So what's NCI like?

David086

I'm thinking of either doing Management of Technology in Business or just Business (NC009) in NCI when I finish my Leaving Cert.

Does anybody do the course(s) if so what are they like?
Are there many students in NCI?
How many are in a class?

Cheers!

Viva La Gloria

I just graduated from the BA in Business Management and I absolutely loved it. There was around 115 in the class altogether but it still felt small enough because everyone knew each other. NCI is a small enough college in general, which makes it easy getting to know the lecturers and other staff. Between full and part time, I think there could be somewhere over 1,000 students?

The BA in Business was great because we did a decent range of modules over the 3 years with elective choices in 2nd and 3rd year, and the option to do a dissertation in 3rd year. I've heard of a few people in my class who already have jobs, and others have gone on to do a Masters. (myself included)

Moonbeam

They have over 4000 students but In 2010 about 70% of those students were part time.
It is a good and interesting course with alot of continuous assessment.

Viva La Gloria

Ahaha I was way off.

Mysteriouschic

I'm on the Management Technology Business one I'm in first year our class only has about 27 so it's very small and easy to get to know most of the class.

We have both business and computing modules. I'll just speak about the first semester as thats all I really know. You spend the first semester on web design and you do personal development modules and business and there introduction to computing which is just learning about the hardware and software. You do a lot of group assignments , I haven't had really any single assignments yet. It seems like a good course so far and it prepares you for both IT and business which is great.
The people I've spoken to in the 2nd/3rd year really enjoy the course.

David086

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

I'm on the Management Technology Business one I'm in first year our class only has about 27 so it's very small and easy to get to know most of the class.

We have both business and computing modules. I'll just speak about the first semester as thats all I really know. You spend the first semester on web design and you do personal development modules and business and there introduction to computing which is just learning about the hardware and software. You do a lot of group assignments , I haven't had really any single assignments yet. It seems like a good course so far and it prepares you for both IT and business which is great.
The people I've spoken to in the 2nd/3rd year really enjoy the course.

Does it concentrate heavily on computers? Thanks for the reply btw!

Mysteriouschic

David086 wrote: »

Does it concentrate heavily on computers? Thanks for the reply btw!

So far it's not and learning about the computers it's more just theory about it like learning about all the components. There's no programming in first year I think there are programming modules in 2nd year. Overall at the moment it's quite basic and in the intro to computers you do stuff on word , powerpoint or excel nothing too hard. I know in 3rd year I think you have a choice with modules so you can make it more business or more computer orientated.

RQ2

Yeah so im thinking of NCI for my college choice after i finish my leaving.. Looking in the direction of their BSc (Hons) in Computing.. Anybody got any comments on the course?

Kizzonian

RQ2 wrote: »

Yeah so im thinking of NCI for my college choice after i finish my leaving.. Looking in the direction of their BSc (Hons) in Computing.. Anybody got any comments on the course?

I am in my 3rd year of the BSc in Computing, It is a good course so far so good. You dont need to worry if you dont have any experience with computers as it is very basic at the beginning, however that being said you must stay on top of things. If you do the bare minimum the first 2 years and just pass the exams then you are gonna be in for a shock when you are left to do projects by yourself when you have not a single clue how to do them.
Just dont do what I did, go to your lectures and pay reasonable attention to whats going on and what they are teaching you and you should be fine.
In regards to generally, the social aspect to the college is actually very good. There are always nights out and there are plenty of societies to choice from.
I recommend going out on as much nights as possible to get to know people in your course, and try your best to get on with them, you will be seeing there faces for the next 4 years.

SpaceCowb0y

Kizzonian wrote: »

I am in my 3rd year of the BSc in Computing, It is a good course so far so good. You dont need to worry if you dont have any experience with computers as it is very basic at the beginning, however that being said you must stay on top of things. If you do the bare minimum the first 2 years and just pass the exams then you are gonna be in for a shock when you are left to do projects by yourself when you have not a single clue how to do them.
Just dont do what I did, go to your lectures and pay reasonable attention to whats going on and what they are teaching you and you should be fine.
In regards to generally, the social aspect to the college is actually very goo. There are always nights out and there are plenty of societies to choice from.
I recommend going out on as much nights as possible to get to know people in your course, and try your best to get on with them, you will be seeing there faces for the next 4 years.

Who are you?????:D Im in 3rd year BSc Computing too!! I would suggest to anyone thinking of coming to NCI "DON'T"!!

The standard of teaching on the course is terrible and the modules are a joke! Compared to other colleges where they are in some cases learning 2 programming languages a year we have been stuck with Java since first year! we then went on to do XML which was completely pointless as i have never had to use it once outside of that module again!

PHP one of the most commonly used and useful languages to know isn't taught, you will only get the basics of HTML and CSS, i could go on...

There is also a lot of PBL(Porblem based Learning) modules which are a complete sham! Basically a way for the lecturers to fuck all while you go and figure **** out yourself on google! In a tech best subject like programming this just dosn't work as without being taught and having a strong understanding of the fundamentals you will never be able to teach yourself the rest!

Anyway rant over, but if i was starting over again i would go elsewhere especially with all the new courses on the market now! Digital media etc etc...

Clanket

Very melodramatic Spacecowboy. I'm in Year 2 of Computing and it's great. Some of the lecturers are weaker than others but as anyone with a bit of sense knows, you'll never learn Programming by just going to lectures. It's all about putting time into it outside of lectures and making sure you fully understand the principles/concepts.

I wasn't mad about PBL myself but I have to say I learned a lot from it. The problem was a lot of my teammates learned nothing, mainly because they didn't put in the time or effort.

Not talking about you here, but I can't understand how anyone can moan about not being taught anything when it's very clear that they're not putting in any effort themselves. Do people honestly expect to learn everything about Computers by just showing up at lectures?

SpaceCowb0y

Clanket wrote: »

Very melodramatic Spacecowboy. I'm in Year 2 of Computing and it's great. Some of the lecturers are weaker than others but as anyone with a bit of sense knows, you'll never learn Programming by just going to lectures. It's all about putting time into it outside of lectures and making sure you fully understand the principles/concepts.

I wasn't mad about PBL myself but I have to say I learned a lot from it. The problem was a lot of my teammates learned nothing, mainly because they didn't put in the time or effort.

Not talking about you here, but I can't understand how anyone can moan about not being taught anything when it's very clear that they're not putting in any effort themselves. Do people honestly expect to learn everything about Computers by just showing up at lectures?

Im comparing this to other colleges where as i said they are learning far more languages then we are, i will also go as far to say that since i have been doing the course i have had several lecturers come in who say that cant believe the material the course covers or the general standard of teaching themselves!

And yes i agree that you wont learn much by simply attending lectures because to get to the point where i am i can hand on my heart say i have basically self taught myself most of what i know to date regarding web design as they glossed over it in 1st year and have had to learn PHP outside of college as its not taught at all despite being as i said before one of the main programming languages used for web development!

If you think its great good for you but i was just giving my opinion and i just think there is much better on offer! i appllied to go to DIT after first year but they wanted me to repeat first year so i just bit my tongue and decided to stick it out at NCI! Anyway not long left now....

Clanket

They didn't gloss over web design for my first year. We had a module in Semester 1 and another in Semester 2. We're also doing Web Development in Semester 1 of Year 2.

And to be fair, the course is more geared towards Programming, with some Web Design. I think you'll have to take responsibility for choosing the wrong course if it's Web Development you're interested in.

SpaceCowb0y

Unless im mistaken or the course has changed since i started you should have done a web design module in semester 1 and a multimedia module in semester 2 where you more then likely learned Flash which is more or less dead in a professional sense! would have been much better learning Photoshop or Adobe's video editing software etc

And it is nowhere stated that this course is geared towards programming before you start it is a degree in computing, you have a web dev module in year 2 where you will learn XML and how to hook up to the Exist database! again... pointless when PHP and SQL is the most widely used in the real world! In third year we do advanced internet technologies using C# and asp.net which is quite good though i will admit!

I should add that why i keep stressing about PHP is because i am out doing interviews at the moment and for all the positions that the college have made available most are looking to see if you know any PHP or at least any that i have gone for!

Kizzonian

Guys If we all didnt spend so much time on boards.ie we probably wouldnt be having problems in our course. ha ha

Clanket

I'd agree that the course could be updated in certain areas to include other languages that will be useful. However, as you know, they cant teach us everything to do with computers as there's just so many areas, languages and technologies.

I'd still say that the course is more geared towards Programming with Web Design and Development only being a small part of the overall course.

There's other courses run by other colleges that would spend more time on the Web side of computing.

David086

Anyone doing the business degree? NC009

Viva La Gloria

David086 wrote: »

Anyone doing the business degree? NC009

I just graduated from it

LostBoy101

Hey, I have Computing (Level 8) as my second choice on my CAO and DCU C.A is my first. I'm stuck between the two and was wondering is NCI more outgoing than DCU? Also what is the standard of maths like?

Casshern88

Random question but is free wi-fi available through out the college? is there a canteen in nci? what are prices like if so

SpaceCowb0y

Casshern88 wrote: »

Random question but is free wi-fi available through out the college? is there a canteen in nci? what are prices like if so

Of course there's wifi, there is free wifi in all colleges if you are student there! and yes there is a canteen and prices seem reasonable (think you can get a meal for a fiver some days) but i'm there 3 years and have never bought anything except coffee from it as there are so many nicer places to eat from in the IFSC, it's usually busy though!

uck51js9zml2yt

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Of course there's wifi, there is free wifi in all colleges if you are student there! and yes there is a canteen and prices seem reasonable (think you can get a meal for a fiver some days) but i'm there 3 years and have never bought anything except coffee from it as there are so many nicer places to eat from in the IFSC, it's usually busy though!

Il fornio across the road do the best coffee and its cheaper than nci:D

SpaceCowb0y

Mia Unsightly Varsity wrote: »

Il fornio across the road do the best coffee and its cheaper than nci:D

MYO have a coffee angel inside, best laté in the IFSC

danish pasterys

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

I'm on the Management Technology Business one I'm in first year our class only has about 27 so it's very small and easy to get to know most of the class.

We have both business and computing modules. I'll just speak about the first semester as thats all I really know. You spend the first semester on web design and you do personal development modules and business and there introduction to computing which is just learning about the hardware and software. You do a lot of group assignments , I haven't had really any single assignments yet. It seems like a good course so far and it prepares you for both IT and business which is great.
The people I've spoken to in the 2nd/3rd year really enjoy the course.

Are there many females in this course your doing ? Good possibility ill be there myself next year doin that course

Mysteriouschic

danish pasterys wrote: »

Are there many females in this course your doing ? Good possibility ill be there myself next year doin that course

There's only there's 11 including me and 3 of the girls dropped out this semester. This course has the most girls then all of the other computer courses.

danish pasterys

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

There's only there's 11 including me and 3 of the girls dropped out this semester. This course has the most girls then all of the other computer courses.

Ok cheers for the reply,

Well 11 out of 27 is almost 50/50 split which i think is good.

Can u tell me more about the college
Is there many things going on i.e. socials, activities etc. I was there for the open day and it looked pretty small and not many facility's

Hw are u finding the course so far ?
Is there any mature students? Being 24 myself just wondering if i will be surrounded by 18yr olds ha

What jobs do you think you'll be qualified for after u complete the degree ?

Really appreciate your replies

Mysteriouschic

danish pasterys wrote: »

Ok cheers for the reply,

Well 11 out of 27 is almost 50/50 split which i think is good.

Can u tell me more about the college
Is there many things going on i.e. socials, activities etc. I was there for the open day and it looked pretty small and not many facility's

Hw are u finding the course so far ?
Is there any mature students? Being 24 myself just wondering if i will be surrounded by 18yr olds ha

What jobs do you think you'll be qualified for after u complete the degree ?

Really appreciate your replies

The student union is downstairs they usually have many events throughout the year during the day and in the evening. There is societies I haven't really been to many yet but I know they have them.

The course is quite good it has a good mix of both business and IT. The first semester is web design , personal presentation skills , business and computers the 2nd semester is computer architecture , multimedia , quantitive analysis , hrm. There's more mathsy modules in that semester. There's always going to a module you hate most people in my class hate the architecture apart from that it's good. They offer help and support classes as well.

There's 2 mature students i think ones 30/40ish. The rest are around 18-20ish but everyone talks to each other.

I'm not too sure but on the site it says consulting, technical management, systems design and development, sales, project management, employee relations, marketing, human resource management and training.

danish pasterys

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

The student union is downstairs they usually have many events throughout the year during the day and in the evening. There is societies I haven't really been to many yet but I know they have them.

The course is quite good it has a good mix of both business and IT. The first semester is web design , personal presentation skills , business and computers the 2nd semester is computer architecture , multimedia , quantitive analysis , hrm. There's more mathsy modules in that semester. There's always going to a module you hate most people in my class hate the architecture apart from that it's good. They offer help and support classes as well.

There's 2 mature students i think ones 30/40ish. The rest are around 18-20ish but everyone talks to each other.

I'm not too sure but on the site it says consulting, technical management, systems design and development, sales, project management, employee relations, marketing, human resource management and training.

Great thanks for your help that answers everything i suppose other than the timetable is it a 9-5 week usually ?

Im currently doin a diploma in operating systems an networking in dbs , and the maths is just breaking my heart haha wat level is the maths at in ur modules ?

Mysteriouschic

danish pasterys wrote: »

Great thanks for your help that answers everything i suppose other than the timetable is it a 9-5 week usually ?

Im currently doin a diploma in operating systems an networking in dbs , and the maths is just breaking my heart haha wat level is the maths at in ur modules ?

The maths is just statistics for the quantitive and the architecture is more computer maths like binary . I'm not sure what level I'd say as I hate maths myself possibly ordinary level for the statistics . The notes you get for them are quite good though.


Usually you have 9am starts and you finish maybe 2 or 3 with a friday off that was the first semester. The second is still 9am starts and finish 5 two of the days and then finish at 1/2pm the other days and a day off. Some of the lectures for both semesters let you off early others not so much.

shamelessJ

I am going to be starting management of technology myself this september was just wondering do you have to buy many books for the course or does the library provide enough for most people? wat way does the christmas exams work and how long does the christmas break be for? what is the Gym like?

SpaceCowb0y

shamelessJ wrote: »

I am going to be starting management of technology myself this september was just wondering do you have to buy many books for the course or does the library provide enough for most people? wat way does the christmas exams work and how long does the christmas break be for? what is the Gym like?

Hi

Im going in to my final year in computing in sept and ive yet to buy a single book! The library has everything but i rarely use any of the books in all honestly and its not because i am a slacker im actually in the top 10% easily but i just find there is no need except for maybe some of the business type modules i've had.

Xmas exams are held at the start of January which is a bit **** as it would be nice to have them out of the way but nothing you can do there.

The gym is grand i use it all the time, its a bit small and the equipment is a little limited but for 80 quid a year you cannot go wrong!

shamelessJ

Thanks for the reply spacecowb0y im really looking forward to starting, does the gym have a pool, shauna and that sort of stuff? yea thats **** about the christmas exams but exactly what ye can ye do? is there many mature students in your course ill be 28 starting

SpaceCowb0y

shamelessJ wrote: »

Thanks for the reply spacecowb0y im really looking forward to starting, does the gym have a pool, shauna and that sort of stuff? yea thats **** about the christmas exams but exactly what ye can ye do? is there many mature students in your course ill be 28 starting

It has a sauna and a steam room but no pool unfortunately, as i said its quite small but does the job! There are lots of mature students i started my course as a mature student and ill be 27 going back but in my class it ranges from very young to quite old (20 to 50ish if i had to guess). Also is your course full or part time? From what i hear the part time course are made up primarily of mature students.

danish pasterys

I was "gonna" start the managment of tech in bus as you are however my mind has changed the past couple monthes due to a couple of things, I went to two open days and the people there could not tell me jack about that course when i asked about the job prospects.. I was so disapionted i mean if you really look at the modules theres lots of INTRODUCTION modules esp in the IT part so what IT job can one land with a heap of introduction modules under your belt.

And there is also no work placement in this course which let me tell ya in this day an age will give someone much more advantage in landing a job over a grad that has 7 months work placement

Iv now changed my mind to networking tech in DIT I would have loved to gone to NCI but a laid back lazy response from the open evening has turned me off it.

Viva La Gloria

danish pasterys wrote: »

I would have loved to gone to NCI but a laid back lazy response from the open evening has turned me off it.

Do you know who it was you were talking to? That's quite surprising. Although I'm in the school of business so know nothing about the school of computing...

danish pasterys

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

Do you know who it was you were talking to? That's quite surprising. Although I'm in the school of business so know nothing about the school of computing...

No i wouldn't remember I just don't see it been too good of a course considering theres no work placement but i could be wrong it could be a sought after degree i just know the guy couldn't give me much info jobs wise

Mysteriouschic

I'm doing that Management IT course now I was actually considering switching courses not because the course was bad thought I wanted to do something different course in marketing but got told I don't need a marketing degree I can get into it through this course. I was reassured and everyone has told me there are many jobs from the course that it opens many doors to different areas. Also nearly everyone I spoke to even people outside told me this is a great degree to have and well respected. I was concerned about the work experience thing too. My friend who knows people there said that in the 3rd year summer just before the honours, you can get work experience. Not sure how true it is but that's what I've heard. There are many different jobs from the course it doesn't tie you down. Maybe you should try emailing the college if you want more information?

Viva La Gloria

danish pasterys wrote: »

No i wouldn't remember I just don't see it been too good of a course considering theres no work placement but i could be wrong it could be a sought after degree i just know the guy couldn't give me much info jobs wise

Well that's fair enough, it's important that you make the choice that's right for you and what you want to do.

Mysteriouschic

Does anyone do the Business(hons) course? thinking of switching courses.
Is the course good? I'm more interested in business than computers.
Is there many in the class?

Viva La Gloria

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

Does anyone do the Business(hons) course? thinking of switching courses.
Is the course good? I'm more interested in business than computers.
Is there many in the class?

The BA in Business Management?

I graduated from that in 2012. Absolutely loved it! There was around 100 or so in my class but there was never more than 60 or so in at one time except for exams

Mysteriouschic

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

The BA in Business Management?

I graduated from that in 2012. Absolutely loved it! There was around 100 or so in my class but there was never more than 60 or so in at one time except for exams

Yeah I think so the one thats NC009. Does the course have many presentations?
How are the lectures? Did you have many hours?
What was the workload like?

Viva La Gloria

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

Yeah I think so the one thats NC009. Does the course have many presentations?
How are the lectures? Did you have many hours?
What was the workload like?

I don't think we did any presentations in first year. But we did one in second year and then three in third year...but it may vary depending on what electives you have chosen too.

Lectures were grand, usually three hours per week (one 2 hour session and one 1 hour session) and then one 1 hour tutorial.

The hours weren't bad at all. There are probably about 17 or so hours per week in first year, and then around 14 or 15 in second or third year. I think I only had a day off during one semester over the three years. Every other semester we had something on each day. Again, it may depend on your timetable and what subjects you've chosen as electives.

The workload was fine, I thought. But it depends on what you're after. I got a first class honours in my degree but I had to work really hard for it, and I had a part-time job so there was a lot of time management going on! :P

Mysteriouschic

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

I don't think we did any presentations in first year. But we did one in second year and then three in third year...but it may vary depending on what electives you have chosen too.

Lectures were grand, usually three hours per week (one 2 hour session and one 1 hour session) and then one 1 hour tutorial.

The hours weren't bad at all. There are probably about 17 or so hours per week in first year, and then around 14 or 15 in second or third year. I think I only had a day off during one semester over the three years. Every other semester we had something on each day. Again, it may depend on your timetable and what subjects you've chosen as electives.

The workload was fine, I thought. But it depends on what you're after. I got a first class honours in my degree but I had to work really hard for it, and I had a part-time job so there was a lot of time management going on! :P

Whats the lectures like? Are the lectures boring?
Is it hard to keep focused for the whole of the lectures?

Viva La Gloria

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

Whats the lectures like? Are the lectures boring?
Is it hard to keep focused for the whole of the lectures?

Wait, do you mean the lecturers or lectures?

Depending on your interest in the subject and the lecturer's ability to keep the class engaged will determine how focussed you are in class I suppose!

Mysteriouschic

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

Wait, do you mean the lecturers or lectures?

Depending on your interest in the subject and the lecturer's ability to keep the class engaged will determine how focussed you are in class I suppose!

I mean just the lectures.

Viva La Gloria

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

I mean just the lectures.

Well I suppose if you don't like the subject or the lecturer then you probably won't be enthralled by the lectures. but most of the lecturers I had were great and the lectures were fine

RichRooskey

Hi,

I am just wondering have you completed this BAMTB degree in NCI. I am going into my final year this September and just wanted to know how people found the final year in it.

We have 3 electives to choose from Service marketing management, Intro to taxation and Auditing. Im not overly interested in any of the 3 so I'll do the easiest one but I don't know what one would be the easiest.

I've really enjoyed this degree and I would recommended it to people.


Thanks in advance

industrialhorse

Avoid this place like the plague. In Computing they are still teaching outdated technologies, there is very little communication and co-ordination between lecturers, support staff and examiners and since they are now setting up all computing students with free access to Pluralsight online training, prospective students would be better off signing up to that site and doing whatever courses they want and use the money they saved from not going to NCI to pay for individual exams related to the relevant courses they have on Pluralsight:)

SpaceCowb0y

industrialhorse wrote: »

Avoid this place like the plague. In Computing they are still teaching outdated technologies, there is very little communication and co-ordination between lecturers, support staff and examiners and since they are now setting up all computing students with free access to Pluralsight online training, prospective students would be better off signing up to that site and doing whatever courses they want and use the money they saved from not going to NCI to pay for individual exams related to the relevant courses they have on Pluralsight:)

Sounds like its got worse since i finished so and it wasn't great during my time either. The standard of teaching isn't great and varies massively between lecturers! In my final year we were taking lectures off masters students instead of having the college professors giving us their main focus while they were off teaching first and second years instead? Madness

Hollister11

industrialhorse wrote: »

Avoid this place like the plague. In Computing they are still teaching outdated technologies, there is very little communication and co-ordination between lecturers, support staff and examiners and since they are now setting up all computing students with free access to Pluralsight online training, prospective students would be better off signing up to that site and doing whatever courses they want and use the money they saved from not going to NCI to pay for individual exams related to the relevant courses they have on Pluralsight:)

I just finished first year of computing, and I have to disagree with you. The standard of teaching we got in our modules was brilliant. The lectures were real helpful. There was in fact quite a lot of communication between lectures and support staff.
I don't know what you mean by outdated ?

jaymcg91

I guess that's why the points are so low for NCI compared to other colleges.