Studying at FRI or FERI (VS)?

Hello guys, hopefully I am not breaking any rules by posting here on english.

I am from Bosnia, and I'm planning to study here in Slovenia at one of the two mentioned universities.
I am interested in:

Which city has more student job opportunuties (in the field) since I will try to get some working experience after every year (something like summer programming internships/jobs)?

I have heard about FRI being more "theoretical" and FERI being more "practical", but I assume since I will study VS and not UNI both will be the same there?

If you are a student on one of these universities, what is your experience so far?

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

Which city has more student job opportunuties (in the field) since I will try to get some working experience after every year (something like summer programming internships/jobs)?

Ljubljana is more than 3x the size of Maribor and it shows: there's significantly more job opportunities and larger concentration of tech/startup companies in LJ which you simply don't find in rest of Slovenia. Slovenias economy is pretty centralized so most of the hightech firms have presence in LJ which gives you a significantly better chance of grabbing a good tech job. Since the city is larger, it also comes with livelier and more varied nightlife which you'll probably like as a student ;)
On the other hand, the cost of living is significantly higher so make sure the rents don't surprise you. Maribor is a significantly cheaper city to live in.

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

I have heard about FRI being more "theoretical" and FERI being more "practical", but I assume since I will study VS and not UNI both will be the same there?If you are a student on one of these universities, what is your experience so far?

Having studied in one and worked with the other, I think this difference is hugely overstated. There's significantly more variance in quality inside the faculties themselves than between them - e.g. the best subjects at both are comparable and the worst are similarly crappy. So I'd suggest you look at possible curricilum and decide what kind of things really interest you. IIRC FRI has a stronger presence in field of ML/AI and FERI is stronger in telecommunication and embedded tech.

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

If you are a student on one of these universities, what is your experience so far?

Not a student anymore (I've studied at FRI on UNI programme), but I feel like a lot of knowledge gained was very useful in my later jobs. However, there is one thing to note: Most of the best and most useful subjects were either skippable or you could just coast through them without really applying yourself. As a result, plenty of students didn't learn as much as they could.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask :)

Mavrik je 24. apr 2020 ob 11:42 izjavil:

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

Which city has more student job opportunuties (in the field) since I will try to get some working experience after every year (something like summer programming internships/jobs)?

Ljubljana is more than 3x the size of Maribor and it shows: there's significantly more job opportunities and larger concentration of tech/startup companies in LJ which you simply don't find in rest of Slovenia. Slovenias economy is pretty centralized so most of the hightech firms have presence in LJ which gives you a significantly better chance of grabbing a good tech job. Since the city is larger, it also comes with livelier and more varied nightlife which you'll probably like as a student ;)
On the other hand, the cost of living is significantly higher so make sure the rents don't surprise you. Maribor is a significantly cheaper city to live in.

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

I have heard about FRI being more "theoretical" and FERI being more "practical", but I assume since I will study VS and not UNI both will be the same there?If you are a student on one of these universities, what is your experience so far?

Having studied in one and worked with the other, I think this difference is hugely overstated. There's significantly more variance in quality inside the faculties themselves than between them - e.g. the best subjects at both are comparable and the worst are similarly crappy. So I'd suggest you look at possible curricilum and decide what kind of things really interest you. IIRC FRI has a stronger presence in field of ML/AI and FERI is stronger in telecommunication and embedded tech.

camelCase je 23. apr 2020 ob 15:11 izjavil:

If you are a student on one of these universities, what is your experience so far?

Not a student anymore (I've studied at FRI on UNI programme), but I feel like a lot of knowledge gained was very useful in my later jobs. However, there is one thing to note: Most of the best and most useful subjects were either skippable or you could just coast through them without really applying yourself. As a result, plenty of students didn't learn as much as they could.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask :)

Thanks for such an in-depth answer, appreciate it!

Is it possible to get a student job in the field after finishing the first year?

Sorry for the edit, typing from my phone.

Mavrik je 24. apr 2020 ob 12:06 izjavil:

My experience is a little old (pre-Bolognia reform), but most of us got some kind of jobs around 2nd year of studies. So it is possible - however, after the reform I hear theres way more mandatory student work and lessons which makes getting a full-time job very hard.

Thanks again and hopefully I am not bothering you, but what is the major difference between UNI and VS? Since, atleast from what I see in the curriculum VS is really more focused toward practical stuff but is there any catch? Can you continue to go to masters after finishing the VS?

Kako pa narediš UNI, če imaš zaključen VS? Če se prav spomnim, pred boloncem, si s končanim VS šel v 3. letnik UNI.

camelCase je 24. apr 2020 ob 12:13 izjavil:

Mavrik je 24. apr 2020 ob 12:06 izjavil:

My experience is a little old (pre-Bolognia reform), but most of us got some kind of jobs around 2nd year of studies. So it is possible - however, after the reform I hear theres way more mandatory student work and lessons which makes getting a full-time job very hard.

Thanks again and hopefully I am not bothering you, but what is the major difference between UNI and VS? Since, atleast from what I see in the curriculum VS is really more focused toward practical stuff but is there any catch? Can you continue to go to masters after finishing the VS?

You go to study the UNI track if you want to become an academic. Forget about working on the side; you won't have any time. Studying either track is no joke either in Ljubljana or Maribor.

camelCase je 24. apr 2020 ob 12:13 izjavil:

Mavrik je 24. apr 2020 ob 12:06 izjavil:

My experience is a little old (pre-Bolognia reform), but most of us got some kind of jobs around 2nd year of studies. So it is possible - however, after the reform I hear theres way more mandatory student work and lessons which makes getting a full-time job very hard.

Thanks again and hopefully I am not bothering you, but what is the major difference between UNI and VS? Since, atleast from what I see in the curriculum VS is really more focused toward practical stuff but is there any catch? Can you continue to go to masters after finishing the VS?

Most of VS students at FRI are not interested in studying masters. Most of UNI students are. I'm not sure for FERI. Lack of theoretical courses also plays a role (language theory, compilers, computability, discrete math in general) - there is an entrance exam for masters. For industry, both profiles are interesting. However, masters graduates (and PhDs?) can always do bachelors job, the other way around is quite rare. Depends on your apetites and how much years you are willing to invest in studying