Is St. Johns Central College any good?

0verblood

Or are they only mickey mouse courses? :pac:

I'm thinking of doing either the film production course there or something IT based. Is it a good college?

Outkast_IRE

0verblood wrote: »

Or are they only mickey mouse courses? :pac:

I'm thinking of doing either the film production course there or something IT based. Is it a good college?

its decent its a good route to go if you want to try out an area before embarking on a full degree etc in it.

On their own merits they are mickey mouse courses, they are a gateway to better ones though

NoDice

I was actually thinking this. I wanted to do the Applied Science course for Veterinary Nursing. Starts as a FETAC level 5 and progresses to FETAC level 6. I emailed the course coordinator to enquire about the actual hours of the course to determine whether or not I could afford to work around the course hours. No answer still and this was a few weeks ago. Tried ringing and no answer.

I think they are great gateway courses and they are relatively cheap as PLC colleges go imo.

Sephiroth_dude

I did the computer game design course few yrs back and it was complete rubbish tbh.

akamossy

I've had a few friends go there and I've heard nothing bad about it. They all enjoyed the courses they have done, as with all colleges you have to be interested and committed to the course you wish to undertake, should be very enjoyable for you then

0verblood

akamossy wrote: »

I've had a few friends go there and I've heard nothing bad about it. They all enjoyed the courses they have done

Yeah but they could be young culchies from the middle of nowhere, leaving Ballyskibbereen to go to college in Cork Metropolis for the first time and thinking it's the coolest thing ever. I'm 25 years old and have a NUIG degree, I'm too old for a mickey mouse coruse. I just need some feedback from somebody who has studied there.

Sephiroth Dude how was it rubbish, were the teachers just crap or were the equipment and facilities lacking?

akamossy

0verblood wrote: »

Yeah but they could be young culchies from the middle of nowhere, leaving Ballyskibbereen to go to college in Cork Metropolis for the first time and thinking it's the coolest thing ever. I'm 25 years old and have a NUIG degree, I'm too old for a mickey mouse coruse. I just need some feedback from somebody who has studied there.

Sephiroth Dude how was it rubbish, were the teachers just crap or were the equipment and facilities lacking?

Ehhhhhh thats a bit rude!! No they were not young culchies, I am 24 years old as is one of my mates there now who also has a degree and she loves it!!!

serjical_strike

i wasnt going to post as you sound like your mind is already made up about the place OP but im currently studying photography in St Johns and i think its a great college. im in my first of two years there and after that hopefully moving on to getting a degree somewhere else so i guess im using it as a springboard myself. the facilities are great and the teachers are extremely helpfull and know what they are talking about, photography wise anyway.. im 24 aswell so not a culchie loving the big city since im from the city.

anyway i would recommend it to get a footing in your desired area and use it to go onto something else then. i wouldnt class it as a mickey mouse college in the slightest.

Sephiroth_dude

0verblood wrote: »

Yeah but they could be young culchies from the middle of nowhere, leaving Ballyskibbereen to go to college in Cork Metropolis for the first time and thinking it's the coolest thing ever. I'm 25 years old and have a NUIG degree, I'm too old for a mickey mouse coruse. I just need some feedback from somebody who has studied there.

Sephiroth Dude how was it rubbish, were the teachers just crap or were the equipment and facilities lacking?

The teachers didn't know anything about the games industry,lack of equipment too,I was just expecting a lot more from it and I guess I had my expectations too high,but thats not to say that there other courses are rubbish.

I did the CAD course there years ago. It wasn't great. Poor facilities/equipment,most of the course work was just rehashed leaving cert material. The whole place was rebuilt recently so maybe things have improved. I'm considering signing up for the motorcycle repair course but haven't made up my mind yet.

Webmonkey

0verblood wrote: »

Yeah but they could be young culchies from the middle of nowhere, leaving Ballyskibbereen to go to college in Cork Metropolis for the first time and thinking it's the coolest thing ever. I'm 25 years old and have a NUIG degree, I'm too old for a mickey mouse coruse. I just need some feedback from somebody who has studied there.

Sephiroth Dude how was it rubbish, were the teachers just crap or were the equipment and facilities lacking?

Actually I've few friends that started there, went on to do a full degree (got on exceptionally), then went on to do a research masters and now are getting started on a PhD.

My brother is in there too. All sort of people study there.

Flesh Gorden

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

The teachers didn't know anything about the games industry,lack of equipment too,I was just expecting a lot more from it and I guess I had my expectations too high,but thats not to say that there other courses are rubbish.

I did the furniture restoration/cabinet making course a good few years ago just after my leaving cert and had a very similar experience

what was stretched out to a year could have been covered in 8 weeks or less, the restoration work was the only thing new and challenging; the rest was a rehash of leaving cert woodworking



I really didn't get along with one of the two teachers, they both spent most of the day in their office drinking tea.
We where sent home early most Fridays so he could play golf.

His retired golf buddies would get first preference over the machines, storage space and sash clamps, often with 3 or more in the class the same time as us

Myself and 3 other guys spent more time showing people how to do things then that teacher did

I did get along with the restoration teacher and learnt a lot off hm




6 of the men on the course were fully fledged dole heads who'd never held a job and were doing the course as part of the back to education scheme because they had to,

5 of the 6 had serious drink problems and the other guy half jokingly threatened to stab one of the other lads that teased him about the big parka jacket he wore everyday since the first day,
same guy came close to causing two accidents involving me




Boiling point for me was when the blade in the main bandsaw broke and they wouldn't replace it claiming they didn't have the budget to get get a new one as their allocation had been spent already as they hadn't used it themselves.

What annoyed me about it though was about how the cabinet making teacher kept bringing up the fact that the house he'd built had been evaluated at over €1 million and how much his daughter was paying in rent to stay there

It summed up the whole attitude of the course, 'can't be bothered'. He could have replaced the blade out of his own pocket but couldn't be bothered



The financial side of things for that course is very high, around €500 to cover raw materials and a restoration piece if bought at auction.
You'd want your own tools to finish things off or you'd never get done. I ran out of money and never completed the course

Worst part though was chasing up the grant, it took months to come through even though I applied before the first cut off date,
some peoples grants didn't come through till January/Febuary and they refused to pay the outstanding amount if they didn't return for second year



I was offered an apprenticeship from the place I went on work experience, couldn't drive at the time though and they'd a reputation for only taking on first years and letting them go after the first year so I didn't take it


I did a full time fás course last year when I had some more spare time and learned a lot in the 7 weeks,
it didn't cost me anything to attend and I got a travel allowance, very fast paced, learned a lot more then I expected

So thats what I'd recommended to anyone, go through Fás, learn a lot and enjoy the free coffee in the canteen

Deleted User wrote: »

I did the CAD course there years ago. It wasn't great.

Was that class taught by Sab? All I remember is him pronouncing Enter key as 'End Turkey' and Explode as 'Exe-plode' and having very little patience

Dean820

I thought it was grand in there, I worked hard and learned a lot. There are one or two lecturers who are bad but you get them at every college! I was lucky enough to have one great teacher in particular who made sure we knew exactly what we were doing and that we did the work. You will get a couple of wasters in some of the Level 5 courses but again, that happens in places with better reputations, too.

Any friends that asked me, I recommended they go and do a course if they're stuck for a job. It really is pointless sitting around doing nothing when you could be learning something you're actually interested in. Go for it.

Flesh Gorden

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

Was that class taught by Sab? All I remember is him pronouncing Enter key as 'End Turkey' and Explode as 'Exe-plode' and having very little patience

Thats the one.

ABajaninCork

I'm doing a couple of courses there at the moment, and find it very good. Throughly enjoying them, and the chance to interact with like-minded people, and broaden my social circle is good too. I'm now trying to secure funding to carry on with one of my courses.

I'd recommend them.

0verblood

Ok I'm getting some good feedback, seems like the people here are 50/50...

Does anybody know anything about the Video Production course there? My friend enrolled in it back in 2005, he said it was the biggest load of shyte ever, he left after a month or so. Have they improved at all in the last 6 years? Do any of ye know anyone who is doing the course?

Webmonkey

Maybe the quality of courses or what people expect to learn isn't that good but it is a stepping stone to further prospects. I think that's how most see it.

Webmonkey

Webmonkey wrote: »

Maybe the quality of courses or what people expect to learn isn't that good but it is a stepping stone to further prospects. I think that's how most see it.

Most definitely, it's a way in to another course/college.