Recommended Degree Courses?

Wheety

I've just about to finish a level 6 course in computer systems management. It covered a lot of basics. Networks, Software Development, Web Dev, Maths etc.

I'm looking to continue in software/web development. Are they any degree courses which concentrate on this side of things? Any you would recommend?

DefinitelyMarc

Where are you located? Dublin has a few good computer science courses.

You wouldn't go wrong with Trinity, UCD or DCU's computer science courses.

Wheety

Yeah based in Dublin. Would they be more geared towards development?

Hollister11

Computing in NCI. Computer Science in DIT

dublin_paul

CS in DIT is the best option in dublin

DefinitelyMarc

Since responses are a bit lacking in detail (and I didn't help), I'll say that I've repeatedly heard that DCU is known for having a great computer science course. I haven't heard this about any other university, and I did my undergrad in WIT and my masters in UCD, so I'm not biased.

dublin_paul

DIT's CS course is very hands on and practical which seperates it from the other colleges. The only other course I know of that is known for turning out good graduate devs is DCU (they have a very well known CS society called Red Brick). UCD and TCD are very theory based, a lot of maths. Great for if you want to do a masters or go into academia. DIT also have a 6 month internship in the 3rd year. This seems to be unique to the college, a lot of students sign full contracts with great companies after their internship and return a year later. The one's who don't have real world experience that carries them into the top companies.

That said you can't 'go wrong' with DIT, TCD, UCD, DCU. They're all good, you'll come out of the other side with a great job and get most of the skills a graduate developer is required to possess. Can't vouch for any other college, for example wouldn't have anything good to say about Griffith college or other small colleges, another poor computing college would be, for example, Dun L IT.

Hollister11

dublin_paul wrote: »

DIT's CS course is very hands on and practical which seperates it from the other colleges. The only other course I know of that is known for turning out good graduate devs is DCU (they have a very well known CS society called Red Brick). UCD and TCD are very theory based, a lot of maths. Great for if you want to do a masters or go into academia. DIT also have a 6 month internship in the 3rd year. This seems to be unique to the college, a lot of students sign full contracts with great companies after their internship and return a year later. The one's who don't have real world experience that carries them into the top companies.

That said you can't 'go wrong' with DIT, TCD, UCD, DCU. They're all good, you'll come out of the other side with a great job and get most of the skills a graduate developer is required to possess. Can't vouch for any other college, for example wouldn't have anything good to say about Griffith college or other small colleges, another poor computing college would be, for example, Dun L IT.

No mention of NCI? Great little college it is

dublin_paul

I wouldn't recommend attending any course in NCI. Sorry.

Hollister11

dublin_paul wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend attending any course in NCI. Sorry.

Out of curiosity, why not?

dublin_paul

Nobody will recognize your degree as being on par with other educational institutions.

Hollister11

dublin_paul wrote: »

Nobody will recognize your degree as being on par with other educational institutions.

Well then... Guess I just wasted the last three years of my life.

14ned

Hollister11 wrote: »

Well then... Guess I just wasted the last three years of my life.

There is a certain snob value attached to degrees from the "ancient universities". Even today, two thirds of the CEOs of the FTSE100 corporations have a degree from such a place, and the last UK government I don't think there was anyone in the Cameron leadership who didn't. Snobby degrees still grease open doors that degrees from newer places do not. You'd be surprised how many Irish senior civil servants or government ministers for that matter have a degree from Trinity, Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen. They don't tend to advertise it loudly here in Ireland mind you.

Past that, almost everyone in power has a degree from a "red brick" era university which includes the NUIs. Those with degrees from the "plate glass" era of universities remain relatively rare in the corridors of power, at least for now.

Niall

28064212

dublin_paul wrote: »

DIT also have a 6 month internship in the 3rd year. This seems to be unique to the college

Nope, DCU do the same thing

DefinitelyMarc

Hollister11 wrote: »

Well then... Guess I just wasted the last three years of my life.

I really don't get the attitude Paul seems to have here. Seems like a lot of emphasis on something that won't matter anymore after a couple of years.

The college you went to, and the years you spent in it (Going from a level 7 to 8, or getting a masters) matter a LOT more in Germany and the Nordic countries than what you can actually do when sat in front of a computer. Over here, it really isn't the same. Barring some comments that Cosgrave made that make him look like a pretentious ****head, companies tend to not care. Grads and students are all fodder when compared to good devs with work experience.

Getting a bit more back on track, UCD and Trinity definitely focus more on math and generally improve students ability to "get **** done". I know this happens a lot in Trinity because the lecturers don't seem to give a crap about their students. They have to go above and beyond in getting their grades, something that most third-levels don't subject students to. UCD just plain marks goddamn hard and gives the lowest amount of distinctions out for students. This is kind of unfair on both counts, but fostered a better work ethic for me while I was in UCD. You'll also be doing a lot of work with ancient crap and math. I think the idea behind having to work with assembly and C is that, by comparison, the likes of Java will be a cakewalk to learn. So you get a good groundwork in these places, but not much you can use in a job.

IT's on the other hand are more focused on students learning skills that will get them a job. I saw this during my undergrad in WIT, where we pretty much had no focus on math outside first year and always had some kind of database work, web development, and Java. It's a bit more unprofessional in IT's as well, such as students getting second chances and the like. For example, my girlfriend is doing a course in DIT and anyone who failed a particularly harsh exam by 30+% is now getting the chance to be given a pass if they can answer a few questions in front of the "Insert dept. name here"-board. In WIT we could pass two modules by compensation as well (So you were allowed to fail two modules as long as they were above 34%), which I haven't heard happening in UCD before. So IT's are more suited to you if you just want to get job skills and don't care about math.

All of them will get you experience in software development, networking and some web dev OP, but if you want math it's better to go to one of the old universities. You'll learn how to learn there. On the other hand, if you want something you can put on your CV to get a job right here and now, IT's are right up your street. This might be the best option since the majority of skills you'll learn in your career will be on the job, and the right skillset could land you a job faster than a grad who knows C. You'll be missing out on the math/algorithms stuff though, which is something I'll have to teach myself since I learned next to nothing about them in WIT.

Honestly, unless a course has an awful reputation or is something like Multimedia, they'd all suit you.

Bonavox

dublin_paul wrote: »

Nobody will recognize your degree as being on par with other educational institutions.

I disagree with this completely. I'm finishing up my degree this year from NCI and have had a job lined up since January. More to the point, having got the job after beating out degree/masters holders from the likes of UCD/DCU who I knew also interviewed.

I don't say that as a reflection of myself, I'm nothing special - just your run of the mill graduate. But the point I'm making is that the name of the institution may not matter as much as you think.

nunu123

Anyone know if i will get accepted in a masters programme in DIT if I have two repeats from my final year undergraduate course? After the repeats I'll get a 2.1 and thats my requirement.