How hard are European Elite Universities?
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My first Semester as a CS Undergrad at TUM is almost over and it’s time for a quick recap.
I started studying at Technical University Munich a few months ago after working as a Software Engineer for some time (I still do). Why? You may ask — Well that’s a story for another time.
Introduction
This article is not specific to Computer Science, but told from a CS student’s perspective. Other (especially non-MINT) majors might differ quite a lot.
Also, I am quite aware, that for a Tech career actually building stuff might make a lot more sense instead of spending hours and hours in academia.
What is an Elite University?
This is an extremely hard question to answer, as it depends on lots of factors, that cannot easily be measured completely objectively, such as: Citations, Reputation, Funding, Research, Teaching, Industry cooperations, Nobel laureates and so on.
Rankings are not perfect, but they are the best thing we got. The most well known Rankings are QS and Times Higher education (THE). There’s link to both below (Rankings by Subject). TUM ranks among the best of its kind in both rankings. I leave it up to you to browse through them yourselves, but you won’t miss out if you don’t.
While thinking about rankings keep in mind the following three major aspects European Universities differ from US Colleges:
- Funding
- Tuition
- Student to Staff Ratio
1. Surviving your first semester without major prerequisites is almost impossible
TUM requires every Student to take the following four classes in their first semester:
- Introduction to Computer Science
- Programming Lab
- Discrete Math
- Computer Architecture
It took some of my colleagues, even those with quite some programming experience already, on average 30–40 hours a week to just complete the Programming Lab, potentially even more for beginners. Practice makes perfect.
In addition to that you also have to continuously study for all the other Classes to not lose track.
Discrete Math, while being extremely interesting and essential for every CS student, is also multiple times more abstract than what you might be used to in your High School classes.
Computer Architecture, while being less mentally challenging is just an overwhelming amount of new stuff to learn, e.g. Assembler, Microprogramming, Digital Circuit Design and an insane amount of theory.
2. No one cares about you
You are the only one responsible for your Higher Education and Academic Success. It’s neither your Lectureres’ not your Tutor’s job. It is completely up to you to inhale all material till mastery.
They will provide guidance and a didactic framework, but they expect total dedication in return.
3. Your Major is 90% of your degree
This might be quite a shock to all the US folks reading, but at European Universities there is barely any other classes than the one for your major. So, in case you are majoring in Computer Science, you are really doing CS, not compromises whatsoever. And if you switch Major you most likely have to start all over again.
Is it worth it?
I don’t know yet.
On the one hand you meet incredible people, really learn to push your limits and awesome basic knowledge. On the other hand, your time is limited, time you could just spend working on your personal projects, business, and so on.
