I'm gonna do Eletronics in College

StephenInsane

Lads. I've never done Eletronics before and don't know much about it, but I think I'll do it as my course. It sounds like a laugh, larking about with Eletronics. I suppose it's kinda like woodwork except with Eletronics(if you get what I'm saying), it's all in the hands and the head, but maybe more maths and physics apply to eletronics.

What advice do ye lads have for me, to get the feel for it, before I head off the college, so I have a bit of a headstart.

TheSonOfBattles

Uh, I never went to college, 'cause I was a moron and fluffed me leaving cert. up due to certain idiotic practices, but, i'd think if you were going to do a college course that's going to last a few years you'd want to be doing it in something your interested in and enjoy doing already. No?

ssh

Just be ready for some very heavy theory and nasty maths. You might end up messing about with electronics after your degree, but you'll spend a huge amount of time exploring magnetic fields (Gasp!) and semi-conductor physics (Wow!).

I found the electronics parts of my course quite tough. Though I guess if you think you'll be interested in the practical end of things, you might find the theory a little more engaging.

gobby

im studying electronics. i started with a diploma and am now studying for a degree.

if you dont already like to mess around with things and pull everything apart, how can you be sure that this is what you want to do? i had an interest before i started and it was still rock hard.

there is a lot of theory and you need a good level of maths. i think you should reconsider why you want to do this. theres no point doing something just cos it might be a laugh. thats why a lot of people drop out of college in their first year.

dont get me wrong, i love what im doing but i think that i was suited for it and made a good decision when it came around to CAO's.

edit: go to some open days, talk to a career guidane councilor (sp?) and talk to your parents as they will most likely be providing finacial support...

Giblet

Maths, maths, maths and more maths.

gobby

Originally posted by Giblet
Maths, maths, maths and more maths.

too true!

po0k

Maths and programming.
And then some general knowledge on tech.

but mainly maths and programming.


mmmm....assembley...

Currently preparing and going over the final touches to my 3rd year project presentation.

Will only get ~3 hours sleep tonighht, and it's rag week

If you don't know how many bits in a nibble or aren't already doing honours maths (with a good chance of a , I sugest you look at other options.

You do very little actual "messing about with eelctronics" in an electronics course.

I've had to solder stuff together maybe 4 or 5 times in 3 years.
Most of the lab work was done with bread boards, signal generators and multimeters.....and maths & formulae.

po0k

Also, take a look here and ask around for opinions, or call down to the Elec. Eng. Department of your local college/IT/University.

Quatre Mains

Check out the time of this post. I did electronics. Unless you get a degree there's strong chance you'll be working shift. Do accountancy or some flaky HR diploma,
the women are good looking in those depts.

po0k

Dude, you should see some of the women in my class, and the 2nd years behind us....nyom

freekhead

Im in my 4th year in a 5 year ba. Its as tough as nails..but i had interest.. you have to be interested in it or you wouldnt do it. i mean it aint like woodwork at all the hands on work is a small part of it..

...knowing maths is the key...i was **** at maths in the leaving scraped a pass.....and still find the maths next to impossible..

.if u wana have a laugh in college and do f*ck all do buisness but not eng cause u will have no life im sure theres a few more here who would agree with me....

Ps anyone got a program c or c++ to do round robbin haha

Giblet

Yeh you really should choose Business or something, where projects consist of writing a easy report on something that doesn't matter with theory that is common sense.

I remember having to do a report 3 years ago for analog electronics. I wrote about 4 pages, and there was the equivelent to about 3 lines of english in it, and two small diagrams, the rest was numbers!

po0k

Just gave my project presentation today, went well afaik.

Just do Arts or Commerce, thouh the sheer number of acronyms which mean SFA even when you know what each letter stands for can be quite annoying.

Had to do 2 semesters of it last year as part of our course. Was pretty much the worst subject I've done so far.
I'm eternally glad I didn't pick a commerce course.

gobby

engineers and buisness/commerce seem to be mortal enemies....

freekhead

yeah we do have a gd laugh bout the buisness in our college...what dopes....jus the other day one sat at a computer near me and complained that the floppy drive wasn't working...i swiftly replyed it was a zip drive she then replyed but my project is not zipped...wish i had a large fish for these moments "SLAP"

eth0_

Electronics is not the lark about you think it is, be warned!
There is SO much theoretical physics and maths involved, you'd really need to have done honours maths and physics at leaving cert unless you've been into electronics as a hobby.

You don't spend your time making funky gadgets, there's lots of electronic CAD, and programming, and programming chips and stuff like that.

If you aren't 100% sure what you want to do in college i'd advise you to take a year out, I did electronics and dropped out after a year, now i'm in the middle of a psychology degree with a view to doing medicine when I finish. Don't just pick a course because it looks like a laugh!

Oh yes, and be prepared for the hours....I had 35 a week in first year, more than a girl who was in my school that was doing medicine!

cerebus

Originally posted by StephenInsane
Lads. I've never done Eletronics before and don't know much about it, but I think I'll do it as my course. It sounds like a laugh, larking about with Eletronics. I suppose it's kinda like woodwork except with Eletronics(if you get what I'm saying), it's all in the hands and the head, but maybe more maths and physics apply to eletronics.

What advice do ye lads have for me, to get the feel for it, before I head off the college, so I have a bit of a headstart.

Given that you want to study electronics, it might be a good idea to learn how to spell it. Maybe you need to think a bit more about your career choices - it may be unfair, but it does look to me as though you haven't put too much thought into it.

Originally posted by ssh
you'll spend a huge amount of time exploring magnetic fields (Gasp!) and semi-conductor physics (Wow!)

Nothing wrong with that - but make sure the course you decide to do covers areas you are interested in.

gobby

Originally posted by eth0_
Electronics is not the lark about you think it is, be warned!
There is SO much theoretical physics and maths involved, you'd really need to have done honours maths and physics at leaving cert unless you've been into electronics as a hobby.

i didnt do honours maths in the leaving. i did a diploma first and now i have transferred into a degree course. so it is possible to do electronics without honours maths but you would want to be very dedicated.

i wasnt dedicated in first year and i failed it. i really wanted to do electronics though so i repeated internally and (eventually) passed it. i did real well after that and got a distinction in the diploma and that got me into third year of a four year degree course.

i should mention that i really did have an interest in electronics and programming before i went to college so this, of course, helped considerably.

i guess what im trying to say is that if you know what you want to do you can do it despite any setbacks. but if your not sure about it then you will probably drop out. if i didnt have an interest i probably would have dropped out when i failed first year.

a college course is something that has to be given a good deal of thought to...

nadir

I did physics and electronics in college, electronics are really facinating, and if you have an inclination twords it I highly reccomend you do go for it, one thing tho, it can be quite tedious and sometimes boring when you have to learn all that stuff for exams. At the same time time, if you find it interesting it will be very easy to learn, there are also great practical benefits from studying it. Although bear in mind im still unemployed.
hehe

Ronaldo7

I'm gonna do Eletronics in College

No such thing. Do you not mean electronics?

Hey! At least learn how to spell what it is you want to do...:rolleyes:

Pacifico

Originally posted by Ronaldo7
No such thing. Do you not mean electronics?

Hey! At least learn how to spell what it is you want to do...:rolleyes:

Yeah the guy must be an idiot. A spelling mistake, he shouldn't be aloud to do Electronics:rolleyes: :rolleyes: