Economics -vs- Computer Science

nuimeconcs

I am doing the leaving cert this year, and I’m considering doing either Economics or Computer Science in Maynooth next year. I’m wondering if there are any people who have experience of either, or preferably both of these courses, and if so what did they think of them, and in particular in terms of overall difficulty.

I know they are probably both demanding courses, but I’m wondering would it be possible for anybody to say which one is less intense (including in the math sense), and easier to understand and comprehend? I am looking for something that is reasonably challenging, but not too tricky to understand.

I have no prior knowledge or either area, so I would be starting out on a fresh slate. So I’m wondering if anybody could fill me in on the details of each course, and how they fair in overall terms of difficulty, and in comprehension and understanding.

Thank you.

jubella

I haven't done either course, but just to let you know, there is an option of doing a major/minor BA Finance and Economics with Computer Science as a minor if you don't want to have to choose between them.

Seren_

Or you can do both Economics and Computer Science through Arts And it's possible to move into the Single Honours course in either of the subjects then for second year if you so choose.

AdmaialNimitz

I Computer Science...

Sweetcorn01

Yeah, you should do both through an arts degree. That way you get to try them both out, aswell as a 3rd subject, and can choose at the end of first year which subjects to continue with.
Computer science has a high drop out rate, so this would give you a nice chance at it without committing to it for the full 3/4 years.

MoyVilla9

I'm not doing Computer Science but I've had a module with students doing them courses, programming, and it was horrible. I got a pretty good grade in it but didn't enjoy it at all. It's all up to the person though, whatever you are into.

pakb1ue

I did CSSE and graduated a few months back, 1st off CS is not all about programming there is a high emphasis in first two years but that still you only do about 4 programming modules in 2 years out of roughly 24 modules. Its mostly understanding how a computer works, how they communicate to each other and how they make decisions. I am not going to lie, I found it very boring at the start and I didnt like my class as it was just all filled with geeky lads with zero women. By the time I had gotten to 4th year I found the course very interesting and got on very well with some of my class mates.

I found the CS dept very relaxed compared to other depts as deadlines are always missed but you never get punished for submitting anything late including your final year project.

I have never done Economics but I do know there is a lot of Maths involved as a few of my mates did Eco for their degree. Most of them went on to do Masters but even after that things dont look very good job wise due to there is more people jobs but a few of their friends have gotten jobs as Financial Engineering in places such as firstderivatives.com

All of my class mates from CSSE who looked for work now have jobs some of them earing a nice €30k a year. Very few courses can say that in the current climate.

mp3guy

pakb1ue wrote: »

I found the CS dept very relaxed compared to other depts as deadlines are always missed but you never get punished for submitting anything late including your final year project.

From this year's handbook;

The marks awarded for theses submitted after the deadline will be reduced by 2% for every day (or any part of a day) that they are late - up to a maximum of 14% deduction for projects 7 days overdue. Projects will not be accepted later than one week past the deadline.

pakb1ue

mp3guy wrote: »

From this year's handbook;

I can tell you now that there was at least 5 people from my year who submitted their thesis late and one of them was a week late and not one of them was deducted marks because of it. Obviously it depends on who set the deadlines but the CS dept in general I found to be very lenient compared to other depts.

mp3guy

pakb1ue wrote: »

I can tell you now that there was at least 5 people from my year who submitted their thesis late and one of them was a week late and not one of them was deducted marks because of it. Obviously it depends on who set the deadlines but the CS dept in general I found to be very lenient compared to other depts.

Probably true but your year != my year.

You're bordering on selling the CS dept as one that just passes everyone and goes easy on things. This is misleading and a lot of the modules in the CS courses are tough.

pakb1ue

mp3guy wrote: »

Probably true but your year != my year.

You're bordering on selling the CS dept as one that just passes everyone and goes easy on things. This is misleading and a lot of the modules in the CS courses are tough.

True, but things have hardly changed that much in a year? Well besides 3 compulsory modules one of which I did in 3rd year.

But I can see how my post above could give someone the idea that CS dept doesnt care about deadlines. What I meant above was that they are much more understanding in regard to deadlines and that if you where to talk to your lecturer they would be very accommodating, that is what I found over the 4 years.

Take the Graphics module last year, a lot of people (most the Multimedia students) didnt do a few of the assignments so CM extended the deadline twice so that they wouldnt be missing out on most of the CA on offer. Granted CM is probably the most accommodating lecture you will find in the CS dept.

I should say that nearly everyone does have their assignments done before the deadline but if you have a genuine reason for not getting something done they are a bit more understanding due to the fact they have smaller classes and more likely to know who you are rather then just some face in the crowd that you get with Arts.

JellyBeans92

Your Text Here wrote: »

Or you can do both Economics and Computer Science through Arts And it's possible to move into the Single Honours course in either of the subjects then for second year if you so choose.

Well I'm doing Arts with Computer Science and Maths ( no Economics.. sorry ) and I love it. Granted there are and will be some tough modules, but I'd think this is the same for every course.

My advice would be if you're interested in both, go in as an Arts student and do both, and if you feel like leaving the option open to do a CSSE then put Math as your 3rd subject. If you really like CS and Math and keep up good grades then you can switch to a CSSE for 2nd year. If you prefer Economic I think you can do this as a single honours or a double honours with either of the other subjects after 1st year(?)

From what I've heard there is some minor overlaps between some of the Math and Economics and they are supposed to fit ok together for study purposes. Like in Maths 1st term we did a statsistics module, and in Economics 2nd term they are doing another statistics module.

Oh and when it comes to picking any course, you should check the break down of the modules online, as far as I know you can type in the course and module codes somewhere on the nuim website and it tells you what each is about.

Hope this helps

Sweetcorn01

If you have a flair for CS some of it can be relatively easy, but difficulty will depend on a person by person basis. Same goes for economics. Arts will give you good flexibility, because really you're not going to know if YOU like/are good at it until you try it!
I'd recommend you try them both. CS complements a lot of subjects, and in the current job market is exactly the kind of thing you want on your cv. Economics would also be a useful skill as it's maths based too.