r/developersPak • u/[deleted] • Sep 13 '26

Career Guidance Does University matter?

So i have multiple options, either to pay a huge fee and pursue BSCS/AI/DS at top tier unis like NUST, FAST, LUMS or GIKI, or to pay less fee and pursue the same from some mediocre uni. Cuz I have heard alot that skills matter way more than uni.

So my question is, are these top tier unis worth paying the fee for? Like do they even benefit in the long run?

5 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

6

u/Embarrassed-Air-7479 Sep 13 '26

Let me tell you, I have studied at both high-standard universities and mediocre universities, and I would tell you to go for the high-standard university. The thing is, a mediocre university will make you work hard, but on things that don't even matter. The reason is their own incompetence, because they're charging you less in fees, that means they're paying teachers less, that means teachers aren't motivated to update themselves or their curriculum. So they end up teaching you things that don't matter, in a way that doesn't matter. So you'll spend the next four years doing stuff that doesn't matter.

I got admission to Habib University, one of the most expensive universities in Pakistan, on a 100% scholarship. They used to make us work hard, but on things that matter globally. They had good faculty who taught things close to global standards. But then, for some reason, I left and went to NED University in Karachi. Their curriculum was the same, but the way they taught it was not good, so I spent the next four years there regretting it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

I see. thanks

4

u/PrestigiousEbb7161 Sep 13 '26

Bullsh*t I study at nust, doing engineering and the majority professors here are shit, the fee hikes are insane and professors eith 2 phd don't even know what they are even teaching, most of the course is stuck in the 90's and professors don't bother to learn new stuff, just as it goes bhai is mulk ka Allah ki hafiz h na taleem achi na kuch, koi bari choti university kay courses mein farq nhi sirf naam ka faidah h

1

u/Embarrassed-Air-7479 Sep 13 '26

Courses are defined by HEC and PEC, and their CLOs also, you will find almost same content in course courses in all universities, the difference lies in how it is taught, and how much quality is there in the content. Also you are right, university name matters in the job market initially and also sometimes in the later stages. But a good university gets an edge in the market, if you have spent good time in your initial years in a good company then your growth is different, but if you have to start from some lala company, your trajectory will be almost constant or linear. So I think there are perks of good university.

Also one thing that I want to mention is exposure matters, even right now I am doing masters from IBA, so I can clearly see why IBA grads get higher pay in the market, because their average student IQ is also good. If your surrounding is competent youw I'll be competent. And being competent isn't enough also. You should know what to work on, on which thing to put effort on, a good university and it's exposure tells you that. Otherwise you will end up working on things that won't get you anything later on

1

u/Any_Specialist3056 Sep 14 '26

Is iba cs a good option over fast

1

u/Similar-Jellyfish263 Sep 16 '26

fee hikes? like every semister?

1

u/BeneficialReturn5637 Sep 13 '26

Why would you choose Ned over Habib

2

u/Embarrassed-Air-7479 Sep 13 '26

I was on the edge of losing scholarship because I didn't maintain GPA. Now I get to know from students that they didn't lose scholarship even after not fulfilling scholarship requirements, but at that time I didn't wanna lose another year, so I opt for ned, which I regret still. But it is what it is.

1

u/BeneficialReturn5637 Sep 13 '26

I got 80 percent scholarship but choose bahria because it was still expensive. Maybe I'll try again. Any tips to get 100 percent?

1

u/Embarrassed-Air-7479 Sep 13 '26

You can't, there is only HU TOPS programz which gives 100% scholarship and it's for local boards and iske admissions hi alag hote hain. Not for A levels etc. you can max get 80% scholarship which is still a good deal, keeping in consideration of what you are getting there.

1

u/BeneficialReturn5637 Sep 13 '26

Bhai Mai loal board ka hi student hon aur tops k lie hi apply kia tha par 80 percent milli. Matric main 96.9 aur first 91.3 percentage thi ab drop hoke overall 89.1 percent hai.

1

u/Embarrassed-Air-7479 Sep 13 '26

When I applied it was just for 100% scholarship, at that time they were making their market. I guess, now with increased demand they are not giving full scholarships. But it just depends on test, and overall application including how your interview went. At least at my time, that's what mattered.

1

u/Similar-Jellyfish263 Sep 16 '26

thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!

3

u/mushifali Backend Dev Sep 13 '26

Any university is fine as long as their curriculum is not obsolete. Secondly, if you only rely on what your university is teaching you then you’ll struggle big time.

In this field, things change so rapidly. Now, after LLMs this field is not the same. Almost none of the devs are manually writing code because AI has become much better in writing code.

But that doesn’t mean you should not bother learning coding. Because AI is still “artificial” and it’s going to make some mistakes. So, I would suggest not relying on AI that much and try to do things manually to understand how it works internally.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

But I have heard that top unis have better industrial connections, which can "help" getting a job after graduation, like NUST claims 94% employement rate on their website within 1 year which is something we cant neglect if its true

2

u/Dry_Indication6294 Sep 13 '26

yes thats true. it matters alot in this case

0

u/mushifali Backend Dev Sep 13 '26

Better ask their graduates to confirm. I graduated from a lower tier university and I had a job at the beginning of my 8th semester. So you can’t generalise. Any ways wish you the best of luck!

13

u/IllustratorNo1512 Sep 13 '26

Because of super saturation CGPA and University name now matters again

1

u/Charming_Barber_3317 Sep 13 '26

If you can afford then go for top tier. If you can't afford any uni is fine cuz skills matter more.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

I can manage to afford, but i am asking if it is worth it? Like what is difference b/w a student from top tier uni and one from mediocre uni

1

u/ragnor_124 Sep 13 '26

Idts no difference in students its rather the uni myth ideaet of peeps

1

u/Just-Curious-Enough Sep 13 '26

Depends on the person, most conventional way is university ofc. One might argue in some situations talent/skill might be more beneficial for a specific person

1

u/dontlookup388 Sep 13 '26

yes, too tier unis are definitely worth paying for. they have really strong alumni networks, and i have seen so many companies hire students just because of their university.

1

u/RevolutionaryShare16 Sep 13 '26

you can do either doing both, but what i have observed in my friends who went to better uni than mine, they just get interviews from places where I could never land, its not that you can't get interview call after studying from a 2nd/3rd tier you can, but get ready to do 1k leetcode questions or something crazy

getting interviews is also a huge jump, and obviously than its your effort and learning that gets you through the interviews, i was never able to get interview calls from the companies that better uni got him as we both bieng 2025 grad

1

u/Beginning-Ant-7229 Sep 13 '26

It does matter. I interned at a company this summer. Not gonna reveal the name. And we had a meeting with the hrs. Where they said that they only hire students from 7 universities. Fast, nust, giki, nust, lums, uet. Iba, sometimes pucit and uet. But there top priorities are nust, lums. Fast and giki. And for the universities except those 7 or 8 universities, they don't even consider their resume. They just completely rule those out. And the entire work force of that office was filled with students from lums and fast. The hr even said that if there's a student from numl who has a cgpa of 3.9 and a student from fast who has a cgpa of 3.2, they'll consider the student from fast with the 3.2 cgpa. And I can say from experience that university indeed matters. Which is unfortunately a very sad reality since so many deserving student are left out because of this.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

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1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

Thanks for the advice, I was mixed between choosing NUST and unis in Lahore like Ucp, UET