These are the best computer science schools in the world

A computer science degree from a top university can help graduates land their dream job at companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook.

But which computer science courses are the best ones to try and to get onto if you want to impress employers?

Using the QS World University Rankings, we took a look at the universities with the top computer science and information systems courses.

The guide is one of the most reputable sources that students turn to when deciding which universities to apply to, and employers are also likely to refer to it when deciding which candidates to hire.

It is based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and research impact. The full methodology can be read here. We looked at the overall scores, which are out of 100.

50. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University — With technology giants like Huawei and Foxconn a short drive away in Shenzhen (mainland China) this Hong Kong university is likely to offer some good summer internship opportunities. It achieved a QS score of 74.1 for its computer science and information systems courses.

49. City University of Hong Kong — This university's curriculum aims to expose students to the latest advances in cloud computing, machine learning, and bioinformatics. Courses in computer science and information systems were given a QS ranking of 74.1.

48. University of Chicago — With an acceptance rate of 7.6%, you've got to be highly intelligent to get into this institution. The school's computer science and information systems courses received a QS score of 74.8.

47. University of Michigan — The University of Michigan is using more than $63 million to fund research into areas like ethical robots and computer aided design. The school achieved a QS ranking of 75.1 for its computer science and information systems courses.

46. National Taiwan University (NTU) — NTU gives out around 8,000 degrees a year, with some of those going to computing students. The university achieved a QS score of 76.0.

45. University of California, San Diego (UCSD) — Nestled along the Pacific coastline on 1,200 acres of coastal woodland, UCSD's computer science and engineering department focuses on AI, embedded systems, and computer vision, among other things. It received a QS ranking of 76.2.

44. Shanghai Jiao Tong University — Founded in 1896, this Chinese institution claims to have strong research groups in the areas of theoretical computer science, parallel and distributed systems, computer networking, intelligent human-computer interaction, cryptography and information security. It achieved a QS score of 76.2.

43. Politecnico di Milano — In at 43rd, the Politecnico di Milano boasts 74 professors at its computer science and engineering department. The faculty achieved a QS score of 76.3 for its computer science and information systems courses.

42. New York University (NYU) — The Big Apple's largest university believes computer science is filled "with profound and beautiful intellectual questions". It received a QS score of 76.8.

41. The University of Sydney — Focused on the areas of the areas of algorithmics and applications, enterprise computing, human centred computing and IT applications in health care, The University of Sydney achieved a QS score of 76.9.

40. Seoul National University —Seoul aims to help students achieve excellence in both scientific discovery and technological innovation. Its computer science and engineering courses were given a QS score of 76.9.

39. University of Pennsylvania — Cofounded by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania achieved a QS ranking of 77.2 for its computer science and information systems courses.

38. Yale University — Yale's Department of Computer Science has close ties to the university's mathematics and engineering faculties. It achieved a QS score of 77.7 for courses around computer science and information systems.

36. Technical University of Munich — With its giant slides, it'll barely feel like you're a university student at Technical University Munich. The school achieved a score of 77.9 for its computer science and information systems courses.

36. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology — Students at KAIST's school of computing work on 'problem solving for humanity' and 'novel information services.' The school achieved a score of 77.9 for computer science and information systems.

35. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia) — Undergraduates can take courses in bioinformatics, computer engineering, software engineering at UNSW. The university's computer science and information systems courses achieved a score of 78.0.

34. University of Texas at Austin — Excelling in areas like robotics, AI, and data mining, the University of Texas at Austin scored 79.2.

33. UCL (University College London) — with strong links to cool new AI startups like DeepMind, UCL is home to one of the UK's best computer science departments. The university scored 79.3 for its computer science and information systems courses.

32. Columbia University — This famous New York University is well known for its journalism courses but it also excels at computer science, scoring 79.5 in the QS rankings.

31. The Australian National University — Located in Canberra, the capital of Australia, the ANU's computer science department focuses on parallel computation, programming languages, software engineering, theoretical computer science, and other areas. It scored 79.5 for computer science and information systems in the QS rankings.

30. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — the University of Illinois created a Digital Computer Laboratory after receiving funding from the US Army. The department was given a QS score of 79.6 for computer science and information systems.

29. University of Washington — Unable to cope with demand, the University of Washington is in the midst of constructing another building for its computer science and engineering department. The university achieved a QS score of 80.3 for computer science and information systems.

28. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) — Caltech says that its computer science students have drive to investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in computation and information. The university was also given a QS score of 80.3 for its computer science and information systems courses.

27. University of Waterloo — Not to be confused with London Waterloo, this Canadian university achieved a QS score of 80.4.

26. Cornell University — Tied in at 26th is Cornell University. The Ivy League institution was also given a QS score of 80.4 for its computer science and information systems offerings.

25. Georgia Institute of Technology — Once attended by former US president Jimmy Carter, Georgia Tech as it's commonly known achieved a QS score of 80.5 for its computer science and information systems courses.

24. University of British Columbia (UBC) —Some of UBC's computer science and information systems courses are so popular that there are waiting lists in place. They achieved a QS score of 80.6.

23. Peking University — Located in Beijing, Peking University's School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) is its largest department. The department's computer science and information systems courses were given a QS ranking of 81.0.

22. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) — CUHK's computing computing department claims to have some of the most advanced computing equipment and cloud infrastructure for both computer science and computer engineering research. It achieved a ranking of 81.7.

21. The University of Tokyo —Situated in the world's most populated city, the University of Tokyo is home to an impressive range of computer science and information systems courses. The university received a QS score of 81.8.

20. The University of Edinburgh — Founded in 1582, the university is the 6th oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. The institution is close to billion dollar businesses like Skyscanner and FanDuel and its computer science and information systems courses scored 81.9 on the QS ranking system.

19. The University of Hong Kong — Founded in 1911, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. It received a QS score of 82.1 for its computer science and information systems courses.

18. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) — This Swiss university specialises in physical sciences and engineering. Its computer science and information systems courses received a QS score of 82.6.

17. Tsinghua​ University — This Beijing institution is one of the nine members in the elite C9 League of universities. Tsinghua's computer science and information systems courses received a score of 82.7.

16. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — UCLA is home to around 43,000 students. The institution's computer science and information systems courses score 82.8 on the QS rankings.

15. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — With 82.9 points, HKUST is nearly the best-ranked university in Hong Kong when it comes to computer science and information systems courses.

14. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) — Young and research-focused, NTU Singapore is ranked 13th globally in the QS world university rankings. Its computer science and information systems courses came in at 14th best worldwide with a score of 82.9.

13. The University of Melbourne — Australia's second oldest university excels in a number of areas, including education, law, accounting and finance, and dentistry. The institution's computer science and information systems courses received a score of 83.1.

12. Imperial College London — Not quite up there with Oxbridge, but not far behind either. Imperial's computer science and information systems courses were given a score of 83.8.

11. University of Toronto — Canada's top university when it comes to computer science and information systems. Courses were given a QS score of 83.8.

10. Princeton University — Located in New Jersey, this Ivy League establishment usually scores well across the board. It received a QS ranking of 85.6 for its computer science and information systems courses.

9. National University of Singapore (NUS) — The NUS is the oldest institute of higher learning in Singapore. It has around 35,000 students and its computer science and information systems courses achieved a QS ranking of 85.9.

8. EHT Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology — The highest scoring university university that isn't in the US or the UK. Twenty-one Nobel Prizes have been awarded to students or professors at EHT and the university's computer science and information systems courses scored an impressive 86.3.

7. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) — Located just over the water from San Francisco, Berkeley's grand university buildings are an impressive sight. The university's computer science and information systems course receives a ranking of 89.4.

6. University of Cambridge — The city of Cambridge is one of the UK's biggest technology hubs thanks in large part to its university, which appears at the top of many global university rankings. The university's computer science and information systems course received a QS ranking of 89.8.

5. Carnegie Mellon University — This private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, may not have the same international reputation as Harvard and Stanford but its computer science and information systems courses are still very highly regarded, scoring 91.4 on the QS rankings.

4. Harvard University — The best university in the world (according to QS) doesn't have the best computer science and information systems course in the world. In at fourth place, the academic powerhouse that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of still packs a punch with a score of 92.4.

3. University of Oxford — Founded in 1096, the ancient university is still at the forefront of technology, with startups like DeepMind having strong links to the institution. Oxford received a score of 92.5.

2. Stanford University — Close but no cigar. The Californian institution has a reputation for producing graduates that go on to found some of the world's biggest technology companies, including Google, HP, Instagram, and Snapchat. The university received a score of 93.2.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — It's not all that surprising that one of the world's most prestigious universities is also home to the world's top computer science and information systems course. Those degrees scored 93.8 on the QS ranking system. According to The Guardian "a survey of living MIT alumni found that they have formed 25,800 companies, employing more than three million people including about a quarter of the workforce of Silicon Valley."

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