Computer Science

m0ynihan

Hey!

I'm in Transition year atm and I am thinking about what I should be doing in college, and I am strongly considering Computer Science in UCC.

At this point I haven't come to any decision yet, so I'm just wondering what skills I would need to have, would I need to have experience with Java, C++ etc. and what the course is generally about and how difficult it is.

Thanks in advance

jreanor

There are loads of threads around here about Computer Science at UCC so you should be able to find plenty of info.

I am a second year CS student. You are not assumed to have any knowledge of programming etc. though it can't hurt to get a head start. Trying out programming might also help to see if the course if for you as this is a big part of it.

rebel girl 15

Ask your school to see if they qualifiy for the the access scheme, I know that TY students can be given the opportunity to have a week long course in computer science under the Access/HEAR scheme

Another idea is if you are supposed to go on work experience, get in contact with the computer science department and they might let you shadow some of the lectures there - I know its done with the course I'm on at the moment, worth a try anyway.

Last piece of advice - go to the UCC open day, the guys on the CS stand are supposed to be very informative about the whole thing

deRanged

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Last piece of advice - go to the UCC open day, the guys on the CS stand are supposed to be very informative about the whole thing

thanks

there are a couple of open days during the year, one 'official' UCC one, and one that the department runs on a saturday. There's a stand in the Western Gateway building (where Comp Sci is housed) with staff and students there to help out with questions.

"Do I have to know programming" is one of the most common ones I get asked. You don't have to have any prior knowledge at all coming to the course. It'll help if you're comfortable using computers, but it's not necessary. Everything you need will be covered in lectures and practicals.

There are also 2 week long work experience classes each year, with about 20 students in each. If you contact the department (details here) they can advise you as to how you get on those courses.

Splike

Like deRanged said, there is no need to know any programming languages whatsoever but they will of course help. Current first years have learned HTML5 and CSS3 and as a programming language PHP. This may or may not be the case when you arrive in in college but once you know one programming language, you can very easily transfer skills

martmart

also if you look at www.cs.ucc.ie ( the new computer science website), you'll get plenty of info