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My college course... (A 3rd-level student's insight)
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brownstone wrote: »I'm hoping to study medicine come September, but recently I've looked into pharmacy and its swaying me a little. I've always had a huge interest in becoming a doctor but I'm becoming doubtful. Can anyone who is currently studying either of these courses, give me an insight? It would be much appreciated!
I've moved this into the courses thread as you are asking more about courses than careers.
In the last page alone, wayhey, partyatmygaff and revz have posted about medicine and pharmacy, and if you do a search of the thread you'll find a few more.
In the Careers and Discussions forum the thread about doctors is here.0 -
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Hey guys, I'm a first year MINT student at DCU. If you want to know anything about my course or ask any specific questions i have started a thread. The link is below for anybody interested in doing MINT or thinking of going to DCU. Feel free to ask any questions.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77994874#post779948740 -
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Hey guys
I'm a Languages - German and English literature - student in UL.
I have a few friends in the science and business departments of the university and so if you'd like any questions answered on anything, I'd be happy to help out
I live on campus also so if you want information about that or the facilities around us, just PM me 0 -
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Anyone do Microbiology...anywhere? Heck, is anyone even doing a Microbiology module in Science? Any information would be appreciated.
Microbiology was about half my biotech degree in NUIG. Please make your questions specific. i.e. I cant comment on how good the course is in general since I have never studied the exact same thing in other colleges to compare.0 -
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Just finished 1st year Biomedical Science DIT.
If you want more info on the course or have any questions about it let me know.
There are major differences between Biomedical Health and Life Science in UCD and Biomedical Science DIT.
You cannot work in a hospital laboratory as a Medical Scientist with a degree from UCD. Only DIT/CIT and GMIT have accredited Biomedical Science Degrees.
So immediately job prospects are much better. I've a few friends on facebook doing Biomedical Health and Life Science in UCD who put Biomedical Science as their course, which is inaccurate as they're completely different courses.
Yes, it's an IoT but you will not get a better Biomedical Science degree on this Island. For example, in 4th year you can do your research project in the Karolinska Institute, a world renowned school of medical research.
Great course, if you've any further questions let me know peeps 0 -
kilianmanning wrote: »Anybody doing computing? This is all I have currently on my cao, have a big interest in computers and all...:P
Just finished first year of Computer Applications in DCU. You have a great choice of places and courses in computing, here's what my course was like
Points
340 last year
Class Size
100-150
Drop Out Rate
20-50%
Modules in First Year
IT Mathematics - Year Long - 10 credits
Digital Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise (basically an inflated Business module
) - Year Long - 5 credits
Computer Programming 1 (Java) - Semester 1 - 10 credits
Computer Programming 2 (Java) - Semester 2 - 10 credits
Web Design - Semester 1 - 5 credits
Computer Systems Hardware - Semester 1 - 5 credits
Introduction to Operating Systems - Semester 2 - 5 credits
Problem Solving, Creativity and Critical Thinking - Semester 2 - 5 credits
Networks and Internet - Semester 2 - 5 credits
Hours
18-26 per week
Summary
Personally, I enjoy the course. It can be difficult to grasp some aspects (which may explain the fairly high drop out rate).
IT Maths brings you to just above Higher Level, but your lecturer in semester two isn't great. You have four class tests during the entire year for continuous assessment, and an exam at the end.
DICE and Problem Solving are two new modules that were brought in this year. Both have great ideologies behind them, but were put in place poorly. DICE ended up with a fairly heavy workload at the end of semester two, and Problem Solving fired a report and presentation at you at the same time. DICE was 100% CA, and included participation in a management game, a project management exam, a report on the game, attendance at four seminars in the Helix, a presentation/YouTube video on an app you have designed, and a poster on this app. Problem Solving required lab attendance, a report, and an exam also.
Programming 1 and 2 are fine. Labs are extremely important, you get most of your marks for continuous assessment in CP1, which includes lab work. Lectures are important, but as long as you are familiar with the work and notes, you will be fine. Continuous assessment is lab attendance (work done in labs), assignments based off the lectures and lab work, and an exam for both.
Web Design got new lecturers this year, and they didn't seem very sure of what they were doing. We got directed to w3schools in the labs, and were directed to complete certain things. You have one group assignment and one other assignment as part of your continuous assessment and an exam.
Computer Systems Hardware is one that people can struggle with, or just grasp immediately. (I have to repeat this exam in August). Introduction to Operating Systems is taught by the same lecturer, and both can be interesting, and probably quite important. Both have a small part of continuous assessment, CSH in class tests and OS in class tests and a report.
Networks can be a tough module. There's a lot of information in the module, and it can be difficult to grasp. A lot of the class struggled with this, though I'm not sure if that was out of laziness or just finding it difficult. We did four or five assignments, mostly focused around using Wireshark in the computer labs in our free time.
We'll see when we get our exam results. :rolleyes:0 -
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Does anyone have any info on Music and French in either NUIM or TCD ?
Thanks.
Going into second year in NUIM in music now, the coursework is all fairly easy if you have a strong foundation in music theory already. It might not be a bad idea to go over the basics yourself over summer with a piano teacher or whatever as well, just to refresh. You're going to want to make sure that you're up to scratch in your chosen instrument before going in as well, once you qualify for the course there's the trap of stopping the practice because you're in and that's that, but in nearly the first week the auditions for ensembles etc are held and the people who have been at it over the summer are the ones who get into those. If you fail at that, you have to join the choral society - two hours of rehearsals every monday and thursday night, 12 hour days on mondays - not fun.
As for French, I didn't take this as I am near fluent and would like to learn something in my second subject (since in BMus you take an extra subject for first year but drop it after). However, I've heard from people who did take French that it's a lot more real world based than the leaving cert, where they just hammered grammar into you all day without actually teaching you how to use it in a real world setting. There's an erasmus option which a lot of French students take between second and third year, as a year immersed in the language really helps them pick it up.
So that's that, hope you found that helpful. If you've any extra questions feel free to PM me.0 -
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Dya ever have to do presentations?
I'm starting third year Pharmacy in RCSI in October and we've had to do a fair few presentations so far. Terrifying at first but I really think it'll stand to us in the future. If you're absolutely horrified at the idea of it, I don't think you'd be forced though.
I have a friend going into third year in TCD, and she definitely didn't have as many as we did. Think she mentioned one group thing in first year and I don't recall her saying anything about second year.0 -
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I've just finished my degree in primary teaching, and Froebel tends to be the college nobody's heard of so thought I'd give a bit of info
Hours
Any primary teaching course is pretty much 9-5, if you choose to go for teaching be prepared to work hard. There are a lot of assignments spread out through the year, and you're expected to attend every single lecture unless youhave a good reason (such as illness, with a doctor's note to back it up) to be missing. Froebel is now a four year full time degree, which means you'll be qualified to teach abroad in Australia/Dubai/wherever
Location
Currently Froebel is in Blackrock, south Dublin. It's a fairly expensive and upmarket area and can be tough to get student accomodation, but there's really good transport into the city (buses, trains, taxis). Starting from September 2013, though, the college is moving to NUI Maynooth's campus, which will be fantastic as Maynooth is a very student-orientated town; they're also hoping Froebel students will be able to take modules in other subjects offered in Maynooth, that aren't related to primary teaching.
Class size
Froebel is a small college, there were about 70 people in my year to start with that went down to about 65, and maybe 12 of those were boys. Lectures are either the whole year or broken down into smaller groups, usually of about 24. Because of this, all your lecturers will know you, you get to know your class really well, and generally theres a good sense of community.
Content
Course content is generally the same every year, in particular the core subjects. There are lectures for each of the subjects in the primary school curriculum, both to increase your own knowledge and to show you ways to teach the subject to children. Along with this you will study child psychology, educational philosophy, special education needs etc. In 2nd and 3rd year there are also optional modules to choose from which are great fun.
Because Maynooth is a non-denominational university and Froebel is now partnered with it, they're really trying to welcome and celebrate diversity, so I think this college is a good choice if you're not religious/follow a religion other than Catholicism, or if you're LGBT. There's less focus on religion than some of the other teacher training colleges, but you'll still get your Religious Cert and be fully qualified to work in Catholic schools. Among the electives you can choose are a course about Educate Together schools, and one about diversity in the classroom (teaching and welcoming children from all different religions, countries and backgrounds).
If I'm honest I picked Froebel mainly because it was closest to me, but having finished my degree and talked to people who went to other training colleges, I can definitely say I would choose Froebel again.0 -
In JF year, there's just the one problem based learning presentation alongside a few occasions where lecturers give someone a mic and ask them to stand at the top of the class and present an assignment e.t.c.Dya ever have to do presentations?
Some people find it daunting and never do it (You're not forced until fourth year). As for myself, I actually enjoy presenting. It's not as bad as people make it out to be.0 -
Course: Law and Arts (History) in Maynooth
Points: 460
However I got into Law by doing Arts and taking Law as one of my subjects. Got a 2.1 (60) in Law and was able to transfer into the Law degree. Arts is 370.
Website: http://law.nuim.ie/
http://gomaynooth.ie/lecturers.html
http://gomaynooth.ie/students.html
www.nuim.ie/courses
http://history.nuim.ie/
Number of students: I think there is about 90 in my class although that has probably gone up
Hours: About 14 hours of lectures/tutorials and plenty more with reading and assignments!
Course Content:
First Year: In first year you will study Law with two other Arts subjects (whether you're in Arts or the Law degree). In Law you will study Contract Law, Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. The first two are over both semesters while Admin is only in Sem 2. You may have a dreaded triple class on Fridays...
I believe that the history course has changed but I think that they still have Practicing History 1 and 2 which are a bit like the basics of History that you studied in you JC
I also did Sociology that year which I hated! And I can't actually remember what I studied that year other than Politics of the European Union.
Second Year: I got into Law and Arts in 2nd year and so I dropped Sociology. In Law I studied EU Law, Criminal Law, Tort Law and Evidence Law. In History I studied Early Modern Europe in Sem 1 and Early Modern Ireland and England and Sem 2. In 2nd year History you also get to choose 30 credits of elective modules so I chose History of Medicine and an Art History module.
Third Year: In third year you have three choices: Go on to final year, study abroad for a year or go on work placement for a year. I went for the work placement option in one of Ireland's top five law firms. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I even ended up having my contract extended by 2 months. I was also offered a training contract at the end of it which was brilliant to have.
Fourth Year: I have yet to start fourth year but I will be studying Land Law, Company Law, Equity and Jurisprudence in Law and Ireland in the Modern World and Europe in the 19th and 20th Century as the compulsory modules in History. I haven't picked my electives yet.
Assessment: About half of the modules will have some form of continuous assessment. All of the History compulsory modules both include a couple of assignments which will make up about two thirds of the final marks for that module with an exam making up the rest of the marks. The electives are nearly all marked entirely by continuous assessment. Some only have one big essay while others will include small tests, book reviews or presentations as well as the essay. There is no definite system for the CA in Law but some lecturers will give it. Often they will be case summaries or an assessment of a certain aspect of the Law.
Summary: I LOVE the course and studying in Maynooth. For me it's a great college with great people and a brilliant atmosphere. I have really enjoyed everything I have studied and I have gotten some great opportunities through both the Law and History departments. The classes are small enough to get to know your lecturers so use it to your advantage!
The Course structure nay have changed so don't take all this as definite!
Any questions about Law or History (or both!), send a PM 0 -
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Points:
Last year about 535, this year 585
Number of students:
Just two of us doing my specific combination, and I believe there are none left this year! I think the intake is usually about 3 or 4. However, lectures are shared with all the English students (definitely over a hundred per lecture) and then a combination of pure Maths, TSM, TSM with Economics, Theoretical Physics etc. for Maths - lecture sizes vary from maybe 30ish to probably 80ish.
Hours:
I had 15 in first year, 14 this year.
Course Content:
Most semesters will be 3 English modules, 3 Maths (our first semester we only had 2 Maths as one of them was a double module), so it is more or less a 50/50 split, although Maths does have more contact hours - works out at usually 2 lecture and a tutorial per Maths module, and 1 lecture and 1 tutorial for English. In second year you only have tutorials for the mandatory English modules, your optional ones don't, although some lecturers will treat the lecture as a seminar so it's somewhat more interactive. Though Maths has about 3 more hours of classes than English, they consume a roughly equal amount of time as English has quite a lot of reading and the famous "self-directed learning". TSM students take half the modules of the pure English or pure Maths students, which isn't too much of a hindrance in English - it can be a little awkward in Maths but overall the way the course is structured means it isn't too bad. Be aware that Maths at third level is difficult, especially when balancing it with an Arts subject. There were quite a lot of transfers to other disciplines or to pure Maths from within the TSM group, and that seems to be a trend throughout the years. English is hugely enjoyable but it is easy enough leave it to the side if you don't have a genuine interest, and then suddenly the exams are a thing and you need to read several dozen books; it's definitely a course for those who do love English and reading. Maths is examined by end of year exams with some continuous assessment, while English is based on either an essay or an exam, 3 of each.
Summary:
I love this course because it's on the two extremes of the spectrum, but that can also be a reason to hate it - it isn't for everyone. The subjects don't help each other out, but it can also be refreshing to take a break from one side of academia and go to the other. Both subjects are plenty of work but it's definitely manageable without slaying yourself in the library the whole time. Running from one end of the campus to the other can be a pain but you also meet a great variety of people and socially my course is great fun 0 -
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Just wants law like I want to do it in trinity or UCD or maynooth
Well here's my post on Maynooth:XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »Course: Law and Arts (History) in Maynooth
Points: 460
However I got into Law by doing Arts and taking Law as one of my subjects. Got a 2.1 (60) in Law and was able to transfer into the Law degree. Arts is 370.
Website: http://law.nuim.ie/
http://gomaynooth.ie/lecturers.html
http://gomaynooth.ie/students.html
www.nuim.ie/courses
http://history.nuim.ie/
Number of students: I think there is about 90 in my class although that has probably gone up
Hours: About 14 hours of lectures/tutorials and plenty more with reading and assignments!
Course Content:
First Year: In first year you will study Law with two other Arts subjects (whether you're in Arts or the Law degree). In Law you will study Contract Law, Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. The first two are over both semesters while Admin is only in Sem 2. You may have a dreaded triple class on Fridays...
I believe that the history course has changed but I think that they still have Practicing History 1 and 2 which are a bit like the basics of History that you studied in you JC
I also did Sociology that year which I hated! And I can't actually remember what I studied that year other than Politics of the European Union.
Second Year: I got into Law and Arts in 2nd year and so I dropped Sociology. In Law I studied EU Law, Criminal Law, Tort Law and Evidence Law. In History I studied Early Modern Europe in Sem 1 and Early Modern Ireland and England and Sem 2. In 2nd year History you also get to choose 30 credits of elective modules so I chose History of Medicine and an Art History module.
Third Year: In third year you have three choices: Go on to final year, study abroad for a year or go on work placement for a year. I went for the work placement option in one of Ireland's top five law firms. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I even ended up having my contract extended by 2 months. I was also offered a training contract at the end of it which was brilliant to have.
Fourth Year: I have yet to start fourth year but I will be studying Land Law, Company Law, Equity and Jurisprudence in Law and Ireland in the Modern World and Europe in the 19th and 20th Century as the compulsory modules in History. I haven't picked my electives yet.
Assessment: About half of the modules will have some form of continuous assessment. All of the History compulsory modules both include a couple of assignments which will make up about two thirds of the final marks for that module with an exam making up the rest of the marks. The electives are nearly all marked entirely by continuous assessment. Some only have one big essay while others will include small tests, book reviews or presentations as well as the essay. There is no definite system for the CA in Law but some lecturers will give it. Often they will be case summaries or an assessment of a certain aspect of the Law.
Summary: I LOVE the course and studying in Maynooth. For me it's a great college with great people and a brilliant atmosphere. I have really enjoyed everything I have studied and I have gotten some great opportunities through both the Law and History departments. The classes are small enough to get to know your lecturers so use it to your advantage!
The Course structure nay have changed so don't take all this as definite!
Any questions about Law or History (or both!), send a PM
If you have any more Qs feel free to ask here or PM me!0 -
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I know there is plenty in here about arts courses but thought I might post my own experience here.
Course: UCD Arts - Maths, Irish, Economics
Maths
So far I'm loving maths in UCD. I think it's taught really well and the lecturers are really helpful. I find it challenging but if you work at it then you should be okay. We've tutorials (which are like small classes) and the tutors really help you out. You can take 4 modules in maths in first year. There is a maths support centre too if you need help with anything.
Irish
I did 2 modules in irish. I really liked irish in college. I thought the way they taught it was great. In my modules, I had 2 grammar classes and 1 oral class a week. And if you're not too confident in irish but have an interest there is a module called Bunchloch na Gaeilge to build up your standard of irish. There are plenty of different modules on offer like heritage etc so there's something for everyone.
Economics
I find it a lot different from LC economics. Its all just lectures so you have to do a lot of work on your own but it is easy to find videos and info on all your topics There is an economics support centre if you're finding anything difficult.
Hours:
Hours aren't too much or too little really I had 19 last semester and 14 this semester
Number of people:
There are 120 in maths which isn't too much tbh And you'll make friends really easy There are 800 or more in economics because commerce students are in our lectures too. I find it challenging enough to make friends but just mingle a lot in the first few weeks and you'll be grand. There are a lot of people doing irish but the classes are small with no more than 20 people in a class
Additional comments:
Okay I just have a few things to say about my course and arts in general.- Arts isn't as easy as everyone makes out. It is a lot of work and is as hard as any course. Don't believe that it's useless cause it's not, an Arts degree is a good degree to have if you use it well. Just take it seriously.
- Arts wasn't my first choice and even though it wasn't I still loved it so I'm just saying this in case somebody sees this post after offers and is sad about getting arts. I'm having a great time in college and most importantly I love my course and I'm so happy I got it
UCD:
UCD is really really big but dont let that scare you I find that I recognise the same faces after a few weeks and I make new friends everyday There is plenty of facilities on campus and I'm never bored there. I find UCD is really supportive and give you loads of information.
PM if you want more info about anything Hope this helped 0 -
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UndertheBridge wrote: »Hey everyone,
I study Diagnostic Radiography!
Any questions, shoot!
Hi. I'm after doing my L.c. in 2012 and am seriously considering radiation therapy. I would really appreciate it if you could answer my questions .
I didn't study physics for the Leaving and didn't really like it at Junior Cert level. Is there much physics in the course and is it difficult to grasp?
Did you do any work experience in this area before you started your course ?
Is there much demand for qualified workers in Ireland?
Is the degree recognised abroad ?
From other research that I've done I found out that the oncologists basically tell you what dose of radiation to give. Is this true ? and if so does the job get a bit boring after a while ?
Thanks so much 0 -
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Hermione Granger wrote: »Hi. I'm after doing my L.c. in 2012 and am seriously considering radiation therapy. I would really appreciate it if you could answer my questions .
I didn't study physics for the Leaving and didn't really like it at Junior Cert level. Is there much physics in the course and is it difficult to grasp?
Did you do any work experience in this area before you started your course ?
Is there much demand for qualified workers in Ireland?
Is the degree recognised abroad ?
From other research that I've done I found out that the oncologists basically tell you what dose of radiation to give. Is this true ? and if so does the job get a bit boring after a while ?
Thanks so much
Diagnostic radiography and radiation therapy are almost completely different for a start0 -
Hi guys I'm a 6th year student seriously considering applying for midwifery in UL next year so if anyone here studies midwifery in UL or generally anywhere, or has any knowledge in relation to it could you answer a few q's please?
1. How many hours a week do you have and when would your day typically start and end?
2. Is there a great deal of needles involved? Im quite petrified of them especially blood tests?
3. Does studying midwifery, especially with placement, take away from a great deal of the social life like RAG week, Christmas daze and student race day??
Thanking you all. 0 -
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