Studying computer science at uni!

wozzizname · 21 Jan 2013 at 20:31

If you're planning to go to Kent, it's worth your while brushing up on some Java before you go, it'll make it easier for you to hit the ground running.

Stellios · 21 Jan 2013 at 22:03

Done Computer Science at Northumbria Uni and I work for a rather small company known as Hewlett Packard now so cant complain too much really, wage isnt hugely great but its better than my old minimum wage job.

Im terrible at maths and I coped OK with the course so dont let that kinda thing put you off.

triggerthat · 22 Jan 2013 at 11:05

Biz.Kid09 said:
Got a conditional offer from Greenwich this morning. Not heard back from the others yet.

Everyone gets an offer from Greenwich.

Biz.Kid09 · 6 Feb 2013 at 17:43

Zephyz said:
Did you do systems analysis in your btec? I'm struggling with that at the moment and would like some help. My teacher is awful and there's no resources I can find online.

Yes I did. Found it really quite easy!

wozzizname said:
If you're planning to go to Kent, it's worth your while brushing up on some Java before you go, it'll make it easier for you to hit the ground running.

Thanks mate will bear that in mind.

triggerthat said:
Everyone gets an offer from Greenwich.

Oh

, got an offer from Lancaster as well.

Really leaning towards Greenwich because of the location, I can live at home and I've heard good things as well as bad things but that's like anywhere.

Thanks Stellios as well. Good to hear more thoughts.

triggerthat · 6 Feb 2013 at 17:48

Where do you live? Kingston is decent. I would avoid Greenwich (you need to find something that matches your grades).

Biz.Kid09 · 6 Feb 2013 at 18:36

In Sidcup, just outside of London.

I am too late to apply for Kingston though?

Crowort · 6 Feb 2013 at 18:40

Zephyz said:
Did you do systems analysis in your btec? I'm struggling with that at the moment and would like some help. My teacher is awful and there's no resources I can find online.

Sorry I can't help. I found it one of the most difficult things I've very learnt. It had the most people repeating out of all the modules I did. Maybe the lecturer I had was just bad at teaching it but he said on the first day it was hard to pass. I only just managed to scrap a pass in it and have forgotten anything I ever knew about it.

triggerthat · 6 Feb 2013 at 18:48

Biz.Kid09 said:
In Sidcup, just outside of London.

I am too late to apply for Kingston though?

Don't know. Find out.

explicit4u · 6 Feb 2013 at 20:35

You're too late to be considered for 'equal consideration' but I do believe you can still apply to some places, check their websites/ring them up/ask UCAS.

If you're looking at London uni's check out City University (recently got an offer for CS myself from them)

Biz.Kid09 · 6 Feb 2013 at 22:40

Explicit I have recently been discussing with triggerthat and I just didn't even look at City or Brunel. I don't know why either

As far as I can see I can't take any choices off now. Only change courses at the universities. I will ring UCAS and see tomorrow if I can take off Southampton (different course) and put on City.

I have also toyed with the idea of deferring Uni for a year and applying next year for City, Brunel, Essex and Kent. Will me being 19 put me at a disadvantage though?

caff · 6 Feb 2013 at 22:51

Biz.Kid09 said:
Thanks for all the posts guys. As I have said I hope I can get a place at Kent as I have read lots of good things about it. I am also inquiring about apprenticeships now at a few companies in IT roles not just IT companies as an alternative to uni.

I did consider choosing for example the CS course with Networking but I am not entirely set on that is what I want to do hence why I just chose normal CS. If I am accepted for Kent to do CS for example, I will certainly enquirer regarding changing courses if I do decide to want to completely focus on that.

Good luck getting into Kent.

I studied there around 1998. They were moving the CS courses over to OO programming, with Java. Personally I found some aspects of the course tough (electrical engineering, mathematics, functional development) but I really enjoyed the others (databases, business analysis, modular programming). The latter I've used extensively in my job, whilst the former is perhaps more suited to real techies and hardcore programmers.

I guess their courses provide a balanced mix that might help you into a range of jobs.

Plus, the social life on campus at Canterbury was brilliant and probably distracted me for 80% of my time there. Remember, a degree is important, but your friendships and experiences should make up a large proportion of your time there.

I think your willpower and knowledge around IT will be the main thing to get you a job in IT after uni, but it's worthwhile to give you a leg up on the ladder.

Number_25 · 7 Feb 2013 at 00:23

caff said:
Good luck getting into Kent.

I studied there around 1998. They were moving the CS courses over to OO programming, with Java. Personally I found some aspects of the course tough (electrical engineering, mathematics, functional development) but I really enjoyed the others (databases, business analysis, modular programming). The latter I've used extensively in my job, whilst the former is perhaps more suited to real techies and hardcore programmers.

I guess their courses provide a balanced mix that might help you into a range of jobs.

Plus, the social life on campus at Canterbury was brilliant and probably distracted me for 80% of my time there. Remember, a degree is important, but your friendships and experiences should make up a large proportion of your time there.

I think your willpower and knowledge around IT will be the main thing to get you a job in IT after uni, but it's worthwhile to give you a leg up on the ladder.

You'll find nowadays that most Universities are moving over to Java as a 'teaching' language - purely because of the large amount of bases it actually covers.

Second semester at AU is going a lot better than the first for me, it's just about putting the work in!

Number_25 · 7 Feb 2013 at 00:24

Biz.Kid09 said:
Explicit I have recently been discussing with triggerthat and I just didn't even look at City or Brunel. I don't know why either

As far as I can see I can't take any choices off now. Only change courses at the universities. I will ring UCAS and see tomorrow if I can take off Southampton (different course) and put on City.

I have also toyed with the idea of deferring Uni for a year and applying next year for City, Brunel, Essex and Kent. Will me being 19 put me at a disadvantage though?

I applied for University at 19 and got offers from every single institution without any issues whatsoever.

Age isn't really a problem for applying to Uni nowadays.

Biz.Kid09 · 8 Feb 2013 at 11:46

Hi again,
The college have today been promoting a HND that they will start offering from September. They have said that I can do a HND and then do a year at uni and earn my degree. Anyone know much about this?

Thanks for the info regarding age. Certainly another option to go next year to which is good.

Biz.Kid09 · 25 Feb 2013 at 22:43

Hi guys,

Just thought I would update this thread, I have interviews at Essex and Kent in a few weeks so looking forward to that.

I know I asked about it earlier but I am still really looking towards doing my CCNA, through the CBT Nuggets route however as I feel I would like a career in the hardware side of IT.

I know Computer Science can lead me into hardware or software but still.

Any more thoughts on doing my CCNA/Going for a placement?

fail at the internets · 26 Feb 2013 at 04:52

currently at lancaster doing comp science first year, also only have a C in maths.

It's damn hard! I regret not going to a uni that involves less maths.

The uni is also really boring and the nightlife is non existent. Wish I had accepted my offer from liverpool or cardiff instead!

Scrutinize · 26 Feb 2013 at 06:47

fail at the internets said:
currently at lancaster doing comp science first year, also only have a C in maths.

It's damn hard! I regret not going to a uni that involves less maths.

The uni is also really boring and the nightlife is non existent. Wish I had accepted my offer from liverpool or cardiff instead!

Surely the point of going to uni is to get a good job at the end not just rack up 20-30k of debt. To do this in comp science means math and programming. Want to do a comp science course without it and you may as well go and work at pc assembly line and skip the degree.

A good job in IT which will net you 30-50k upwards within a year or so of leaving uni such as infrastructure architecture or programming roles requires good skills. Enough people have these skills already to make it a competitive market.

Happy to earn 15-25k then dont worry about the math.

Lwills · 26 Feb 2013 at 10:06

Good choice doing comp sci.

This is my story. Like you I had only a C at GCSE for Maths. Did an applied computer science and cybernetics BSc at the university of Reading, got a 2:1. Got a job as a .NET developer about 2 months after uni. I'm now 27, over the last 6 years have moved jobs 3 times since then, and had roughly an average of 6k+ pay rise each move I'm now a well paid Senior Developer for a global company

I cannot stress this point enough. Do an applied course! (as in a course with a year in industry). The difference that's made to the start of my career has been huge. And don't worry about the maths, there'll be some parts where you'll have to buckle down a bit but at the point where you choose modules, just be sure not to go with any really maths heavy (like graphics).

Hope that helps, best of luck to you dude

Biz.Kid09 · 26 Feb 2013 at 12:21

Well now I know I do wish that I applied for a year in the industry option as i have heard a lot of good things about it. Unfortunately my choices were all just the standard Bsc Comp Science. However I am considering deferring for a year so I can always apply next year for the Year In Industry.

Thanks for the replies. I too have been accepted at Lancaster but I am not really keen on going there but it was nice to see I was offered a place as I really wasn't expecting it.

jon86 · 26 Feb 2013 at 13:32

Lwills said:
Good choice doing comp sci.
...
I cannot stress this point enough. Do an applied course! (as in a course with a year in industry). The difference that's made to the start of my career has been huge.
...

Biz.Kid09 said:
Well now I know I do wish that I applied for a year in the industry option as i have heard a lot of good things about it. Unfortunately my choices were all just the standard Bsc Comp Science. However I am considering deferring for a year so I can always apply next year for the Year In Industry.
...

I am in a similar position as Lwills, although I am slightly younger (26) and have been at the same company since starting. I just wanted to say that a year in industry is not always necessary. I applied for a degree with a year in industry but didn't get good enough grades so was put onto the standard degree.

What made me get noticed was that I attended the careers fairs at my university in the second and third years and spent a good half an hour talking with my company's reps. I showed genuine interest in the company, represented myself and my work well and brought my CV with me. My company held a seminar about Computing Science jobs on the university campus later in my third year and 25 people put their name down. Only three people turned up (including me) and I was the only one to stay until the end. The rep had previously chatted with his boss about me and his boss basically offered me a permanent job there and then.

I recently went to the university's careers fair as a company rep and spoke with lots of students. Most students didn't seem to give much care for my company and the work we do and were only really interested in starting salary. However, we did find one guy who did seem interested and I put him forward to my boss. We have since given him a job.