UTS Women in Engineering and IT Scholarship vs UNSW Computer Science (1 Viewer)

[arbitrary]

Hi, current interstate Year 12 student here. I've been looking to apply for universities in Sydney for Computer Science/Software Engineering and am weighing up between plain ol' UNSW Computer Science (I know I can try for UNSW Co-Op, but I doubt I'll get in) and the UTS WiEIT.

It's pretty much unanimous that UNSW is the best in Australia for this field, but at the same time (given the state of the job market) I'm not sure whether the UNSW name value outweighs the practical experience from internships, WiEIT networking opportunities and scholarship money. On the other hand, some of the UTS content is apparently outdated and doesn't cover as much as UNSW courses do.

Would any current university students be willing to weigh in on this? Thank you!

 

[carrotsss]

UNSW has women in engineering scholarships too?

 

[yolo tengo]

UNSW has women in engineering scholarships too?

yeah, i'm currently doing the program for it rn, it's worth it since it has its perks + lower atar requirement

 

[liamkk112]

Hi, current interstate Year 12 student here. I've been looking to apply for universities in Sydney for Computer Science/Software Engineering and am weighing up between plain ol' UNSW Computer Science (I know I can try for UNSW Co-Op, but I doubt I'll get in) and the UTS WiEIT.

It's pretty much unanimous that UNSW is the best in Australia for this field, but at the same time (given the state of the job market) I'm not sure whether the UNSW name value outweighs the practical experience from internships, WiEIT networking opportunities and scholarship money. On the other hand, some of the UTS content is apparently outdated and doesn't cover as much as UNSW courses do.

Would any current university students be willing to weigh in on this? Thank you!

uts compsci is fine, that being said it is a much less theoretical approach to computer science than unsw, which is definetly much heavier in content and workload. content isn't really outdated and they change the courses fairly frequently, for example a couple years ago they only taught java in programming 1 but given the increased popularity of python they also teach that alongside java now. i will say uts treats u like u have absolutely zero knowledge in the semester 1 subjects and build everything from scratch, as a result it can be a bit slower than unsw to begin with. for example in discrete math we've done proofs and logic and this week sets, whereas at unsw they've gone over number theory, set theory, functions and relations and have barely explained proof in full, they pretty much just assume u already know how to write a proof as in all those topics u are required to write proofs. i will say that if you haven't done mx2, unsw discrete math is probably really hard, yet if you have done mx2 then these first weeks of uts discrete math are pretty much free. however neither approach is wrong and both have their benefits (at uts students who did adv/mx1 will be able to build their skills from scratch, at unsw they would be left behind but those who did mx2 would be able to extend their knowledge faster than at uts), and if i didn't do mx2 in school then i probably would much rather do uts discrete math lol.

another thing to consider is that majority of industry roles in tech usually want you to have developed your own projects and have work experience, and degree is just the bare minimum (or they don't even care), and depending on the job the interview might pretty much be all they care about. sometimes there's multiple interview rounds, each where they present coding problems and they want u to explain ur process and solve the problems, but again this is variable to the job. but basically the large majority employers in tech really couldn't care less about if uts, rmit, uq, or unsw is on your transcript, they pretty much just care about your experience and skills. so if you can get better internship opportunities at uts then go for it over unsw i'd say. i'd just choose whichever uni offers the more comfortable environment and opportunities, if u get a scholarship at uts but not at unsw then pick uts, it won't stop you from getting a good job at the end.

 

[liamkk112]

also im curious why u dont want to go to uni in your own state? unless if u live regional or something

 

[arbitrary]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

UNSW has women in engineering scholarships too?

The job market for CS grads is apparently a bloodbath, so I do want to prioritise getting guaranteed industry placements, even if it is as UTS over UNSW :'] But yes, I'll look into the UNSW WiE scholarships!

uts compsci is fine, that being said it is a much less theoretical approach to computer science than unsw, which is definetly much heavier in content and workload. content isn't really outdated and they change the courses fairly frequently, for example a couple years ago they only taught java in programming 1 but given the increased popularity of python they also teach that alongside java now. i will say uts treats u like u have absolutely zero knowledge in the semester 1 subjects and build everything from scratch, as a result it can be a bit slower than unsw to begin with. for example in discrete math we've done proofs and logic and this week sets, whereas at unsw they've gone over number theory, set theory, functions and relations and have barely explained proof in full, they pretty much just assume u already know how to write a proof as in all those topics u are required to write proofs. i will say that if you haven't done mx2, unsw discrete math is probably really hard, yet if you have done mx2 then these first weeks of uts discrete math are pretty much free. however neither approach is wrong and both have their benefits (at uts students who did adv/mx1 will be able to build their skills from scratch, at unsw they would be left behind but those who did mx2 would be able to extend their knowledge faster than at uts), and if i didn't do mx2 in school then i probably would much rather do uts discrete math lol.

another thing to consider is that majority of industry roles in tech usually want you to have developed your own projects and have work experience, and degree is just the bare minimum (or they don't even care), and depending on the job the interview might pretty much be all they care about. sometimes there's multiple interview rounds, each where they present coding problems and they want u to explain ur process and solve the problems, but again this is variable to the job. but basically the large majority employers in tech really couldn't care less about if uts, rmit, uq, or unsw is on your transcript, they pretty much just care about your experience and skills. so if you can get better internship opportunities at uts then go for it over unsw i'd say. i'd just choose whichever uni offers the more comfortable environment and opportunities, if u get a scholarship at uts but not at unsw then pick uts, it won't stop you from getting a good job at the end.

Thank you so much! That's really detailed, I appreciate it.
I have a couple of simple projects, I'm hoping to expand on that soon. Plus, I have been working on small coding problems, hindered by the fact I'm still learning DSA hah.

To your second question, I am South Australian and the opportunities, and the tech industry here is tiny. Our two largest universities are also merging in 2026 - an incredibly divisive decision - and this would be in the middle of my degree :/

 

[Mitin77]

Choosing between the UTS Women in Engineering and IT Scholarship and studying Computer Science at UNSW depends on your priorities. UTS offers financial support and a supportive community for women, fostering diversity in tech. UNSW, on the other hand, is renowned for its strong Computer Science program and research opportunities. Consider your financial needs, support systems, and academic goals to make the best decision.

 

[Duskheaven]

Hi, current interstate Year 12 student here. I've been looking to apply for universities in Sydney for Computer Science/Software Engineering and am weighing up between plain ol' UNSW Computer Science (I know I can try for UNSW Co-Op, but I doubt I'll get in) and the UTS WiEIT.

It's pretty much unanimous that UNSW is the best in Australia for this field, but at the same time (given the state of the job market) I'm not sure whether the UNSW name value outweighs the practical experience from internships, WiEIT networking opportunities and scholarship money. On the other hand, some of the UTS content is apparently outdated and doesn't cover as much as UNSW courses do.

Would any current university students be willing to weigh in on this? Thank you!

I do mechanical engineering at UTS. x-bf does UNSW compsci, BF did UTS compsci.

Are you thinking about the 66,000$ UTS WiEIT scholarship? 100% no competition, no doubt it goes to UTS WiEIT.

Following the other commenters comment, employers in this field don't really give a damn about your university. They hardly care about your degree either honestly. Multiple of my friends at UTS doing mechanical & mechatronic engineering friends got grad jobs coding for the big 4 banks despite the degree having extremely minimal coding within the degree itself. They did part-time work doing coding during the degree - and also will often joke about how they're the better coders than the software grads which I completely believe as well. There is a huge disparity between the trash coders and the good coders.

Completely agree with the other commenter. Also, since you're moving to Sydney right now, expenses (especially rent) are very high - if the plan is to live off youth allowance, it will be very rough. The scholarship will seriously improve your life quality.

 

[liamkk112]

I do mechanical engineering at UTS. x-bf does UNSW compsci, BF did UTS compsci.

Are you thinking about the 66,000$ UTS WiEIT scholarship? 100% no competition, no doubt it goes to UTS WiEIT.

Following the other commenters comment, employers in this field don't really give a damn about your university. They hardly care about your degree either honestly. Multiple of my friends at UTS doing mechanical & mechatronic engineering friends got grad jobs coding for the big 4 banks despite the degree having extremely minimal coding within the job itself. They did part-time work doing coding during the degree - and also will often joke about how they're the better coders than the software grads which I completely believe as well. There is a huge disparity between the trash coders and the good coders.

Completely agree with the other commenter. Also, since you're moving to Sydney right now, expenses (especially rent) are very high - if the plan is to live off youth allowance, it will be very rough. The scholarship will seriously improve your life quality.

howd they get grad jobs at banks? don't they require some background in finance, im confused, or is it like software development for their frontend/backend not for like trading and all that

 

[Duskheaven]

howd they get grad jobs at banks? don't they require some background in finance, im confused, or is it like software development for their frontend/backend not for like trading and all that

The latter. The jobs at the big 4 banks are quite good as well for software. I think it's about 100k grad salary at commbank (not sure if bonuses are on top of that) based off my friends experience. WFH, working hours not too long.