Computer Science/Applications

Chucky

Maybe that's one good point about my course -> there being no more maths after year II

I think it just boils down to the fact that I feel im far too young and immature to be gathering my degree already. Im the youngest in my course and my classmates are already talking about settling down.......

.......i think ill take this up in the personal issues section.

cheers though for listening

spuddy

don't knock cs in ucd completely. first year is a doddle, some of the hardware stuff is tricky but the software project is a bit of craic. plenty of comp facilities (even if the network does go on the blick from time to time!)

however 2nd year aint so enjoyable - they've changed the marking standards for 2002/2003 (but only introduced them since jan/feb 2003!) which means that we now have to get 55% in 4 out of 8 comp subjects & a min of 40% in other 4. this is dispite the fact that we were categorically told before x-mas that 40% in all subjects was the required standard to proceed to 3rd year. they've only just taken the time to tell us of the changes now (with an informal email ~3 weeks before the exams!) but to top it all if we dont get the required standard we may not even get the chance to repeat in august, we may be forced to repeat the whole year!

as you might imagine we're all a bit annoyed. not so much about the new marking scheme but about the lack of consultation. we dont mind being asked to achieve a certain standard of proficiency but what we do object to is being asked to achieve that standard on just a few weeks notice.

on top of all that nobody in the dept seems able to give us a straight answer on what the official line is. instead we're left high & dry, completely unsure of what the future holds. with the decline in applications from the cao for cs courses over the past few years and the requirement for graduates to fill the intels, hps and ibms in this country, you'd imagine universities would be doing all they can to encourage those currently studying cs. but no, instead we are left in the dark to ponder what will happen come the May exams and more importantly, what on earth made us think studying in ucd would be a fair, rewarding experience.

on second thoughts stay well clear, you're probably better off in the long run.

Lorrainbow

I'm doing the Diploma in Computer Science DIT Kevin St
we did algorithms and pascal in first year and we're doing COBOL in 2nd year, which is totally different from the degree course, according to this year's 3rd years.

a lot of my class want to transfer into DCU computer applications, after their diploma. I heard it's a really hard course though.

one thing that shouldn't come up in your decision of which college to go to, but i have to mention, is fees.
am i right in saying that university fees are more expensive than IT fees? employers probably look for a university degree before an IT degree. but they're all the same.

there's also distance to consider which adds on to cost.

a friend of mine going to Tallaght IT and has done JAVA in first year which i am extremly jealous of cause we don't get to do it till 3rd year.

damnyanks

Why do they do that ?

We are leaarning Vb this year java next.

I was under the impression that C++ and Java are the main languages that companies use.

Why would they be teaching other (lesser?) languages.

I know Vb.Net is out now so does that mean what we are learning is already dated ?

and bla bla bla etc.

Rew

Originally posted by Lorrainbow
a friend of mine going to Tallaght IT and has done JAVA in first year which i am extremly jealous of cause we don't get to do it till 3rd year.

Java is very easy to pick up, I had little experience with java and just finished coding my 4th year proj compleatly in java.

Get the JDK and the java tutorial from the sun web site and get a head start on 3rd year

Yeah i think uni fees are a bit higher or somthin like that (maybe its the other way round cant remember)

Your employers look for experince more then the scrap of paper that the college give up. I got a summer job based on my experiince when i had just finished 2nd year and failed 2 exams!!

The whole Uni degrees are bett then IT degrees is just snobbery... The DCU CA degree was modled on WIT's Applied Comp AFAIK.

Chucky

Hey lorraine. im in the Degree of computer science in DIT Kevin st. Its such a small college you probably know me to see.

Trebor

just finished a FAS course (made a balls of my leaving) on programming which was very good and i am trying to get in to any college, might be going into to second year of DIT CS but really hoping to go to scotland to study computer games technology, have heard very good things about it. got shot down by DCU my fas course not good enough for them as an entry requirment and not a mature student yet :mad: but i have heard very good thing about it

Tyrrial

DCU, has a bit of a weird first year, i ended up doing "Introduction to the Irish Political System" for some reason, it wasn't a bad thing, i really enjoyed the subject, but couln't help wondering why i was doing it!

DCU - great for computing and the such.
TCD - I hear is dated and unintersting (second hand info)
UCD - haven't heard to much bad about it really.

Druid

One caveat you should know. I have seen countless people drop out of CA (@DCU) during my 4 years here. Do not expect it to be easy. It can get hard especally if you don't go to lectures.
I can speak with experience after seeing 1/3 of my class drop out in 1st year, slightly less in 2nd and less again in 3rd.

DCU is also quite anonymous, lecturers will rarely get to know you. And during my time there the managment were completely hopeless.

My opinion of the DCU course is that its quite good. You get to learn a multitude of programming languages and touch on interesting aspects of other area's of computing.

My advice is to be prepared, 1st year is actually quite easy but it gets harder.

Good Luck with your decision.
- Dru.

hussey

I finished last year with hons from CA,

more people have good jobs than TCD,UCD from what I've heard

though it is fairly though.

last year they put a cap on how many ppl were allowed in .. originally 300 but that went to 150 after points fell.

This was the right decision as alot of people wouldn't have made it to 4th year.

Though just a warning there is no social life in DCU .. it is completly dead .. people look at it like a degree factory.

my 1st year we had to q for 1hr to get into the bar on the first day of rag week.

last year the bar was empty at 1 o clock

uberwolf

Originally posted by Chaos-Engine
UCD is crap
don't bother

next question goes to you...
Are u interested in the whole theory of computing or not?

If the answer is YES then go to TCD

If your more interested in doing a Comp Course that will get u trained to the highest standard of Code Monkey then go to DCU.
But be warned they teach such things as Accounting and such.

Comp Sci in TCD is much more mathamatical and you will be far far more future-proofed than anyother course in the country

Forget Employers' favour. Are you interested in teh best course or not?

P.s I'm a CS student in TCD who is a 5min walk from UCD

strange cos i heard the exact same as that in reference to UCD!!! thats where i'm at going in to fourth year honours now and still can't code!! whats more you just cram the theory to pass the exams so where does it leave you. end of the day you'll get what you want out of a course

phreak

in the end i chose CA in DCU.

also applied for the informations and communications engineering in DCU. looks really interesting. (my second choice)

after that its CS in TCD followed by CS in UCD.

and the other six places are filled with computer courses i really have no interest in.

eirebhoy

I'm going to DIT to study CS next year. I love computers. I thought I would get this degree done and over with and get a well payed job as a Software Engineer or somtihng. But you are all starting to chane my mind.
Is it reallt that bad?

Repli

Originally posted by eireboy
I'm going to DIT to study CS next year. I love computers. I thought I would get this degree done and over with and get a well payed job as a Software Engineer or somtihng. But you are all starting to chane my mind.
Is it reallt that bad?

Well you say you love computers, so it won't be `that` bad.. Read up on careers in IT or have a chat with a programmer/software engineer. It's an interesting course I've just completed 1st year (we were the first year doing the new ft228 course).. but there's a lot of irrelevant material in the course.. (like management & communication studies)
Having said that - education never goes to waste. Getting a degree shows you have the ability to work hard and employers respect that, no matter what industry you go into.