Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computing

redout

Hi,

I am considering applying as a mature student for the above course. I would appreciate any current or past students thoughts on the course. Also the mathematics aspect. Is there maths in all 4 years or just first and if so what kind are we talking about and difficulty level. Finally how do you all rate Blanch IT.

Thx

KonFusion

redout wrote: »

Hi,

I am considering applying as a mature student for the above course. I would appreciate any current or past students thoughts on the course. Also the mathematics aspect. Is there maths in all 4 years or just first and if so what kind are we talking about and difficulty level. Finally how do you all rate Blanch IT.

Thx

I'm a first your computing student just gone into my second semester, and firstly I'll say that there are a lot of mature students on the course, and I'm sure some will swoop into this thread and give you their view.

As for me, I am quite enjoying the course. We didn't do maths in semester 1, and are only starting it now in semester 2, however there are some people on the course who haven't done maths in over 20 years and are not having any major difficulties that I know of, so from that perspective, it's not 'hard'. Also, the lecturer's are great and very friendly and approachable, and there are extra programming and maths labs on for people who feel they may need extra help.

Also, the course is mostly continuous assessment, meaning you'll be graded mostly on your work in labs etc, not just in exams, which is a nice relief.

I'm sure some of the 2nd and 3rd years will come on and talk about the maths aspect in more detail.

Also the facilities are very good. You're almost never stuck for a PC, and the whole place has a very 'new' vibe about it and everyone is also very friendly. I'd recommend the course to anyone who may be interested in IT.

There are also some great societies

In the end it's pretty much what you make it, as I'm sure it'll be with any college.

Hope this helps, and if you've any more questions, feel free to ask.

Block G Raptor

I'm a mature student in Konfusion's class. As he says we haven't started the maths yet. but as it's maths for computing it should be fairly basic, I think the above poster had me in mind when mentioning people who haven't done maths in 20yrs. and really I found semester 1 a doddle. one option for you is the route I took, there is a start-over program which starts around March which covers a choice of 2 modules from Networking, Web Design and Computer Systems ( I took Web Design and Comp Sys last Yr)which will give you a feel for the course (the program is open to anyone on the dole) and means that you are excempt from these modules should you decide to continue on to first yr proper
As Konfusion say's above there is a good balance of Mature students and "Da Kidz " as we affectionately know them on the course and indeed the college in general and there is certainly in my experience no sense of an Us and Them attitude or anything negative. the facilities are fairly ok (No Bar.....yet , vote for me as SU president and i plan to change that) and also as Konfusion say's above the Clubs and Societies are great. what he doesn't mention is that there weren't any clubs or societies that interested us originally so we set up the 2 most successful Soc's Photo Soc and Airsoft Soc ourselves, which I think is testament to the ease with which I settled into college life. So I would say GO FOR IT. there should be information on he Start Over Program available from the office or your Local SW office

KonFusion

Block G Raptor wrote: »

No Bar.....yet , vote for me as SU president and i plan to change that

gettin the propeganda in early eh? Get em while they're young, so to speak

dueyfinster

Hey,

I am in third year so perhaps I'll be a little bit more valuable then the other two The maths that is presented as Maths isn't difficult. That question was my first when I visited all of the College's I was applying too.

We just did 5th Semester, and the hardest bit of "Maths" is data structures and algorithms. It's graph theory, binary tree's etc. All of it is thought as it's used and presented in computer science way, not in the mathematical sense - all of them have a real world use that's clear immediately and that you use. points wise and the large intake of mature students clues the lecturers in to the fact that they will have people not as good at maths and mature students who haven't studied maths in more than I've been alive. They accommodate this, maybe I was fortunate that I got good lecturers for the maths I did study.

Finally I can't compare Blanch to any other college, I don't have the experience. We did see talks by people in first year who took our course circa 1999. Out of the 4, 3 had masters and the last one wanted to do it. One programmed custom Java server modules for IBM, one worked for security forensics company I can't remember the name of (they're in the high court a lot), one had his own business tracking bus fleets and the last one slips my mind. Of the people who got masters, one was from Blanch, one was from Trinity and of the person who didn't have one - he planned to attend Blanch (or so he said!).

On the college itself - lovely small campus. Lecturers are the nicest of any college I've ever been too (Maynooth was close though when I visited in 6th year), I think smaller colleges make the lecturers know you by name and so they can take an interest and help you more. The people I've made friends with in the class are the best people I've ever known. It's very hard to get to if you don't drive, live close or are right on the bus route. I had to get a bus and train in first year - never again!

I wouldn't swap the experience for anything now, I definitely recommend it. There is a high dropout rate, but you know your cut out for it pretty soon. Most who dropout it was never a first choice course (in any college), are too young & immature (cao) or being mature can't get back into the flow. Of all the dropout groups, the mature one is by far the smallest. I've learned more off the mature groups than I could ever repay them, and I suspect the fact your taking the time to research and ask around your more than cut out for it.

Hope this tl;dr post was okay!