Didn't get into FAST or NUST? How to judge (and beat) any CS degree

Big companies (Google, IBM, Apple) dropped degree requirements — but Harvard/Burning Glass found non-degree hiring barely moved (fewer than 1 in 700 at some firms). So a degree still opens the door a little; skills and a portfolio walk you through it. Your university’s name is not your ceiling. Your work is.

Stop asking “is my university good?” Judge ANY Pakistani CS degree with these 5 checks:

1. Teachers vs FYP culture — do the courses actually teach, and does the final-year-project culture push real work, or just paperwork?
2. Alumni in real companies — search the uni on LinkedIn. Are graduates at actual software houses, product companies, and remote roles?
3. Internship pipeline — does the department help students land internships, or are you fully on your own?
4. Freedom to self-learn — does the workload leave you time and space to build projects and learn beyond the syllabus?
5. Project output — do students graduate with real, shippable projects, or just a transcript?

How to beat a weaker degree, whatever uni you’re at: build 2–3 real projects, put them on a GitHub that speaks for you, and go deep on one in-demand skill. Don’t skip the degree, and don’t rely on it alone. Skills plus proof is what actually gets you hired.