I was studying Computer Science at ELTE, while there were many great classes, there was a great deal of Mathematical definitions, that were to be learnt word by word, and less practical usage of them. While this is somewhat necessary to understand it I believe it could’ve been done better.
View moreThe professors are very old and do not speak english well at least for my course. The course curriculum for computer science also goes through obsolete topics instead of keeping up with the newer ones. For instance, we are taught 2 courses of algorithms but the course is designed in a way that we are not taught algorithm design nor are we assessed on it. We are taught languages like Clean and ADA that nobody has ever heard of but not Python which has a great business value. The course and the professors both badly need an upgrade. The courses taught by PhD students as Asst. Professors are much better than the ones taught by 70 year olds with really bad english. There’s a lot of bureaucracy and because of that we are taught what senior teachers want us to study instead of what should be beneficial. The university does not support Student clubs well and therefore they are independent and there is not much student life left due to this.
View moreI attended the Hungarian Computer Science program at ELTE.
Overall, I think that it is among the top 3 computer science & engineering courses in Budapest, however it still some flaws.
The general quality of education is high.
The teachers are very nice, even friendly, and very helpful (only very few exceptions!)
If you want to learn computer science by a more theoretical & math-focused approach, this is the best university in Hungary to do so. If you would like to learn about hardware, IoT, embedded systems, or if you are interested in engineering & physics, this is not as good as f.e. BME.
The greatest flaw that I saw is that the curriculum really hasn’t been changed for the last 15 years. In 2008 it has been transformed, but most of the subjects stayed the same. Therefore I had to learn many technologies that were awfully unhelpful and unusable, but we didn’t have time to approach topics that my friends at other universities in other countries examined in depth.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE POINT IS ONLY VALID BEFORE THE 2018 CURRICULUM CHANGE, OF WHICH I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE.
One of the oldest and greatest universities of Hungary, always in top lists of Hungarian universities and in 601-800 best universities worldwide.
ELTE has a very strong natural science background and strong recommends to research, specially on Master degree. It has its own pros and cons, for example pros is very strong theoretical knowledge, I believe ELTE and BME gives strongest theoretical knowledge in Hungary. But, on the other hand sometimes student doesn’t have enough practical knowledge so they are a little bit unprepared for the big “adult” world. But in my opinion it’s more advantage, than disadvantage.
ELTE has lots of different opportunities beside studying. Dozens volunteer associations for many needs and wants, both technical and soft-skill, sport opportunities, international awareness, since ELTE has many foreign students.
Unfortunately, ELTE has the biggest number of students in Hungary, and that makes many logistic operations so hard and stupid so it makes you do tons of bureaucracy. You can live with it, but sometimes it’s just pain in the ass.
But for sure, ELTE has much more advantages, so if you’re considering to study here, doesn’t matter what degree, it’s a great opportunity, be sure.
While not the strongest university, ELTE provides its students with a uniquely systematic and mathematical approach to computer science. This means that you will have a lot less actual high-level programming (f.e. you only learn about sorting algorithms in 3rd semester) but you will have a stronger intuition and understanding about simple programs, and slowly build up from there. You will be taught how to prove that a program is correct mathematically.
Having said that, other universities are far better at teaching you how to program in an actual programming language like C# or Java, and you won’t be taught any physics or hardware-related subjects here. ELTE focuses on the theory behind software, but not on applications.
One of the major upsides to ELTE is that it is very fair. Its grading systems are understandable and reliable, the exams cover only what has been taught, which doesn’t apply to every hungarian university. Here, you don’t feel like the teachers and the students are ‘against each other’.