which college and why

WolfForager · 17-06-2009 3:41pm

ul

Actually i was looking for "finding the the sum of the area(s) of an infinite amount of line sements beneath the curve" or along that somewhere.

I probably went a bit of course with that example.. hmm..

electrogrimey · 17-06-2009 3:43pm

ucd

Yeah but generally, the more intelligent people will do better in the leaving...like an intelligent person who doesn't work will naturally do better than an average person who doesn't work. But yea, it is more about memory and work than smarts...
College-wise, Trinity hands down, because a degree from Trinity is worth more than a degree from any other college in Ireland. You're going to find it a lot easier to get a job with a 1st in your degree from Trinity than a 1st from UCD etc.

WolfForager · 17-06-2009 3:45pm

ul

electrogrimey wrote: »

You're going to find it a lot easier to get a job with a 1st in your degree from Trinity than a 1st from UCD etc.

Depends what course/what the job is :eek:

cocoa · 17-06-2009 3:50pm

electrogrimey wrote: »

Yeah but generally, the more intelligent people will do better in the leaving...like an intelligent person who doesn't work will naturally do better than an average person who doesn't work. But yea, it is more about memory and work than smarts...
College-wise, Trinity hands down, because a degree from Trinity is worth more than a degree from any other college in Ireland. You're going to find it a lot easier to get a job with a 1st in your degree from Trinity than a 1st from UCD etc.

wow, you have a lot to learn about the world... While easier may be true of certain employers, in a certain profession, a lot easier is far from the truth and it's far from being across the board...

Col Man · 17-06-2009 4:41pm

ucd

Lol like I'm not saying the LC is indeed a perfect representative mark of anyone's intelligence, it's just a good guideline.

And people, pointing out little personal examples isn't really disproving anything. We all know the genius who got 330, and the idiot with 540, just like we all know the guy who watches TV all day, only eats rashers and cream but could beat anyone we know in a marathon, blah blah blah. No one is trying to claim that the leaving cert goes anywhere near being a direct marker of intelligence, but generally it's easier to do better if you're smarter. Take chemistry. Yes, if you learned off every single part of the textbook you'd do pretty well. But it is easier to remember things when you understand what's going on, or just blindly learning?

And in physics, maybe you've forgotten the formula for fundamental frequency. But then you start to think, surely the pitch gets lower with a longer string, and higher with a tighter one? That sort of thing could really help in formulae recall for example.

Anyway, yes putting only two courses on my CAO is probably not the best move ever, but I'll probably throw a few extra on before the deadline.

Lol and to that lad who facepalmed as he quoted me saying "cricket is played in trinity", you forgot to quote the rest of it "...by people who simply cannot play". At least square root that facepalm^2... Lol I don't especially like the game, it was more a joke about how poor the cricketers in Trinners (and their opposition) are... Sorry if any of you have ever played there while I was there....

tazbars · 17-06-2009 5:01pm

local institute dkit, sligo, cork and the like

is this thread not bout what colleges everyone going to rather than trying to define intelligence??

Col Man · 17-06-2009 5:07pm

ucd

Well... ha....

The thing is some people's argument for Trinity was that smarter people go there, hence why it's a better Uni blah blah blah. Then others were all like "you dude how do you know smarter people go there?", then the first dude was like "cos they got higher points on average". So the reason it's being argued is that it's the basis of an argument for "why" trinity college. Not my argument exactly, but I felt like joining in. Sorry

snazzy · 17-06-2009 5:11pm

maynooth

UL

For one, it's where I wish to go for my course

2: I love the location and the vibe of the city

3: I really like the campus

4: Heard great things about the social life!

I would have voted UCC second because it is the most beautiful campus in Ireland, ideally located!

Walsh · 17-06-2009 5:57pm

dit

NCI, because I can roll out of bed into the door!

errlloyd · 17-06-2009 6:15pm

ucd

Hm, If Col_Man doesn't get his first choice I'll eat my leg... Lol I think its just there isn't much to divide colleges on in this country, so sometimes the reasons can be pretty weedy, but reasons nonetheless (I LOVE THAT WORD)

SligoBrewer · 17-06-2009 6:30pm

ucd

I have Trinity down as the first 8 choices on my CAO, so I feel like I'm in for an errloyd-esque mauling now. However, I would like to share my reasons with you.

Level 8 Course Choices:
1. TR264 English Literature/Modern Irish
2. TR509 Modern Irish/Philosophy
3. TR015 Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology
4. TR014 Philosophy and Political Science
5. TR020 Law and Political Science
6. TR512 Modern Irish/Sociology
7. TR005 Philosophy
8. TR022 Early and Modern Irish
9. MH101 Arts
10. GY101 Arts

That is my CAO. Mainly all mixtures of Philosophy, Irish and Politics-ish type courses. UCD isn't on my CAO as I hated the place on open day. From the accomodation, to the ambience, the dismissive people of the lecturers that I spoke to. Also I can't do Philosophy and Irish there.
I like Maynooth, it's a nice university in a nice town and the journey is a half hour less than going to Dublin.
Galway is Galway, aka, Sligomór. I wouldn't mind it, but I can't do Philosophy and Irish in the Arts course.
Limerick and Cork are next near impossible to get to from Sligo.

Which brings me to TCD. I went there for a week in TY for the a little Physics taster thing and loved it there. I liked the location (at the time I could just cross the road from Pearse Station and go in to the college there) and there seemed to be a fantastic rapport between the students, and the lecturers there. Then last year, three friends of mine got into TCD, and whenever I've been up with them, I've stayed in Halls, gone out etc. and I just love the
feel of the place. The accomodation in Halls is fantastic, ten times better than what I saw in UCD. It's close knit, small and there's a great mix of students and events there. I could bull**** and say, "Well you know Berkely went to Trinity and that was the deciding factor" but it wasn't. Trinity is a University like all others, not above all others. It has a great history and reputation, but that matters almost minimally.
For me, I have mates there already. It's easily accessible, which is a major plus for me as for first year, all I have to do is get the LUAS to college from Halls and the train to Dublin from Sligo. The ambience and the community feel are fantastic, it doesn't feel like a massive institution like UCD felt. If I wasnted to do something very specific, I'd have no qualms in going to DCU for Optometry or to UCD for something else, but as after my four years undergradding i will have just an Arts Degree, I will pick a university where I know I'll enjoy my four years.

errlloyd · 17-06-2009 6:32pm

ucd

I kinda did that Trinity, Trinity, Trinity... Ucd then Arts thing aswell. Banter.

cocoa · 17-06-2009 6:36pm

SligoBrewer wrote: »

I have Trinity down as the first 8 choices on my CAO, so I feel like I'm in for an errloyd-esque mauling now.

not at all, the only problem I or as far as I can tell, anyone else had with errloyd was his reasoning for his choice. I know I (and hopefully no one else) had no intention of attacking him personally, Trinity is a fine college and I wish him all the best. I see nothing wrong with your reasoning for choosing Trinity to be honest and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time there

errlloyd · 17-06-2009 6:38pm

ucd

cocoa wrote: »

not at all, the only problem I or as far as I can tell, anyone else had with errloyd was his reasoning for his choice. I know I (and hopefully no one else) had no intention of attacking him personally, Trinity is a fine college and I wish him all the best. I see nothing wrong with your reasoning for choosing Trinity to be honest and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time there

I gave plenty of legit reasons too (ideal commute, location, nice campus and friends), just some questionable ones like rankings and things which caused the fight.

SligoBrewer · 17-06-2009 6:39pm

ucd

errlloyd wrote: »

I kinda did that Trinity, Trinity, Trinity... Ucd then Arts thing aswell. Banter.

And that's where the similarity your reasoning and mine ends to be frank.

errlloyd · 17-06-2009 6:40pm

ucd

SligoBrewer wrote: »

And that's where the similarity your reasoning and mine ends to be frank.

No as I said before, I listed all the same reasons as you, just further ones which caused issues.

Dante · 17-06-2009 6:53pm

ucd

stylee wrote: »

same except the other way around:p

Haha you're like the fourth person here to say that...its gonna be like a course of boardsies!

I probably won't get my A in happy maths so looks like we'll both be in Enterprise Computing! :pac::pac:

Oh the excitement................!:cool:

electrogrimey · 17-06-2009 7:20pm

ucd

SligoBrewer wrote: »

Trinity is a University like all others, not above all others. It has a great history and reputation, but that matters almost minimally.

I would tend to disagree...It seems a lot of people think that they have to go to college, (I'm not saying this in relation to you) and so they pick whatever college seems the most fun, or the easiest to go to. In reality, you really don't have to go to college, if you want to just have fun then get an easy job and go out all the time...You go to college so that afterwards you will be able to get a better job. The more prestigious a degree you get, the better a job you get. (I am generalising here, but it is true). As for course choices, I think the college is more important than the course. Obviously this is different for science, arts or medicine etc, but with an arts degree, it doesn't really matter what arts course it is, (unless you want some really specific career), all that matters is that you do well in it, and get a good degree. So, you should do whatever subjects you are good at/interest you in the best college you can get into. That's my outlook on it at any rate...

Skally-wag · 17-06-2009 7:37pm

ucc

st pats: cause it has the course I want!!
was in trinity this year.. course didn't go well really. can't wait to start again with a small friendly college:)

PRS · 17-06-2009 8:35pm

ucd

It's amusing to discover how narrow-minded and naive this year's batch of leaving cert students are!

I'm a Trinity Engineering student and although I do appreciate the history, the architecture, the atmosphere and the central location of the campus, I would never deny that DIT has a better Engineering School. I would've gone to UCD if their attitude to me on open day hadn't been "We don't care if you come here or not, because half of South Dublin will come to Belfield anyway." I would've gone to DIT if they had a student accommodation complex for students of different concentrations, cultures and nationalities to mix, like Trinity Hall.

Yes, it is heartening to be regarded as the 49th Best University in the world by the THES rankings... but any realistic Trinity Student will know that these rankings are rather inaccurate. We really shouldn't be within the top 50. A surprise is that no one in this thread cared to mention that UCD jumped from 177 to 108 this year, mainly due to their increased emphasis on research in recent years. This actually emphasises a previous person's point of the THES rankings being of little significance to undergrads like myself. Besides, I plan to do my Masters in Imperial.

The reality of the matter that a First Class Honour from any Irish University is a worthy achievement. We're a small country, with only 7 universities in the South, 2 of which are in the THES top 200 (28.6%). The UK has 109 Universities, only 30 of which are in the THES top 200 (27.5%). Furthermore, the US has 63 Universities in the top 200. By the way, the US has THOUSANDS of universities, so do the Maths.

So Mr. errlloyd... if indeed you do get into Trinity, and are considering bragging about how intelligent you are after scoring high in the glorified memory test that is the leaving cert, remember that unless you achieve Foundation Scholarship in Law, you are no better off than any other Law student in this country.

Col Man · 17-06-2009 8:38pm

ucd

Out of interest, how do you know DIT has a better engineering school?

PRS · 17-06-2009 8:42pm

ucd

Any chartered Engineer I've ever spoken to.

PRS · 17-06-2009 8:45pm

ucd

Not to mention the increased practical aspect of Engineering at DIT and also there are times in Trinity where you think to yourself, "This course is a bit thrown together in the Freshman Years." Which it is.

errlloyd · 17-06-2009 8:50pm

ucd

PRS wrote: »

Not to mention the increased practical aspect of Engineering at DIT and also there are times in Trinity where you think to yourself, "This course is a bit thrown together in the Freshman Years." Which it is.

My brother is an Engineer qualified from UCD class of 07, he's working for Selden making Yacht masts and loving it.

I agree with you almost entirely, except on one point. You worked out our universities in the top 200 as a percentage of our total amount of Uni's, when it should in fairness be either, as a percentage of our populous, or indeed the other way round entirely, there is no reason having more colleges means you will get more into the top 200. Surely each will get less investment, and less students and therefore do worse?

Please don't argue about that, it was just a passing comment. In fact your can reply as you like, its my last word on that matter

Col Man · 17-06-2009 8:52pm

ucd

Ah ok. Lol nice edit there.

Ehh that's a bit unfair on the US though really. I mean it's just the same as saying "China got x amount of Gold medals in the olympics, but they have over a billion people, therefore they suck". Cheeky statistics to back-up your point... Ha oh well. Sure we all do it.

While I will accept your knowledge about which engineering school is better is superior to mine, I will add that I know one person in DIT, and he informed me that one of his lecturers did ordinary level maths for the LC. What was she lecturing? You guessed it....

Ha sorry... that's not very fair either.

PRS · 17-06-2009 9:04pm

ucd

By the whole Universities comparison thing I meant that Ireland have a decent record in terms of Universities and we should keep it that way. I wouldn't have said no to any Irish University based on prestige or anything, it was primarily geographical location and eventually accommodation facilities that was a deciding factor for me. There are a lot of Universities in UK and the States that shouldn't be Universities in my opinion. I lived with a guy this year from Kazakhstan... there are 147 universities in Kazakhstan and he's studying in Dublin... "Don't slag Irish Universities" was what that paragraph meant.

MissRealist · 17-06-2009 9:25pm

dcu

UCD!

A) Because I want to do science and it has the best options.

Because the campus is frigging amazing:eek:
C) Because I love my sports:D
and D) To be totally honest nowhere else really appealed to me:rolleyes:

cocoa · 17-06-2009 10:11pm

Col Man wrote: »

While I will accept your knowledge about which engineering school is better is superior to mine, I will add that I know one person in DIT, and he informed me that one of his lecturers did ordinary level maths for the LC. What was she lecturing? You guessed it....

Ha sorry... that's not very fair either.

Without any personal experience of DIT or its engineering lecturers, I'd say that you know very little about teaching and specifically teaching maths if you think someone who had trouble with / wasn't very good at the subject in the past doesn't have the potential to be the best at teaching it. More often than not those with greater proficiency are very poor at teaching and understanding the difficulties of others.

I know it was probably a bit in jest and for all I know that lecturer is awful, but I really couldn't let such a condescending comment stand...

Col Man · 17-06-2009 10:24pm

ucd

Actually I think you'll find that for maths, a good understanding of the subject is quite key for teaching it. I don't mean to sound mean, but by your last comment I would have to say it's perhaps you who doesn't have any experience of teaching maths?

The comment was in jest, but apart from the fact that it's unlikely (not impossible) someone who can't do higher maths can teach it at a university level, it's also very unlikely that someone who didn't do higher level went on to study it further.

Would you find it normal if you had an English professor who did ordinary level English for the leaving certificate? You're lying if you say yes.

cocoa · 17-06-2009 10:30pm

Col Man wrote: »

Actually I think you'll find that for maths, a good understanding of the subject is quite key for teaching it. I don't mean to sound mean, but by your last comment I would have to say it's perhaps you who doesn't have any experience of teaching maths?

The comment was in jest, but apart from the fact that it's unlikely (not impossible) someone who can't do higher maths can teach it at a university level, it's also very unlikely that someone who didn't do higher level went on to study it further.

Would you find it normal if you had an English professor who did ordinary level English for the leaving certificate? You're lying if you say yes.

Normal? No, would I consider it altogether surprising or incredible if they were a good teacher? No also.

Having a good understanding of maths is important, having a natural ability or very high proficiency above and beyond the content being taught is not. It's also not necessary to have been brilliant at maths in the past.

I have experience teaching maths to students in my own year in different courses whose lecturer was not good at teaching maths. He is the head of the maths department and a genius in his own right, but he is no master of teaching.

I stand by my comment that it is much more likely that someone who struggled with a subject, but overcame that difficulty will be an excellent teacher, than someone who picked it up with ease. For the first person, understanding and helping to solve the difficulties of others will come naturally, not so for the second.

I don't think them going on to further study is any less likely than them going on to teach it. In fact, I think knowing the last fact makes the first one seem all the more likely...

which college and why

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