Some CA Questions ASAP please

mayosteve99

1. Is the course really hard as people say?????



2. Is there many exams ?How many and When In First Year



3.Roughly how many students do this course



4.How many hours a week ?? Would i finish on a Thursday Evening??


I know some of the questions are abit stupid but Im Waiting to get accepted and need all the info , Cheers!!!!!!!!

phreak

1. It's not too difficult if you work. Most people have problems with the maths.

2. CA has a huge amount of exams compared to a lot of other courses in dcu. in first year you'll have 6 in january and 6 in may.

3. Not sure how many do it now but 4 years ago there was 150 or so in first year.

4. Around 16 hours a week or so in first year

mayosteve99

r the exams written or practical

GavMan

both in some. mostly project then an exam

gizmo

niallquinn999 wrote:

1. Is the course really hard as people say?????

It's tough enough but then again most courses in college are.

niallquinn999 wrote:

2. Is there many exams ?How many and When In First Year

6 per semester until second semester in 3rd year when you do your project instead. Pretty much the most exams you can have in DCU.

niallquinn999 wrote:

3.Roughly how many students do this course

We started with 163 and we finished with 60-something

niallquinn999 wrote:

4.How many hours a week ?? Would i finish on a Thursday Evening??

12-16 including labs and tutorials, the latter of which are not always mandatory. Depending on your options you're more than likely to finish on Thursday yes, I think in my 4 years in DCU I had lectures for 2 semesters on Fridays.

Matthewthebig

1. Is the course really hard as people say?????

If you work it's fine. Saying that only 32 out of 137 or so passed exams first time around. Working at it is the main point.

2. Is there many exams ?How many and When In First Year

They have reduced the number of exams. I did first year last year and we had 4 exams for 1st semester and 5 for 2nd semester.

3.Roughly how many students do this course

We had 137 when we started. You're year will probably be the same or less, based on trends.

4.How many hours a week ?? Would i finish on a Thursday Evening??

I think officially I had 20 something hours, although nowhere near all of that is mandatory. Had Fridays off first semester and 1 or 2 lectures on a Friday 2nd Semester.

mayosteve99

how long would an exam and lecture last??? cheers!!!!!!!:D

Smellyirishman

Roughly

Lecture : 1hr.
Tutorials: 1hr.
Labs : 1-2hrs leave when you get the work done.
Exams : 2hrs (leave after first hour, can't leave in last half hour).

dregin

There're now two written module to go along with the project and work placement in second semester of third years.

mayosteve99

OK Guys Ur Info has been really helpful , I got the offer and am chosing to accept it!!!


just been wondering about the Lectures/Tutorials/Other , would they be really quiet or abit noisey . Im not asking for bomb noises but hoping it wouldnt be quiet enough that you would hear a pin drop or even a fart:p JOKE

tinkerbell

Niall - you're talking over 150+ students in one big lecture hall, you're definitely not gonna hear a pin drop!

mayosteve99

Are the people not split up in a few classes ?????????????? can one go to the toliet during a lecture/exam/tutorial ?? i have a bladder condition

Smellyirishman

Not for lectures.

You're split for tutorials/labs.

Piss 'til your heart's content, or your bladder. (Although I'd advise going before a lecture, to avoid making a name for youself )

mayosteve99

but do people go to the toliet alot

Matthewthebig

It happens...

opinionated

Right, accepted the offer today but I have a question, what is the deal with optional modules? Would it be advisable to do any of them?

Zen 2nd

opinionated wrote:

Right, accepted the offer today but I have a question, what is the deal with optional modules? Would it be advisable to do any of them?

Well you have to pick two.

opinionated

Really, what ones would you guys recommend? I had another thread and I was told not to do any module by a certain lecturer...

Smellyirishman

What LC subjects did you do? And what are the options, I'm not sure if they've changed or not?

And unfortunately, I don't keep score on toilet visits.

cooker3

Oh on above point. I am not sure why people said you did 6 per semester in first year because it isn't and wasn't for me and that was like 4 years ago. It's 4 in sem 1 and 5 in sem 2 if I recall.

gizmo

It depended on what options you chose Rob. That said, Maths was year long so the final exam in that was not until the Summer however we were still given a continuous assessment exam before the holidays so we still had to make sure we were keeping up with it.

As for going to the toilet during lectures, best thing you can do is sit towards the back near the door and be quiet about it when you go. Also as someone else suggested try and go before the lecture starts. If a lecturer gives you crap about it feel free to drop him a mail explaining the situation and expect a rather prompt and apologietic reply.

As for what options to do, anyone who wants this question answered should post...

a) What LC subjects they did
b) What specific area of computing they're interested in
c) What the modules are (some of them have changed in recent years)
d) Who is teaching the modules

That way we can give you some more informed answers.

Zen 2nd

The options that are available in CA for 1st semester are to the best of my memory:

Electronics I
Topics of Computing
Accounting
Physics
Marketing
French

With Topics of computing there is no test at the end of the semester but there is a written assignment you must write in college within a time limit. In regards to that, topics isn't that easy, if your English writing isn't up to scratch (I mean really up to scratch!) you'll only average about 50% (Plus one of the talks was very descriptive leaving me staring blankly at the lecturer because I hadn't a clue what he was on about. Most people actually ran from the room, no joke.)

Only do French if your good at it.

Ditto accounting

Ditto Physics

Don't know what Marketing is like, think that may be second semester.

I picked Electronics as one of my subjects, to be honest I found it hard and the lecturer wasn't very helpful either, he assumed you knew certain things when I'm sure most of the class didn't.

opinionated

a) What LC subjects they did?

Irish(H), English(O), Maths (O), Accountancy(H), Geography(O) and Chemistry(H).

b) What specific area of computing they're interested in

Software Engineering

c) What the modules are (some of them have changed in recent years)

Accounting, Topics in Computing, Electronics 1 and 2, French 1 and 2, German 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, American Political system, politics, marketing.

d) Who is teaching the modules

http://www.dcu.ie/registry/module_contents.php?function=4&programme=CA

Wizoom

Would an A1 in French (H) be a high enough standard or are we talking Trinity-style "expecting fluency from day one" shenanigans?

gizmo

While I'm not usually one to recommend it, assuming you did well enough in the LC I'd say do Accountancy. Physics was a very handy module but if you have no grounding in it you'll have to do abit of work but since you have it already, yea I'd say go for it.

As for your second one, Ordinary Level for Topics may not be the best choice but since Electronics is horrid and you have no other language I'd say go for it.

Wizoom, yes you'll more than likely walk French 1 anyway. Not too sure about the second semester but its a nice choice for you for the first semester.

mayosteve99

when does the course start ????

LegacyUser

niallquinn999 wrote:

when does the course start ????

sorry guys this is the real me now, my friend niall got sick of me using his account !!!! ne how im on boards myself and looking for info:p

LeixlipRed

Do you not think it would have been a smart idea to look into some of this stuff before you filled in your CAO? Also, why would how difficult a course is matter? If you go in with that attitude, everything will be difficult

LegacyUser

LeixlipRed wrote:

Do you not think it would have been a smart idea to look into some of this stuff before you filled in your CAO? Also, why would how difficult a course is matter? If you go in with that attitude, everything will be difficult

just answer the questions please

LeixlipRed

robdcu wrote:

just answer the questions please

:eek:

No issues with the attitude then. I forsee a future of external repeats and compensatory passes for you young padawan

H2G2

niallquinn999 wrote:

when does the course start ????

Academic calendar 2007/2008

Wizoom

Merci Gizmo! I'll take that as one of mine so... I have no Physics so it's really either Topics or Accountancy. Damn I was really hoping to get away from columns of figures this year

gizmo

A word on Physics and other LC related modules, if you've done them at Higher Level at LC they are usually a walk in the park in the first semester. In the case of Physics I honestly could have aced the exam without going to any of the lectures and just going over the notes towards the end, they basically over the course from an Ordinary to Higher level perspective so you'll feel right at home.

In Physics' case you also have 3 lab exams, the best 2 of which are counted, which are your basic calculation type questions and count for a nice part of your years grade.

If you haven't done Phyiscs before but are handy enough at Maths I would also heartily recommend the subject for at least the first semester.

LegacyUser

got a b2 in pass maths , this hardly would be good enough !! got a b2 in higher level Accounting

LegacyUser

robdcu wrote:

got a b2 in pass maths , this hardly would be good enough !! got a b2 in higher level Accounting

PlEASE HELP

Matthewthebig

with what?

Smellyirishman

Kkkhhhhhaaaannnnnnnnnn!

Cina

robdcu wrote:

PlEASE HELP

Well 1st year Maths is pretty much a catch up course for those who didn't do Honours in the leaving, saying that it is thought in a more difficult manner and there are a few nid bits that are quite hard. I did Honours LC and had no real problems with Maths, saying that, like most modules in CA you simply won't pass without doing the work, but it is easily possible even if you did pass in LC.
2nd year, unfortunately the Maths gets a lot harder, there is an entire module on Probability in Semester 1 which is rather nasty, our year had huge failure rates in it. I managed to just about pass it but not without some work, as the lecturer was pretty poor. However again, it's not impossible, but if you're not good at Maths, and especcially Probability, you will need to put lots of work into it.
Luckily Linear Algebra in 2nd Semester is a relatively "easy" module in comparison to Probability, with some work it's easily passable.

Oh and for the Optionals, do Topics in Computing, it's easy, and sometimes very interesting, and it means an exam less at Christmas. I did Physics aswell, and having done it in the LC I didn't have to go to a single lecture, just went to the lab exams and did the written exams. If you did Physics in the LC, I really recommend selecting it.

LegacyUser

Cina wrote:

Well 1st year Maths is pretty much a catch up course for those who didn't do Honours in the leaving, saying that it is thought in a more difficult manner and there are a few nid bits that are quite hard. I did Honours LC and had no real problems with Maths, saying that, like most modules in CA you simply won't pass without doing the work, but it is easily possible even if you did pass in LC.
2nd year, unfortunately the Maths gets a lot harder, there is an entire module on Probability in Semester 1 which is rather nasty, our year had huge failure rates in it. I managed to just about pass it but not without some work, as the lecturer was pretty poor. However again, it's not impossible, but if you're not good at Maths, and especcially Probability, you will need to put lots of work into it.
Luckily Linear Algebra in 2nd Semester is a relatively "easy" module in comparison to Probability, with some work it's easily passable.

Oh and for the Optionals, do Topics in Computing, it's easy, and sometimes very interesting, and it means an exam less at Christmas. I did Physics aswell, and having done it in the LC I didn't have to go to a single lecture, just went to the lab exams and did the written exams. If you did Physics in the LC, I really recommend selecting it.

Thanks Man ur help is really appreciated:D Do you know should i find accounting easy or hard , I done it in LC and got a B2 in Higher Level??? Cheers. do you recommend going to all the tutorials

Matthewthebig

I hope i'm not your lab tutor...

LegacyUser

Matthewthebig wrote:

I hope i'm not your lab tutor...

who u talkin 2.. why

Matthewthebig

Nevermind

cognos

Avoid topics in computing if it is still optional (there was talk of making it compulsary)

Matthewthebig

it's now compulsary

LegacyUser

Matthewthebig wrote:

it's now compulsary

no its not

Matthewthebig

robdcu wrote:

no its not

For the few hours that registration thought i was going into first year, it said it was.

I may be wrong.

Mea culpa and all that.

Finch*

topics kicked ass, it was so easy and no exam

totally worth taking

*edit* for the love of god don't do electronics, i took it 1st semester and have no idea how i passed

Matthewthebig

you're speshul Fry. That's why ¬_¬

Call Me Jimmy

If numbers give you wood then CA is your calling.

andrew163

robdcu wrote:

Thanks Man ur help is really appreciated:D Do you know should i find accounting easy or hard , I done it in LC and got a B2 in Higher Level??? Cheers. do you recommend going to all the tutorials

Go to all the tutorials. No matter how useless they may feel.

Also, I'm sure Matthew will be a lovely lab tutor ¬_¬ those poor kids..

Matthewthebig

Waf