Computer Science Degree - Worth it?

[Phil99]

(*having said that out of the ones you've listed Nottingham is usually well regarded - don't know about the CS course specifically though)

Back in '05 when I was applying for my degree iirc Nottingham had higher entry requirements & was higher in the league tables, but now it seems UEA is the highest rated out of those listed in the OP.

This is the Times ranking site for what it's worth.

 

[MikeHunt79]

Anyway.. Due to me not having a maths A level, I am quite restricted to the universities that I can attend and at the moment I am looking at Nottingham, East Anglia, Hull, Leicester and Coventry - has anyone attended these universities either to do a different course or to do something computing based and were they a good choice? I am looking for a university preferably that is quite modern (obviously don't want to be using old old tech!) however I know that being picky about the tech isn't a good starting point when choosing a uni

I went the Uni in East Anglia, was ok, I did a combined CS degreee however...

 

[dowie]

why would people do a CS course if they have no intention of actually going into a computing career??

Because they enjoy the subject, you don't always know what you want to do after uni before you start uni....

its a hard course (at a decent uni) and show's you're smart, have analytical skills and can apply them.

Plenty of physics and applied maths people end up pricing derivatives in the city.... - not exactly what they might have had in mind when they first started at uni and were more interested in finding out how the universe worked etc... but maybe they decided academic life wasnt for them or money was a big motivator....

 

[AJK]

why would people do a CS course if they have no intention of actually going into a computing career??

Most people wouldn't - what they want to do after 3 years of a CS course, on the other hand...

 

[InvaderGIR]

its a hard course (at a decent uni) and show's you're smart, have analytical skills and can apply them.

Same can be said for every course under the sun, the more prestigious uni you go to, the harder the entry and the harder the course.

 

[Volcs]

When you say pure......



Sorry, it's just I havent done maths for so long. I think some revision could be in order :/

I don't recall my course being overly maths heavy - there were two logic modules in first year, some algorithmic stuff in the second and crypto and matrices in the 3rd. Aside from the first year stuff you could potentially avoid a lot of it through module choice alone if you really wanted.

 

[JAzz]

why would people do a CS course if they have no intention of actually going into a computing career??

Obviously that wasn't their intention when they joined the course but I think for many after doing Computer Sci they realise that computing isn't for them. Also it does provide a good gateway into many other fields like management, accountancy and even Banking.

 

[Volcs]

why would people do a CS course if they have no intention of actually going into a computing career??

I'd imagine bar a few examples (law, medicine) a surpisingly large proportion of graduates don't end up working in a field directly related to their degree.

 

[dangerstat]

Back in '05 when I was applying for my degree iirc Nottingham had higher entry requirements & was higher in the league tables, but now it seems UEA is the highest rated out of those listed in the OP.

This is the Times ranking site for what it's worth.

Some of those rankings are obsurd if you ask me!

 

[PeterNem]

I had a similar problem in that I didn't have a Maths A-Level and wanted to do something computing related at Uni. I ended up doing Computing and Management at Loughborough Uni which suited me great. Got a really good mix of programming basics, computer architecture, requirements analysis, project management, networks etc along with financial management, HR, marketing etc etc

This is pretty much a perfect fit for the job I ended up with (IT consultant) as a really good set rounded business and computing skills are handy. It also meant I could pick and chose computing modules a bit more (i.e., avoid stuff that wasn't for me like heavy coding, and substitute for business school modules).

Perhaps consider an approach like this with a second subject that complements computing well? Otherwise, look at a course like Management Information Studies (or something titled similar) which will most likely be less maths heavy and include more business process/data related topics.

 

[OG]

The uni's that you have chosen are all very good and well respected in general! However the only way to get a feel is to have a look around and just get a feeling of the place. You might also want to consider Kent, does not require maths but do an extremely decent course.
It might also be best to choose a course that offers a 'placement year' just the chance to work for a year within the computer science field. There is loads of info over on the student room forum and also have a look at The Times and Guardian uni guides

 

[Goksly]

Went to Notts doing my CS (had a BTec so my options were limited). It was pretty good... work hard and all is well. Compared to real world, Uni really doesn't teach more than the basics.

 

[boycee]

UEA is pretty decent for Comp Sci. Graduated this year and going back in 2 weeks to start my PhD there.

They bring you up to speed quite well in terms of Maths, and have quite a good choice of units when it comes to web/database systems if that's what you're leaning towards, but can also mix those up with the more theoretical units.

I studied CS at UEA also. I use my degree in my daily job and am doing pretty well for myself. I work as an IT consultant, where we develop web based solutions for business processes. Automating translation and distribution of legal documents as well as various other systems. I've been at my current job which I fell into 6mths after uni for 3yrs now and am earning well above average.

One thing I would say though....

Doing CS and taking the doss units does not mean you have a good degree! I had mates who did units such as "input devices" and "physical network wiring which had no exam and barely required any effort on CW. I on the other hand did units which I knew would be useful in the real world, mostly focusing on software engineering, business practices and information systems, web, db etc...

What I studied I use pretty much day to day (well at least a newer version).

If you want to do s/w dev etc.. Do mostly programming units, as tbh once you've grasped a language well, you can adapt to any other with a little bit of time, it;s all about grasping the concepts.

UEA was great, but I did rely on google a lot for learning, API's for the win! lol.

 

[Kraven]

Computer Science is a very hard course imo, I found it quite tough and after the first year id say about half of people who started dropped out.

By time we got to graduation there wasn't many of us left, before starting Uni i read that computer science is one of the most dropped out degrees and i believe it.

 

[Phil99]

Some of those rankings are obsurd if you ask me!

Indeed, I just had a proper look (just skimmed it earlier) and Nottingham has better research quality and graduate prospects than UEA, but UEA scores higher due to the national student survey!

Certainly to be taken with a bucket load of salt

 

[markop2003]

Well i'm looking at computer science at Hull, they have a satisfaction rating in the 90s which is the highest i've seen anywhere.

As for the maths issue i've talked to a programmer on another site about this and all the math he uses is logs but he keeps a book of log tables next to him for that anyway. What you will have to do is be a logical thinker, you may be able to get away without a maths A Level with some extra study but if you're not logically minded you're not going to get anywhere.

 

[Chris1712]

Remember to look into Electronic Engineering and Computer Engineering for more hands on fun degrees .

I do Computer Engineering at UWE and its a damn good course. You do real computery stuff, I don't want to sit in an office and design web sites or java applets, snore fest. I want to mess around with hardware that makes things move and affect real life, like ecu's in planes/cars etc. military hardware and oil drilling.
Personally I hated the whole 'Business' side of the BTEC I did, I have no interest in 'project management' or 'feasibility studies' so I went for a more technical, lower level oriented course.

Look through your options!

 

[Abraham]

as far as not having maths goes, take a look at computer science department courses that aren't computer science, they're usually the same core course just with some variation as you progress, some even offer the chance to switch after 1st or 2nd year. However the useful part is that you'll find some of them don't require maths. On my course the two biggest courses were computing science and software engineering, but only one required maths, there were a couple of basic maths modules in the first year, upto a-level standard but only stuff that was useful to computing.
so yeah, if you find a course you like but it requires maths, look around the other courses that probably share the same central structure.

 

[Hudzy]

...Computer Science is the theoretical research in the algorithmic computation of information. It is field of Mathematics. And it is a Science, not a vocational subject nor an engineering degree. At its heart are questions about what does it mean to compute, what problems are computable, unsolvable or intractable. What is the complexity of algorithms and what optimal algorithms exist. How can processors and computing systems be designed to be faster or more efficient...

Computer Science does not aim to make you a good computer user, or software developer, web designer. Although you may become proficient along the way...

...IF you are interested in web design then study web design. Computer Science wont cover this.

I have to agree with this post. Computer science wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I'd have done better on a more focused course myself, so don't make the same mistake

 

[Vanilla]

Well i'm looking at computer science at Hull, they have a satisfaction rating in the 90s which is the highest i've seen anywhere.

Yeah dude, but it's Hull