Computer Science at university - tips?

Judgeneo said:
Although potentially better than pure comp sci, so not do this unless you genuinely love maths. I've seen many people do maths at uni and end up hating it.
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Pretty much half of people, in my experience. Although hate is perhaps a tad far. It can be blamed on how easy A-level Maths/Further Maths is in relation to serious undergraduate mathematics, essentially giving a lot of people a false sense of a high mathematical ability.
 
I did comp sci and then switched to software engineering mid course just as the engineering degree gave more options of institutions to join after uni but was mostly the same degree (bit more coding modules) and just as recognised.

I got a 2.1 and ive found that the difference between and 1st and 2.1 are negligable and a good interview will see you beat any 1st candidate if they arent as strong in person.

With that in mind, find a good placement and do everything and anything you can. Get a reputation with your company and clients as that does stick. I got a part time contract during my final year and full time job offer as soon as I graduated as a result of my placement.

Job market is fantastic and very, very diverse depending on what you want to do. If you soft skills are good then IT consultancy with a strong IT degree backround can be very lucrative and offer lots of travel/opportunities and such likes if thats your thing. If you want to be an IT monkey behind a desk then youll walk over anyone with a lesser degree typically so its def a good choice to do.

During uni, enjoy yourself and code outside of class. Find projects if you can and try a good few different languages. Once it all clicks then its all much of a muchness anyway and youre just learning syntax but the ability to keep yourself current and dynamic is a big draw from companies as IT is always evolving.

If youre good with computers and a bit geeky (prob are, who isnt on here :cool:) then you should be good to go. If youre not into IT then its a hard degree to get to stick and you might notice after your first year a big reduction in class size.
 
RDM said:
Get to know the other people on your course, find the ones that are serious about getting a first, start working with them.
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This too. A coding buddy is a great asset and you'll both learn more from fixing each others problems than a lecturer/assistant stepping in.
 
sniffy said:
Definitely do the placement.



The work will probably need to be done but if you clearly outline people's responsibilities in the early stages then individual shortcomings become evident when it comes to assessment. Don't give blaggers an easy ride.
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This is true. Make sure to document individual roles and shortcomings as you say. One person in our group was ridiculous and we ended up reporting them to the lecturer, so they knew that if some of the sections that we gave to them were lacking, they knew who to blame.
 
Kreeeee said:
And this is how I did it. There were many people better at programming than me, but they made 2 key mistakes:
1 - Skipped lectures.
2 - Made amazing pieces of software that didn't match the coursework requirements and therefore got low marks.
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I believe this applies to any course at Uni. Follow the guidelines, do what you have been asked to do and attend as much as you can. I find it's much easier to listen to the lecturer, take in what has been said and then go off and refine it rather than have to find the topic and try to learn it from the book.
 
I don't know anything about the degree but I have a piece of advice.

Learn to write programs on paper. Logically efficient code with the minimum lines needed. In the west we are spoiled by being able to code and run in realtime on a computer.

The best programmers in the world write code down and constantly minimize the crap in the code to make it run more efficient. These programmers came from Russia who at the colleges under the soviet regime were only given minutes to test their programs that they had written out beforehand.
 
I recently graduated with a First in CS this year. Here is my advice:

  • Start work on assignments early! Lots of people on my course left their assignments until the last minute. They got low marks and some even failed.

  • Plan your dissertation in advance. If you let it creep up on you, then you will start stressing about it and end up getting a low mark because you didn't put the effort in. I knew someone who submitted a 3,000 word dissertation because they didn't start work on their project until it was too late.

  • Be careful of group projects! You will either; do the whole project yourself or there will be one person in your group who will not do anything. Be sure to plan some contingency time early on in case this happens so you don't end up having to do their work for them. Find out how group projects are marked! Are they marked on an individual contribution to the project or the project as a whole.

  • STUDY. You won't believe at how many students just don't study. They won't read around their subject or go the extra mile when trying to find a dissertation topic.

  • Turn up to EVERYTHING. If the university is hosting a job fair for CS students - go to it. If there is a revision session for an exam coming up - go to it. Lecture at 9 O'Clock in the morning? Go to it. Good attendance is important and I got job interviews from companies when I met them at job fairs.

I enjoyed my CS course and I am definitely glad that I choose that subject. Have fun! :)
 
Some good advice has already been given here. I'll add look at the SCJP certification to go with the course. If they teach you the basics you should be able to sit the SCJA exam. Towards the end of the course go for the full cert.

You'll rock out of uni with a year in industry, a good degree (hopefully) and a professional qualification. You will be going against others that just have degrees so you have an advantage straight away :)
 
coolsurfer said:
Learn to write programs on paper. Logically efficient code with the minimum lines needed. In the west we are spoiled by being able to code and run in realtime on a computer.
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That will really depend on what you are writing. In a lot of cases slightly more verbose code that is easier to read and maintain is better than the minimum lines of code required.
 
Start coursework early (and enjoy free time when done)

Keep coursework to the requirements

Enjoy as much as possible and join a uni club and something social (good for jobs!) and obviously take advantage of the young hot women :D
 
One thing that we see from undergrads is a failure in the basics of team working, most of the time they are working solo and save everything in dropbox.
Working with version control, git & github is something we like to see, CI knowledge is good, also writing tests for your code, all these things help show you aren't going to need 2 months of teaching before we let you near the codebase.

On a basic level, learn to use either OSX or Linux, it can be difficult for some people to jump in from a long term Windows stretch, so showing extra skills like using the command line can be a big plus. It may seem strange, but setting up a computer is actually not a simple task for some people, it can take a few days, especially when having never used Ubuntu for example.

One last thing to also take into consideration is the wider industry, if you apply for a job with knowledge of current industry standards and conventions, you might find yourself with a few more job responses. Technologies we use are PHP, JavaScript, HTML, Ruby, JRuby, Python, Node, Vagrant, Packer, Docker, AWS, Git, Github, Jenkins, Travis-CI, SASS.
 
Learn how you work. People here say do hours of work each day, read everything asap and all. If that isn't how you are able to work, don't do that.

I did very little and went to probably 40% of lectures but always got comfortable 2:1s as that was all I aimed for. I got a couple of firsts in modules I was genuinely interested in, but there is no chance in hell I would be able to spend hours a day in a library, studying. I honestly did not understand, and still do not, what people do when they spend hours in the library. I read and noted material for a week or so prior to exams.
 
Hxc said:
Learn how you work. People here say do hours of work each day, read everything asap and all. If that isn't how you are able to work, don't do that.

I did very little and went to probably 40% of lectures but always got comfortable 2:1s as that was all I aimed for. I got a couple of firsts in modules I was genuinely interested in, but there is no chance in hell I would be able to spend hours a day in a library, studying. I honestly did not understand, and still do not, what people do when they spend hours in the library. I read and noted material for a week or so prior to exams.
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I can second this. I also got a 2:1. And didn't spend all day everyday in the Library to get it.

Checking my attendances for the 3 modules in my 3rd year that had electronic registers I had 54% 50% and 0%. I wouldn't recommend that though. Some people need to cram cram cram for it to sink in and some people don't. Do what you need to do.
 
- Pass the first year comfortably, first year is a tester year.
- Work your ass off in your second year, it'll make your final year a lot easier.
- Figure out the grades you need (2nd year) to get a 2:1/1st in your last year.
- Learn to use the library. I got more work done in 2 months than nearly a whole year.
- GYM. It helps with stress. (Cardio or weights.. Just anything to get away from a PC)
- MATHS. Learn it. It's horrible in your first year.
- Design a C.V. (Use people here for help) as you'll probably have a core module in your 2nd year for 'business' which is basically "Making CVs for a year"
- As mentioned, planned your dissertation (Probably during your placement year is a good start)
- Group work is the devil (..)
 
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