Do you actually like your course?

angeldelight

Ok, I know we all moan about 9am lectures (8.30 if in surgeons :eek: ), and ppl doing science courses moan about labs, other students don't like certain parts of their courses etc etc, but if you really think about it do you like the course despite all the grumbling? Just wondering cause although I enjoyed 6th year, I've never been happier than for the last 4 months doing my course, I just get a happy feeling whenever I'm in college (diminishes when I'm in chemistry labs but reappears as soon as I come out!). I was talking to a few of my friends and they said they felt the same so is that the case generally?!?

Ms Beanbag

yeah, I would have to say I like my course in general.
1 thing i dont like is that deadlines for projects + essays all come one after the other.

Lump

If you don't like your course then why not change to something you'll like... you don't want to end up stuck in a career that you don't like... if you've been doing the course for 2.5 years I wouldn't advise dropping out though.

John

ecksor

I like my course.

angeldelight

Lump wrote:

If you don't like your course then why not change to something you'll like... you don't want to end up stuck in a career that you don't like... if you've been doing the course for 2.5 years I wouldn't advise dropping out though.

John

Yeah I know that but 1 friend from school is in a course he hates and won't leave. I was wondering whether it was a common occurrence!

DEmeant0r

I'm not the fondest of I.T, dunno why I put it on CAO, it's ok I suppose but I would've prefered to do a course that's solely on languages like the one in Tallaght I.T, but I didn't want to move to Dublin. Oh well, I guess I'll finish this course and do a course similar to the one in Tallaght I.T when I'm a mature student.

Lump

What?

John

DEmeant0r

Lump wrote:

What?

John

Eh... did my typing not make sense?

Chinafoot

yea i like my course in general. i adore English and History is ok. i wouldnt say i love it or anything but some of it is very interesting and at least in second year theres a fair bit of choice.

Ms Beanbag

peachypants wrote:

yea i like my course in general. i adore English and History is ok. i wouldnt say i love it or anything but some of it is very interesting and at least in second year theres a fair bit of choice.

I have a friend in UCD and she's studying english and history aswell. she has to write very difficult and long essays...
what kind of jobs do people get from doing an Arts course??
the only job i can really see is teaching..

Lump

I did arts... Have a BA in Media Production. I'm working in the BBC now.

John

ferdi

i'm in ucd arts, i do not like my course.

rainbow kirby

Lump wrote:

if you've been doing the course for 2.5 years I wouldn't advise dropping out though.

That would be me.
My dream course would be Computer Science and Japanese. I'm doing maths physics in UCD. Go figure.

Lump

Maths.... Ouch!

John

nesf

rainbow kirby wrote:

That would be me.
My dream course would be Computer Science and Japanese. I'm doing maths physics in UCD. Go figure.

Sounds like me mate, am stuck in final year maths/physics in UCC, and all I do is count the days til I'm finished. I like maths and physics don't get me wrong and I have an interest in them both, but I just don't fit well into my course and its structures.

I sincerely regret choosing it in my CAO, I've given alot of thought to restarting a degree in Commerce or Business which are my main interests. I just don't have the personality for my course if you get what I mean.

brianthebard

i really like english and quite like history, but sociology is a pain. when i drop it next year i expect to enjoy my course more

rainbow kirby

nesf wrote:

Sounds like me mate, am stuck in final year maths/physics in UCC, and all I do is count the days til I'm finished. I like maths and physics don't get me wrong and I have an interest in them both, but I just don't fit well into my course and its structures.

I sincerely regret choosing it in my CAO, I've given alot of thought to restarting a degree in Commerce or Business which are my main interests. I just don't have the personality for my course if you get what I mean.

I'm thinking of restarting too, but I'm thinking of either Computer Applications in DCU or Computer Games Technology in University of Abertay, Dundee. And I know exactly what you mean about the not fitting well into course thing. There's nothing like mathematical subjects to kick you in the arse every day you walk into college.

ecksor

If you are interested in computer games then you could do worse than to bear in mind that people with a strong maths and physics background should be at an advantage when it comes to developing games engines. Certainly at least some of the games related postgraduate courses you'll find at http://www.prospects.ac.uk/ would consider such an applicant.

nesf

rainbow kirby wrote:

I'm thinking of restarting too, but I'm thinking of either Computer Applications in DCU or Computer Games Technology in University of Abertay, Dundee. And I know exactly what you mean about the not fitting well into course thing. There's nothing like mathematical subjects to kick you in the arse every day you walk into college.

What gets to me is that I'm good at maths and physics and have co-published academic papers with some of my lectures. I just really hate the undergraduate side of things. Mainly this is due to stuff not related to college though.

embraer170

I sincerely regret choosing it in my CAO, I've given alot of thought to restarting a degree in Commerce or Business which are my main interests.

The UCC commerce course ain't heaven either tbh. I'd take a good hard look at the book of modules and talk to some students before commiting to it.

Jonny Arson

brianthebard wrote:

i really like english and quite like history, but sociology is a pain. when i drop it next year i expect to enjoy my course more

I find Sociology fascinating. Do you do it out in UCD?

arbeitsscheuer

ferdi wrote:

i'm in ucd arts, i do not like my course.

Ditto. But f**k it, college ain't the end of the world.

rainbow kirby

Just feels like UCD eats a small part of your soul every day sometimes...

Evilution

rainbow kirby wrote:

Just feels like UCD eats a small part of your soul every day sometimes...

Why? How?

damnyanks

Like some of my classes a lot... skip the ones I dont like.

If you are in your final year and don't like your course or the potential employment areas it offers then why in gods name are you still at it.

Thats just a waste of your life

Evilution

damnyanks wrote:

If you are in your final year and don't like your course or the potential employment areas it offers then why in gods name are you still at it. Thats just a waste of your life

Reserve judgement 'til you're in your last year too, 'Yanks. Things don't always work out the way you expect them. About the time you're finishing 2nd year and starting 3rd year, this sort of issue can start to bug you - getting a job, where to work, should I emmigrate etc. 'tis a pain in the hole.

rainbow kirby

Didn't really work out the way I expected things to either. I loved first year, I was really motivated and I did really well. Then second year things kinda fell apart. I totally lost all interest and motivation and failed my summer exams. Got the repeats, scraped into 3rd year and if anything I hate my course even more this year. And the worst thing? 4 year course.

Repli

I love my course now - computer science (DIT), I'm in 3rd year and starting a 6 month work placement in ESB next week!

Doodee

rainbow kirby wrote:

I'm thinking of restarting too, but I'm thinking of either Computer Applications in DCU or Computer Games Technology in University of Abertay, Dundee. And I know exactly what you mean about the not fitting well into course thing. There's nothing like mathematical subjects to kick you in the arse every day you walk into college.

That course in abertay is structured like allot of IT courses.
The first 2 years are study for an IT diploma, after that you can do either Computer Games Technology (Programming and developing the hardware etc) or Games Design (More arts based).

Now abertay is a fairly hard course to get into. your looking at (Last time i checked about 2 years ago) B3 in alot of honours subjects, possibly more.
It says it on the website. its a nice University and i enjoyed my stay over in Dundee itself but its something you really wanna research before you go into, especially since you'll be in a different country and starting over again.

I recently changed course, was doing Comp Science in DIT but was struggling in Second year after failing to show for a lot of lectures at the start of the year (Various reasons) I also have not much interest in C++ and some other programming languages (Or atleast what they were teaching us) so i decided it might be better to change course. I got a job offer shortly before deciding to switch so i went into PArt time college and work full time. I must say, I had lots of work to catch up on and im currently doing 5 modules in a course where the standard is 3 but I enjoy the challenge.

You can always talk to the advisors. I know DIT has one, its aimed at trying to stop students just dropping out. Its well worth the decision, especially since all you need to pay is the capatation fee on the course (Providing you've paid the €750 or so already). But, if your far enough into a degree, it may not be worth dropping out now as you could just finish the degree and re sit modules for a degree in soemthing you like.
Where theres a will theres a way.

damnyanks

Transferring makes things a lot easier if going to the UK. I did a cert in computing got a 2.1 average and was accepted into a lot of UK Uni's second year (3 year degree's there). 3 of them were ranked top 20 in the UK

It seems a lot easier then going through the leaving and worth more as after 2 years you will know if you actually want to study computers

anna20

i'm in b+l in ucd and i have to admit i love the course.think part of it has to do with the atmosphere in the year and the people too as well as the course subjects etc

Jk_Eire

Its takes a lot of thought and then commitment to your thoughts to actually transfer. I started a national cert in computing in 2002 with aspirations to go on and get an honours degree after 4 years. I pretty much got sick of the course in second year and decided to look for something else. Spoke to the careers officer in the college and she pretty much told me to do whatever makes me happy. So I finished out my cert just so i wouldnt have wasted 2 years and started a BA in European studies last sept. Since then ive never looked back. I absolutely love the course and am looking forward to the next 3.5 years

Lantis

I'm Japanese/German in DCU, and definitely loving it. Probably one of those lucky people that got into a course that's perfect for me, but eh. I can see what people mean about not liking their courses, my Japanese class went from 29 to 15 in one semester.

rain on

I do English and Linguistics in UCD, there are bits of both courses that I hate (Morphology, Phonology and Old and Middle English), bits that are alright (Syntax, Pragmatics, Semantics, Early Modern English) and bits that I absolutely adore (Critical Discourse Analysis, Language and Mind, Language Impairment, and any 20th century English stuff). I'm in final year and am having problems deciding whether I want to do postgrad work in Linguistics, Modern English or Cognitive Science because I love them all in different ways. *hi-fives self*

tSubh Dearg

I did Arts in UCD and I loved it. Then I took a year out and worked for a bit and decided what to do next. Now I'm studying Sound Engineering in Pulse Recording College. It's fantastic fun, the only downside was the fees at the beginning of the year, €4500 for the year. Plus I'm now on a career path for something I've always wanted to do

Prior Of Taize

rainbow kirby wrote:

Just feels like UCD eats a small part of your soul every day sometimes...

lmfao

im in UCC doing Comp Science...every time i think about it i get this grey/dark feeling in my mind...im not trying to make it seem weird but i really feel bleak when i think about a future in it...

rainbow kirby wrote:

My dream course would be Computer Science and Japanese. I'm doing maths physics in UCD. Go figure.

I know you probably have your own opinions about comp science but really really think about it before you go into it...i can only speak for UCC but imo ho it attracts the wrong kind of people 99% of the time...i mean in UCC 70% of the first years last year failed their entire year (including repeats)....and thats because the points were low...i mean @ 290 points its going to attract a lot of d!ckheads...

im thinking of changing to and engineering course...mech or marine eng probably...dunno yet...btw...anyone got any info on marine eng please reply to my post...i cant get a bit from any websites...ty

po0k

In final year Elec. Eng. in Galway.

Sick to the teeth with some parts.
Just want to get out, make a bit of money and get into networking.

rainbow kirby

I know you probably have your own opinions about comp science but really really think about it before you go into it...i can only speak for UCC but imo ho it attracts the wrong kind of people 99% of the time...i mean in UCC 70% of the first years last year failed their entire year (including repeats)....and thats because the points were low...i mean @ 290 points its going to attract a lot of d!ckheads...

I'm not particularly worried about failing. I started out in UCD as denominated mathematical science, took maths, maths physics, experimental physics and computer science in 1st year. In CS I got in the 80s despite only studying properly for it for a week. I've just spent the last 2 years in a big "I hate my course"-shaped hole. Also my interests in general have shifted since I started in college.

Its odd. I started college doing Theoretical Physics, but quickly knew it was not for me. I transferred into General Engineering after 3 months, and have had a love/hate relationship with it since then (presently 3rd year civil engineering). Some parts of it (transportation & highway engineering) is great, the rest is fairly monotonous. In second year I got involved with some other activities in college, and in the end would much rather be involved with them then do anything in college (duh, you might say, but its a little different then a club/society!). I'm kinda stuck in a rut now that I'm in a year which is worth 20% of my degree and don't want to spend time doing anything that goes towards my degree.

I'm taking a year out next year before going into final year - at this stage, I don't really know what I want to do. After I get my degree (which will hopefully be a half decent honours degree) I'm planning to go away for a good while, to find out what exactly I want to do. Chances are I won't find it, but methinks attempting to find what I want to do is something I want to do!

Bah, there's my 2 cent.

Prior Of Taize

awesome outlook myth...

rainbow kirby...i see you point...in that case go for it...best of luck

dregin

rainbow kirby wrote:

Didn't really work out the way I expected things to either. I loved first year, I was really motivated and I did really well. Then second year things kinda fell apart. I totally lost all interest and motivation and failed my summer exams. Got the repeats, scraped into 3rd year and if anything I hate my course even more this year. And the worst thing? 4 year course.

Pretty much, the same downward spiral for me with Computer Applications in DCU, although I don't hate it just yet...

bp_me

I really like my course. Manufacturing Systems Engineering @ wit