Electives 2015/2016

Aspiring

2nd year computer science student here, looking for some decent electives for the next two semesters. I got badly stung last year and ended up picking an elective that took up a lot of time and wasn't worth the hardship.

Looking for something interesting, not too difficult, and not too many essays to do.

aleatorio

Have you heard about the robotics one? Have a few friends doing that
COMP20170

Aspiring

aleatorio wrote: »

Have you heard about the robotics one? Have a few friends doing that
COMP20170

I'll take a look thanks.

chatterboxxx95

I'm in science and did intro to cognitive science last year in semester 2 (COMP20090) and really enjoyed it, its a computer science elective i think actually :P

rwsz365

COMP20200 Unix Programming is really worth doing, not an easy module but it is very useful and is interesting, particularly if you like programming.

robman60

Microeconomics in semester 1 or macroeconomics in semester 2 would be two easy choices. There's a mid term exam worth 20% in both and the midterm and final exams are both MCQs with no negative marking. They're both pretty decent but the main reason I'd recommend them is that they're easy A grades so if you want to boost your GPA for Erasmus or something you shouldn't have to worry. If you're looking for a more challenging, but far more interesting economics module, economics and society would be a good choice.

I did a ffrench language module which I liked and did well in but I wouldn't recommend them unless you're passionate about languages.

JK2015

Food diet and health, comp20090 and health accross the lifespan/women and mens health are all quite basic but interesting and useful all the same

Nave

The Robotics elective is really enjoyable. Did it last year and it was an easy A!
Intro to Computer Forensics is interesting and it's not hard. If you attend the lectures you should get an A!

Route1

Any really easy/basic electives preferably no exams people could recommend, need that GPA booster.
Waa considering sport law or tourism.

RayM

Route1 wrote: »

Any really easy/basic electives preferably no exams people could recommend, need that GPA booster.
Waa considering sport law or tourism.

The School of Social Justice has some good ones (with no exams).

http://www.ucd.ie/socialjustice/undergraduate/semester1horizonselectives/

http://www.ucd.ie/socialjustice/undergraduate/semester2horizonselectives/

I did 'Inequality in Irish Society' (SSJ10060) last year and found it enjoyable and fairly easy.

Slime Princess

robman60 wrote: »

Microeconomics in semester 1 or macroeconomics in semester 2 would be two easy choices. There's a mid term exam worth 20% in both and the midterm and final exams are both MCQs with no negative marking. They're both pretty decent but the main reason I'd recommend them is that they're easy A grades so if you want to boost your GPA for Erasmus or something you shouldn't have to worry. If you're looking for a more challenging, but far more interesting economics module, economics and society would be a good choice.

I did a ffrench language module which I liked and did well in but I wouldn't recommend them unless you're passionate about languages.

What's the math like in those econ modules?

robman60

Slime Princess wrote: »

What's the math like in those econ modules?

Not that difficult. If you understand the concepts you shouldn't have much difficulty in applying the basic maths. The fact that the exams are MCQs makes everything a lot easier.

There is no maths at all in economics and society but the final exam has written answers so you need to know a little more detail than for the others. It is a lot more interesting though and an excellent lecturer.

I think all those modules are an easy A- minimum (70%) but microeconomics is the easiest if you're not averse to a small bit of maths. Macro maths is slightly more difficult.

Jtem846

Has anyone done STAT10140 Research methods for science or STAT10050 Practical statistics? Im going to be doing science and I think a statistics elective would be useful but I don't want it to be too hard as I don't want it to effect my GPA.

nerd95

Jtem846 wrote: »

Has anyone done STAT10140 Research methods for science or STAT10050 Practical statistics? Im going to be doing science and I think a statistics elective would be useful but I don't want it to be too hard as I don't want it to effect my GPA.

I am in 2nd year science now and one of my friends did the research methods for science last year and said it was very easy- it was essentially just the stats section on the leaving cert maths course! The even began with the basics like the definition of a mean, mode etc! She said there was only one new section that she wasn't familiar with. Not sure about the practical statistics- don't personally know anyone who has done that module.

DiarmAFC

Jtem846 wrote: »

Has anyone done STAT10140 Research methods for science or STAT10050 Practical statistics? Im going to be doing science and I think a statistics elective would be useful but I don't want it to be too hard as I don't want it to effect my GPA.

Practical stats is very easy, there are no lectures which is handy and you can watch videos online and do homework questions online. If your going into first year your GPA won't be counted anyway, it's a very passable module imo.

gline

Jtem846 wrote: »

Has anyone done STAT10140 Research methods for science or STAT10050 Practical statistics? Im going to be doing science and I think a statistics elective would be useful but I don't want it to be too hard as I don't want it to effect my GPA.

I did STAT10050,2 years ago, I had no previous stats background (mature student, I didnt do any stats for the leaving cert), and it was fine. It started from the basics aswell, like mean,median etc. It seemed like a lot of material was covered but the exam wasnt that difficult at all, ended up with the A.

leavingschool1

Aspiring wrote: »

2nd year computer science student here, looking for some decent electives for the next two semesters. I got badly stung last year and ended up picking an elective that took up a lot of time and wasn't worth the hardship.

Looking for something interesting, not too difficult, and not too many essays to do.

Just wondering what electives you would recommend for year 1? very curious.

robman60

leavingschool1 wrote: »

Just wondering what electives you would recommend for year 1? very curious.

Specify what you're looking for. Do you want something easy to boost your GPA or something or do you have a particular interest? If you give some info on your strengths it might help.

If you're not completely averse to a bit of maths some of the economics modules are quite easy.

Aspiring

robman60 wrote: »

Specify what you're looking for. Do you want something easy to boost your GPA or something or do you have a particular interest? If you give some info on your strengths it might help.

If you're not completely averse to a bit of maths some of the economics modules are quite easy.

Calculus for Science is another one, if you did HL maths you'll find it grand.

aleatorio

Aspiring wrote: »

Calculus for Science is another one, if you did HL maths you'll find it grand.

Note: This is very different to Calculus for Math and Physical Sciences

From person experience in taking this as an elective, dont do it unless you realllyyyy love calculus :pac:

Aspiring

aleatorio wrote: »

Note: This is very different to Calculus for Math and Physical Sciences

From person experience in taking this as an elective, dont do it unless you realllyyyy love calculus :pac:

Also another one I wouldn't advise taking is 'Mathematical Analysis', regretted that one big time. Picking electives can really be like Russian roulette, so it's probably good idea if people post modules they wouldn't advise as well as ones they advise :pac:

aleatorio

Aspiring wrote: »

Also another one I wouldn't advise taking is 'Mathematical Analysis', regretted that one big time. Picking electives can really be like Russian roulette, so it's probably good idea if people post modules they wouldn't advise as well as ones they advise :pac:

I sat in on a few lectures for that.. I can imagine your pain, a lot of friends struggled through it :pac:

AlfaJack

Anyone have recommendations for a veterinary student? My registration time is tomorrow at 10:15 but I don't really know much about electives... like could I pick french? As I had a keen interest in that in secondary school? Or would that have too high a workload? Any help would be greatly appreciated

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

Anyone have recommendations for a veterinary student? My registration time is tomorrow at 10:15 but I don't really know much about electives... like could I pick french? As I had a keen interest in that in secondary school? Or would that have too high a workload? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Yes you could pick french. I actually chose French too last year but during my second week of lectures I discovered that it clashed with my labs so I had to change it. However, based on the two french small groups that I could attend it was very similar to LC french just that it was a smaller class size (about 12 people). The exam consists of an oral, an aural and a written paper. They even have different levels of french classes- i.e some cover different material and do things at a different pace. I cannot comment on the workload because I only went to two classes but my friend took up Spanish and the workload was very reasonable.
If you go to "UCD module spotlight" you will see some of the language classes on offer. You can even pick up a new language if you want. I should probably mention that the electives listed on UCD module spotlight are not the only electives available at all. When you start registration there will be a section for selecting electives and you can search specific areas such as science, arts etc and then click on a subject e.g English depending on what you would like. Then it will show you all the English electives you can choose etc. If there are any modules within your degree that you like you can choose them as an elective either (called in-programme electives). You just select the search button without selecting anything else beforehand and the relevant modules will display for you.
One thing I will say; if you select an elective that is outside your programme area (outside veterinary) it will say "provisional" beside it once you select it. This means that you are not guaranteed the elective as it is random allocation and you will find out if you got the elective after a couple of days (they will send an email).

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

Yes you could pick french. I actually chose French too last year but during my second week of lectures I discovered that it clashed with my labs so I had to change it. However, based on the two french small groups that I could attend it was very similar to LC french just that it was a smaller class size (about 12 people). The exam consists of an oral, an aural and a written paper. They even have different levels of french classes- i.e some cover different material and do things at a different pace. I cannot comment on the workload because I only went to two classes but my friend took up Spanish and the workload was very reasonable.
If you go to "UCD module spotlight" you will see some of the language classes on offer. You can even pick up a new language if you want. I should probably mention that the electives listed on UCD module spotlight are not the only electives available at all. When you start registration there will be a section for selecting electives and you can search specific areas such as science, arts etc and then click on a subject e.g English depending on what you would like. Then it will show you all the English electives you can choose etc. If there are any modules within your degree that you like you can choose them as an elective either (called in-programme electives). You just select the search button without selecting anything else beforehand and the relevant modules will display for you.
One thing I will say; if you select an elective that is outside your programme area (outside veterinary) it will say "provisional" beside it once you select it. This means that you are not guaranteed the elective as it is random allocation and you will find out if you got the elective after a couple of days (they will send an email).

thanks so much! I'm definitely going to try and get French but do I have to pick two or just one? I just hope it won't clash with any of my classes :P

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

thanks so much! I'm definitely going to try and get French but do I have to pick two or just one? I just hope it won't clash with any of my classes :P

You choose two electives- generally speaking one for semester 1 and another for semester 2 but you can do them both in the same semester if you want it's just that I wouldn't recommend it as you will then have 7 modules one semester and 5 the next semester! Last year I did astronomy in semester 1 and English (literary genre) in semester 2. Both electives can be completely different btw!

Chances are it won't clash with your timetable. For the language classes they have multiple offerings meaning that they have different time slots. For instance, my french classes were timetabled for Wednesdays but someone else I know doing the same french elective had it timetabled for Tuesday- as far as I know you will have the option to select your time slot for the languages (and for some tutorials for other subjects.) The only reason I had to change was because all of the other slots available for this french module were full by the second week of lectures so I had to change my elective completely.

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

You choose two electives- generally speaking one for semester 1 and another for semester 2 but you can do them both in the same semester if you want it's just that I wouldn't recommend it as you will then have 7 modules one semester and 5 the next semester! Last year I did astronomy in semester 1 and English (literary genre) in semester 2. Both electives can be completely different btw!

Chances are it won't clash with your timetable. For the language classes they have multiple offerings meaning that they have different time slots. For instance, my french classes were timetabled for Wednesdays but someone else I know doing the same french elective had it timetabled for Tuesday- as far as I know you will have the option to select your time slot for the languages (and for some tutorials for other subjects.) The only reason I had to change was because all of the other slots available for this french module were full by the second week of lectures so I had to change my elective completely.

ah I see, thank you Just wondering what was astronomy like?

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

ah I see, thank you Just wondering what was astronomy like?

I had never done physics for the LC so I was a little worried about it at first but it was actually quite interesting and there wasn't too much physics involved. You do a lot on constellations and theories about the universe. I particularly liked the section on 'life elsewhere in the universe' and stuff like that. The lecturer used liquid nitrogen in class, set off rockets in the lecture theatre and lots of other cool things! The exam was pretty straight forward and you have a midterm too but it is done online (all Multiple choice questions for the midterm)

Doctorhopeful

Forgot that today was the day we book our times for registration, so even though i registered at 9am (only an hour after it opened) the time i got is for 8am on friday. Kicking myself now, i'm worried all the good electives will be gone by then

nerd95

Doctorhopeful wrote: »

Forgot that today was the day we book our times for registration, so even though i registered at 9am (only an hour after it opened) the time i got is for 8am on friday. Kicking myself now, i'm worried all the good electives will be gone by then

Don't worry- all the good electives won't be gone! Some are done by random allocation so you will still have equal opportunities! One of my friends forgot about booking a start time completely so one was allocated a time by the university instead. My start time was 8am on the 18th of August and he only got his for like 4pm on the 25th and still got all his choices! So don't worry about it- you'll be fine!

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

I had never done physics for the LC so I was a little worried about it at first but it was actually quite interesting and there wasn't too much physics involved. You do a lot on constellations and theories about the universe. I particularly liked the section on 'life elsewhere in the universe' and stuff like that. The lecturer used liquid nitrogen in class, set off rockets in the lecture theatre and lots of other cool things! The exam was pretty straight forward and you have a midterm too but it is done online (all Multiple choice questions for the midterm)

That's sounds so cool! I'd love to do something really different like that

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

Yes you could pick french. I actually chose French too last year but during my second week of lectures I discovered that it clashed with my labs so I had to change it. However, based on the two french small groups that I could attend it was very similar to LC french just that it was a smaller class size (about 12 people). The exam consists of an oral, an aural and a written paper. They even have different levels of french classes- i.e some cover different material and do things at a different pace. I cannot comment on the workload because I only went to two classes but my friend took up Spanish and the workload was very reasonable.
If you go to "UCD module spotlight" you will see some of the language classes on offer. You can even pick up a new language if you want. I should probably mention that the electives listed on UCD module spotlight are not the only electives available at all. When you start registration there will be a section for selecting electives and you can search specific areas such as science, arts etc and then click on a subject e.g English depending on what you would like. Then it will show you all the English electives you can choose etc. If there are any modules within your degree that you like you can choose them as an elective either (called in-programme electives). You just select the search button without selecting anything else beforehand and the relevant modules will display for you.
One thing I will say; if you select an elective that is outside your programme area (outside veterinary) it will say "provisional" beside it once you select it. This means that you are not guaranteed the elective as it is random allocation and you will find out if you got the elective after a couple of days (they will send an email).

Also, I was wondering which french course I should go for as I did french for the leaving cert but I'm not sure if I am good enough for French Gen Purp 4 or if I should do French Gen Purp 2

robman60

AlfaJack wrote: »

Anyone have recommendations for a veterinary student? My registration time is tomorrow at 10:15 but I don't really know much about electives... like could I pick french? As I had a keen interest in that in secondary school? Or would that have too high a workload? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I did French General Purpose 4 last year. It's good if you want to keep up French. It's not easy to get an A grade (97.5℅+ for the A+ grade) but I enjoyed it overall. I'd recommend having Leaving Cert B1 or better if you want to do well in it.

It did help in keeping my French at a decent level and it's handy that the exam takes place before the actual end of term exams so it can free up your exam timetable a bit. Good luck.

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

Also, I was wondering which french course I should go for as I did french for the leaving cert but I'm not sure if I am good enough for French Gen Purp 4 or if I should do French Gen Purp 2

I just looked it up for you now- in the 'am I eligible to take this module' tab for French Gen Purp 2 it says "Students with Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate (or equivalent) in this language are not eligible to take this module". Therefore, your only option is Gen Purp 4 if you want to do the French (which is the one I opted for last year too). For Gen Purp 4 the requirements are "Leaving Certificate (Ordinary Level: A1-B2, Higher C3-D3) or approved equivalents to CEF (Common European Framework) B1". Hope that gives you a better idea. Have you decided what other elective you will take?

emerjane08

Can you choose your tutorial and practical times to avoid clashing?

nerd95

emerjane08 wrote: »

Can you choose your tutorial and practical times to avoid clashing?

Only in some cases- I was able to choose my tutorial times for both of my electives last year but the labs and tutorials for modules within my degree were automatically registered. If you are being automatically registered to your tutorials or practicals they will be registered in such a way to avoid any clashing. Once you have completed module registration you will be able to see your timetable but it will only include your lectures. Tutorials and practicals are usually added in about a week or two and they will fit nicely into your timetable

AlfaJack

robman60 wrote: »

I did French General Purpose 4 last year. It's good if you want to keep up French. It's not easy to get an A grade (97.5℅+ for the A+ grade) but I enjoyed it overall. I'd recommend having Leaving Cert B1 or better if you want to do well in it.

It did help in keeping my French at a decent level and it's handy that the exam takes place before the actual end of term exams so it can free up your exam timetable a bit. Good luck.

I actually got an A1 in the LC but I've always wanted to continue learning it so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity:) thank you for the info!

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

I just looked it up for you now- in the 'am I eligible to take this module' tab for French Gen Purp 2 it says "Students with Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate (or equivalent) in this language are not eligible to take this module". Therefore, your only option is Gen Purp 4 if you want to do the French (which is the one I opted for last year too). For Gen Purp 4 the requirements are "Leaving Certificate (Ordinary Level: A1-B2, Higher C3-D3) or approved equivalents to CEF (Common European Framework) B1". Hope that gives you a better idea. Have you decided what other elective you will take?

That's perfect thank you! And no I'm not sure yet do you know where there would be a full list of electives you can take?

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

That's perfect thank you! And no I'm not sure yet do you know where there would be a full list of electives you can take?

No prob You could try ucd course search and go to the 2015/2016 modules tab instead of the 2015/2016 programme tab. Then there will be a category box and a subject box. That's how I found my English elective last semester so you could try that. The levels on the side tend to correspond to year- i.e level 1 will give you 1st year modules etc

AlfaJack

nerd95 wrote: »

No prob You could try ucd course search and go to the 2015/2016 modules tab instead of the 2015/2016 programme tab. Then there will be a category box and a subject box. That's how I found my English elective last semester so you could try that. The levels on the side tend to correspond to year- i.e level 1 will give you 1st year modules etc

Awesome I'll have a look Also, do you do one elective in the first semester and then the second in the second semester? Also would it be silly to do french and then also the beginners german? Like would doing two languages be too much?
If not I might have a look at astronomy
Or maybe I'll tdo an elective to do with veterinary (which is the course I'm doing) so many options xD

-edit- I think I've decided my second elective will be Practical Animal Husbandry

Blue giant

robman60 wrote: »

Specify what you're looking for. Do you want something easy to boost your GPA or something or do you have a particular interest? If you give some info on your strengths it might help.

If you're not completely averse to a bit of maths some of the economics modules are quite easy.

Which economics modules would you recommend? I didn't do economics for the LC but always had an interest in it. I'll be studying mostly maths subjects so I thought they might be a good fit.

robman60

Blue giant wrote: »

Which economics modules would you recommend? I didn't do economics for the LC but always had an interest in it. I'll be studying mostly maths subjects so I thought they might be a good fit.

Microeconomics is probably the easiest, most of the concepts are so intuitive that nothing is really too difficult to understand. I also hadn't done it for LC and it didn't really matter a whole lot.

Economics and society was interesting I thought but the exam was slightly harder as it wasn't just a complete mcq exam. No maths in it and all theory so that mightn't be your thing if you're doing maths.

So I think microeconomics would suit you, given what you've said.

Blue giant

robman60 wrote: »

Microeconomics is probably the easiest, most of the concepts are so intuitive that nothing is really too difficult to understand. I also hadn't done it for LC and it didn't really matter a whole lot.

Economics and society was interesting I thought but the exam was slightly harder as it wasn't just a complete mcq exam. No maths in it and all theory so that mightn't be your thing if you're doing maths.

So I think microeconomics would suit you, given what you've said.

Thanks. I'll take a look at it.

nerd95

AlfaJack wrote: »

Awesome I'll have a look Also, do you do one elective in the first semester and then the second in the second semester? Also would it be silly to do french and then also the beginners german? Like would doing two languages be too much?
If not I might have a look at astronomy
Or maybe I'll tdo an elective to do with veterinary (which is the course I'm doing) so many options xD

-edit- I think I've decided my second elective will be Practical Animal Husbandry

Yes there are always soooo many options!! Just a quick question- is the Practical animal husbandry a core module for first year veterinary students? If so, you will be registering to it as a core not an elective. You'll know what your cores are if you check on course search.

Also, to answer your question- no you don't have to do one elective in semester 1 and the other in semester 2. You can do both in the same semester if you wish- just means you'll have more workload and more exams in one semester but as I say, it is up to yourself what you would prefer. Secondly, it wouldn't be silly to do beginners German too. If you like languages I'd say go for it. There are some similarities between the two languages but German is a little tougher than french in terms of grammar (I'm a native German speaker and I even get confused at times haha!!) but since it is only a beginners class you'll be fine should you decide to go for it!

radepoju

is it possible to have more than 60 credits?

gline

radepoju wrote: »

is it possible to have more than 60 credits?

Yes I've been told you can, it will cost per extra module though.

robman60

radepoju wrote: »

is it possible to have more than 60 credits?

Yup, I know a few people who did it last year. I think they had to pay about €450 to do it though and honestly I don't really know why you'd do that.

Thar_Cian

nerd95 wrote: »

Also, to answer your question- no you don't have to do one elective in semester 1 and the other in semester 2. You can do both in the same semester if you wish- just means you'll have more workload and more exams in one semester but as I say, it is up to yourself what you would prefer. Secondly, it wouldn't be silly to do beginners German too. If you like languages I'd say go for it. There are some similarities between the two languages but German is a little tougher than french in terms of grammar (I'm a native German speaker and I even get confused at times haha!!) but since it is only a beginners class you'll be fine should you decide to go for it!

Speaking of the German modules, do you know if there's much difference between the two modules for beginners (GER10100 and GER10110) and the German General Purposes modules (LANG10100 and LANG10130)?

nerd95

Thar_Cian wrote: »

Speaking of the German modules, do you know if there's much difference between the two modules for beginners (GER10100 and GER10110) and the German General Purposes modules (LANG10100 and LANG10130)?

To be honest, I haven't the slightest clue what the difference is- I looked it up just now and they seem very similar. I mean, yes there are some slight differences between them but nothing major that I can see- for instance, in terms of assessment, the final written exam for the two modules for beginners (GER10100 and GER10110) is worth 60% (and is two hours long) where as the final written exam for the Gen Purp modules is only 40% (and one hour long). Personally, I prefer the sound of the General Purposes modules (LANG10100 and LANG10130). I guess the description sounds more appealing and clearer but that is just my personal opinion. Also, the General purposes ones seem to place slightly more emphasis on oral communication and listening which is always good and I think the breakdown of assessment looks better too- 10% for attendance alone!! Are you considering taking German? I'd recommend it (but I am probably being biased since I am from a German background so you don't have to listen to me haha!)

bear1288

I am an incoming engineering student and plan on taking the "Design & Materials" option. I am then considering taking "Computer Science for engineers" as an elective. Would anyone recommend this module?

Also, I am looking for a second elective that doesn't have a huge workload and is relatively easy to do well in. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thar_Cian

nerd95 wrote: »

Are you considering taking German? I'd recommend it (but I am probably being biased since I am from a German background so you don't have to listen to me haha!)

I am very fond of languages (so much so that I am somewhat questioning my course choice) and learned German for a year in secondary school, so I wouldn't mind taking it as my electives.