And many IT specialists have non-core education - this is a fact.
But since we are here, we will assume that the option to act has been chosen.
Russia or abroad?
Fact: domestic education is going through hard times, and many foreign universities (for example, German, French, Scandinavian) offer free or almost free higher education in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies. There are options for teaching in English. This is a real chance to move and stay to work in the "first world".
Specific conditions vary from country to country. The main obstacles for the applicant may be poor knowledge of foreign languages and the inability to pay for (expensive) accommodation.
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to study abroad. Many success stories have already been collected in the local hubs и .
Further we will talk only about Russian realities.
Choosing a university
In 2018, according to the Yandex Atlas in Russia 344 The university accepted applicants in the direction of "Informatics and Computer Engineering". But not all universities are equally useful.
First of all, you need to decide for yourself the main questions: are you ready to move to another city / region? Does the university have a hostel? Do we need a “military department” (since 2019, “military training center”)? This will greatly reduce the number of options.
Studying university rankings
Ratings are far from an absolute truth, because there is simply no unambiguous methodology for determining the quality of education. In addition, within the university there are always faculties and departments that are stronger and weaker. However, it is useful to look at ratings.
International
From Russian universities to in the direction of Computer Science (, , ) in the first hundred stably enters only . But inclusion in the ratings is also not bad in itself. They often include: , , , , , , , leading universities in the country.
Russian
It is very useful to get acquainted with the ratings for the entrance exam scores of the areas of interest, for example, in . The top rating largely coincides with international ones, among the leading ones it is worth mentioning , , . The same universities can be found in the top .
РџРѕР »СѓС ‡ ение стР° тусЁ and entry into the program also testifies to the high status of the university.
The listed universities of the “major league”, as a rule, are familiar to employers and their personnel officers from a good side. But it is difficult to enter and study in them.
IBS Study
An interesting study was conducted in 2016 by the Russian IT giant IBS: . Here's an excerpt from the website as an example. for 2015 graduates of some Moscow technical universities:
► Table: salary of graduates of Moscow technical universitiesThe table shows the share of employed and the average amount of payments immediately after graduation.
| Educational organization | Share of employment, %* | Average salary, ₽** |
| Moscow Aviation Institute | 80 | 57 693 |
| Bauman Moscow State Technical University | 85 | 66 722 |
| Lomonosov Moscow State University | 90 | 80 325 |
| Moscow State University of Food Production | 75 | 42 963 |
| Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics | 80 | 60 165 |
| Russian Technological University (MIREA + MITHT + MGUPI) | 75 | 50 792 |
| Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics | 75 | 52 629 |
| Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) | 100 | 104 450 |
| National Research Technological University "MISiS" | 80 | 51 450 |
| National Research University Higher School of Economics | 85 | 66 476 |
| National Research University "Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology" | 85 | 56 219 |
| National Research University MPEI | 75 | 58 332 |
| National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) | 85 | 65 532 |
* - for full-time form (daytime), the first higher education; ** — graduates of 2015 in 2016
Of course, the given salary is “the average temperature in the hospital”, but the difference between universities is visible to the naked eye.
Option: "strong" university
Reasons for admission to universities with a large competition:
- high standards of education: it is better to be a C student at Moscow State University than an excellent student at a "fence-building" school;
- motivating environment: in a good university, you will have to reach for a general high level, in a bad one, on the contrary, it is considered valor not to learn anything and somehow pass it “satisfactorily”;
- establishing useful connections with capable children;
- the attractiveness of the diploma for the employer (in any case, when looking for the first or second job).
The arguments against:
- if we are not talking about some kind of supercomputer computing, IT subjects, with due interest, can be mastered independently;
- harder to do, you need to prepare in advance;
- it will take a lot botherotherwise it's easy to fly out.
I would recommend that guys with abilities in physics and mathematics still try to enter a higher education institution. But keep in mind that some children are preparing to enter the same Moscow State University from the 9th grade.
Option: "regular" university
Still, the bulk of specialists are trained by universities simpler. If the reader, like the author of the post, does not have enough stars from the sky, then our goal is to enter a decent level of industry university.
Why do universities hang noodles on their ears?
Fact: over the past 10 years, the number of applicants by a frightening 40%. The number of state-funded places in universities has also decreased, but not so much.
As a result, universities have to compete for applicants: they need to fill state-funded places, otherwise these places may be cut next year, and it would also be nice to enroll paid students. In such a competitive environment, whether you like it or not, universities have to study marketing. Therefore, it is natural that on the official website, that at the open day the university will sing praises - you do not need to take everything you hear at face value.
Questionable Options
What education is less quoted?
- part-time/distance learning - situations in life are different, but if there is an opportunity to study in the daytime department, then it is better to go to the daytime (well, or at least to the evening);
- non-accredited specialty - no deferment from the army + a chance to get instead of the state. Diploma Filkin diploma (upon admission you will be assured that the program is simply innovative, and accreditation will be received just about);
- target set - not terrible, but to put it mildly, for an amateur: lower passing score, but after graduation - forced placement in some research institute or law enforcement agencies (= for low wages);
- branch - as a rule, much weaker than the parent university (if it is not an affiliated university, see below);
- not a technical university - just as technical universities have become agile in training lawyers and economists, and vice versa - humanitarian universities are trying to train IT specialists; there are good exceptions, for example, the top HSE, firstly, created the Faculty of Computer Science in partnership with Yandex, and secondly, in 2012 it “ate” a good IT university, MIEM;
- commercial (non-state) university - private universities generally like to teach lawyers and financiers more, so far we have not heard about strong private IT universities. Some are rumored to work in the “come every six months with a record book and money” mode. See odious .
Not dogmas are listed: of course, you always need to look at the situation.
University mergers
Separately, it should be mentioned that in Moscow and St. Petersburg in recent years several consolidations of universities. Some were rather strange - simply because of the proximity of the territories: for example, the mining Moscow State Mining University was attached to the Institute of Steel and Alloys MISiS, and the chemical MITHT - to the Institute of Radioelectronics and Automation (MIREA). Instrument-making MGUPI also became part of MIREA. HSE, having absorbed the Institute of Electronics and Mathematics of MIEM, received its buildings in the center, and MIEM itself left for the outskirts of the city - in Strogino.
At the same time, the "sign" remains from a "stronger" university. Those. entering the Mytishchi branch of the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, it is worth remembering that three years ago it was the University of the Forest.
Specialties
Although it is fundamentally possible to transfer to another specialty, it is better to choose the right one right away, otherwise you will have to hand over a bunch of “debts”.
The choice of the faculty and the graduating department is connected with the choice of specialty. In any university there are faculties that are stronger, there are weaker ones, so a conscious choice is also important here.
On the other hand, choosing a specialty does not mean the final choice of a profession - everything in IT is quite flexible and changes quickly. A professional is valued, not a profession.
In Russia, there is a system of Federal State Educational Standards (Federal State Educational Standards) for each specialty, on the basis of which universities prepare educational programs. On the other hand, there are associated . I tried to compare professions with specialties, but these are generally my conjectures.
| Code | old code | Specialty | ~Profession |
| 09.03.01 | 230100 | Informatics and Computer Engineering | programmer |
| 09.03.02 | 230400 | Information systems and technologies | programmer, system administrator |
| 09.03.03 | 230700 | Applied Informatics | programmer, analyst (in the applied field, for example, in economics) |
| 09.03.04 | 231000 | Software engineering | programmer-designer |
| 01.03.02 | 010400 | Applied Mathematics and Computer Science | analyst, programmer |
| 01.03.04 | 231300 | Applied Mathematics | analyst |
| 01.03.05 | Statistics | analyst | |
| 02.03.01 | 010200 | Mathematics and Computer Science | mathematician, programmer |
| 02.03.02 | 010300 | Fundamental Informatics and Information Technology | programmer, analyst |
| 02.03.03 | 010500 | Mathematical support and administration of information systems | Programmer, analyst |
| 10.03.01 | 090900 | Information Security | information security specialist |
| 38.03.05 | 080500 | Business Informatics | analyst, IT manager |
| 15.03.04 | 220700 | Automation of technological processes and production | production automation |
| 11.03.02 | Infocommunication technologies and communication systems | telecom engineer, system administrator | |
| 27.03.04 | 220400 | Control in technical systems | production automation, ACS developer |
Specialties partially overlap each other, and the differences between them are difficult to understand, even if you read the GEF. At the same time, the university is free to change the variable part of the program in the direction of some kind of bias. Somewhere more mathematics, somewhere algorithms, somewhere more practice. Therefore, it is better to check the local features of the programs with the selection committee.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a decent career guidance guide in IT. If someone met - share.
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Specialist or bachelor's degree?
Along with the new "Bologna" system: 4 years of bachelor's degree + 2 years of master's degree - the Soviet specialist continues to exist for 5-5.5 years. Honestly, I can't say which is better. When bachelor's programs only appeared about 10 years ago, universities in a hurry prepared bachelor's programs, squeezing old specialist programs, often cutting them to the quick. Now, I hope, the situation has normalized and you can safely go to the bachelor's degree, especially since the specialty is becoming a thing of the past. The bachelor's degree corresponds to the European education system, and allows you to adjust your specialty by enrolling in a Russian or foreign master's program. The bachelor's degree is divided into "academic" and "applied" - in the latter, fewer hours are devoted to the "base", more - to practice. Practice is good, but it’s not a fact that the university will be able to provide it at the proper level, and the base can be useful for a master’s degree.
Will I become a sought-after specialist after my diploma?
This is a good question to ask yourself, at least starting from the third course. Answer: it depends more on the student than on the university.
It is highly desirable that by graduation you have some practical skills that can be obtained in additional courses and internships. Often, universities cooperate with enterprises - the employer "grows" a specialist for himself. In the current conditions of the demographic pit, even Yandex and Mail.Ru cannot afford to “hire only seniors”, so they are looking for interns. Don't be afraid to try to get a job, and don't be afraid to change your first job if you don't like it.
Separately, I will mention the importance of learning English. Sign up for English courses, and this, in turn, will open MOOC courses for you from foreign universities.
About academic performance: it’s a shame, but employers don’t look that you have a “red” diploma, but still a good grade point average (GPA) may be needed when entering a foreign master’s program.
Be of good cheer!
More on the topic:
Only registered users can participate in the survey. , you are welcome.
Graduates, did your studies at the university help in your future career?
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Yes
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Only at the beginning
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No
147 users voted. 33 users abstained.
Employers, does having a college degree affect hiring in your organization?
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Yes, we hire only those with a specialized higher education
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Yes, we hire only with higher education, it is possible with non-core
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Higher education is desirable
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No, we don't look at it at all.
79 users voted. 80 users abstained.
What universities of the Russian Federation do you consider to be the leading ones in the country in computer science (would you like to hire graduates)?
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Other
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Moscow State University
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St. Petersburg State University
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Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Phystech)
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St. Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO)
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High School of Economics
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Tomsk Polytechnic University
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Tomsk State University
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Novosibirsk State University
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Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Russian Federation
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Moscow Engineering Physics Institute
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Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
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St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University "LETI"
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Moscow Aviation Institute
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Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
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Ural Federal University
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Nizhny Novgorod State University N. I. Lobachevsky
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South Federal University
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Siberian Federal University
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Far Eastern Federal University
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Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University
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Samara University
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Baltic Federal University
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South Ural State University
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Tyumen State University
87 users voted. 95 users abstained.
Source: habr.com