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I recently encountered this question: Studying Computer Science Remotely Through Reputable University

It's a fairly detailed question basically asking for a recommendation for a university program. On most other sites, questions asking for personalized career/education advice are considered off topic and/or too localized. The question was put on hold as being too broad, with some people arguing for "primarily opinion-based" in the comments. I did see that there doesn't appear to be a valid off-topic reason for this, and there didn't seem to be discussion about whether this question fits into the scope of the site in the comments.

Should questions like this be considered off-topic?

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I voted to close this question as too broad, but I'd be equally happy to see it closed as off topic. First, I'll explain why I originally voted to close as too broad:

I voted to close as too broad because it's simply seeking a list of universities and has no "correct" or "best" answer. Questions like that tend to deteriorate into answers consisting of "This is my favorite" or "I like this one" without any way of comparing different answers. These are called "list questions" or "poll questions" because they are not actual questions, and simply ways of gathering lists of things which fit certain criterion.

I would be equally happy to see it closed as off topic because it's not about teaching others or self-teaching. It's about choosing an institution which is tangentially related to self teaching, but I'd say that it's sufficiently different that it is off topic. Insight from a teacher isn't what's needed here.

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  • $\begingroup$ That makes sense... requests for lists of things are off-topic everywhere on Stack Exchange. $\endgroup$ – EJoshuaS - Reinstate Monica Aug 17 '17 at 21:17
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I think it is on-topic; I've voted to reopen. It's a focused question, so not too broad, and it's about where to get the best teaching within certain parameters, so on-topic.

I'd be interested in discussing this, but I think it is focused enough for there to be an answer which can be voted on as best, and is on-topic as asking for a teaching recommendation.

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    $\begingroup$ I disagree - it's still basically a "shopping request," which is off-topic everywhere on Stack Exchange. The basic problems with these questions are that they a) tend to draw spam and excessively opinion-based answers and b) they tend to become obsolete very quickly. $\endgroup$ – EJoshuaS - Reinstate Monica Aug 20 '17 at 19:13
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    $\begingroup$ In addition to what EJoshuaS said, although it may be useful to you or I, it's not about teaching. $\endgroup$ – thesecretmaster♦ Aug 20 '17 at 20:47

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