Who went to college to study a course to do with computers

iggyman

i was just wondering has any of yous been to college to study something to do with computers..if you have please tell me what it did for ya and were ya work now...and for any one thats thinkin about going to college to do a course to do with computers please tell us what you want to do such as course and college and stuff im just curious cause im going into my sixth year in secondry and wondering should i do a computer course..i've been wanting to do something with computers since second year so i know a fair bit already...

Stephen

I did an honours degree in computer networking at Carlow IT. Lots of tough maths in it (failed maths in both first and second year, passed it in summer repeats), and it doesn't really get interesting until 3rd and 4th years. I dunno if this course is even being offered this year, as the numbers signing up for it have been dropping every year, and of those who do sign up, loads drop out (there were over 50 students in my class in first year, there were 16 in fourth year, including a few who transferred in after doing certs/dips in second/third year).
This year, for instance, because of the low number of applications for the course, they decided not to run it :eek:
Be prepared for a lot of programming and maths. If you're the type who is going to skip a lot of lectures, be warned, you'll find it very hard. Plus, in a place the size of Carlow IT, the lecturers will remember you and the fact that you haven't been showing up

I currently work in the IT department of a large Irish company, but I would prefer to work in telecoms, as this is really what my course was geared towards.

There's a new games programming degree course in Carlow that started last year too, which has support from Microsoft (Xbox dev kits, funding, etc). That might be interesting to you, but again it is supposed to be very difficult with lots of maths, programming, physics etc.

iggyman

ill work hard ...ill go check up on that game programmin course..sounds good..will doin maths at pass level be alri ta get into a course or do you need honours...

Stephen

It'll get you in the door alright but you might struggle with it. I did pass maths in the leaving cert and found the maths in my course to be absolutely brutal. I only passed the summer repeats in first and second years after a few weeks of grinds. Maths in third and fourth year turned out to be far easier (for me anyway) as it was more applied than the theoretical ****e from first and second year.

djmarkus

im going into 3rd year of computer science(hons degree) in kevin street DIT.

aaf

Have a degree in Information Systems Development and a Post Grad Diploma in Internet Systems Development. The degree course was centred around object-oriented programming (mainly Java) and a few other core and non-core subjects. One of the non-core subjects was Networking (CISCO) and that's the kind of field I'm working in now - IT Technician for a small company. Out of a class of 50 in my degree course, I'd say about 5 people are working in a programming job. You either have an aptitude for it or you don't. I enjoy what I do now and I've picked up most of what I know myself and from the net. Back when I was in secondary school, I hadn't a clue what I wanted to study in college so I did a PLC course in Computer Programming and knew I wanted to further my studies in the area of computers but I wasn't sure what exact field. Try to pick a course that doesn't focus solely on one subject or area of computers so as you can get a flavour for the other fields as I did. Hope this helps.

iggyman

thanks fella's...im not bein rude but is the pay good working in the computer industry ..

mp3guy

exactly how much do you know about computers? On first impression you don't seem into it, more like "ah, that sounds nice"

iggyman

well i was ten when i got me first comp..since then i've been learnin loads about them...i just dont be on it all the time i have a busy social life..but im willing to leave that to work with computers..i know alot about hardware in particular

aaf

iggyman wrote:

thanks fella's...im not bein rude but is the pay good working in the computer industry ..

Depends on what field you're in, how much you know and what qualifications you have. Also, depends on experience. Same with every job I suppose but if you're a hard worker and very good at your job, you will find a position that pays very well. It all depends on you really.

djmarkus

iggyman wrote:

well i was ten when i got me first comp..since then i've been learnin loads about them...i just dont be on it all the time i have a busy social life..but im willing to leave that to work with computers..i know alot about hardware in particular

do you know any programming languages?

iggyman

not really im leavin that until i get into college...i know more about hardware than anything..but i still know a bit of html

mp3guy

hmm... you might find it hard... i'm planning to do computer science & software engineering in 2 years, i started comping when i was 4, started programming in VB when i was 10, but if thats what you want to do, fair enough, but other people will be alot further ahead.

djmarkus

Hm.. if your doing computer science it's very software orientated rather than hardware orientated, i'm going into 3rd year in september and i've been taught c and c++, some assembly, and i'll be learning java in 3rd year, on the hardware from we haven't even been taught how to install a modem yet! i knew basic before i went to college so i'd advise you get visual basic under your belt, thats if you choose CS.

Stephen

You don't need any programming experience for most irish computing courses, they teach it with the assumption that the student has none. It is, of course, an advantage though.

iggyman

alri..so were would be the place to find out about visual basic

StRiKeR

there wasnt many jobs in IT for a while in Dublin, it was hard to get a job, I did Computer Science good few years back, walked in to a job right after I got my degree which was back in 1997, which I had to do further training in CDi programming which is a peice of cake when you can do real programming! but in the year 2000 I found it hard to get IT jobs in Dublin after leaving one of my job as a technican in a small company! and they closed down 3 months after! been working in many different jobs since then, now doing tech support, finally back to IT!

but the last 4 years wasnt wasted, that turned me in to a Vtec Specialist!

more options on job hunting when that happens again!

mp3guy

iggyman wrote:

alri..so were would be the place to find out about visual basic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764503707/qid=1124052265/sr=8-10/ref=pd_ka_10/026-9372189-9000462

jesus_thats_gre

Completed a 3 year diploma in Computing Applications and Support and a 1 year add on degree in IT management in DKIT.

stakey

I have a Hons Degree in Computing Science, just graduated this year from Griffith College. Have to say though getting into the IT industry in Ireland is proving a little tricky to say the least. Alot of companies want you to have at least two years work experience in the industry (which is BS when no once can be bothered taking a chance on you).

I would recommend doing extra courses such as the MCSE or CCNA and adding some more weight to your punch.

StRiKeR

deconstruct wrote:

I would recommend doing extra courses such as the MCSE or CCNA and adding some more weight to your punch.

good idea

but there's also another problem, most company dont want to pay the money, alot of jobs dont pay as much as they used to anymore! atleast some anyway!

on the other hand I went for interview before and I didnt get the job but a guy I know got the job which had no experience, he just graduated! even though they said they wanted someone with experience! and tbh, he didnt even expect to get it either!

The_B_Man

i did a cert in computer networking & optical communications in carlow it, then 3rd years was national diploma in computing, now planning on doing the degree in software engineering.

Hal1

Hey,
I done a computer scienece diploma in inchicore college thats in dublin. It was a 2 year course which covered the usual modules (applications, web design, programming, cad etc) it was very good & informative but theres alot of work to be put in also, we got exams covering what we studied each week.

I moved on after that and done a fás course which covered the A+ and eventually got employment in an I.T. department supporting a helpdesk and doing in-house pc maintenance.

Khannie

iggyman wrote:

i've been wanting to do something with computers since second year so i know a fair bit already...

That says it all to me really.

I did a degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering in DIT Kevin Street. Good course. I now work as a software engineer (programmer) and enjoy it. If you enjoy geeking out in front of computers, you'll probably enjoy a computers course. Like steven, I found the maths tough enough in the first 2 years, but easier in 3rd and 4th year (as you can apply it to stuff that you've learned in the course, like graphics).

djmarkus

Khannie wrote:

That says it all to me really.

I did a degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering in DIT Kevin Street. Good course. I now work as a software engineer (programmer) and enjoy it. If you enjoy geeking out in front of computers, you'll probably enjoy a computers course. Like steven, I found the maths tough enough in the first 2 years, but easier in 3rd and 4th year (as you can apply it to stuff that you've learned in the course, like graphics).

was that ft228?

Khannie

mp3guy wrote:

hmm... you might find it hard... i'm planning to do computer science & software engineering in 2 years, i started comping when i was 4, started programming in VB when i was 10, but if thats what you want to do, fair enough, but other people will be alot further ahead.

Sorry, have to rubbish this. I knew feck all about coding before I went into college and walked out with the prize for best final year project. Most people in my course didn't know what a zip file was in first year. Some had never owned their own computer.

Having a self-taught coding background would probably be somewhat of a disadvantage tbh. The reason: You'll be bored for the first 2 years.

Khannie

djmarkus wrote:

was that ft228?

I think that's what it is now. I left in 2000. I did the diploma first, then an extra year for the degree. It was called WMT (diploma) and WSAD (degree). The WMT + WSAD route was more computer oriented as WSAD was more "sciency", but I think that WMT now extends to 4 years for a completely computer science degree.

djmarkus

Khannie wrote:

I think that's what it is now. I left in 2000. I did the diploma first, then an extra year for the degree. It was called WMT (diploma) and WSAD (degree). The WMT + WSAD route was more computer oriented as WSAD was more "sciency", but I think that WMT now extends to 4 years for a completely computer science degree.

im in ft228(now dt228 from this september) but its called computer science, you said your course was Computer Science and Software Engineering, thought it might have been a course that was discontinued.

Explosive_Cornflake

I had no coding knowledege at all before i joined dlmarkus's course, and ive got by so far. Just do the lab work!

djmarkus

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I had no coding knowledege at all before i joined dlmarkus's course, and ive got by so far. Just do the lab work!

Well in all fairness it comes to you a bit more naturally than some of the turnips that where/is in our course.

Lord Oz

Seems fairly positive so far, anything bad about those courses?

Deadwing

i did a fas course in pc maintenance and networking, very good course. Id recommend it if youre not up for spending a few years in college, we did a 2 year course crammed into 8 months

Raiser

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I had no coding knowledege at all before i joined djmarkus's course, and ive got by so far. Just do the lab work!

Yep - definitely sign up for the djmarkus course, he runs it from his Mums garage.

- Read post through only to post about the poor guy failing maths - WHY is there maths in there all the goddammned time????

I've noticed the calculator hanging around operating systems since my first PC had Windows 3.1?????

I think theres too many maths lecturers crying out for cushy jobs.

Would be very sceptical about a good portion of coursework I did.

Did cert. dip. in IT support & degree in Info. sys - LIT.

- Was definitely v. bored v. often while basic stuff was presented and re-iterated ad-nausea - you can go in to these courses clueless if you're willing to work.

Stephen

I can see the rationale behind having the heavy maths in computing courses, particularly in fields like logic - It provides a good grounding for students of programming. That said, and me being the guy who failed maths 2 years in a row, they go into way too much detail. I don't care about differential equations and complex numbers, bugger off.
In third year we did a maths module on encryption, which started out nice and simple (caesar cypher, etc), then BAM! RSA encryption algorithm. Encrypt this and that on paper with a calculator and pen. NO THANKS.

roamer

Deadwing wrote:

i did a fas course in pc maintenance and networking, very good course. Id recommend it if youre not up for spending a few years in college, we did a 2 year course crammed into 8 months

Where was that course based and is there another coming up???

Did you get an A+ cert or what afterwards?

7aken

maybe you should try something like fas course computer and communication technician traineeship to wet your lips. i currently studying it at the mo in athlone. at present im on work experience in dublin, have just passed the first part of the course which is comptia a+. the next part starts in two weeks and is comptia net+.

i was in a similar postiion to you, i had html experience (no other languages) and was in a rut with choices. i got onto this course and i've found it absolutely life changing. im now in a position where im looking at running my own company while continuing my studies. i'm going to carry on studying after the course aswell for the ccna exams.

comptia certification is recognised the world over and is a great starting point. in your case, where you find yourself drawn more to the hardware side of computers, the comptia a+ is probably the best stepping stone. theres no point spending years in college doing something you may end up
hating when there are choices like this available. also, with the way the industry is going, it may be more beneficial to have done a traineeship as opposed to a degree or otherwise, for the simple reason that an employer will look at you as having experience. ask anyone who leaves college after 4 years what its like trying to get work, they will most likely tell you that employers arent interested as they dont have experience. mightn't always be the case but 9 times out of 10.

i cant recommend this course highly enough for anyone thinking of getting into the industry, but not knowing where to start

hope this helps

Peteee

I'm going into 3rd yr Computer Systems in UL this year after 8 months on co-op in dublin.

Its mostly maths and programming. Theres a web development project in 2nd year (web based bug logging software, which we implemented in PHP and mySQL, which we pretty much learned from scratch)

aaf

7aken wrote:

maybe you should try something like fas course computer and communication technician traineeship to wet your lips. i currently studying it at the mo in athlone. at present im on work experience in dublin, have just passed the first part of the course which is comptia a+. the next part starts in two weeks and is comptia net+.

i was in a similar postiion to you, i had html experience (no other languages) and was in a rut with choices. i got onto this course and i've found it absolutely life changing. im now in a position where im looking at running my own company while continuing my studies. i'm going to carry on studying after the course aswell for the ccna exams.

comptia certification is recognised the world over and is a great starting point. in your case, where you find yourself drawn more to the hardware side of computers, the comptia a+ is probably the best stepping stone. theres no point spending years in college doing something you may end up
hating when there are choices like this available. also, with the way the industry is going, it may be more beneficial to have done a traineeship as opposed to a degree or otherwise, for the simple reason that an employer will look at you as having experience. ask anyone who leaves college after 4 years what its like trying to get work, they will most likely tell you that employers arent interested as they dont have experience. mightn't always be the case but 9 times out of 10.

i cant recommend this course highly enough for anyone thinking of getting into the industry, but not knowing where to start

hope this helps

True, employers look for experience but 99% of employers will first look for a degree of some sort so get a degree! If you're into the hardware, then the A+ is the best place to start. You could even do the A+ in your own time. Then maybe, Network+ and then anywhere from there: CISCO CCNA or Microsoft MCSE. Look for degree courses that include some of those certs and you'll be laughing. Most likely, the CCNA will be included on a hardware degree course. It was part of my degree course.

Ri_Nollaig

Khannie wrote:

Sorry, have to rubbish this. I knew feck all about coding before I went into college and walked out with the prize for best final year project. Most people in my course didn't know what a zip file was in first year. Some had never owned their own computer.

Having a self-taught coding background would probably be somewhat of a disadvantage tbh. The reason: You'll be bored for the first 2 years.

im going into 2nd yr computer science in UCC and when i was in first year ALOT didnt have a clue about computers. didnt no what a pdf or zip was or anything funny how there is a 50% failure rate.
like u said i dont think u need to a b a pro going in but u have to atleast understand computers and wats going...
been using computers from the age 10 sounds about right


just remembered 1 guy didnt even know what copy and paste was...

7aken

aaf wrote:

True, employers look for experience but 99% of employers will first look for a degree of some sort so get a degree! If you're into the hardware, then the A+ is the best place to start. You could even do the A+ in your own time. Then maybe, Network+ and then anywhere from there: CISCO CCNA or Microsoft MCSE. Look for degree courses that include some of those certs and you'll be laughing. Most likely, the CCNA will be included on a hardware degree course. It was part of my degree course.

maybe so, but for someone in this position, unsure of what route they want to take in computers, surely first hand experience is more valuable than being able to say you have a degree. it means you dont spend 4 years doing something you might end up hating. its a vicious circle when it comes to getting a job fresh out of college, sure you have a lots of knowledge but you dont have experience, which is worth a million times more than a piece of paper. if i were an employer, id take the guy with experience as opposed the guy with the 'brains'

skywalker

mp3guy wrote:

hmm... you might find it hard... i'm planning to do computer science & software engineering in 2 years, i started comping when i was 4, started programming in VB when i was 10, but if thats what you want to do, fair enough, but other people will be alot further ahead.

I dont see why you think he'll find it hard. There are the people who go to college knowing 1/2 of the course already & good for them but college is to learn about the subject of your course.

Others will be further ahead, to say the majority will be ahead of you from day 1 just isnt true.


I have a degree in software systems & am about to start a masters in comp science. Working as a flash developer for a startup atm.

spooydermot

I did a degree in Software Development in DKIT.

at the moment employers are looking for experience and a degree, making it difficult for anyone trying to get in at a junior level, particuarly in programming. Things like the A+ are fantastic and will open up a lot of doors for you.
Its true that most coursed teach computing from scratch, and why would'nt they? you wouldn't arrive in medical school and be expected to perform an appendectomy?

In the first couple of days of my course there was a certin amount of 'this is the task bar' etc, which was fairly boring, but for those who had never used a computer before (or not frequently) it made the course more accessible by easing them into the world of computers and GUI.

The maths was a killer (for me) in my course , so if your not a great fan of maths you might want to expect a bit of grief in that area.

Experience is always going to count for a heck of a lot, but the way things are at the moment, your not going to get the chance to get that experience with out some form of qualification, i.e Degree, but the degree is not the be all and end all, the A+ and Compita are VERY useful

Yook

You guys are steering the lad in the wrong direction, so he says he likes hardware more than software. I think you should check out Engineering in TCD:

http://www.tcd.ie/Engineering/Courses/BAI/index.html

In third year you can branch off to Computer Engineering. Just have a read of the course objectives.

I just finished first year of my BA (mod) Computer Science in TCD. We do both hardware and software equally:

http://www.cs.tcd.ie

Thats what i hate about other so called "Computer Science" degrees around the country, they have nothing to do with hardware. They should merely be called Computer Apps.

Hope this helps you out.

KlodaX

3 year diploma in Software Development, and 1 year Degree in Commercial Computing in DKIT.

If you do the same course now you can get the degree in 3 years and the 4th year you do the honours degree.

I wouldn't recommend the course tbh. Try to get a course that has work experience integrated ... its **** hard to get programming experience I find. Working as a support technician myself.

spooydermot

KlodaX wrote:

3 year diploma in Software Development, and 1 year Degree in Commercial Computing in DKIT.

If you do the same course now you can get the degree in 3 years and the 4th year you do the honours degree.

I wouldn't recommend the course tbh. Try to get a course that has work experience integrated ... its **** hard to get programming experience I find. Working as a support technician myself.

yeah thats the course I did, your dead right about getting something that has work experience built in to it, which is hard to do in a programmnig based course, because at a college level your probably not going to be that much use to any company who takes you on as a work experience programmer.

However I think hardware based courses are more likely to offer a bit of work experience, i know of a few people who did hardware based courses and got work experience.

I've been flitting in and out of a junior programmer / tester/ sql dogs body for the past year or so now (and a year before that doing unrelated work) , just trying to build up the experience to get a more solid role.

DamoKen

Khannie wrote:

I think that's what it is now. I left in 2000. I did the diploma first, then an extra year for the degree. It was called WMT (diploma) and WSAD (degree). The WMT + WSAD route was more computer oriented as WSAD was more "sciency", but I think that WMT now extends to 4 years for a completely computer science degree.

Hey Khannie! I was in WMT too, left after the diploma in 1999, was going to do the degree but got a really good offer that summer, ain't looked back since!

stakey

I would advise getting a degree. A degree has a much longer lifespan than certificates. The likes of the CCNA have to be repeated every three years (or four) or else you lose the title. Do as been said here, do a degree with some of the certificates included. Its your best choice. A degree and certificates combined is fairly unbeatable. Then the only thing you have to update post graduation is a certificate or two every 3-4 years.

limbovski

KlodaX wrote:

3 year diploma in Software Development, and 1 year Degree in Commercial Computing in DKIT.

If you do the same course now you can get the degree in 3 years and the 4th year you do the honours degree.

I wouldn't recommend the course tbh. Try to get a course that has work experience integrated ... its **** hard to get programming experience I find. Working as a support technician myself.

You dont get "the degree" in 3 years they just renamed the qualifications, its called an 'ordinary degree' which pretty much has the same value as a diploma so its pretty much worthless.....


zing


computer courses have a high drop out rate i reckon its true that its either for you or not theres no real in between.

i would also say over 80% of people i went thru college with FCUKING hate computers now.

7aken

deconstruct wrote:

I would advise getting a degree. A degree has a much longer lifespan than certificates. The likes of the CCNA have to be repeated every three years (or four) or else you lose the title. Do as been said here, do a degree with some of the certificates included. Its your best choice. A degree and certificates combined is fairly unbeatable. Then the only thing you have to update post graduation is a certificate or two every 3-4 years.

comptia are lifelong awards. ccna and mcse have to be retaken over certain durations because the technology behind them is changing so fast. i think the comptia exams are targeted toward people who want a solid footing from where to base a career.

KlodaX

i would also say over 80% of people i went thru college with FCUKING hate computers now.

agreed. You would really want to have a love for them. Whatever you do ... DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY!

if you are looking for money go do a trade

jc94062

If you really want to do Comp Sci try to find a course without much Maths unless you really really like Maths.

I believe Lancasters is quite good, wish I'd gone there now.

Finding a job can be tough, you just have to apply for everything on the planet and go through some incredibly long-winded recruitment schemes for graduate posts but the benefits are normally pretty good once you get an offer. Or make sure you get a year out in industry, they'll normally take you back.

And as said, you really do need to love for what your doing... Like mp3guy I got a computer when I was about 4 and starting coding in BASIC when I was like 8 or 9...