Help Please ASAP :(

iggyman

well i have to make my decision up fairly soon..whether i want to go to dcu computer applications or itb computer science...now the problem is that i would have to do alot of things to get into dcu course..like try figure out how to accept the offer i have received because its not on the cao website and the only way i know i got an offer was because i got a letter off them saying congradulations you are accepted but i dont see no offer elsewere,i would also have to figure out alot of stuff with dcu staff on this access route programme about things that i need but dont have like photo id etc and i really dont even want to go on the programme which is a week long programme were you stay on campus and study for coming course..and i ve no time to get one before the given time..and then theres the fact that the course is supposed to be quite hard and there is a big drop out rate in first year..now because i only skimmed the entry requirements i would probably be at the lower end of the class struggling with the maths mainly while every one else nearly would have done honours math in leaving cert or at least near enough to an A in ordinary were as i only got a C which is the bare minimum entry requirements for the course...and ive read that the maths can be hard in this course..

so what ive bein thinkin of doing is to go to the ITB (blancherstown) computer science Honours degree which seems to be alot easier and seems to be more for people like me in the lower sector...now im just wondering would this course be relatively the same in terms of when you come out you still have the same qualification as the DCU computer applications except that in DCU you would be doing other optional subjects like business,languages etc which in my opinion is based more on people that are alot smarter than me so ill think ill have a hard time and probably drop out any way because of all the hard work because ive heard people saying that it will be tough even for grade A ordinary students and im still far from that..

so would the itb course be relativly the same but easier because it doesnt have much optional academic subjects to be doing as well??and would it be seen as the same qualification as the DCU Comp Apps...??what should i do??

Sam Vimes

sounds to me like blanch would be good for you. you don't seem to want to go to dcu and if you go in thinking you're going to fail you probably won't put 100% into it and make it happen. i went to blanch before tranferring to maynooth and it was good. i did elec eng there.


is the comp science course a cert/dip/deg course like the engineering is? i did two years in blanch and then on the strength of my cert i was able to transfer. you could start off in blanch and if you think you're capable of the dcu course after two years you could go to almost any college in the country.


tbh i think a degree from dcu is more widely recognised than one from itb. that's not to say the itb one isn't as good, its just not as widely recognised.

having said that, a friend of mine has managed to finish 5 years of electronic and computer engineering in blanch and freely admits he knows nothing about computers

WizZard

The DCU course is very, very tough - something like 1/3 drop out in the first year alone.
DCU is more widely recognised and their work experience programme is excellent. Although by doing well in the ITB course and getting practical experience along the way you could be just as employable as someone who has done the DCU course. The thing here is attitude. no matter where you go to college, with the right attitude and possibly extra-curricular studying you can be eminently employable (this is true for the DCU course as well)

iggyman

Commander Vimes wrote:

having said that, a friend of mine has managed to finish 5 years of electronic and computer engineering in blanch and freely admits he knows nothing about computers

Haha nice...yeah i kinda think that i wont get thorugh the dcu course because of all the negatives points against me unless i work really really hard and probably not even then will i get through it...and also i actually was offered the 5 year honours degree and 3 year ordinary degree in computer engineering in blancherstown itb..but only yesterday did i notice that being colourblind i would not be able to do the comp engineering because of the colour codes on the resistors...so now i have to go down to my school in a bit and me carrer guidance will ring up Blanch and try get me a transfer into the computer science course..which is the 4 year honours degree BN104..

http://www.itb.ie/site/courses/bn104.htm

there is a ladder type of setup yeah like if i leave after 2 years ill get a cert or something..and ordinary degree after 3 and then the honours degree after the full 4 years and then there will the choice of doing a masters there...

so its widely recognised but i dont think it would be worth all that extra hard work and the fact that i might not be able to get through it and waste a full year just for a bit of recognition..would it?

Tom Dunne

iggyman wrote:

i would probably be at the lower end of the class struggling with the maths mainly while every one else nearly would have done honours math in leaving cert or at least near enough to an A in ordinary were as i only got a C which is the bare minimum entry requirements for the course...and ive read that the maths can be hard in this course..

Bear in mind the maths in any computer course is going to be of a similar standard, so it may not be any easier in Blanch.

It sounds like Blanch would be the way to go - as you said yourself, at least after 2 years you will get something out of it.

And if it's any consellation to you, the head of computing in Blanchardstown came from DCU and he runs a good show.

iggyman

yeah i know it will be similer but on a lower level i think..it would be the same stuff ye but they wouldnt expect you to cop on as fast in this place hopefully wee as on my shadowing day in dcu i was in a maths class and if the students had a problem they couldnt really say asnything because they were in a class of total bout 50 people and i dont think the maths teacher would have stopped for someone

well i have to head down my career teacher now and ring up blanch..

thanks for the info..and if anyone has any experience with the itb or this course please tell what its like

beezkneez

yo iggyman - have you been offered blanch?
i did the 4 year degree course, (i.e. cert, diploma, degree) in blanch. dont think its called computer science, more like information technology. anyhows i liked it - workload gets progressivly more as the years pass by but i found that there was less pressure doing it this way as after 2 years you have a cert, then a diploma and then one more for the degree. it is a hetac degree so you will have a fully recognisable degree. the maths in year one and 2 is grand, not too difficult and the lecturers are great there - they will give you all the extra help you might need as long as you are pulling your weight and are interested. i have no experience of DCU but i have heard it is difficult - although if you are into it and make a good effort to keep up im sure you would be fine. also the social scene in DCU would be alot better than blanch as when i was there they were only getting going and learning but i still give blanch the thumbs up. alot of people in the year dropped out in first year/second year but not usually because it was too difficult - usually because they felt it wasnt for them. also alot of people who start the course there havent a whole lot of experience with computers and so you would be in the same boat as them. another god point about blanch is the practical side of the work there - they have plenty of network labs and labs in general so there is alot of practical work which you get marks for. The continuos assessment is great there because in the first few years it is easlily possible to have most exams passed before you even go into the exam as you will get alot of marks toward your final tally by just keeping up with coursework and small CA tests. takes alot of pressure off you.

anyhows as i said i have no experiance with DCU but if you want to know anything more about blanch let me know.

PCRed

Iggyman,

I don't know a whole lot about DCU but I did some Cisco professional courses in Blanch and the Guy that runs the Cisco side of things is also involved in the Computer Science and so has got all of his students to do the Cisco CCNA and some sat in on CCNP.

Leaving college with a degree in Computer Science along with professional Cisco qualification would be a great entry into your future career.

I'd go for Blanch for that alone. Also it is a new and growing college and the social thing will grow with it.

Pedro

iggyman

thanks mate sounds l like you know your stuff bout blanch without a doubt...

well ive been offered the the 5 year honours degree in comp engineering and the 3 year ordinary degree in comp engineering on the lvl 6/7 side..so basically its the same course..but until yesterday i didnt realise that you needed to not have any colour defiency because of the colour codes of components you need to recognise..

so i went down there to me carreer guidance teacher just a minute ago to him but turns out he is busy till 2 o clock because only me and three others in my class actually passed maths ordinary and the one guy who did higher passed as well so thats only 4 people who passes maths in my class out of 18 i think ..which is quite big and thats why he has to deal with them first..

so anyway i went to opticians yesterday just to test me to make sure i actually was colourblind and turns out i am with red/green colour defiency..so i got the optician to write a statement to say that i am colourblind..now i did all this because me carrer guidance said that he will try transfer me to a computer science degree instead of the engineering one because as far as i am aware you dont need to have good colour vision for programming (computer science) correct me if im wrong doh please ??

so as far as i know i have been offered a place for the two engineering degrees but not for the computer science but i dont think it will be hard to transfer me over to the to the computer science degree would it??

yeah i actually found that the lecturers there on opening days were very helpful and wanted you to do good..and ITB being quite a small place compared to others the lecturers there will know there students alot better..is that what its like doh??


see i actually love computers..and already know alot of stuff bout them both the hardware and software side..so i think i would be ok in sticking with the course i wouldnt think its not for me in anyways..although i would be surprised if that was the case doh, but there is always a chance i know that i wont like it but its a very small chance ....and because its not too difficult that would be an extra pusher to stay with it..

yeah that practical stuff sounds cool...another good benfit..

so when did you graduate from this course..and did you find it easy to get a job when finished if ya dont mind me asking..?




EDIT: @PCRed

Yeah that sounds good man..ive heard having one of them is a good thing to have when getting a job..its a network qualification i think isnt it?

yeah blanch seems to me like the place to go ..it might not have the huge reputation that DCU has but i just dont think that dcu would be for me at all..and i dont want to make a mistake by trying it out and wasting a whole year when i could be doing my study in ITB..and also ITB ive heard has some state of the art labs which would be some thing like the ones at DCU since it only got built not to long ago..yeah and im guessing the social part is coming together and this year i should be there, and im a party animal only messing..

thanks for the info mate..

PCRed

I was only doing the professional courses, I had been working with computers for about 6 years when I started.

I did CCNA and CCNP which cost about €12,000, over half I fronted myself and the company the rest. The thing is though that the profession qualifications expire after 3 or 4 years but the degree is there for life (I presume, I never actually did one).

So by going to blanch your already saving yourself a few quid in the long run.

Good luck

iggyman

Thanks..

yeah i know what you mean..sounds good...so will i have to pay that amount of money to do it in itb when im a student there..?

PCRed

No, thats the beauty of it he'll just squeeze it in with the curriculum.

When I was doing CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional), there was two guys sitting in that were doing there Masters in Computer Science, but they had already done CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) during their degree.

All you would have to pay for is the exam which are done in a testing centre.

Technically the instructors are very good and they're sound too.