Should I pursue a Masters degree in computer science, considering that I have a mental illness?

[Red]

Aren't you contradicting yourself now? You told me a few posts ago that it is important for me to have got a Bachelor degree in computer engineering, but now you are telling me that having been in the top-10 in Croatian middle school competition (which is at least as impressive) is not important?

How am I contradicting myself exactly? A Bachelor's degree in programming counts for a lot more than a Croatian computer science competition for middle schoolers (and that's saying something, considering how Bachelor's Degrees at most gives you a basic understanding of the subject).

Why? Croatia has about as many medals on the International Olympiad in Informatics as the USA has: https://stats.ioinformatics.org/countri ... total_desc

Not sure if you noticed this but the US has carried home significantly more GOLD medals than Croatia (65 vs 16).

Though I would not take that as a useful metric for gauging the quality of a country's science. It's better to find sources that evaluate the quality of a country's education on computer science.
https://www.kanan.co/blog/best-countrie ... r-science/
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-g ... er-science

You can probably find other sources, but the pattern is, countries with very high GDPs and technological research and development tend to be ranked the highest (US, China, Singapore, Germany, Canada, UK, etc). It is very, very unlikely Croatia would be on one of these lists unless it's a top 50 list or something.

I still wanna read why you think Croatia is the best country to live in Teo. Make a new thread on that some time.

How does it make sense to read another beginners tutorial of a language you already know?

Doesn't hurt to make sure you got the foundation down. Knowing you, you're probably overestimating how much you know.

[teo123]

A Bachelor's degree in programming counts for a lot more than a Croatian computer science competition for middle schoolers

I don't know, I feel like it's the opposite. I feel like hardly anybody of my peers has been on a Croatia-level competition in programming. And hardly anybody of my peers has published papers in peer-reviewed journals (other than me, I know only one my peer who has published a paper in a peer-reviewed journal, that was a paper about numerical mathematics). But many of my peers have Bachelor degrees. In fact, many of them even have Master degrees. That's why I feel that publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals and having been on Croatia-level competitions counts for more than having a Bachelor degree.

Not sure if you noticed this but the US has carried home significantly more GOLD medals than Croatia (65 vs 16).

You need to consider US has 100 times more people than Croatia has. So, even if the quality of the education system is equal, we'd still expect the US to have more gold medals due to statistical noise.

You can probably find other sources, but the pattern is, countries with very high GDPs and technological research and development tend to be ranked the highest (US, China, Singapore, Germany, Canada, UK, etc).

I think those lists are very misleading. Perhaps US does have extremely-high-quality universities, but it also has many diploma-mills. You have to be lucky to get into one of those high-quality universities. I think that, most likely, Poland or Romania have the best educational systems when it comes to computer science.

[Red]

I don't know, I feel like it's the opposite. I feel like hardly anybody of my peers has been on a Croatia-level competition in programming. And hardly anybody of my peers has published papers in peer-reviewed journals (other than me, I know only one my peer who has published a paper in a peer-reviewed journal, that was a paper about numerical mathematics). But many of my peers have Bachelor degrees. In fact, many of them even have Master degrees. That's why I feel that publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals and having been on Croatia-level competitions counts for more than having a Bachelor degree.

k

You need to consider US has 100 times more people than Croatia has. So, even if the quality of the education system is equal, we'd still expect the US to have more gold medals due to statistical noise.

Don't these competitions have the same amount of people compete? US still beats you anyways.

I think those lists are very misleading. Perhaps US does have extremely-high-quality universities, but it also has many diploma-mills.

Do you know what a Diploma Mill is?

Even the vast majority of "normal" universities in the US have good computer science programs, and almost all of them conduct research, not just in computer science.

You have to be lucky to get into one of those high-quality universities.

Regardless of where you go they all teach pretty much the same stuff for a course, since they all need to meet the same accreditation guidelines (I watched some of the Yale physics course, and it taught ostensibly everything I learned in my physics class). It's just that the top universities is where leading experts tend to conduct their research, and produce a lot of the research papers in a field due to their huge budgets and laboratories.

I think that, most likely, Poland or Romania have the best educational systems when it comes to computer science.

That's ridiculous, where are you getting this?

[teo123]

Don't these competitions have the same amount of people compete? US still beats you anyways.

Let's say there are 4'000'000 million people in Croatia and that only one of them is as talented for computer science as Dorijan Lendvaj is. By pure chance, we would expect there to be dozens of Dorijan Lendvajs in the USA, because USA has almost 100 times bigger population.

Do you know what a Diploma Mill is?

A peiorative term for a low-quality university, typically one that is too easy to usefully teach stuff, isn't it?

Regardless of where you go they all teach pretty much the same stuff for a course, since they all need to meet the same accreditation guidelines (I watched some of the Yale physics course, and it taught ostensibly everything I learned in my physics class).

So, how it is that, for example, MATHOS does consistently better on programming competitions than FERIT does? They don't teach the same stuff and, when they do, they don't insist on the same stuff. Like one of our professor said, the dean and the other bosses of FERIT don't think it is important to do well on programming competitions, they think the employers value the graduates who have a broad perspective on computer science more than graduates who do well on algorithmic competitions.

That's ridiculous, where are you getting this?

Well, Poland and Romania have relatively small population, but they have many medals on the International Olympiad in Informatics. And one of my professors told me that he was teaching at a university in Bucharest and the students there appeared to be a lot more motivated than we appear to be.

[Red]

Let's say there are 4'000'000 million people in Croatia and that only one of them is as talented for computer science as Dorijan Lendvaj is. By pure chance, we would expect there to be dozens of Dorijan Lendvajs in the USA, because USA has almost 100 times bigger population.

And they always put forth the best of the best. And Croatia's best isn't good enough.

A peiorative term for a low-quality university, typically one that is too easy to usefully teach stuff, isn't it?

Diploma Mills are explicitly NOT universities, they're illegitimate businesses that sell fake degrees. Nearly 4000 accredited Universities exist in the US, meaning they all have similar standards for completing a certain degree.

If you struggle with a subject in general, it isn't necessarily going to be easier at a normal school than at a top school. The quality of the education isn't that different, and at least in STEM they all teach pretty much the same stuff. Maybe in the humanities departments, but in STEM courses, there isn't much of a difference in the content.

So, how it is that, for example, MATHOS does consistently better on programming competitions than FERIT does? They don't teach the same stuff and, when they do, they don't insist on the same stuff.

I dunno, why do you put so much weight on competitions as a metric of the quality of a country's science?

Like one of our professor said, the dean and the other bosses of FERIT don't think it is important to do well on programming competitions, they think the employers value the graduates who have a broad perspective on computer science more than graduates who do well on algorithmic competitions.

OK

Well, Poland and Romania have relatively small population, but they have many medals on the International Olympiad in Informatics. And one of my professors told me that he was teaching at a university in Bucharest and the students there appeared to be a lot more motivated than we appear to be.

AGAIN, why are you putting so much emphasis on these high school competitions? All the data and sources (and yes I do trust them over you) say the countries I listed are better.

And he was probably referring to your class specifically, not Croatians in general.

[teo123]

If you struggle with a subject in general, it isn't necessarily going to be easier at a normal school than at a top school.

Then why it is that many students start studying computer science at the FER university and then switch to the FERIT university when they struggle? Because FERIT is (or is at least perceived to be) significantly easier than FER while revarding the same degree.
Why do high-school students even bother doing well on the maturity test at the end of the high-school? Why compete to get into an as good university as you can, if all of them are basically equal? Because the employers value a diploma from FER more than a diploma from FERIT, and high-school students realize that.

in STEM courses, there isn't much of a difference in the content.

As far as I know, at MIT, to pass a Computer Architecture course, you need to memorize the smallest details of the architecture of the x86 processors, while, at FERIT, you just need to learn the basics of assembly language programming for PicoBlaze and the basics of Arduino programming.

[Red]

Then why it is that many students start studying computer science at the FER university and then switch to the FERIT university when they struggle? Because FERIT is (or is at least perceived to be) significantly easier than FER while revarding the same degree.

I don't know what accreditation standards are like in Croatia.

Why do high-school students even bother doing well on the maturity test at the end of the high-school? Why compete to get into an as good university as you can, if all of them are basically equal?

It does look better on a resume (sometimes the school you go to doesn't really matter on that front, depends on what you want to do), they have better research facilities, they have certain programs, etc.

Because the employers value a diploma from FER more than a diploma from FERIT, and high-school students realize that.

Again, depends on what you want to do. The content they teach is ostensibly the same, but employers might use the school you went to as a shorthand if they're looking for someone specific. The school you went to doesn't really say much different about your education, rather it may say more about the applicant.

As far as I know, at MIT, to pass a Computer Architecture course, you need to memorize the smallest details of the architecture of the x86 processors, while, at FERIT, you just need to learn the basics of assembly language programming for PicoBlaze and the basics of Arduino programming.

idk what it's like in Croatia. FERIT is not exactly a world renowned university.

[teo123]

FERIT is not exactly a world renowned university.

Is it perhaps better known under its old name ETFOS?

[Red]

FERIT is not exactly a world renowned university.

Is it perhaps better known under its old name ETFOS?

Nope, no one's ever heard of that either (of course, outside of Croatia).

[teo123]

FERIT is not exactly a world renowned university.

Is it perhaps better known under its old name ETFOS?

Nope, no one's ever heard of that either (of course, outside of Croatia).

And what about the universities FER and MATHOS? You know, the Croatian universities that tend to win student programming competitions (such as STEM Games)?