[Dalmighty]

Hey,

I would just like to know the general perception of lyit, from past students and existing students.(even drop outs)
I myself am an existing student and my experience in lyit has been far from good.(nearly ending my time there)
The standard of education is questionable, lecturers dont seem let alone want to educate.
The facilities are average, the computer labs are slow and some software packages are a joke but are insisted to be used, even if the lecturer doesnt know how to use them.
The question I keep asking myself.. is this the general educational standard of Ireland or am I just "unlucky throughout my years at lyit".
Dont get me wrong nicest people in the college, but no-one seems to be answerable to the standard being provided....
There seems to be no structure to my course, well none that is adhered by..

Open to debate>

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!”

[Wishbone Ash]

Spent a couple of months there in 1986 doing computer studies. hated every minute of it but that was probably me rather than the college itself! Haven't ventured into 3rd level since but I've done ok.

[curry-muff]

I enjoyed my whole 4 years there, can't say a bad thing about it, great atmosphere and I learned my fair share of Computing along the way, you also have to realise that computing wise they have some of the best facilities in the country

[theboss80]

Just last month it was runner up as best college(or maybe IT) in the country....

[Egoboost]

Hey there, im in my third year in lyit and really cant say a bad word about it, i think the lectures teach to a high standard and i find the facilities are excellent for a small college. I believe it has improved greatly in the last decade, and is highly regarded.

[ashydol]

done 3 years in lyit and have now moved to sligo it and I must say that so far lyit is way ahead of sligo in many areas.
lyit have a far better provision of computers in the library which comes in handy around exam time.
the classrooms in lyit are better equipped in the technology side of things.
getting a computer lab that 1.has a printer set up to the computers and 2.that has paper in it is few and far between.

I must say its not all negative about sligo....the have moodle set up and the lecturers are using it which is great.It is an area that lyit are behind in(unless they have changed since 09.)
I have just found it interesting being able to compare both colleges....

[Gareth2011]

Hi all, I have never been to college but my wife is studying the total Immersion chef programme in Killybegs. I am thinking of starting with the Higher Cert in IT in Letterkenny. Has anyone done this course recently that they can give me a bit of info on it? Also has anyone applied as a mature student and had to apply to the social for the BTE or the other bodies to have there fees paid?

Any help greatly apreciated.

[IPushButtons]

Look, any quasi public organizations (ie publicly funded and privately operated) is not going to be customer focused. Take away accountability and responsibility and you have the Irish education system where you (the customer) are expected to be oh so grateful to have the opportunity to study and receive an education even tho you are the one paying for this privilege.

LYIT's attitude seems to be one of indignation aimed at anyone to challenges there cheque cashing culture where teachers and staff clearly dont give two ****s about the level of service they provide. My advice to the staff of LYIT is if they dont care about the job there doing then, dont do it leave and allow someone with a bit of passion to take a position at the college so that they might do some good. My advice to any perspective student would be to go somewhere else not because you'll get a better standard of education or better facilities or even a better level of service, but at least you'll have a better standard of living in a big city than you will in a very small town like Letterkenny.

The points for a lot of course in the college are fairly low think about why this is.

On the positives the there are a lot of clubs and if your sports orientated then you'll really enjoy these. It's cheep to live here and the facilities at least the ones i have been exposed to are good.

[Zapperzy]

I'm in my second year here and I love it! Can't fault it at all. It's the only college I'v been to so I'v nothing to compare it to but the lecturers are brilliant and the facilities are great. We've such small class sizes (17 in my year) that you really get to know your class and the lecturers really well, I would hate a large lecture hall type thing with 100+ people half of which you don't even know their names. Can't fault letterkenny as a town, great nightlife, rent is cheap compared to others I know in college in galway and dublin.

[princessdippy]

I was there for 4 years and loved every single minute of it....thought the facilities were great, lecturers were great, and feel very educated leaving there

[CJC999]

I was there was back in 88 on a two year NCEA course. I hated the place, it was just a continuation of secondary school without the uniform. We had a full timetable every single day and up until 4pm on Friday, no free classes anywhere. You were given a pile of 'homework' and i soon got bored. I done ok in my first year exams but in 2nd year i rarely went in in the afternoon, done none of the course work and had more or less left by march but done the exams in the summer anyway. Naturally i failed spectacularly, some papers i just re-wrote the questions and asked the persons who would be marking random unrelated questions and drew them little pictures...just to kill the time until i could get the hell out of there.

My experience is completely unrelated to what one can expect in the college now but i hated the place with a passion.

[eth0]

Tis great. I can't get over how good LYIT actually is. Completely underrated as a college

[DMG1983]

I went to LYIT for 4 years and I graduated in 2006. I did a science degree and I have to say going there has really stood to me in any job I went for. It is a well respected college in the science field as it is a very hands on course. The hours are very long though- I had a friend doing a business degree in NUIG- he had about 8 hours a week and I had 30.
It is also very cheap to live there and they have good enough facilities. At exam time one of the technicians used to open one of the rooms and let a few of us study in it which would probably never happen in a bigger place.
I have to say the lecturers I had were great and have always been very helpful since if I need a reference. That's another good thing about numbers being low-you get to know your lecturers and they are a great source of information even when your finished your course!
I think in Donegal LYIT isn't very well respected because you never really appreciate what's on your door step but I certainly have no regrets about doing my degree there!!

[thefoofighter]

In 4th year myself (Computing department) There is 4 in my year and well in my honest opinion lyit although it has decent facilities (Library,labs,lecture halls) it really lacks (in the computing department) the initiative to teach anything up to date and meaningful. I mean no disrespect to the lecturers because they are genuinely lovely people but cant teach to save their lives Its sad really because i had such high hopes for the course upon entering and now i now i feel that if i were to go looking for a job i am under qualified due to to the pure crap i was taught. So now the plan is to take a year or two out and self tutor myself until i feel confident i know enough because letterkenny certainly didnt provide it

[superluck]

I know someone who did their masters in computer games at LYIT and he left with a very low opinion of the college and specifically some of the lecturers.

The attitude of some was "abysmal" according to him but added it may be a problem shared by many colleges in Ireland.

Mainly disappointed with the coursework ... he conveyed that many students will leave knowing little or nothing about developing modern day computer games.

High performance computing for example (OpenCL, CAL, CUDA) isn't a module despite being availble for 5+ years now and the college had to ask another student to teach students OpenGL.

Lack of enthusiasm in some of the lecturers to teach relevant material may be a reason for high drop out numbers?...*shrug*

Just speculating based on what I've heard and read here ...doesn't sound like the college is willing to embrace changes in computers which is only going to mean the students leave completely unprepared.

I suppose every college has good and bad lecturers in them.