Computer Systems

exiot

Im hoping to do this course, was at the Opne Day and I was talking to a guy who qualified from it last year, he said its a grand course, he did ****e in his maths in the LC and found the maths grand in the course.

How are/did you guys find it? Any advice?

cornbb

I did comp sys and hated it. Nothing to do with the maths, I just hated it.

Of course, thats just my opinion. Some people loved it. Just make sure you know what the course is all about before signing up.

Phat Chance

I was at the open day aswell, the comp science building is probably the newest (looking) one there, good facilities. I'm aiming for the Multimedia and Games Development course personally.

um7y1h83ge06nx

exiot wrote:

Im hoping to do this course, was at the Opne Day and I was talking to a guy who qualified from it last year, he said its a grand course, he did ****e in his maths in the LC and found the maths grand in the course.

How are/did you guys find it? Any advice?

I myself did Comp Eng, but it's a misconception among people to think you need to be good at maths to do programming. The hardware side of the Comp Eng course is fairly tough when it comes to Maths and of course the Engineering Maths modules.

However, the programming side of things, which Comp Sys is more aimed towards requires logical thinking and problem solving, rather than being good at maths.

A good tip is to go to your local library, and find a programming book ( C or C++ maybe), have a look through it, and see what you think of it. Maybe even pick up a compiler somewhere and try some of the examples.

Peteee

I'm in 3rd year comp sys at the min. Tis a grand course. I dont like the maths, but I like everything else.

You'd want to make sure you like programming before you do this course (c++ is what we do in 1st/2nd year). I've heard it's not as heavy on programming as other computer courses, and there is quite a lot of theory.

Co-op in 3rd year (was 2nd year) where you go and work in a tech company for 8 months.

A few 'big' projects (in 2nd year it was a web based bug logging software, written in PHP/MySQL, and now we have to create a sudoku game in java, as well as a Systems Analysis project)

If you want any more info PM me

exiot

Well I have taught myself PHP and the integration with mySQL over the last year as Im a web designer, my friends brother has qualified from the course and says Im off to a good start. Just hoping the Maths wont be a complete headache.

homerjay2005

comp sys has the highest drop out rate in teh college, or at least it did 3 or 4 years ago anyway when it was a hughely popular course. i presume, like all the comp courses in ul nowadays, its not very popular and thus the drop out rate is lower. 6 of my friends did it, 3 dropped out, 2 failed and had to repeat a year, 1 graduated first time! so , that a pretty poor return

IrishMike

I did it from 99-03, waste of time in my opinion
Course is very limited, very few electives
When you leave college you have a good grasp of about 5 or 6 programming
languages but you are in no way a good programmer
Of all the friends i had that did the course i can only think of 2 that are
working in computers, all the rest did postgrads etc
Me im back doing business in ul
Oh and the money in programming is not a fraction of what it was
Sorry for seeming so negative bout the course but its just my feeling on it

IceHawk

Yeah, I was thinking about doing it but got some advice from people who had done it and changed my mind to Electronic Engineering. If you want to keep your options open, try Comp. Eng., as this covers some of the programming from the Computer Systems course and also gives a good grounding in hardware. Apparently, from a jobs point of view, it gives you the most freedom of choice on graduation. That said, if you don't like maths, avoid engineering like the plague.

Phat Chance, I was looking at the course outline and I think it looks really cool, but people working in the university seem to think it's a bit of a gimmick. The course will only be any good if games developers recognise it, so for the first couple of years, I doubt graduates will be walking straight into jobs with Bioware or anything.

Rozie

3rd year. Finding it hard. Don't like it.

I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, it really destroys you. I was one of the better ones at "Comput0rz" going in and it didn't matter a **** in the end.

The Video Games course might be a slightly nicer version of it.

rmacm

In 3rd year like Peteee and Rozie. Its a pretty good course. Finding it a little difficult probaby because I didn't settle down to work sooner. I found the maths reasonably ok for some of it, but other parts of it can be difficult enough. I wouldn't say it destroys you as Rozie says. You just have to put in a bit of work and you'll be grand.

Cheers
Rory(A little drunk at this stage) :-)

chrislad

I'm 3rd year at the moment as well (the fact that there seem to be so many 3rd years posting here doesn't say anything to anyone!? )

It's hard. I had a good bit of experiences with computers before coming in here. Not the programming aspect, but general maintainance and usage. I could repair and set up and crap like that before I was 13 (got first PC at 12).

The maths are okay. You'll scrape by them simply because the curve is so long. I don't think I've ever gotten higher than a C3. Programming is tough. I'm not a huge fan of it, and I've never gotten better than a B3, and that was in first year. I much prefer the stuff like Systems Analysis, and Networking, which I have some interest in. To be honest, at the end of it all, I'll probably just get a masters in Business or do some management course just to cover myself. I think I'll end up in a company where I sell systems to people and help them install them. I was talking to a guy as my mother was setting up a shop, and he gets paid 40k+ a year for going from place to place demoing and selling systems then setting them up. That's not a bad starter. The money in IT is nowhere near as good as it used to be, and while the area is going to continue to grow, there are enough people for jobs now.

Peteee

chrislad wrote:

The money in IT is nowhere near as good as it used to be, and while the area is going to continue to grow, there are enough people for jobs now.

And then with the _severe_ lack of people coming through comp sys now as compared to a few years ago (350 Vs 50) we should be rolling in the dosh....right? Anyone?

chrislad

That's true enough. It's a see saw really. The market gets overfilled, people stop doing the course, and 4 years later there's not enough people to fill new jobs. Then the rush starts again.