Linus Metzler, Bachelor's student
Switzerland
If you could study computer science at any university in the world, would you still prefer ETH above other institutions? Why or why not?
Looking at ETH as a whole right now, the answer is definitely yes. For me – being Swiss and still at the Bachelor’s level – ETH has a few compelling advantages. One of these is the very low tuition fees – you have the opportunity to get a world-class education at an extremely low cost. I consider this to be a privilege. However, I think at the Bachelor’s level it doesn’t play a big role where you study but rather whether you get a chance to build a solid knowledge foundation. And ETH is a place where one can build a very solid foundation. There are a few things, however, I don’t like too much about ETH, such as the focus on theoretical knowledge. Yet, finding another institution that provides all the things ETH lacks would be difficult. Not to mention that it would certainly lack things I now take for granted and are important to me. The grass is always greener on the other side.
What is it like to be a student at ETH? What do you like most? What has been particularly memorable?
Being a student ETH makes people outside of ETH often think you are super-bright. This might be true for some students, but definitely not for all (including myself). Most lecturers at ETH make sure there’s at least one thing you will remember about their class. In my first year calculus class our professor would often make a mathematical joke to keep people entertained and awake. Or one time our digital circuits professor drew a circuit on the blackboard and for every mistake he made he was deducted one out of three lives. It’s these small things which stick. And when your systems professor pulls out one out of 300 processors ever made you realize you are at no ordinary university. Apart from my courses I spend quite some time in the leisure room of the VIS where the “fountain of youth” (aka the coffee machine) is located. It’s one of the unfortunately rather few places at ETH where brain performance is not priority number one – a place where you can kick back and relax for an hour.
In your opinion, what has been the biggest change compared to your experience as a student at high school (Mittelschule)?
I actually have to study and I can’t ride my bike to school anymore. Back in high school I never had to study for an exam. I didn’t study because of the marks but because I wanted to make sure that a piece of knowledge would stick with me for longer than just a few weeks. When I didn’t study, however, there weren’t any problems at all. This is different at ETH: not studying for an exam basically means failing it. This was a change, but I like it. Another thing I dearly miss is my 24 minute (on average, standard deviation 2 minutes) bike ride to school. It not only made sure I was awake by the time I arrived in Romanshorn but I also got a good amount of fresh air and music, which is a great start into the day.
If you had the possibility to change one thing at ETH, what would it be?
Even though I would prefer a more hands-on approach to the strong focus on theory, I don’t think this is something I would change at ETH. There is, however, one thing I would like to change. When I’m studying for an exam I tend to search for additional resources online and oftentimes I come across slides and exercises from other, mostly American universities, but never anything from ETH. Whereas other top-ranked universities publish a lot of material online, available for free to anyone who is interested, ETH still follows a closed-system approach. I don’t think today this is still a suitable approach. Why would you not make your knowledge available to anyone curious for it? Publishing materials online is not the same as education, just like with data and information. By simply making it public the value of a university’s education does not decrease. It might in fact increase.
Studying at ETH can be tough. How do you motivate yourself and create a fun learning experience for yourself and possibly others? On the whole: do you find Zurich the perfect environment in which to study, live and party?
Studying at ETH is tough. You dedicate several years to studying incessantly. This is due to the amount of material you have to parse and the high level of expectation set by exercises and exams. And it’s also due to the way exam sessions are scheduled (another thing I would love to change!). You get a few weeks of vacation per year and that’s it. But it’s also a challenge, one learns how to make the most of the little free time one has? During every break between exams and the next semester I go on vacation, mostly to Montana, USA. This is a place where I can make great memories and recharge my batteries. And it’s also something I can look forward to when studying for my exams. I don’t live in the city of Zurich but between St. Gallen and Romanshorn, in the northeastern part of Switzerland. This implies quite some time on the train, which I use extensively to work and study – or to chill before studying at home. Being a (computer science) student involves a lot of sitting which is not only unhealthy but also boring. To fight these problematic aspects of sitting a lot I go running and horse riding. These activities keep me in shape and enable me to get away from studying and focusing on other things.