Studying computer science at uni!

Biz.Kid09

Biz.Kid09

Biz.Kid09

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Hi guys,
I have recently submitted my UCAS application with basically all but one choice to study Computer Science at Kent, Lancaster, Newcastle, Greenwich and Stirling.

I am just wondering if anyone here is studying Comp Science and if so how are they finding it? or anyone here graduated from this course? what kind of employment have they gone into?

I am confident in the Computer side of it eg the programming, networks, graphics, databases and so on. I am slightly worried about the maths as I only achieved a C grade in GCSE maths and I didn't do it as an A Level.

Am I likely to struggle with the mathematics side of the course as I didn't do A Level or ?

Thanks for any help and advice you can offer!
 
Will you even be accepted to any of these courses without A-Level maths?

I studied Comp Sci at Herriot Watt 10 years ago and did not like it to be honest. I found the maths and logic courses to be quite a jump from what I had studied at school but nothing excessively difficult. I just found the whole thing extremely tedious. I have a number of friends who loved it however and think that no matter what degree I had chosen I would have found it tedious.

You had better be sure you dont mind coding for many, many hours too!

/Salsa
 
I guess the course has changed. There was very little true maths when I did my degree.

To answer Salsa, no you don't need A level maths to get on the course for most universities.

Edit: I probably should say they have a preference for it over most other a-levels, including that of A-level computing.
 
There could be a lot of maths but I would say it is different from school stuff and not to let your previous experiences cloud you or your belief.

It has a purpose and if you learn to enjoy it and treat it like problem-solving and once you do more programming then you learn to be better at it as programming is all about breaking problems down. Just be positive about it.
 
I got an A* at GCSE and C at A-level in maths. I personally found the maths in my degree really easy. However, there were some that really struggled on my course to even do basic things like adding basic binary numbers together.

I think if you have decent arithmetic and problem solving you should be OK on the maths side of things. Also depends on what modules your course does depending on what types of maths will be involved.

Also agree with the poster above, it was extremely tedious and repetitive.

I am fresh out of Uni in summer, so its still fairly recent to me.

Just to note I technically didn't do a Comp Science Course, but Computer Security and Forensics, but most of our modules were the same as the Comp Science course.
 
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I'm in second year of computer science and just got my placement sorted for next year. I had a module devoted to maths in first year, which I did pretty well in without having done A level maths and I also got a C at GCSE. The maths is mostly logical and based around solving problems, which I quite enjoyed.

Apart from that module, math has not really featured too much. Just general everyday math, stuff like percentages and problem solving used for programming and the like.
 
Thanks all for your responses.

It seems from you guys the maths isn't super advanced that would mean I would struggle but rather it is something that I can certainly learn and work towards.

Outside of comp science I haven't really looked at any other courses. Except this one, http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/programmes/bsc-information-technology-organisations#overview
Does anyone do this course? or does anyone have any thoughts about it?

Also Would anyone here say I should go Mcomp over Bsc?
 
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Biz.Kid09 said:
Outside of comp science I haven't really looked at any other courses. Would anyone here say I should go Mcomp over Bsc?
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do you have to make that decision now?

If so I presume that choosing the 4 year option always leaves you the choice to change it to a 3 year option up till some point in your 2nd year.

Regarding the maths side of things - there ought to be some maths content to the course (quite a lot really if you want to understand anything rather than just learning some applicable skills) - its not necessarily going to be the sort of maths you studied at a-level.
 
Biz.Kid09 said:
Thanks all for your responses.

It seems from you guys the maths isn't super advanced that would mean I would struggle but rather it is something that I can certainly learn and work towards.

Outside of comp science I haven't really looked at any other courses. Except this one, http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/programmes/bsc-information-technology-organisations#overview
Does anyone do this course? or does anyone have any thoughts about it?

Also Would anyone here say I should go Mcomp over Bsc?
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It's at a brilliant uni and probably the best place to go for this course.
Source:
I am in this department, it's ridiculously wealthy and has really good industry contacts
 
I did just take Stirling off and swapped it for Southampton.

dowie it does not say if I can change it right now just asks which course you wish to apply for.

RomanNose, awesome. I have just put down a choice as Comp Science and the one I linked (Is that allowed or could it cause problems) at Southampton which as you say is a seemingly fantastic uni.
 
[FnG]magnolia;23520459 said:
On a geographical note, Stirling is a terribly depressing place to visit let alone live in for four years.
Click to expand...

Yet it has the most beautiful campus of any University in the UK...

Not that the OP is likely to be venturing outside much whilst studying comp sci.

/Salsa
 
Biz.Kid09 said:
dowie it does not say if I can change it right now just asks which course you wish to apply for.
Click to expand...

I'm over a decade out of date so prob best speak to someone at your 6th from/college (or perhaps the admissions secretary at the uni/dept) but I'd assume that if you're unsure its better to apply for the 4 year course initially and then change it to a 3 year course later if you change your mind. Certainly that option used to be available right up until some point in the 2nd year.
 
The higher the position in the league tables, the more focus on maths there will be.

I really struggled with the maths modules at Bath University. It was a Computer Information Systems degree which didn't require A-Level maths (I had a C grade at GCSE). Despite the non A-Level requirement, there were only 4 students who didn't have A-Levels in Maths (me included).

My other friends on the Computer Science degree which did require A-Level Maths found it OK.

I highly suggest you do your research and don't make the mistake I made.
 
computer science is a wide subject.. i would have gone for a specialist degree tbh

my robotics degree is a CS degree with added robots :P
 
I got an A in A-Level and found the maths in my 1st year a big step up and quite hard :( We had 3 maths units first year, one was ok though. Two reasons I found it hard..

1. I didn't really bother learning/revising until right at the end when I needed to (pretty much all of my units! xD)

2. Most people in my course had already done a lot of what was being taught, so the beginning part was like a refresher course. Apparently my college didn't teach the right things! That should had pushed me to learn in my own time, but meh, I passed the year lol.

I thought most places would have required maths? I think my uni did, but I can't be sure.

There was a lot more theory than I expected (which I hated), but I've found some units this year/next year that I really enjoy so I might possibly want to go into that as a career (modelling and animation).
 
I studied Computer Science at Stirling, a few years ago though (1999-2003).

The campus was great, loads of facilities on site and the social scene was brilliant.

The course was OK, did a lot of Java, although that's probably all changed now. I now work for one of the biggest IT companies in the world (EMC), I'd definitely do the same again.
 
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