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B.I.S or Computer science. Help!

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  • 04-05-2014 11:22am
    #1
    natho_1977
    Registered Users Posts: 9 ✭


    Hey, I'm 17 in 5th year. I'm planning on going to ucc. I do all the core subjects and I do accounting, chemistry, biology and french. I'm an A1 student in accounting chemistry and biololy. I'm a high B in maths and a C in English and French. All higher level except French and Irish!
    Now I don't know whether to do B.I.S or computer science.
    I understand that B.I.S is business and computers and is a broad spectrum of modules, where as computer science is more about just computer. Programming and that!
    I'm naturally good at business. In the junior cert I gave very little effort in business and got an A. Im very interested in computers.
    So what I'm asking is which would be better? Which pays more? Which is more guaranteed to get a job out of? Are there many jobs near or in cork?
    I've been told that technical mangers, development managers and software engineer managers get played well so which degree should I have?
    And last but not least what could I do with degrees. If I got a BIS degree what can I be? Same with computer science. The money is something I'd really like to find out.
    Thank you for reading this! Any help?


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    #2
    professore
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭professore


    natho_1977 wrote: »
    Hey, I'm 17 in 5th year. I'm planning on going to ucc. I do all the core subjects and I do accounting, chemistry, biology and french. I'm an A1 student in accounting chemistry and biololy. I'm a high B in maths and a C in English and French. All higher level except French and Irish!
    Now I don't know whether to do B.I.S or computer science.
    I understand that B.I.S is business and computers and is a broad spectrum of modules, where as computer science is more about just computer. Programming and that!
    I'm naturally good at business. In the junior cert I gave very little effort in business and got an A. Im very interested in computers.
    So what I'm asking is which would be better? Which pays more? Which is more guaranteed to get a job out of? Are there many jobs near or in cork?
    I've been told that technical mangers, development managers and software engineer managers get played well so which degree should I have?
    And last but not least what could I do with degrees. If I got a BIS degree what can I be? Same with computer science. The money is something I'd really like to find out.
    Thank you for reading this! Any help?

    Money will vary hugely in IT depending on supply and demand. It's very much a boom and bust industry. At the moment there's a boom. You can do anything you want really. Depends on yourself. IT would seem like a good bet. You should only do it if you like it though. Being good at something in school is nothing like being good at it in a job where you have to get an A every day.


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    #3
    JeremyH
    Registered Users Posts: 119 ✭✭JeremyH


    professore wrote: »
    Money will vary hugely in IT depending on supply and demand. It's very much a boom and bust industry. At the moment there's a boom. You can do anything you want really. Depends on yourself. IT would seem like a good bet. You should only do it if you like it though. Being good at something in school is nothing like being good at it in a job where you have to get an A every day.

    This is not the case.


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    #4
    JeremyH
    Registered Users Posts: 119 ✭✭JeremyH


    natho_1977 wrote: »
    Hey, I'm 17 in 5th year. I'm planning on going to ucc. I do all the core subjects and I do accounting, chemistry, biology and french. I'm an A1 student in accounting chemistry and biololy. I'm a high B in maths and a C in English and French. All higher level except French and Irish!
    Now I don't know whether to do B.I.S or computer science.
    I understand that B.I.S is business and computers and is a broad spectrum of modules, where as computer science is more about just computer. Programming and that!
    I'm naturally good at business. In the junior cert I gave very little effort in business and got an A. Im very interested in computers.
    So what I'm asking is which would be better? Which pays more? Which is more guaranteed to get a job out of? Are there many jobs near or in cork?
    I've been told that technical mangers, development managers and software engineer managers get played well so which degree should I have?
    And last but not least what could I do with degrees. If I got a BIS degree what can I be? Same with computer science. The money is something I'd really like to find out.
    Thank you for reading this! Any help?

    Happy to chat with you about any of these issues. I work in BIS. PM me and I will send on my details.


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    #5
    B_Rabbit
    Registered Users Posts: 1,364 ✭✭✭B_Rabbit


    professore wrote: »
    Money will vary hugely in IT depending on supply and demand. It's very much a boom and bust industry.

    No, IT is ever evolving, it can't simply bust when new technology is being created every day.


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    #6
    maughantourig
    Closed Accounts Posts: 124 ✭✭maughantourig


    I'm in computer science. If you like business, you can take economics with the option of doing what is basically a joint degree of computer science and business.

    I would imagine that BIS and CS have some significant similarities.

    The 2 final year BIS students I know said that they wish they had done CS instead but then again, perhaps that's just them.

    Feel free to PM with questions.


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    #7
    Loire
    Registered Users Posts: 2,034 ✭✭✭Loire


    Hi,

    I've been working in the IT industry since the late 1990s and have not been out of work for a single day, which is quite good as I have spent a number of years working for myself as an IT contractor. I'll refrain from going into specifics, but I do know that the BIS degree is very well regarded in industry. I've worked in companies in Cork and Dublin with BIS graduates in them and they all seem to be doing well. As it turns out there is a similar course in CIT - not sure of the name, but that's also well regarded. The business side of the BIS degree is a big plus for employers, particularly multi-nationals as an awful lot of IT work is now working closely with the business side of the company's requirements....being able to understand business functions, processes and data. I don't have any experience or knowledge of the CS degree so won't comment on this.

    Best of luck in any case!

    Loire.


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    #8
    snaphook
    Closed Accounts Posts: 328 ✭✭snaphook


    BIS. It's a jack of all trades, master of none Degree but will give you some flexibility.

    6 Month Internship is a huge plus.
    I may even lead to a job offer after your final year.


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    #9
    UnknownSpecies
    Registered Users Posts: 3,183 ✭✭✭UnknownSpecies


    Just finished up Computer Science in UCC so can weigh in here. Job prospects are good for both courses, myself and a lot of people I know in both BIS and CS have already gotten jobs before finishing up. The thing I like about CS is that I never felt like I'd need to do a masters to get a job whereas a lot of my BIS friends feel they need to do one. That's a purely anecdotal observation though.

    Computer Science has paid work placement in 3rd year, with most people opting to do a 6 month placement. A few places offer 12 month placements too but it means finishing your degree a year later. A lot of people that did 12 month placements were offered jobs with the company afterwards so it's something worth bearing in mind. Placement is really useful for getting interview experience and having 6-12 months of work experience when you leave is obviously very handy when applying for jobs.

    Another thing I personally liked about CS is that I rarely ever had to write and essay or straight out regurgitate huge amounts of material for exams. Most of the exams and assignments we did were practical and relied on applying concepts rather than memorising hundreds of pages. From living with 3 BIS students this year, it's clear that BIS relies heavily on regurgitation. The best example of this I can give is when myself and the BIS lads were both studying a computer security module. Both our final exams asked about the Diffie Hellman key exchange. Our exam asked us to write a Diffie Hellman style protocol that incorporates a digital certificate (or something along those lines), which requires a good understanding of the material but doesn't require much writing. The BIS Diffie Hellman question required them to write an A4 page about the protocol, which was basically learned by heart and not understood at all (that's in the cases I saw, I'm not saying that nobody understood it).

    Our final mark in Computer Science is made from 20% 2nd year marks, 20% 3rd year marks and 60% 4th year marks. BIS is 100% for 4th year which I think is ridiculous, but is handy for those doing it since a lot of people I know pissed away 2nd and 3rd year, scraping passes and then turning up for 4th year and getting 2H1 or 1H degrees. Definitely something to remember if you end up doing CS.

    With regards to money, don't expect to make a killing as soon as you leave college with CS. I'd be more inclined to choose it only if it really interests you. The course isn't all about programming and you'll cover a huge amount of topics over the 4 years. In my own experience, I didn't feel that I mastered any topic without doing a lot of work outside of what we were given but you'll be given enough to start with if you want to learn more about it yourself. My advice would be to go and learn some python (good book here) through online tutorials and see if you enjoy coding because it's likely that's what you'll end up doing when you finish the degree. Here's the CS book of modules for UCC. You'll get an idea of the kind of topics covered from that. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.


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    #10
    CiansBoozer
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭CiansBoozer


    Do you need a second language to do CS in UCC? I mean i do English and Irish but i don't do another one. Help plis


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    #11
    deRanged
    Registered Users Posts: 3,744 ✭✭✭deRanged


    CiansBoozer wrote: »
    Do you need a second language to do CS in UCC? I mean i do English and Irish but i don't do another one. Help plis

    you don't.
    "Leaving Certificate entry requirements: HC3 in two
    subjects, and passes in four other subjects at Higher or
    Ordinary level in Irish, English, Mathematics and three other
    subjects recognised for entry purposes."


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    #12
    KillerKitten
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭KillerKitten


    I'm doing computer science myself. From my point of view, we're studying many computer subjects in-depth. (Not professional-level. Just a have-an-idea - level.)
    You can opt to do the CS degree joint with economics, which would be a 50-50 of both.

    My colleague does BIS, and from what I understand, they do the VERY basics of IT there. HTML basics and such. You won't learn much about computers in that degree, as it mostly focuses on the business aspect of it. Plus, it's the arts department of UCC, not the science one.


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    #13
    JeremyH
    Registered Users Posts: 119 ✭✭JeremyH


    KillerKitten wrote: »
    I'm doing computer science myself. From my point of view, we're studying many computer subjects in-depth. (Not professional-level. Just a have-an-idea - level.)
    You can opt to do the CS degree joint with economics, which would be a 50-50 of both.

    My colleague does BIS, and from what I understand, they do the VERY basics of IT there. HTML basics and such. You won't learn much about computers in that degree, as it mostly focuses on the business aspect of it. Plus, it's the arts department of UCC, not the science one.

    Eh?... No. BIS is taught in the College of Business and Law.

    BIS and CS develop very different skillsets. Graduates from both courses are very much in demand. BIS grads tend to go to Business Analyst/Consultant roles (based on the mix of technical skills/soft skills/business skills they study) whereas CS grads tend to go to more technical roles. Info on first destinations for both courses are available below:

    http://www.ucc.ie/en/media/support/careers/destinations2012update/buslaw/BSc(BusinessInformationSystems).pdf

    http://www.ucc.ie/en/media/support/careers/destinations/sefs/ComputerScience(SignHons).pdf

    Many CS grads have gone on to do postgrad work in BIS over the last 10 years to take advantage of the large number of opportunities in the intersection of business/tech.


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