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Computer Courses
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12-01-2014 1:05am#1
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I'm in final year Mechanical Engineering.
Approaching your weak subjects or subjects you have never done before in college is relatively straight forward:- Show up for your lectures: I cannot overemphasise this, idiots don't show up, if you show up to 90+% of your lectures and you get 38% and you need 40% to pass then lecturers look to your attendance, so imagine if they've never even seen your face because you never went!
- Make sure you take good notes: Don't just write down the content of the blackboard, make notes, such as "this is where x+5y came from after differentiating the original equation" or something like that. It makes it considerably easier three months later when you're revising and you can't make out where certain answers came from in a problem.
- Do a small bit of revision a few times a week: even if you have no upcoming test a suggestion is do 5 or 10 sample questions twice a week, which will take 20 minutes or half an hour. It's mundane and boring and in first year you may think it's unecessary, but if you develop that method of going about college, when it gets to the hard stuff in the later years you'll automatically be doing an hour of revision a week because it's a habit.
- Don't stress: they can't bring you into first year and start doing complex maths because everyone would fail. First year is very friendly in CIT and you'll be grand if you pay attention.
Thanks very helpful
0 - Show up for your lectures: I cannot overemphasise this, idiots don't show up, if you show up to 90+% of your lectures and you get 38% and you need 40% to pass then lecturers look to your attendance, so imagine if they've never even seen your face because you never went!
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con___manx1 wrote: »I failed pass maths in the leaving cert when I was 17 repeated it the following year and got a c2. I ended up doing an electronics engineering course and getting a bachelors degree. The maths are hard but you can pass if u put the work in. I also didn't do physics in the leaving but I managed to get through it.
Well that's releaving thanks for the post man very helpfull and also did you enjoy the coarse is it as good and interesting as it seems?? And is there alot of practicle as in just doing stuff other then the writing and boring side of it?? 0 -
Well that's releaving thanks for the post man very helpfull and also did you enjoy the coarse is it as good and interesting as it seems?? And is there alot of practicle as in just doing stuff other then the writing and boring side of it??
i did it in ITcarlow. 50% of the course is pratical work roughly. I remember in first year we had to build and test 25 circuits in each semester. in third year you have to build a project for the year. projects would be power supply's solar panels stuff like that. its interesting all right. a guy used t b in my class got a job the other day with a company car laptop phone the works. he did the honours degree. the course is now 4 years in carlow but when i was doing it was 5 years.0 -
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con___manx1 wrote: »i did it in ITcarlow. 50% of the course is pratical work roughly. I remember in first year we had to build and test 25 circuits in each semester. in third year you have to build a project for the year. projects would be power supply's solar panels stuff like that. its interesting all right. a guy used t b in my class got a job the other day with a company car laptop phone the works. he did the honours degree. the course is now 4 years in carlow but when i was doing it was 5 years.
Alright thanks man so you recommend the course?? yeah I'd say if you do the honours degree you would get a nice job out of it. And if you do the level 7 course you do the 3 years plus an extra year then the you can progress onto the level 8 yes?? 0 -
Alright thanks man so you recommend the course?? yeah I'd say if you do the honours degree you would get a nice job out of it. And if you do the level 7 course you do the 3 years plus an extra year then the you can progress onto the level 8 yes??
If you do a 3 year Level 7, you have no guarantee of getting into the Level 8 add-on course. It would depend if there is space available and if it would be going ahead. That would be the same usually in a lot of courses.
The ladder system is not a bad route to go if you feel you may not last the 4 years.0 -
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TL;DR Only sign up for something you know you can finish. Don't aim for the stars if you don't see yourself getting beyond year 1 or year 2!If you do a 3 year Level 7, you have no guarantee of getting into the Level 8 add-on course. It would depend if there is space available and if it would be going ahead. That would be the same usually in a lot of courses.
The ladder system is not a bad route to go if you feel you may not last the 4 years.
I'm on the ladder system, I'm a mature student and had tried college before 10 years ago and dropped out after first year.
I highly recommend the ladder system. I can only speak for mechanical engineering but a 3+2 honours degree has many advantages over the 4 year honours degree. Namely that you get much more technical experience (hands on with machining, welding and also a lot of time with AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor). This is experience that you do not get with the 4 year honours degree.
If you are a little dicey about college then do the ladder system. If you can pass the first 2 years you have a FETAC level 6 certificate, which isn't worth the paper it's printed on, but you have a qualification and nobody can take that away from you. If you do the extra year you have a degree and another year (or 2) after than you have an honours degree (which is what you should be aiming for with engineering).
As for electronic engineering, I imagine that much like mechanical getting a job comes down to your qualification and/or experience you have. I was given advice by a friend who has both electronic and a mechanical engineering level 7 degrees (i.e. 2 BEng degrees) and he said that in his opinion and experience the jobs you can get with a level 7 degree you can get without it if you have the experience.
I am not a stupid person, but I was not a good student and my motivation was in question when it came to choosing a degree. So I chose a 3 year level 7. I'm now about to finish that and I look forward to spending another year or two in college because the honours degree is where the money is.
Any degree is a good thing, don't let anybody say otherwise. It shows you you can apply yourself to something and follow it through, something I only really got a grasp of in the last few years. Realistically with engineering the higher you can go the better.
An honours degree is what secures you a good job when you leave college and it's what comes into play later on in your career when you want promotions or management position.Alright thanks man so you recommend the course?? yeah I'd say if you do the honours degree you would get a nice job out of it. And if you do the level 7 course you do the 3 years plus an extra year then the you can progress onto the level 8 yes??- FETAC Level 6 = do 2 years = certificate
- FETAC Level 7 = add 1 year = Ordinary degree (ie: BEng Electronic Engineering)
- FETAC Level 8 = add 1 or add 2 years = Honours Degree (i.e. BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering)
- In CIT engineering the level 8 is a minimum of 5 years using the ladder system.
- Not using the ladder system it's 4 years.
- For Mechanical Engineering it's a 50% average grade in final year to get the 1 year level 8 add on and a 60% grade average in final year to get the 2 year level 8, these are the minimum marks you must achieve in order to get entry.
It's not set in stone, it goes on the grade they award you, not the actual grade you get. Example: you get 58% average, they can give you 58% average but say you got a 2nd class honours degree (60% or greater) so in effect you could get in with below that requirement. This is most likely very limited so I wouldn't bank on it.0 -
TL;DR Only sign up for something you know you can finish. Don't aim for the stars if you don't see yourself getting beyond year 1 or year 2!
I'm on the ladder system, I'm a mature student and had tried college before 10 years ago and dropped out after first year.
I highly recommend the ladder system. I can only speak for mechanical engineering but a 3+2 honours degree has many advantages over the 4 year honours degree. Namely that you get much more technical experience (hands on with machining, welding and also a lot of time with AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor). This is experience that you do not get with the 4 year honours degree.
If you are a little dicey about college then do the ladder system. If you can pass the first 2 years you have a FETAC level 6 certificate, which isn't worth the paper it's printed on, but you have a qualification and nobody can take that away from you. If you do the extra year you have a degree and another year (or 2) after than you have an honours degree (which is what you should be aiming for with engineering).
As for electronic engineering, I imagine that much like mechanical getting a job comes down to your qualification and/or experience you have. I was given advice by a friend who has both electronic and a mechanical engineering level 7 degrees (i.e. 2 BEng degrees) and he said that in his opinion and experience the jobs you can get with a level 7 degree you can get without it if you have the experience.
I am not a stupid person, but I was not a good student and my motivation was in question when it came to choosing a degree. So I chose a 3 year level 7. I'm now about to finish that and I look forward to spending another year or two in college because the honours degree is where the money is.
Any degree is a good thing, don't let anybody say otherwise. It shows you you can apply yourself to something and follow it through, something I only really got a grasp of in the last few years. Realistically with engineering the higher you can go the better.
An honours degree is what secures you a good job when you leave college and it's what comes into play later on in your career when you want promotions or management position.- FETAC Level 6 = do 2 years = certificate
- FETAC Level 7 = add 1 year = Ordinary degree (ie: BEng Electronic Engineering)
- FETAC Level 8 = add 1 or add 2 years = Honours Degree (i.e. BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering)
- In CIT engineering the level 8 is a minimum of 5 years using the ladder system.
- Not using the ladder system it's 4 years.
- For Mechanical Engineering it's a 50% average grade in final year to get the 1 year level 8 add on and a 60% grade average in final year to get the 2 year level 8, these are the minimum marks you must achieve in order to get entry.
It's not set in stone, it goes on the grade they award you, not the actual grade you get. Example: you get 58% average, they can give you 58% average but say you got a 2nd class honours degree (60% or greater) so in effect you could get in with below that requirement. This is most likely very limited so I wouldn't bank on it.
Thanks slot for your time. Helps alot another way to get started off so the ladder system is basically start at level 6 and work your way up to get more experience out of it??
And really thanks for the time 0 -
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