Earth and ocean Science or Computer science & IT

StephenMcN

I cant decide which course to choose but these 2 caught my eye. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about them. Any help would be appreciated.

franglan

Tell me what you want to know about EOS?

StephenMcN

I wanted to know:

• is there a lot of physics/chemistry involved?
• Do you enjoy the course?
• is there work placement ?
• How many would be in the course?

franglan

I'm in fourth year EOS by the way- I.ve specialized mainly in Geology, Hydrology, Palaeontology and Geophysics. I'll be looking to work in the area of Hydrogoelogy.

You will probably have to do one or the other in first year, as a subject.
Overall not a huge amount of Chemistry, you will have bits of it in say Oceanography in Ocean water content or in water testing, where the amounts of ions or nutrients etc can tell you alot about the water itself and what could be living in it? I haven't done Oceanography since second year so can't say too much on that. Any of the chemistry in it would be manageable and it would be secondary to what your actually learning.
In subjects such as Structural Geology, Hydrology and Geophysics there would be a physics component. Not overly complicated but the way say a rock will deform under pressure or how a water flows from A to B due to it moving downhill is basic physics. My maths or physics are not amazing but I've never really had a problem with them in the course due to the calculations been secondary to understanding why these things happen, if you get me?

I have to say I really enjoyed the course, I started in Environmental Science but moved as I really didn't get Chemistry and I think I made the right choice. The course gets more specialized in the later years so you can pick what areas you want to go into. Field trips are important in the course so, for me, I had 1 in 1st year, 2-3 in 2nd year, then a ten day field trip to Wexford in 3rd year which is built up to be the hardest field trip you'll do- (which it is) then a five day trip to killary, then in 4th year a ten day trip to wales, (this used to be to Cyprus). These field trips are hard work but are good fun and if you have a good class of people can be brilliant craic. You do group projects and presentations in 3/4th year which really will help when you working as a team etc in work after you graduate.


At the moment there is no placement. Which I really see as a disadvantage.

The years below us seems to be bigger than our one (23 in final year)
With maybe 40-50-60 second years?
We probably started off with around 30, then you had drop outs in first year and people like me coming in! Not too many have dropped out since the start of second year maybe 3-4.

I have to say though that the course is changing as I know some of the subjects have changed from when I was in 1st/2nd year as they have merged subjects together. But all I can tell you is my experiences with it.



Any more questions, just ask.

StephenMcN

thanks franglan thats loads of info i have no more questions.:)

TheCosmicFrog

I'm in second-year CS&IT if you have any questions.

StephenMcN

Thanks cosmic frog i wanted to know a lot about this course. I have a lot of interest in technology would this course involve much of that. Is there work placement? Do you enjoy the course? is there much maths/science involved. Thats all for now Thanks for the help.

TheCosmicFrog

StephenMcN wrote: »

Thanks cosmic frog i wanted to know a lot about this course. I have a lot of interest in technology would this course involve much of that. Is there work placement? Do you enjoy the course? is there much maths/science involved. Thats all for now Thanks for the help.

It's in the title, so of course there's a lot of technology

There is work placement at the end of third-year. Yeah it's pretty good. Nothing to write home about but then nobody absolutely adores their college course. Most of college life is about having fun with friends - having a good course that you can enjoy and relate to is a great bonus. There's maths in first-year and second-year. It's not too bad and can be easily passed (40%) if you do all your assignments and do a bit of study. You do a basic introduction to electronic engineering in the first-semester of first-year which is very interesting, especially the digital part. And it's taught by Dr. John Breslin, founder of Boards.ie!

You do Physics in the second-semester of first-year which is like a shortened down version of the Leaving Cert course. It can be easily passed with a bit of study.

Anything else you need to know?

Dougal.Maguire

to any earth & ocean science students - how does the course compare to doing a basic science degree?