University help needed badly!!

[Pekka]

OK.. so this chick just told me that applications for international students are about.. now, if you want to prepare your stuff.

It seems to me, that my thesis spot is still open. It seems that it's such a difficult decicsion to be made by my target company that I'm not counting anything on that anymore. I think they will end up saying no. It's taking too much time.

But I'm going pretty good anyway, so I thought I'd boost my experiences and knowledge more, and NOW apply for one year outside Finland. This is my last chance to try, since if I don't go out there in the next batch, I'll graduate.

But I'm not just looking to party, I've done that a lot in my life already so that's not it. I'm looking for hardcore resources and knowledge. So the school has to be excellent or at least very good. I don't mind if I don't get in, but I want to try if I can study a year in excellent school of my choice.

So please people, I don't know much about schools outside my country so help me to find those GOOD schools. I'm not looking to sepnd a year in foreign land, I'm looking to have my knowledge boosted, I'm looking for the brightest edge here, I'm looking to learn more and do it so within the best possible environment.

I'm comp sci major, software engineering. However, I've kind of dumped the whole programming part as of lately, since I'm kind of fed up with it. Did that for some years now, and did that as a hobby before so I just kind of burned myself up on that subject.

Now, I'm focusing on information security. Comprehensive information security strategies, so I'm not looking to pick apart firewalls etc. I'm looking for _comprehensive_ things.. as we know, security is software, people, policies combined. Not just the software.

So, any school that can shine in this sector is for me. I'm looking forward meeting excellent hackers, crackers, social engineers, anything. So which schools would you recommend? They have to be known.

So far I've built up:

Stanford
MIT


Please continue my list.

Does NOT have to be in the US. I'm not looking for European schools though... North American or Asian.

Thanks!

[RGBVideo]

You want to build up a list of insanely good schools you have incredibly small chances of getting in to? OK. If MIT's there, you might as well add Caltech.

[RGBVideo]

dp

[Pekka]

Basically yeah. I'm don't want to go and waste a year. It's not like.. I'm not looking to study a year abroad. I'm looking to study in a great environment.

BUT of course, the ones I listed are pretty tough to get into as transfer student, so.. basically please propose those that are very good too. They don't have to be like MIT. But at least that they can offer resources on the field of information security. This is the key.

[rah]

University of Illinois has a great engineering school and has always been on the leading edge with computers.

Very difficult to get into though.

[VetLegion]

Ecole Hackeristique in Paris, France. You get to work on the dog brain chip project, I hear.

[RGBVideo]

France's problem is that it's filled with French people.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Ecole Hackeristique

[Kuciwalker]

Carnegie Mellon University in the US is ranked right between Stanford and MIT for computer science, which IIRC is your field.

[Pekka]

I know Carnegie, but how is the information security field in there?

[Japher]

The caliber of MIT, Stanford, CalTech? Damn, those are some top notch schools. I'd also add Harvey Mudd.

[Kuciwalker]

No idea about that specifically. I can ask around if you'd like.

xpost

[Pekka]

yeah but those schools are the only ones I know .. so that's why I listed them.

[Kuciwalker]

Asher will probably put a plug in for U of Calgary, too.

[Pekka]

Cool.

OK the point is, I don't see the point in going into average studying environment. I can do that at home. I don't see the point of going into pretty OK study environment. I'm already there. So it needs to be above average. Doesn't have to be like MIT's etc... but more than average.