Love computers but not maths and need help finding a course !

Prittstick1

I know it sounds very immature but i love computers but hate maths and i need help to find a course in computing that will not kill me maths wise. Maths is the only subject i am not doing at honours level so i do not consider myself particularly stupid i just dossed too much for the first 4 years of maths in secondary school. Does anyone know a course in computers that has an 'achieveable' standard of maths. I am willing to work hard but i fear i may already be too far gone

PanicStations

How about Multimedia in DCU?

http://www.dcu.ie/prospective/deginfo.php?classname=MMA&originating_school=60

Useful.Idiot

In my opinion l'd say go for whichever computer course you want regardless of your maths ability. While a decent basis of maths is important for those kind of courses, I wouldn't consider it unachievable by anyone. Some colleges may even have services in place to help those who are struggling with their maths modules (Maths Learning Centre in DCU).

I dossed maths in the Leaving Cert, taking Ordinary level in 6th year out of sheer laziness but got an A in that in the end. Now in final year in DCU computer applications.

carlmango11

I'd be tempted to recommend Computer Applications, the maths isn't too bad with a bit of effort and it's a great degree to have.

What I would ask though is when you say you're interested in computers just be aware that you can "like" computers in that you like browsing the web, Facebook etc. but the course I mentioned deals with the nitty-gritty, complicated underlying mechanisms of computers. If that's something that interests you then it might be a course to consider.

SebBerkovich

Prittstick1 wrote: »

I know it sounds very immature but i love computers but hate maths and i need help to find a course in computing that will not kill me maths wise. Maths is the only subject i am not doing at honours level so i do not consider myself particularly stupid i just dossed too much for the first 4 years of maths in secondary school. Does anyone know a course in computers that has an 'achieveable' standard of maths. I am willing to work hard but i fear i may already be too far gone

I was in the same boat at you, did all honors except for maths. Did Computer Applications and managed to get a degree. The Maths course isn't impossible by any means. you'll just need to try a little harder than you would on other subjects.

tigerblob

+1 for Multimedia. Perfect if you love computers and are even slightly creative.

Noodleworm

I did Multimedia, know a lot of people in Computer Applications.

Computer Applications is very good for job prospects and learning needed skills. If you think you can get through it, do it. Only issue is the risk of having to drop out, as many do. And many others end up repeating a year. It is the harder course.

Multimedia, is good if you're creative, have ideas, and love using computers, and learning to use different software and cameras and such. Its easier to pass, but harder to get a job out of. You have to work very hard in it and be better than just average to get work. Its also such a broad course there isn't many jobs you could just walk into without further study, so since its a 3 year course it may be wise to look into a masters afterwards.

Kavrocks

Just something to note on Computer Applications, I've heard recently only about 25% of those who start 1st year go on to get a degree. Out of all the courses in DCU it is supposed to have the highest dropout rate.

Now that's not to say there aren't things in the works to change this and decrease the dropout rate, there have been a lot of changes in Engineering in the past 2 years to try and decrease the dropout rate.

Tree

Computer science/applications and the sort has a high dropout rate across the country. Most likely linked to people never studying IT beforehand the way you can do business/science/history. A lot of people are not familiar enough with the idea of programming before they sign up for the course.

SebBerkovich

Tree wrote: »

Computer science/applications and the sort has a high dropout rate across the country. Most likely linked to people never studying IT beforehand the way you can do business/science/history. A lot of people are not familiar enough with the idea of programming before they sign up for the course.

Also second year is significantly harder than first year, people can find it hard to adjust to that

foFox

Kavrocks wrote: »

Just something to note on Computer Applications, I've heard recently only about 25% of those who start 1st year go on to get a degree. Out of all the courses in DCU it is supposed to have the highest dropout rate.

Thats what you get when most people getting in, think of computer science through Xbox games and Facebook.

But I think the biggest problem is not the course but the previous stage that is the secondary school. Most of the CA modules require a real understanding of a subject, to the point where just memorising notes is useless if you wanna do a project or pass exams. This is the exact opposite to what most people are accustomed to after the Leaving Cert. Where "education" can be summarised by, read a chapter, answer questions from past exam papers, do it again. Meaning what secondary school really teaches you is how to answer a set of questions given a book and hope for the best. Where what they should be doing, is teaching you how things work, and making you get it, so you don't even have to look at previous stuff.

There are of course exceptions to this rule, but that was my experience.