Computer Science

maughantourig

Why is there such a high dropout rate for CS?

Is it that a lot of students don't know what kind of work they will be doing and discover they hate it or is it really that hard?

deRanged

There are a bunch of reasons.
Some would be the low entry points, leading to students not able for the course entering it.
Another would be people doing the course "for the money/jobs", losing interest and dropping out. It's hard to keep at it for 4 years if you don't like it.

Its certainly not that hard, and there is good support in terms of labs and tutorials.

just my opinions obviously.

Screaminmidget

deRanged wrote: »

There are a bunch of reasons.
Some would be the low entry points, leading to students not able for the course entering it.
Another would be people doing the course "for the money/jobs", losing interest and dropping out. It's hard to keep at it for 4 years if you don't like it.

Its certainly not that hard, and there is good support in terms of labs and tutorials.

just my opinions obviously.

I know many people who would beg to differ.

radar0976

I have been giving grinds in Java Programming for Computer Science courses for many years and I work as a programmer. I think there are two reasons people find it difficult.

1: Have chosen Computer Science without properly researching it and only realise when they start that there is alot more mathematical and analytical skills involved.

2: It's a new way of thinking and cannot be solely learned from a book. Lots and lots of practice is the only way to learn.

jpm4

Screaminmidget wrote: »

I know many people who would beg to differ.

I graduated from that course back in 2004, when apparently it was harder than it is now. If you work hard and can apply a logical approach to problem solving I genuinely do not think it is that hard - if you are lazy and hate that kind of work then you will not do so well. Hell I don't think you even need to be that great at maths, though if you are it would certainly help.

EyeSight

because some people don't research into what it will be before choosing it and then they get a surprise.

i finished it, didn't find it that hard, there's a lot of variety in it.
however i didn't find there was any good support. in first year it was very very dumbed down and there was a lot of support in order to tackle the high drop out rates of first year. but from then on there was very little. we had labs that couldn't fit the whole class, labs with only one instructor for around 60 people(so it was impossible to get any help) and all they told us when we complained was "we don't have the budget". it's a joke. terribly run department.
however i hear there's a new head so it may change...

danish pasterys

Ok heres the situation im in any advice be appriciated im 23 looking to do a degree next year to have ot for when we come out if this recession but im on two minds on which course

Since 2010 iv done two fetac courses one did involve internet ie webpage development html, and found it ok bit boring but i was younger then im def more mature career focused now. I also did a social studies course quiet enjoyed it. Now do i do a degree in social studies or computer science? Both will be in itb not a uni

I like the taught of cs cause its booming but i really dono how ill fare out in it i have the work ethic but dono if that will be enough as i didnt do leaving cert maths so im weary of that. I have a slight more interest in social studies but im very apprehensive due to some feedback about jobs and career prospects. So yeah im wondering would i survive in the cs degree im just a casual computer user not a comp geek but ill sure work hard with my head in the books.

Is it the type of course u need to have a major interest in to cope or would you get by just puttin in the effort??? Thinking of doin a fas course in java to give me an insight before i take the plunge into a 3yr degree

lemon_remon

danish pasterys wrote: »

Ok heres the situation im in any advice be appriciated im 23 looking to do a degree next year to have ot for when we come out if this recession but im on two minds on which course

Since 2010 iv done two fetac courses one did involve internet ie webpage development html, and found it ok bit boring but i was younger then im def more mature career focused now. I also did a social studies course quiet enjoyed it. Now do i do a degree in social studies or computer science? Both will be in itb not a uni

I like the taught of cs cause its booming but i really dono how ill fare out in it i have the work ethic but dono if that will be enough as i didnt do leaving cert maths so im weary of that. I have a slight more interest in social studies but im very apprehensive due to some feedback about jobs and career prospects. So yeah im wondering would i survive in the cs degree im just a casual computer user not a comp geek but ill sure work hard with my head in the books.

Is it the type of course u need to have a major interest in to cope or would you get by just puttin in the effort??? Thinking of doin a fas course in java to give me an insight before i take the plunge into a 3yr degree

Computer Science is a science, while that might sound obvious but it's a point that a lot of people seem to miss. Because it is a science, it is, by its nature, theoretical and involves the use of maths. A lot of the work you do in computer science doesn't involve a computer at all and can be solved with a pen and paper. I would say that computer science is as closely linked to maths as other sciences like physics.

Computer science has many practical applications and sometimes involves programming but it is not the study of programming. I would say it is best described as designing computational systems. A computational system is basically just something that does a calculation. You could model this solution using a programming language. This is a much debated topic though so don't take my definition too seriously and that said computer science, as taught in UCC, has a lot more practical engineering applications of computer science as opposed to how it is taught in somewhere like Trinity where (I believe) it is more much theoretical.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend doing computer science unless you have an interest in mathematics because you won't get as much out of it as you might like. You may learn stuff that you deem "pointless" and some stuff you learn in computer science doesn't have much real world application. In UCC however, as I said before, the course is a bit more practical and there is an option to do a stream called "Web Systems Engineering" which seems to be a fancy name for "web programming". This course is extremely practical and might be of interest to you. The first year is the same for either stream and after that computer science goes on to study topics such as algorithms, theory of computation and functional programming whereas the web stream studies topics such as client side web programming, server side web programming and web security etc.

danish pasterys

lemon_remon wrote: »

Computer Science is a science, while that might sound obvious but it's a point that a lot of people seem to miss. Because it is a science, it is, by its nature, theoretical and involves the use of maths. A lot of the work you do in computer science doesn't involve a computer at all and can be solved with a pen and paper. I would say that computer science is as closely linked to maths as other sciences like physics.

Computer science has many practical applications and sometimes involves programming but it is not the study of programming. I would say it is best described as designing computational systems. A computational system is basically just something that does a calculation. You could model this solution using a programming language. This is a much debated topic though so don't take my definition too seriously and that said computer science, as taught in UCC, has a lot more practical engineering applications of computer science as opposed to how it is taught in somewhere like Trinity where (I believe) it is more much theoretical.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend doing computer science unless you have an interest in mathematics because you won't get as much out of it as you might like. You may learn stuff that you deem "pointless" and some stuff you learn in computer science doesn't have much real world application. In UCC however, as I said before, the course is a bit more practical and there is an option to do a stream called "Web Systems Engineering" which seems to be a fancy name for "web programming". This course is extremely practical and might be of interest to you. The first year is the same for either stream and after that computer science goes on to study topics such as algorithms, theory of computation and functional programming whereas the web stream studies topics such as client side web programming, server side web programming and web security etc.

Hmm think ill stick to a college in dublin its gonna be itb they say its very practical which wud suit me but i dono i mean i did a bit of html web development only fetac got by ok no maths involved but i just looked up a java tutorial about if statements and such and Felt like i was looking at another language ha im only gonna get one shot at college so i need to make sure im not gonna drop out. Open day is tomorrow gonna see wat they say, should i avoid the course if its not mostly practical considering im weak at math ?

lemon_remon

danish pasterys wrote: »

Hmm think ill stick to a college in dublin its gonna be itb they say its very practical which wud suit me but i dono i mean i did a bit of html web development only fetac got by ok no maths involved but i just looked up a java tutorial about if statements and such and Felt like i was looking at another language ha im only gonna get one shot at college so i need to make sure im not gonna drop out. Open day is tomorrow gonna see wat they say, should i avoid the course if its not mostly practical considering im weak at math ?

Yeah, if you're not into maths I'd avoid computer science. It's not so much that you use a lot of maths but similar skills you use in maths are important in computer science. This doesn't mean avoid courses that involve computers altogether I just don't think computer science would be a good fit without some background in maths. It might be worth looking into something like BIS which teach the computing skills without as much theory.