Prospective NCI student

Jimbobjoeyman

So I'm going to be sitting a masters in September and I've had conditional offers from a few universities and institutions.
MsC of Fintech in NCI being my preferred one of them.

How do NCI grads stand upto graduates from the likes of trinity/DCU/UCD ?
The entry requirements for NCI seem lower than some of the better known universities but I'd put that down to it not being as well known.
With even myself only finding out about it lately.
But how does then translate to the job search after graduation ? both nationally and internationally

Also how does the college run is it organised well ?
So far dealing with admissions has been messy enough with emails not being replied to and getting half answers when I do manage to get a reply.
Along with transcripts being misplaced.
Are student issues dealt with quickly ?

bgamer

Hi there,
I'm not sure how the other subjects fare, but I've enrolled in the 4 year part-time undergrad Computing degree and it was not upto par with what I was hoping. It's only a year in but in most places or training around 8 months would have you fairly grounded in the basics. Sadly here it's not the case.

First off the module descriptions changed after the semester had started. So when I decided to join in early August last year it was because of the content, then it turns out they were taken out because previous students found it too hard and weren't getting through.

They'd also moved out some content which was supposed to start at the very beginning to the second semester leaving what one would expect from a computing science
student who has completed one year would come out with a deficit which is ludicrous in a highly competitive market/playing field.

Instead they had entirely pointless filler classes, which seem more reminiscent of playschool, which you had to pass to get through the year mind you, and the proper meat and potato classes were trimmed of certain content, yet again, because people had found it too hard in prior years.

Bar 3-4 courses throughout the 8 months, the rest was more of a drain of time/energy and focus - that's a bit more than 50%. The overall point of college would be to expose you to material that wouldn't necessarily overwhelm you but still challenge and enable you to grow. And after the semester allow you to build on what you've learned.

The college admin is slightly worse than that (mind you some of the lecturers were top notch and had incredible experience and teaching abilities) with class scheduling going awry and being part-time hard to get a hold of because most of them would be gone late afternoon and definitely not around during saturdays. We've had class room allocation issues once too many and combined classes being dropped at the instructors whims because the others weren't around etc etc which is none of my concern because if I'm putting in the time and effort to be there I'd want to be learning.

I've dug into one year already so find it would be hard to switch as the DCU's and IT's would have had higher standards and would most likely require completion of their first year again so will likely stick to completing this or switching over to a higher diploma and getting out sooner rather than later.

Jimbobjoeyman

Thats what I was afraid of hearing.
The admissions process has been a shambles thus far.
If it wasnt for the fact that this is the only place I can get this course I'd have already given up and looked elsewhere.

I applied back in May for this course and am still been left hanging whereas the likes of DCU offered me a conditional place within weeks of my application.

If I got an answer either way I could say no to the conditional offers from the other institutions or accept them.

Tbh I feel bad about sitting on so many conditional offers that I'm taking up a place for someone else while waiting for NCI to get back to me.

bgamer

Jimbobjoeyman wrote: »

Thats what I was afraid of hearing.
The admissions process has been a shambles thus far.
If it wasnt for the fact that this is the only place I can get this course I'd have already given up and looked elsewhere.

I applied back in May for this course and am still been left hanging whereas the likes of DCU offered me a conditional place within weeks of my application.

If I got an answer either way I could say no to the conditional offers from the other institutions or accept them.

Tbh I feel bad about sitting on so many conditional offers that I'm taking up a place for someone else while waiting for NCI to get back to me.

Again it might vary with your programme but the administration is very sketchy like you've said. If you're going for full-time maybe they're more responsive but regardless they're not very evident or available. I never heard about my enrollment or pre-course inductions and had to call a several times and emails before being finally told 4-5 days before, when I finally got through that I needed to get registered. And the reason I hadn't heard from them was because they've had like 150 emails or applicants or what have you.

I've started looking at computing in DCU which seems a more properly involved and demanding course, the type which should be standard at 3rd level. Again not sure about your subject or stream but I'd say apart for the quality the campus experience should be well worth it.

Hollister11

I'm a third year computing student and I disagree with the first reply on this thread.

It's a brilliant college. The course is excellent, the lecturers are very good, and they really care about there students. They really go all out for students who are interested and trying.

If you want to be a programmer, it's no good just relying on what is taught in class. You have to leave build on this yourself outside class hours. All of us who are good, are the ones who go above and beyond to learn different concepts and languages. A lot of the students who complain about the courses,or fail are the ones who spend there day in college in the SU, instead of class. I have never missed a day or ever come close to failing a test or module, so I know what I'm talking about,

I have spent a lot of my summer, learning more Java script and PHP, so I'm ahead of everyone else come September, You have to remember that each module goes on for 12 weeks. There is only so much content that a lecturer can cover, You need to do extra work yourself. Your only have 22 hours of class for a reason.

It truly is a fantastic college, and I can not praise it highly enough. If you or any body reading this* has any questions, ask away, or send me a PM. I'll only be to glad to help, and recommend this college.

If somebody is reading this in a couple of years down the line, I will always answer and recommend this college.

bgamer

Hollister11 wrote: »

I'm a third year computing student and I disagree with the first reply on this thread.

It's a brilliant college. The course is excellent, the lecturers are very good, and they really care about there students. They really go all out for students who are interested and trying.

If you want to be a programmer, it's no good just relying on what is taught in class. You have to leave build on this yourself outside class hours. All of us who are good, are the ones who go above and beyond to learn different concepts and languages. A lot of the students who complain about the courses,or fail are the ones who spend there day in college in the SU, instead of class. I have never missed a day or ever come close to failing a test or module, so I know what I'm talking about,

I have spent a lot of my summer, learning more Java script and PHP, so I'm ahead of everyone else come September, You have to remember that each module goes on for 12 weeks. There is only so much content that a lecturer can cover, You need to do extra work yourself. Your only have 22 hours of class for a reason.

It truly is a fantastic college, and I can not praise it highly enough. If you or any body reading this* has any questions, ask away, or send me a PM. I'll only be to glad to help, and recommend this college.

If somebody is reading this in a couple of years down the line, I will always answer and recommend this college.

Yes third year, so whatever you were privileged to have gotten in the first year has been now removed. That's why i'm disgruntled because the course outline had elements which were only changed after the first week of the start of the semester. If they had planned on changing things it should've been displayed atleast 6-8 months before the course starts.

And you sound like a full time student. I'm talking about the part-time experience - I do not have the luxury of having a whole day of leisurely classes and then whatever happens during the rest of the day. My day consists of full time work followed by 4 hours at night (almost 8 hours on saturdays) where i'm supposed to be getting an education so the last thing I want is my time to be wasted by learning technologies that are almost completely defunct such as Flash and sit through lectures where pointless moot stories of animation history are just read and was never put into any practical display or use.

And apart from pertinent, highly useful sections of a module being taken out, having to sit through an entire class for two hours on Saturday which consisted of the lecturer talking about his life and how he couldn't teach us properly because the college only gave him two hours a week as opposed to four hours for full-time students - which was the entirety of that class except for actually teaching the course (which 99% of the class reported and the course coordinator, who is also a brilliant lecturer, took her own time to come and remedy and managed to cover about 8 weeks of material in under two hours, so to her and ever other excellent instructor we've had i am grateful)

As for class time only being a certain number of hours, I appreciate if it is focused on topics that are of value, as I consider my time precious and very limited. I spend the rest of my time upskilling on work related tech and/or certification training apart from my own personal interests in other IT areas) so to clarify I don't expect just class training to be enough, i'm more than well aware of how things work.

So you might hopefully be able to understand my consternation. So regardless of your experiences and testimony I am very unimpressed. It seems the value full-time students higher than part-time. Thank you and good day.

Hollister11

bgamer wrote: »

Yes third year, so whatever you were privileged to have gotten in the first year has been now removed. That's why i'm disgruntled because the course outline had elements which were only changed after the first week of the start of the semester. If they had planned on changing things it should've been displayed atleast 6-8 months before the course starts.

And you sound like a full time student. I'm talking about the part-time experience - I do not have the luxury of having a whole day of leisurely classes and then whatever happens during the rest of the day. My day consists of full time work followed by 4 hours at night (almost 8 hours on saturdays) where i'm supposed to be getting an education so the last thing I want is my time to be wasted by learning technologies that are almost completely defunct such as Flash and sit through lectures where pointless moot stories of animation history are just read and was never put into any practical display or use.

And apart from pertinent, highly useful sections of a module being taken out, having to sit through an entire class for two hours on Saturday which consisted of the lecturer talking about his life and how he couldn't teach us properly because the college only gave him two hours a week as opposed to four hours for full-time students - which was the entirety of that class except for actually teaching the course (which 99% of the class reported and the course coordinator, who is also a brilliant lecturer, took her own time to come and remedy and managed to cover about 8 weeks of material in under two hours, so to her and ever other excellent instructor we've had i am grateful)

As for class time only being a certain number of hours, I appreciate if it is focused on topics that are of value, as I consider my time precious and very limited. I spend the rest of my time upskilling on work related tech and/or certification training apart from my own personal interests in other IT areas) so to clarify I don't expect just class training to be enough, i'm more than well aware of how things work.

So you might hopefully be able to understand my consternation. So regardless of your experiences and testimony I am very unimpressed. It seems the value full-time students higher than part-time. Thank you and good day.

Current First Year Modules

Semester 1
• Web Design
• The Computing Industry
• Problem-Solving and Programming Concepts
• Introduction to Maths for Business and Computing
• Managing Your Learning

Year 1
Semester 2
• Digital Multimedia
• Introduction to Programming
• Operating Systems
• Software Applications for Business
• Computer Architecture

Previous First Year Modules

Semester 1
• HTML & Web Design
• Introduction to Computers
• Personal and Professional Development
• Introduction to Maths for Computing
• Introduction To Programming

Year 1
Semester 2
• Introduction To Multimedia
• Object Oriented Programming
• Operating Systems
• Computer Architecture
• Managerial Foundations of Information Systems

It's not so different, and they did infact always state that the modules are subject to review commencing from September 2015. It was there on Qualifax and the NCI website when I was applying in 2014, and for the class of 2015.

You spend what 2 weeks on flash, and that's why your putting down the course ? Because of one outdated technology. The only reason we learn flash, is to build a foundation of what we can do with HTML 5, and to move onto Animatron.

bgamer

Hollister11 wrote: »

It's not so different, and they did infact always state that the modules are subject to review commencing from September 2015. It was there on Qualifax and the NCI website when I was applying in 2014, and for the class of 2015.

You spend what 2 weeks on flash, and that's why your putting down the course ? Because of one outdated technology. The only reason we learn flash, is to build a foundation of what we can do with HTML 5, and to move onto .

Yes you win. I was only testing your mettle. Yes clearly that outline shows it's only two weeks of flash (which it wasn't, it was just over 8 weeks and then the rest used to work on our flash project) and video/audio editing and blender were skipped almost entirely, a much more valuable skillset than flash slash animatron. After 8 hours of work a 4 hour lecture on such things is not appreciated. Also 2 hours a week where there was NOTHING taught, as in zilch not even filler slides that amounted to anything (yes this could be due to one errant instructor) but overall I only gained maybe 3-4 subjects of any value throughout the 8 months academic year, which equates to about one semester worth of time.

I could also point out the rest of things I've been pointing out since the beginning but like I said your unassailable logic followed by that trumping move of pasting course outlines surely is a checkmate. I'm hoping the 2nd year will be more worthwhile. I've had enough time and energy wasted in the first year and I'll stop this now by not letting you waste my time as well. Good luck.

Hollister11

Second year really is a lot better. But you need to supplement this with your own self learning.

LostBoy101

NCI, like any other colleges struggle to stay up-to date with the latest technologies because there are not enough lecturers who have enough industry experience to teach. This is not NCI's fault because most of the potential talented teachers are in the industry making a killing.

If you want to become a software developer you need to learn the material yourself because Computer Science is mostly self taught. Going to college to learn everything about Computer Science isn't going to cut it because it's only a piece of paper and it's impossible to teach such a broad area in space of 12 weeks per Semester.

Hollister11

LostBoy101 wrote: »

NCI, like any other colleges struggle to stay up-to date with the latest technologies because there are not enough lecturers who have enough industry experience to teach. This is not NCI's fault because most of the potential talented teachers are in the industry making a killing.

If you want to become a software developer you need to learn the material yourself because Computer Science is mostly self taught. Going to college to learn everything about Computer Science isn't going to cut it because it's only a piece of paper and it's impossible to teach such a broad area in space of 12 weeks per Semester.

Or you heading into 4th year now Lost boy or have you graduated

LostBoy101

Hollister11 wrote: »

Or you heading into 4th year now Lost boy or have you graduated

I'm heading into my final year this September.

Bonavox

bgamer wrote: »

Yes third year, so whatever you were privileged to have gotten in the first year has been now removed. That's why i'm disgruntled because the course outline had elements which were only changed after the first week of the start of the semester. If they had planned on changing things it should've been displayed atleast 6-8 months before the course starts.

And you sound like a full time student. I'm talking about the part-time experience - I do not have the luxury of having a whole day of leisurely classes and then whatever happens during the rest of the day. My day consists of full time work followed by 4 hours at night (almost 8 hours on saturdays) where i'm supposed to be getting an education so the last thing I want is my time to be wasted by learning technologies that are almost completely defunct such as Flash and sit through lectures where pointless moot stories of animation history are just read and was never put into any practical display or use.

And apart from pertinent, highly useful sections of a module being taken out, having to sit through an entire class for two hours on Saturday which consisted of the lecturer talking about his life and how he couldn't teach us properly because the college only gave him two hours a week as opposed to four hours for full-time students - which was the entirety of that class except for actually teaching the course (which 99% of the class reported and the course coordinator, who is also a brilliant lecturer, took her own time to come and remedy and managed to cover about 8 weeks of material in under two hours, so to her and ever other excellent instructor we've had i am grateful)

As for class time only being a certain number of hours, I appreciate if it is focused on topics that are of value, as I consider my time precious and very limited. I spend the rest of my time upskilling on work related tech and/or certification training apart from my own personal interests in other IT areas) so to clarify I don't expect just class training to be enough, i'm more than well aware of how things work.

So you might hopefully be able to understand my consternation. So regardless of your experiences and testimony I am very unimpressed. It seems the value full-time students higher than part-time. Thank you and good day.

It sounds to me like you're not actually making an effort with the course. Like most things in life, you get back what you put in. You can't expect everything to go swimmingly when you're not making enough effort. Hopefully you'll take that on board going forward.

OP, I'm going into 4th year and have had very positive experiences with this course. They're not teaching the cutting edge of technology in fairness but that's a limitation out of their control - academically, the hoops that needed to be jumped through to get something approved is crazy and I'm pretty sure this is across all institutions.

One small gripe is the college administration is quite bad but once you look past that, it's a good course.

Jimbobjoeyman

I'm still waiting to hear back about an application put in back in may.
How hard is it to say either yes or no and let me on my way.

Its getting to that stage that I'm beginning to get desperate as I need to get a head start on accommodation over the incoming freshers.

Really is becoming a joke at this stage and makes me wonder how bad the rest of my experience could be if I'm accepted.

Any help regarding dealing with the admin in this college would be a great help especially pointing me in the direction of people who actually follow up emails.

Squidgy Black

Jimbobjoeyman wrote: »

I'm still waiting to hear back about an application put in back in may.
How hard is it to say either yes or no and let me on my way.

Its getting to that stage that I'm beginning to get desperate as I need to get a head start on accommodation over the incoming freshers.

Really is becoming a joke at this stage and makes me wonder how bad the rest of my experience could be if I'm accepted.

Any help regarding dealing with the admin in this college would be a great help especially pointing me in the direction of people who actually follow up emails.

You're going to struggle to get anyone to reply to emails at the moment, I sent off a final year project idea to get approval to pretty much every lecture and the head of computing and a few others, and not a single reply, and that's been well over a month. Admin is absolutely brutal.

Your best bet would be to ring the college and see can you be transferred through to whatever department you need to speak to.