uni course advice

thanks for all your comments, anyone else got some suggestions? i'm going to start looking at the suggested courses on the ucas site now but the more the better.

thanks
 
Kreeeee said:
Funny, as a CS student at Bristol I only ever did maths in my first year...
Click to expand...

Still, maths is maths and the maths they do in CS at Newcastle is complicated. So glad I did my course! If you've got anymore Q's, just ask!
 
If you're not sure on what course you want to take, why not consider taking a year out? I know with hindsight I wish I had but instead I felt pushed into it by my college who didn't really seem to have an alternative route for people who couldn't decide immediately.
 
Haly said:
If you're not sure on what course you want to take, why not consider taking a year out? I know with hindsight I wish I had but instead I felt pushed into it by my college who didn't really seem to have an alternative route for people who couldn't decide immediately.
Click to expand...

really don't see this as an option, i want to go to uni and get all my education over then perhaps take a gap year.
i think the problem is that i don't really know what the courses or possible career outlooks would involve. i don't want to end up in an office doing the same thing everyday but that, as far as i can tell is just what i would end up doing, so confused tbh :confused:
 
I love on here how anything below came/ox standards instantly equals a job at mc donalds.

To the op, dont rush into something. Take a gap year, get a job. Educate yourself into some courses, read up on them. Go to open days, visit the unis.
It will benefit you immensly. And do something you ENJOY or have a passion for.
 
would doing a broad course that cover maybe 3 or 4 topics like programming, hardware, netwoking or whatever be a wise idea or would be be better finding a specific course?
also what sort of job would you get from a course based around technology and design.
 
-Exodus- said:
really don't see this as an option, i want to go to uni and get all my education over then perhaps take a gap year.
Click to expand...
That's how I felt at the time. However I've come to realise it should never be a matter of getting your education 'over with' imo. When it comes to University it really does make the world of difference if you enjoy the subject and have a passion for it :)
The same can be said for your workplace which is of course usually linked (although not always).

So I'd still strongly recommend this option:
Psypher5 said:
To the op, dont rush into something. Take a gap year, get a job. Educate yourself into some courses, read up on them. Go to open days, visit the unis.
It will benefit you immensly. And do something you ENJOY or have a passion for.
Click to expand...
 
I'm going to take an old-fashioned view of your question, so please take it as such:

The type of material you describe very much suggests that you don't want the academic side of things, but want a more hands on approach. I honestly believe if you look towards university for these things, you'll be disappointed. University courses, no matter how much many of them try to avoid it, must be presented from an academic stand point. Before you pledge thousands and thousands of pounds to a University who will happily promise you the world, consider whether or not you could spend the next three years more effectively.
 
Leeum said:
How complicated... any examples? I ask as I find out next week whether I've been accepted at Newcastle to do CS... eep. :p
Click to expand...

Not very tbh, if you got a-level its totally fine. If you don't then its a lot of stuff which isn't in a-level as well (discrete maths). The amount of maths you do varies on the modules you take really. It's not stupidly hard maths, it is just certain techniques that crop up in a lot of the modules. It is a different kinda maths really and I found it easier than a-level physics by far. Theoretical CS basically is applied maths and even though a lot if hidden from you if you want to be good at CS it helps being good at maths. Well first year you got a maths module , 2nd year algorithms (like logic/maths) and data structures which are based on maths. Computational complexity of your algorithms is maths, you got proofs/format reasoning as well, so they are kinda mathsish.

Then third year you can chose which path you want to go down. Games/Virtual enviroments (GFX is hardcore maths, AI some etc..), distributed systems - lots of distributed algorithms with maths behind them =) or Software Engineering - no maths at all.

Im more a systems/programming person myself but I found the maths/theory I did comes in handy occasionally. Technology advances so fast but the theoretical underpinning of CS stay the same.

Information systems is a joke - if you fancy an easier degree just drop down to that. Thats what happens if you can't make it on the CS course. Loads of ppl switched after 1st year who couldn't deal with it/didn't enjoy it.

I actually think the CS course isnt the best itself... ended up having to teach myself extra stuff on top of the course material in my own time. The lecturers are in generally really good(smart) but even a few of them agree that there are important things missed out in the undergraduate course. I ended up working with some guys from cambridge and imperial on my placement and there were gaps in my knowledge :\ I guess im making it sound worse than it really is. Put it this way there are far, far worse course and I would say its pretty average :)

It's nice to see newcastle CS is actually now above durham in this years tables hehe, not like it actually means much though :]
 
Last edited:
=/ i really don't know what to do, i want to go to uni, but i want to do a more practical course. all ict related jobs seem to be all maths. ah god knows, i'll leave it for the night
 
-Exodus- said:
=/ i really don't know what to do, i want to go to uni, but i want to do a more practical course. all ict related jobs seem to be all maths. ah god knows, i'll leave it for the night
Click to expand...

I know how you feel, I don't like maths either :p BTW I felt the same as you; want to get education over and done with. Lifes too short so IMHO its best to get cracking ASAP
 
hey everyone again,
would it be a wise idea if i did a foundation course in computing or something before, this would allow me to broaden my course choices for the next year and give me a chance to discover exactly what i would like to do, does it sound like a wise move to yous?

thanks
 
WalkeruK said:
sounds the best bet, i did comp studies and tried abit of everything didnt like any of it, so now going onto business.
Click to expand...

thanks man, anyone else think this is a good idea? also what would be a good foundation to do that would cover everything so i could try stuff?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom