DON'T COME TO FAST
I’m currently studying at FAST National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences and honestly, this place is nothing like what people outside think it is. Okay so I am from batch 2024-2028 (I hope it doesn't go to 2029 or even ahead). I am doing BSCS.
Before joining, everyone keeps telling me, “FAST tough hai but worth it.” I expected hard work, difficult courses, and competition. That part is true. But what nobody really tells you is how exhausting the teaching environment itself becomes.
A lot of the faculty teaches in a way that feels more like they’re trying to finish the syllabus than actually teach students. Some lectures are literally just reading slides for an hour straight. Half the class sits confused, but nobody even asks questions anymore because some teachers respond like you’re supposed to already know everything. Sometimes I leave class more confused than before entering.
The workload is honestly insane. Every single week there’s another quiz, assignment, lab task, presentation, or project waiting. Different teachers keep dumping work without caring that students have five other courses. There are days when I’m juggling three deadlines together while also preparing for quizzes the next morning.
And then comes the checking. You spend hours doing an assignment or coding a lab perfectly, and still lose marks over tiny details. Sometimes it feels like strict marking is treated like some achievement here. Students stop caring about learning and start thinking only about GPA survival.
The worst thing is the constant pressure everywhere. In the cafeteria, labs, even while walking in corridors, everyone is stressed. Someone failed a quiz, someone’s crying over GPA, someone hasn’t slept because of deadlines. During mids and finals, the whole campus feels dead mentally.
What frustrates me the most is when people justify all this by saying, “FAST prepares you for industry.” There’s a difference between preparing students and making them mentally drained all the time. Good teaching should challenge students while still helping them understand concepts properly.
And honestly, most of my actual learning happens from YouTube, online courses, or seniors, not from class lectures. That’s the reality many FAST students quietly agree with.
Of course, not every teacher is bad. Some faculty members are genuinely amazing and supportive, and students respect them a lot because they actually teach properly and understand student pressure. But overall, the system feels unnecessarily harsh sometimes.
At this point, FAST feels less like a university experience and more like a survival test. Yes, I’m becoming stronger technically and mentally. But sometimes I genuinely wonder whether all this pressure is really necessary.
And honestly, when I compare FAST with universities like NUST, GIKI or LUMS, I genuinely feel those universities are ahead in many areas besides just workload. Their labs seem more modern and research-oriented, faculty interaction looks healthier, and students there seem to have more balance in life. At least from what I’ve seen and heard from friends, professors guide students more instead of just pressuring them constantly.
You can literally learn coding and programming anywhere, but you can't get good facilities like NUST, LUMS and GIKI at this factory. Please consider some other universities, you will get a good CGPA, you will get scholarship for masters and more opportunities and you just need to devote yourself to studies and skills and you will be successful.
I don't regret the decision because after all I'm still gaining something but not as much as I could have at other universities.