Education Computer Related Degrees Experience Anyone?

I was wondering, as I'm going to have to think about uni soon, if anyone here has done a degree such as computer science. Any help as to what you do in the degree you did and what job choices you could make.
TIA

BH

 

Pick the course which will interest you most, as that will be the one you will do best at (motivating yourself is a key part of uni studies). Everything after that will fall into place.

 

yeah you can always switch major if it's not for you.. that's what college is for- just talk with your guidance councilor

 

Hey,
I did a degree in Applied Computer Science and Cybernetics at Reading University UK and I'm working now as a high ranking Software Developer.

Best piece of advice I have:

Applied courses. (the ones with the year in industry) They are well worth it! The experience on your CV is genuinely priceless. Straight out of uni it puts you at the top of the interview pile over people who've just done a degree.

As for the course it self, I'll happily try and point you in the right direction dude, any specific questions?

I'll try to give a general overview of the course i did for you.
1st year you cover the basics with pretty much the same modules as alot of other systems courses (engineering, electronics, Robotics, AI, IT Etc....) :

Simple Programming,
Databases,
Algorithms,
Maths ( Similar to Extended A level maths),
Software Engineering (all the project management Stuff),
and Networking.

(Nb. first year total doesn’t actually affect your final degree score but you do still have to pass!)

2nd year is more degree specific so for comp sci you'll have things like:

Numerical methods,
compilers,
further Programming, ( C++ C# etc)

(the year in industry would go here normally)

The last year has alot more choice (and more work!) you get to pick most of the modules for what you want to focus on (like graphics, Neural networks, security etc.) and you choose a project which makes up a pretty big part of the final mark.

Hope that helps a bit

 

NB: Some courses aren't this way, and all the years count.

 

Fair point, at Reading this was the case, don't know how its handled elsewhere so, as always its a good idea to check.

Even so, don't take it as a a cake walk though, I know plenty who flunked the first year.

 

Thanks for the great advice and I like the idea of learning a programming language and I'm assuming that it would a good idea to do A level maths + further maths.
I was also looking for network related degrees if anyone has any advice on them.

Thanks again
BH

 

If you do computer science, I would say ensure that you can program and vaguely enjoy it. If you don't get on with programming, you'll find it a very painful degree. Try doing some Java and C/C++ and see what you think.

 

+1 to this, although I won't go as far as to say that you'll find it "painful". I'm a sysadmin (graduated last year, worked for Autonomy (now HP) for 6 months, then moved to a smaller company) and I honestly did enjoy my C/S degree at Aberystwyth University.

Yes, you will need to know how to program - but some universities are more geared towards the networking side of C/S than others. Aber's is very much a programming department and that's the one thing I hold against them, but I still enjoyed the course because it taught me a lot more than how to program.

A lot of the principles I learned I still apply day-to-day, and even the programming knowledge comes in useful when I have to knock up a quick Bash or PHP script every now and again, plus if you work in a software house, you're much more in tune with your job because you're already familiar with things like Eclipse, SVN/Git, compilers and design frameworks.

If you honestly can't stand the thought of coding, then look at certifications like the CCNA, MCSE', RHCE and the like as these will definitely get you ahead of the game. Having said that, the Senior Sysadmin where I'm working is only 21 and he's been there for 4 years so he's basically learned it all on the job.

Uni also has the "atmosphere" benefit. I know I definitely enjoyed it (even though Aber is fairly unique and challenging to deal with at times).

Definitely +1 to this. My industrial year was invaluable!


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At school (yr11) I'm going a cisco it essentials course and have the option to take some ccna tests in the sixth form. Would you say unis will value some related knowledge compared to a "proper" subject such as geography/biology)

 

Universities generally love people that are keen to learn, so any kind of background would be a bonus - personally my degree is the only computing-related qualification I have other than a GNVQ in ICT I did at secondary school

 

Take as many maths courses as possible. Comp Sci is very much the same mode of thinking, so math will prepare you well. (I almost got a math minor for free with my B.S. in Comp Sci)

If you do go into Comp Sci in uni, absolutely take a databases course, and an artificial intelligence course. The first will be incredibly handy at work, the second will change how you think about problems forever.

Iwill is totally right - a year in industry is a huge benefit for improving yourself. It'll make companies want you a lot more, especially the one you worked with (if you did a good job.)

Finally, don't think for a moment that you can skimp on interpersonal skills. Big projects in the real world are 10% coding and 90% teamwork. If you have time for a job while in school, definitely try to get one working with a team to hit hard goals on a time crunch - stressful, yes, but it's the best training you can get that isn't in the field. (I did A/V work, up to and including big concerts.)

 

So if I wanted to try a bit of programming, which would be a relatively easy one to start with?

 

I'm not sure if I am the right person to intervene since I study Computer Scienses in a Technical Communications study programme (in Finland), but so far I have had only one Java programming course and if I'm not interested I don't need to have any more programing, but instead I could focus my studies in software desing and other various aspects of Computer Scieneses. Of course you have to have some kind of understandig in programing, but realy I have noticed that basic Java/html/CSS/MySQL know how will get you far.

What I try to say computer scienses aren't only cold hard programing. I didn't know anything about programing, making websites and so on but here I am. Most important thing is you have motivation towards the studies. And if you notice that computer scienses aren't for you, there's always the possibility to change your Major.

 

I did a computing degree 20 years ago... now that's a scary thought. It's 20 years since I was a fresher. Got a Desmond (2:2) at Newcastle University and ended up doing stats in the civil service.

I've still got my textbooks on C++, Prolog, Pascal, Unix and a bunch other things lying around. I came across them (not literally) last week while doing some clearing up. Weirdly I've got 2 copies of Ivan Bratko's book on Prolog.

 

Does c++/java seem a good place to start then

Thanks for all the great advice so far
BH

 

Absolutely this. Couldn't agree more.
It's better to get good results in a degree you can enjoy than get middling results in one you think sounds better or you think has better job opportunities.

 

I can agree with don't go with something you hate, but tbh the simple fact is not all degrees are created equal, and as such some will give much more opportunity for certain careers than others.

IMHO you really should be prepared to put the effort into getting the right degree for the career you want to go into, not taking the one that'll need less effort/work as all the people you'll be up against for those jobs will be in the same boat.

If we were looking for a new developer, I'd take a 2:2 in Comp sci over a 1st in IT because they would have been trained in more of the skills necessary for the job. And vice versa if we were looking for a new IT manager.


Slightly off topic,
Not so much with computing degrees, but there are plenty of 'soft' degrees which don't realistically have a career path (e.g. Archaeology) or have been way oversubscribed for years (e.g. Media studies). Considering the way the fees have been hiked up, I'm honestly suprised people still go for these courses when the most you can really hope for when you leave is a job that specifies 'needs a degree', or a few year re training course which may have been a better option than the degree itself.

As far as I’m concerned, the schools systems focus on 'get everyone to uni' really isn't the best way to go for a lot of people, who'll end up with a big a debt and a really hard time finding a job.

 

C++ or Java wouldn't be a bad idea. VB.Net (even though scorned by many) isn't a bad idea to start with due to it being more plain english based than most languages.

After you've done a bit of programming and you know the fundementals, the language becomes pretty unimportant as it'll be pretty straight forward learning a new syntax when required.

 

What are you planning on studying at Sixth Form? If you haven't considered it look at the BTECs. I am currently doing the National Diploma IT Practitioners Level 3 and although some of the stuff is simple, I found that there were some quite large gaps in my knowledge around specific topics. I previously took the Computing/IT A level available at my Sixth Form and found that extremely boring, but my college course I find much more interesting.

I am also doing the Cisco CCNA stuff at the moment which is interesting although I have only just started so will have to see where it goes.

Regarding Uni get signed up on the UCAS website and find the 2012 course list and go to Computing. They have loads of different subjects to choose from there. It also depends on if your interested in a particular part of computing or you just want to study more generally. If you don't want to specialise at the moment then a Computer Science course is probably for you as that covers a lot of bases.