Need Uni Advice Please :)

[Firebar]

Oh, and factor in an industrial placement year if you can, big boost to your employmentability

[killkoy]

@davos, i am in exactly the same situation as you, not sure want i want to do at uni but i am thinking of doing maths, as it doesnt really stretch me at the moment and i enjoy it when i it does, (also got 98%in futher maths exam)
however i am also looking at phisics, chemistry, and engineering and finding it hard to make my mind up.

[Dav0s]

wow, i get the feeling that im not smart enough to do maths lol. all you people doing maths are a lot smarter than me.

im not too interested in sciences, they involve too much remembering of facts.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Dont choose Com science,i made the wrong mistake in doing that because like others say its hard to find a job,almost impossibe

[Dav0s]

Dont choose Com science,i made the wrong mistake in doing that because like others say its hard to find a job,almost impossibe

thanks mate, appreciate the advice

[GDVS]

My advice: Choose comp sci if you stand above the herd and genuinely love it, if you're just average then avoid it like the plague.

[dgr]

My advice: Choose comp sci if you stand above the herd and genuinely love it, if you're just average then avoid it like the plague.

i agree totally. if you are a quality student, then compsci is a great choice. you might not like the course, but there are plenty of jobs in consulting, investment banking, s/w houses, ... best still, there is an accute lack of people (example: some Cambridge colleges had fewer applicants than places this year). moreover a 30k+ starting salary is by no means out of the ordinary; 25+ is very common.

however, if you think computer science has anything to do with "IT" then you aren't talking about the same degree, nor the same career path.

[dgr]

Byatt:
im sure jobs will be like goldust, and I'm not sure I want to condemn myself to working in IT

Goldman's is hard to get into, don't think otherwise. However it's indicative of the careers that you can get out of a solid compsci degree. You could also try JP, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche, HSBC, USB, BarCap, or 10-20 other banks. Then there is Accenture, IBM, Deloitte, BT or the other consultancies, ...

If you don't want to have a long term career in IT then what do you want to do?

[Dav0s]

no idea what I want to do really, I'm interested in IT, and would love a job in there but I don't want to end up stuck in it, I would like to keep career options open.

i seem to be getting mixed messages, some people say that CS is worth it, others are saying steer clear of it. I'm quite sure I would really enjoy the course, but if jobs are so hard to come by, is it worth it?

If i did get a degree in CS, would it be _easy_ to switch career paths into something else if I felt like it?

as for "standing above the herd" I can program very confidently in PHP, HTML, CSS atm, and think I could quite confidently deal with other languages.

another question, is it compulsory to take maths modules when doing a comp science degree?

thanks for continued help guys

[dgr]

i seem to be getting mixed messages, some people say that CS is worth it, others are saying steer clear of it. I'm quite sure I would really enjoy the course, but if jobs are so hard to come by, is it worth it?

that's because different people have different views of what IT "is". If you are good, then there are jobs. If not, ...

If i did get a degree in CS, would it be _easy_ to switch career paths into something else if I felt like it?

Into what? If you follow the technical ladder then no, but that's the same with any career. if you follow the managerial ladder, then by all means.

There are very few who understand both technology and the business - so you're very likely to have a successful career if you can do both.

as for "standing above the herd" I can program very confidently in PHP, HTML, CSS atm, and think I could quite confidently deal with other languages.

Sorry, that's not compsci. That's low paid IT. If you want to know what the programming side of compsci is, I suggest you read up on a clean, modern object orientated or functional language. Think Ruby, Python, ML or Haskell.

Look at the courses that you'd be studying on a compsci degree. Think AI, functional programming, compilers, computer architectures, business studies, ... That's what compsci is.

[Dav0s]

i know thats not what is involved, all im saying is that i have experience in simple programming. if i could do everything on the course already, there wdnt be much point in me taking it.

the course sounds challenging anyway....i like that

bump on my question about maths being compulsory in the course?

[GDVS]

i seem to be getting mixed messages, some people say that CS is worth it, others are saying steer clear of it. I'm quite sure I would really enjoy the course, but if jobs are so hard to come by, is it worth it?

Most people (you included) seem to have no idea what comp sci really is, hence the confusion. Com sci != IT.

If i did get a degree in CS, would it be _easy_ to switch career paths into something else if I felt like it?

To a large extent, a degree is a degree is a degree. The level of degree usually counts for far more than the subject, a first is going to open far more doors than a 2:2.

as for "standing above the herd" I can program very confidently in PHP, HTML, CSS atm, and think I could quite confidently deal with other languages.

That's all very nice (and to be honest it's really my preferred level these days, my bare-metal assembly language days are long behind me) but it's not even close to comp sci. Could you write a more efficient sort algorithm? Do you know what algorithm PHP sort() uses* and what it means for your data structures? Do you know why an unbalanced B-tree is bad and how to deal with it? Do you know who Donald Knuth is and have you read any of the Art of Computer Programming? Comp sci is less about programming and more about the fundamentals of where computing is going, compiler design, language design, and most of all algorithm design.

another question, is it compulsory to take maths modules when doing a comp science degree?

Comp sci uses a lot of maths, particularly heavy on discrete maths and complex number theory. If you can't handle that then again I say avoid it like the plague.

It sounds to me like you're more suited to a degree in computing than a degree in comp sci, the maths is pretty hairy and you seem unlikely to be one of those who stand above the crowd in that scene (like me, I'm good at what I do but would be a mediocre comp sci student at best).

Bearing in mind all the above, I'd say do something else you're interested in as a degree, psychology or ancient history or something. Get a good degree and keep up with the computer stuff as a hobby. When you can, get a few MS exams under your belt (not too difficult or expensive) to get your foot in the door if you do decide to go for an IT career but make sure you get that first or 2:1 in whatever you study. In IT a relevant degree isn't as much of a necessity as it is in a pure science field (like comp sci), it's talent that matters more (as long as you have those certs on the CV to get the initial interview). A non-IT degree also gives you a wider background of knowledge and experience, something invaluable after university. Hell, a degree in Archaeology with some dig experience would be something to talk about for life even if you never use it again. Plus, if you decide to avoid working in IT you have a non computer geek degree which is always a plus with non-geeks

* quicksort to save anyone looking.

[dgr]

i know thats not what is involved, all im saying is that i have experience in simple programming. if i could do everything on the course already, there wdnt be much point in me taking it.

the course sounds challenging anyway....i like that

bump on my question about maths being compulsory in the course?

my point was that when you get to uni, you'll find that you're learning courses very different from what you might have previously thought would be involved. a decent compsci course will involve very little programming (tip: make yourself more employable by becoming proficient in Java | C# and Postgresql | Oracle | SQL Server.

on the maths front... do it if you want to follow a more technical career path. don't if you want to do front office IT with more business exposure.

[luke313]

Having spoken to several people (not least Oxbridge admissions tutors), maths at degree level is a lot more abstract to any "number-crunching, formula-bashing" that we do at A Level, and Maths requires a logical mind rather than a vast knowledge of the A2 curriculum.

I'm not sure whether Engineering would be a great choice, as a lot of Engineering consists of Mechanics and similar things to what are introduced in Physics A Level, which you say you've dropped.

At the moment it is a choice between Engineering and Maths for me. I'm intrigued into a lot of pure maths, though I'm also very interested in mechanics, fluid mechanics and design, so I'm quite unsure. However, I'm going to a lot of open days in the near future, and am spending a week in Oxford on a "headstart" course in the engineering department. Another thing with engineering is to decide between taking a deferred entry and spending a year-long internship at a company, which many universities approve of for engineering.

If you do decide to do Maths at degree level many universities recommend doing Further Maths. If you don't then you may be at a slight disadvantage in the first year, ~10% of the first year syllabus is in some Further Maths A2 modules.

[Marcos]

Eek, uni! Such a baffling thing.

I'm 17, first year of sixth form and really need to start thinking about where I want to go and what I want to do.

I'm quite interested in computer science, but everybody seems to do that, and no offence but anybody can do IT. I'm quite intelligent I think, hopefully I can get ABB or even AAB at A levels, and I'm doing my maths A2 level this year (1 yr early), so I'm not too bad at maths.

Is maths a good degree to do? I want to hear from someone doing it, and whether it is REALLY hard . Uni is meant to be enjoyable, and I don't want to do a course that weighs me down with so much work that I can't go out and have fun.

If I did choose computer science, I hear it involves maths modules? Or would computer science and maths be a good course? It's the old vocational course vs academic course dilemma, anybody have thoughts on which is better?

Also where to go to uni? I have looked at quite a few, Exeter, UCL, Nottingham and I can't choose. I need to hear from people who are at a good uni, I want it to have a good social life, but need peoples comments to know what is good

Just your general thoughts on uni life would be helpful, what course do you do? do you enjoy it? is it worth doing?

Thanks for the help guys

Good social life? You make your own luck wherever you go, but some places do just have much better social life than others.

I'm at bournemouth, as if the town itself wasnt a nightlife goldmine i'm also lucky enough to be in the main social halls of residence so i'm pretty much in the best situation.

I'd recommend bournemouth but it wouldnt be as good if you got stuck in a house the first year or in one of the skanky halls. Also dont expect an amazing course. But the way i look at it uni is 20% course, 80% learning about life outside the course.

I could have gone for a better course in a better uni, but i knew that if i ended up in some little 3 bedroom house somewhere depressing i'd be very likely to quit.

[b0redom]

My advice, would be go with what you enjoy, and worry about a career later. Unless you're after something really specialised like medicine, the chances are you can move into it afterwards.

The answer re: compulsory maths is it depends. You're likely to find courses where it is and also where it's not compulsory. You'll end up with bits and pieces in courses like graphics and such in any case. You need to read the prospectuses and ask the questions at interview.

Career moves once you're entrenched can be pretty difficult, and you're likely to have to start at the bottom again. Moving industry sectors is not so difficult, however, as long as you're good.

If you're really lucky, you might end up working for someone with stock options, and be able to use them to fund an 18 month career break and go travelling like I just did. :-)