I can haz general discussion? 2!!

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Bet ya this one won't make the front page of the website. Not a great day for the college. Maybe if they spent less time faffing about with name changes and more time focusing on students and research we'd actually go up the table. Lowest rank in Ireland.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=171+faculty=+stars=false+search=

Alt_Grrr

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Bet ya this one won't make the front page of the website. Not a great day for the college. Maybe if they spent less time faffing about with name changes and more time focusing on students and research we'd actually go up the table. Lowest rank in Ireland.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=171+faculty=+stars=false+search=

Those things are always a bit iffy. For example when you look at how they rank the subjects at Trinity and compare that to Maynooth. Notice the disparity?

Typically if you create a metric you will see people/organizations optimizing for the metric if it serves a useful purpose or ignoring it.

How so Joe

Awh man, UCL dropped from fourth to joint fifth. Bastard Imperial overtook us.
/grumble grumble.

Eric Cartman

Alt_Grrr wrote: »

Those things are always a bit iffy. For example when you look at how they rank the subjects at Trinity and compare that to Maynooth. Notice the disparity?

Typically if you create a metric you will see people/organizations optimizing for the metric if it serves a useful purpose or ignoring it.

I really think its funny how trinity ranks in 'employer reputation' on this site. I know paddy cosgrove has a hard-on for trinity grads, but I myself have been in a lot of SME's that despise them due to the perception of them enjoying the aroma of their own gaseous anal emanations .

Alt_Grrr

I also feel like I should point out that these figures are compiled by a company called QS who used to do the Sunday Times university rankings, before the Sunday Times decided that they could do it better themselves.

They don't really publish all the data they base their results on nor do they fully describe their methodology.

So personally I would warn against making changes to education policy based on this set of results.

Imagine if we changed our fiscal policies based on the reports of some company you never heard of which took a bunch of numbers which might only be available to themselves and used this to assign a grade to say our sovereign debt. It would be madness.

Anyway, as a general rule you should be careful around metrics.

mickstupp

I can't help thinking that people who treat those tables seriously are fools. I don't know quite how I feel about it when talking about undergraduate courses, since in the real world these days a degree is taken for granted. It's like years ago when you were expected to have your Leaving Cert to get a job. Degrees are too general to be of use. Chances are you're going to spend six months to a year being trained in, wherever you end up working, doesn't matter if you have a 2.2 BA or 1.1 MA. Maybe HR departments put credence in university rankings... but HR departments are filled with utter morons at the best of times.

Postgraduate courses... well there I can't see how the university ranking has any meaning whatsoever. The quality of the department is far more important. The reputation of your supervisor is vital. I can look at the university ranking for Maynooth and someone might say it's a bit crap, but my supervisor is still a world leader in his field. That's worth far more than doing the same thesis in TCD under a far less accomplished and reputable supervisor. So the university ranking is completely meaningless in that sense.

These tables are rubbish. It would be slightly more interesting to compare employability from individual departments... but even then, every one has its strengths and weaknesses. I feel like this is all something Fox News would take seriously, and as such I can't understand how rational people treat it with anything but disdain.

PopePalpatine

I'm pretty much convinced HR departments are stuffed full of Pam Poovey clones. :pac:

RobbingBandit

PopePalpatine wrote: »

I'm pretty much convinced HR departments are stuffed full of Pam Poovey clones. :pac:

Coked out Pam or Dolphin Puppet Pam, ah screw it either is good.:D

marko93

CSSE Timetable is looking pretty **** this year ;_:

Alt_Grrr

marko93 wrote: »

CSSE Timetable is looking pretty **** this year ;_:

If its third year then do not despair, its only for one semester, you'll survive.

And fourth year is awesome. So there's that.

marko93

Alt_Grrr wrote: »

If its third year then do not despair, its only for one semester, you'll survive.

And fourth year is awesome. So there's that.

That's very true! It's just I have to find a way to balance a few things!

Oscars Well.

Still can't see my timetable
Anyone happen to be doing the Irish History MA and know what the craic is? :P

PopePalpatine

What's so bad about third year CSSE?

marko93

PopePalpatine wrote: »

What's so bad about third year CSSE?

I've a part time job to balance with all the hours/study.

Alt_Grrr

PopePalpatine wrote: »

What's so bad about third year CSSE?

Well when I did it with lectures and labs its about 30 hours a week in the first semester as well as looking for a placement for your second semester.

And I was convinced that some of the modules are deliberately picked to make it more stressful. (I'm looking at you "Programming Languages and Compilers" and "Software Verification")

PopePalpatine

Oh sweet Jesus on a tandem with the Buddha, software verification sounds like a bitch.

Planemo

Are lockers on sale on Monday?

Oscars Well.

Not finished till 9 pm on Wednesdays

aaabbbb

Planemo wrote: »

Are lockers on sale on Monday?

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/campus-services/how-can-we-help-you/student-lockers

agent graves

Oscars Well. wrote: »

Not finished till 9 pm on Wednesdays

madness. how is this?

Oscars Well.

agent graves wrote: »

madness. how is this?

The downside of doing a masters

Maldesu

Oscars Well. wrote: »

The downside of doing a masters

Which masters are you doing? I've not got the full timetable yet but they are saying there will be nothing past 4pm and only in 3 days a week. Hoping noting changes now

Oscars Well.

Maldesu wrote: »

Which masters are you doing? I've not got the full timetable yet but they are saying there will be nothing past 4pm and only in 3 days a week. Hoping noting changes now

Irish History. It's a mixture of part time and full time students so classes are in the evening to cater for both. I don't have a class earlier than 3pm

Boeing777

Does anybody know if you can top up your MyCard having only just paid the student levy (€100) and not the fees?

banquo

Yes, you can.

Maldesu

Oscars Well. wrote: »

Irish History. It's a mixture of part time and full time students so classes are in the evening to cater for both. I don't have a class earlier than 3pm

Well, at least you can sleep in after a few beers

karaokeman

Anyone know how to change electives? I'm in third year Sociology, registered for a module that didn't clash with any of my other classes last year but now upon checking the updated schedule it does.

PopePalpatine

Has anyone noticed how much of a pain in the arse accessing the campus wi-fi can be on a phone? I've to wait about a minute for the sign-in portal site to allow me to scroll down.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Its hopeless. There used to be an app that would auto sign you into the wireless once your phone picked up the signal. Don't think it still works though. One of you computer science types get on that. I'd gladly pay for that ****.

solomafioso

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Has anyone noticed how much of a pain in the arse accessing the campus wi-fi can be on a phone? I've to wait about a minute for the sign-in portal site to allow me to scroll down.

It's pretty snappy for me. When I connect and load up Now Browser (android) it gives me the logon page straight away. Could it be the amount of students trying to access it right after registration? Shouldn't be an issue though.

I think the timeout is a security setting, so you're not continually connected and have to sign in each time. Could set your phone's browser to remember password.