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Thread: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

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    Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    I need to start applying for Uni's now really, as I'm in my last year at college and plan to go to Uni in September next year.

    Anywho, I'm looking at something within computing. I'm still not sure what, but I think I'm going to go down the programming route. The main reason for this is programming really does interest me a lot, but I don't really have much experience programming at all. So what kind of course would I need to look at going on at Uni?

    Also what places would you guys recommend?


    Cheers,
    Adrian

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Quote Originally Posted by XA04 View Post
    The main reason for this is programming really does interest me a lot, but I don't really have much experience programming at all
    Well I wanted to go to medical school, but realised at the age of 18 I had no experience of brain surgery, so I didn't bother.

    Though it still interests me, maybe I'll take it up as hobby.
    In the internets, no one can hear you sarcasm.

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    HEXUS.social member finlay666's Avatar
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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    My uni course is quite programming heavy, although having gone in with no prior coding experience I have done fine so far (northumbria computer game software engineering, great if you enjoy playing games as you can use it as a basis for research )
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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Quote Originally Posted by icanhazburger View Post
    Well I wanted to go to medical school, but realised at the age of 18 I had no experience of brain surgery, so I didn't bother.

    Though it still interests me, maybe I'll take it up as hobby.
    You make a good point. But I don't want to end up going on a higher course by accident or something.. I don't really know much about Uni courses..

    Quote Originally Posted by finlay666 View Post
    My uni course is quite programming heavy, although having gone in with no prior coding experience I have done fine so far (northumbria computer game software engineering, great if you enjoy playing games as you can use it as a basis for research )
    Sounds interesting - wouldn't mind doing something like that. Should I just be looking at software engineering courses in general then?

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    I should think all undergraduate degree's that involve programming will start off assuming you have not got much experience if any.
    In the internets, no one can hear you sarcasm.

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Bristol's a pretty sweet place to live/go to Uni. Dunno about computing courses though, as I did Physics. One of my friend's did a masters computing course, and he seemed to think the department was pretty good.

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    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    I didn't have much experience of programming when I went to uni, and essentially did a software engineering course.

    Big_Leon and I did this course at Aberystwyth, I certainly enjoyed it!

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Could always start by looking at some league tables to see which offer the best computer courses and then reading the prospectus' on their websites to see what the courses involve.

    http://browse.guardian.co.uk/educati...s+and+IT&Go=Go

    Is a start, although I'm not sure how highly regarded the Guardian league tables are...

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Northumbria is good, got a brand new computer department, most courses have a year in industry too which is useful IMO

    It's fun too, only 14 people in my year doing it so you know everyone
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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    When picking a computer based degree make sure you research what modules each uni offers and what the modules involve. I think a lot of people think that computer courses are just programming but that's not always true. For example, at Bath uni if you do computer science you do a hell of a lot of maths. For me, in the first year the split was 2/6 (maths/non maths), in the second year it was 5/5 and the final year you get to pick 7 out of 10 modules meaning you can try and avoid the maths ones if that's not your thing. However, even the non maths modules can contain bits of maths such as compilers.

    EDIT:
    Another source for information: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...versity_guide/
    Last edited by McClane; 29-09-2007 at 03:50 PM.

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    Pseudo-Mad Scientist Whiternoise's Avatar
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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Quote Originally Posted by htid View Post
    Could always start by looking at some league tables to see which offer the best computer courses and then reading the prospectus' on their websites to see what the courses involve.

    http://browse.guardian.co.uk/educati...s+and+IT&Go=Go

    Is a start, although I'm not sure how highly regarded the Guardian league tables are...
    I'm applying for Physics this year, but i mostly used the Times tables - the Guardian seem a bit biased towards certain things - ie Cambridge isn't on their top ten for physics, which seems rather surprising. So, my advice would be to take the tables with a pinch of salt.

    It might be worth picking up a programming language this year so that you could say on your personal statement that you've started to learn XXXXXX (i found PHP was quite easy to learn, a nice follow up from doing basic web pages), also if you're going to do a programming heavy course, you'll have a better start. I think the only universities that would expect you to know a language fairly well would be places like Oxbridge - and even then that's only because they interview candidates so you'd probably be asked how you would go about solving a problem using some language.. (i'm guessing here, but i think it's probably how it works). Most universities will understand that not everyone will have much practical experience with a programming language and i'm sure that an enthusiastic UCAS statement will do the job just fine.

    I suppose the most obvious course would be Computer Science, but i don't know what the requirements are for it (i'll have a look). Otherwise, you could do something along the lines of Software Engineering like Tiggs said.

    I assume you're doing Computing A2 now? (while i hated it, we got taught a bit of Pascal and VB (shudders))

    EDIT:
    Quote Originally Posted by Bristol CompSci Department
    What A-Level subjects are required for entry?

    Mathematics A-level, or equivalent, is preferred for our Computer Science courses and required for the Mathematics and Computer Science course (grade A) and the Computer Systems Engineering course. AEA and Further Mathematics are not required but, if offered by your school/college, will inevitably be helpful for your studies. There is no requirement to have taken A-level Computing/ICT and overall, when deciding on admissions, we are looking for ability and potential rather than specific knowledge about computers. If your choice of A-level (or equivalent) subjects has been constrained by factors beyond your control (e.g. subject not offered by your school/college), you are advised to contact our Admissions Co-ordinator for advice at uga@cs.bris.ac.uk
    Quote Originally Posted by Bristol CompSci Department
    I've never programmed a computer; is that a problem?

    No. We do not require that you have previous experience in programming. You take our Introduction to Computer Science unit in your first semester and this will give you a basic grounding in programming. If you do have previous experience, then we also run a Software Project unit in the first semester which enables you to consolidate and advance your skills in programming and program design.
    The above seems fine, and they're ranked 3rd by TimesOnline. Good luck with it all mate
    Last edited by Whiternoise; 29-09-2007 at 03:55 PM.

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    I'm doing a BTEC National Diploma atm.. which yes, we got taught Pascal last year and we're getting taught VB this year..

    Don't fancy the computer science route.. I hate maths too, obviously I know this can't be tottally avoided but AFAIK there is lots of it in computer science?

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Quote Originally Posted by Whiternoise View Post
    I'm applying for Physics this year, but i mostly used the Times tables
    Times guide has had it's fair share of criticism too due to it's peer review system, although I think that's just from the Yanks complaining that not enough American unis are in it

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Quote Originally Posted by Whiternoise View Post
    It might be worth picking up a programming language this year so that you could say on your personal statement that you've started to learn XXXXXX (i found PHP was quite easy to learn, a nice follow up from doing basic web pages), also if you're going to do a programming heavy course, you'll have a better start. I think the only universities that would expect you to know a language fairly well would be places like Oxbridge - and even then that's only because they interview candidates so you'd probably be asked how you would go about solving a problem using some language.. (i'm guessing here, but i think it's probably how it works).
    When I went for an interview at Oxford for comp sci there weren't any programming questions that I remember. Both Oxford and Imperial ask logic and maths questions. Although maybe things have changed since I applied back in 2001.

    As for learning a language now, I would avoid doing something like PHP as it is a dynamically typed, which could get you in to bad habits, and it's web based. At uni you will most likely do C/C++/Java so I would pick one of those. Java is probably the easiest to pick up as it takes care of certain things for you, such as memory allocation and deallocation. The online API is also pretty good.

    In my opinion it's not strictly necessary to know a programming language to do a computer course as they will teach you what you need to know in the first year. However, it will be something you can write about in your uni applications and will show your enthusiasm.

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    Can you even get into a top uni witha btec?

    I was doing one of those with a-level computing and i had limited choices if i had actually bothered to finish it.

    Pascal = nightmares abou lessons, hated it with a passion

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    Re: Right.. what to do for Uni and where?

    As for programming - anyone can do it. Its more important that your a good solid problem solver rather than 'can code'.

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