University options

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Wervie67

71 posts

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#85176 15-Jun-2011 11:49

Hi all,

After going through these quakes ive been forced to weigh up my options for my first year at university next year. My intention was to always do a computer science, network engineering, or computer systems course at Canterbury, but i have realized that this rebuild of our city is going to take longer than i first expected and don't want my education or social life to be affected by it. (in other words i dont mind leaving)

My options are, as i see them, stay in Canterbury, possibly head to Auckland, go to Victoria (have noticed there are a few new engineering options, but not sure on how good they are as i see vic as more arts based), or endeavor a gap year, grow a beard, and head overseas whilst this sorts itself out!

What i am asking is for a few opinions on the different courses these guys offer and how well the degrees are recognized at a employers point of view (e.g Victoria isnt well known for its engineering as it is relativity new). or whether i should tough it out here in quakechurch and do a well known and respected course.

Thanks in advance

SimonGeorgeBrown

50 posts

Geek

#481405 15-Jun-2011 12:02

You could do the cheeky thing and start studying somewhere else, then finish your with your last year and graduate in Christchurch... There's probably problems with that, but I wouldn't know.

Jaxson

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#481434 15-Jun-2011 12:56

Wervie67: and how well the degrees are recognized at a employers point of view

Personally I don't think this really carries as much clout as some people believe it does.

If you have a degree in a subject then what tends to count next is how much experience you also have in that field, rather than where the degree was from. It's generally accepted that most Universities are of an acceptable standard here in NZ.

amford

92 posts

Master Geek

#481438 15-Jun-2011 13:13

From what I have heard most poly-techs and universities require that you complete at least 60% of their course at their university. Therefore if you studied in Auckland and came back to Christchurch for your final year you would then have to cross credit back to Auckland to graduate.

I myself am planning to move to Christchurch next year to do Engineering (Civil).

If you are that worried you could always start your degree in Christchurch and then if you feel like you are missing out then move else where cross credit continue your studies there.

timmmay

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#481444 15-Jun-2011 13:26

Massey in Palmerston North is pretty good. It's a student down, and living costs are reasonable compared with Wellington or Auckland. I have no idea how the degrees are now, but it got me started.

Really a degree gets you the theory, but you have no practical skills straight out of uni. Your attitude and experience you pick up along the way is more useful than the degree. It makes no difference at all where you get your degree IMHO.

nickb800

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#481453 15-Jun-2011 13:42

I cant speak for other universities, but about Canterbury:

Awesome uni with a great campus, cant beat it on a good day but...

Stay away! Until the quakes have decreased to background levels. At the moment it is very very $hit being at canterbury. Cant blame the uni itself, just ruaumoko, but its a cr@p end to a $hit semester. I wouldnt wish it upon anyone.

reven

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#481459 15-Jun-2011 13:52

i did a BSc in Computer Science in 2001 to 2005 at University of Auckland. really good courses (stage/year 2 was a bit meh, rest was good). Took me six months to find a job (been at same job for 5 years now), but thats just because straight out of uni, hardly anyone will higher you (well for programmer, if you dont mind doing QA you will find a job easy (i hate QA)).

so I recommend UofA CompSci or theres Software Engineering up here as well, pretty similar really.

also you can do a conjoint in InfoSys and get BCom as well (InfoSys is mostly database stuff and routers/networking).

Jaxson

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#481460 15-Jun-2011 13:52

timmmay: Massey in Palmerston North is pretty good. It's a student down, and living costs are reasonable compared with Wellington or Auckland. I have no idea how the degrees are now, but it got me started.

Really a degree gets you the theory, but you have no practical skills straight out of uni. Your attitude and experience you pick up along the way is more useful than the degree. It makes no difference at all where you get your degree IMHO.

+1

I like to think of it like a key to unlock some opportunities. You will be considered for some jobs you maybe wouldn't have without the degree. Lots of people have degrees though so you need something else to get the job. Make sure you get as much practical experience somewhere, even working for free, whilst you are doing your studies.

You can't rely on a degree alone to either a) teach you really practical stuff or b) get you a job. Often the degree is theory overload and the polytech grad is far more useful/practical/capable than you.

So really it's up to you to do the hard yards, not so much where you choose to do it. All IMHO too.

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Wervie67

71 posts

Master Geek

#481601 15-Jun-2011 19:48

Cheers all,

Gives me a much more informed perspective on things.
Defiantly thinking cross-crediting is a possible option.

Jaxon:

Cheers for your opinion, im already working an an electrical store part time so i hope i can get some contacts through here in the near future.

nickb800:

yea, haha. ive heard many horror story's about the current state of their courses, and even some courses being cancelled today, with others thrown in with end of year exams aswell. can i ask what you are studying?

timmmmy:

Yea, ive considered palmy, and will definatly keep it in mind

amford:

cheers for the cross crediting advice.

rscole86

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#481605 15-Jun-2011 19:55

Personally... I would take a gap year, not that I can speak from wholly from experience as I have never done any tertiary study. I went from 7th form and right into work, looking at those who have been studying, some have only just finished, others left partway through, and all have terrible debt.

Handle9

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#481606 15-Jun-2011 19:56

Jaxson:
timmmay: Massey in Palmerston North is pretty good. It's a student down, and living costs are reasonable compared with Wellington or Auckland. I have no idea how the degrees are now, but it got me started.

Really a degree gets you the theory, but you have no practical skills straight out of uni. Your attitude and experience you pick up along the way is more useful than the degree. It makes no difference at all where you get your degree IMHO.
+1

I like to think of it like a key to unlock some opportunities. You will be considered for some jobs you maybe wouldn't have without the degree. Lots of people have degrees though so you need something else to get the job. Make sure you get as much practical experience somewhere, even working for free, whilst you are doing your studies.

You can't rely on a degree alone to either a) teach you really practical stuff or b) get you a job. Often the degree is theory overload and the polytech grad is far more useful/practical/capable than you.

So really it's up to you to do the hard yards, not so much where you choose to do it. All IMHO too.

+2

Saying that what your degree is in may or may be what you end up doing for a job - I've got a degree in engineering from Auckland and I'm now in sales (and much happier than I was when I was in product development). It's very engineering focused but our other guy in the same role has a BA in anthropology and it hasn't really hurt him too much. It's about attitude

You really have no idea at 18 of what you really want to do, or at least I didn't. If you can stay interested in what you're studying then you'll probably be good at it and make a good living.

timmmay

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#481627 15-Jun-2011 21:38

rscole86: Personally... I would take a gap year, not that I can speak from wholly from experience as I have never done any tertiary study. I went from 7th form and right into work, looking at those who have been studying, some have only just finished, others left partway through, and all have terrible debt.

That makes some sense. You also have to consider that straight out of school most people have no useful skills and will be working for minimum wage, so the savings will be negligible. I suspect looking at it from a financial point of view you'd probably be better off going straight to uni, and the year after uni you'll make a much better wage than the year before.

Also, the year off studying may make it more difficult to get back to studying. On the other hand it might not. Someone who's done it can probably comment on that.

nickb800

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#481629 15-Jun-2011 21:47

Im doing a BSc in Economics & Geography. Geekery is just a hobby haha. Ive had one exam cancelled, the rest just moved to next week, so ive come off lightly. I feel sorry for those who did poorly with assessments and were counting on a good show in the exam to get a pass mark - it looks like most of them will be getting an fail mark for the course now.

I know quite a few engineering students, and its disapointing how many arent really passionate about it, just in it for a good paying job. If you do well in your degree and are passionate about the field, youve gotta be valuable for someone.

Students who were already enroled at the time of the feb quake were given the option to go on exchange to other NZ (& 1 Australian) universities for a semester and come back to Canterbury to do the rest of their degree. I think this option avoiding most of the tedium of cross crediting procedures. If we keep getting this rock and roll then maybe they might offer this again next year - sounds like it would suit you

mattRSK

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#481668 15-Jun-2011 23:30

nickb800: I cant speak for other universities, but about Canterbury:

Awesome uni with a great campus, cant beat it on a good day but...

Stay away! Until the quakes have decreased to background levels. At the moment it is very very $hit being at canterbury. Cant blame the uni itself, just ruaumoko, but its a cr@p end to a $hit semester. I wouldnt wish it upon anyone.

+1

It has been terrible.

ScottStevensNZ

245 posts

Master Geek

#481883 16-Jun-2011 14:40

Jaxson:
timmmay: Massey in Palmerston North is pretty good. It's a student down, and living costs are reasonable compared with Wellington or Auckland. I have no idea how the degrees are now, but it got me started.

Really a degree gets you the theory, but you have no practical skills straight out of uni. Your attitude and experience you pick up along the way is more useful than the degree. It makes no difference at all where you get your degree IMHO.
+1

I like to think of it like a key to unlock some opportunities. You will be considered for some jobs you maybe wouldn't have without the degree. Lots of people have degrees though so you need something else to get the job. Make sure you get as much practical experience somewhere, even working for free, whilst you are doing your studies.

You can't rely on a degree alone to either a) teach you really practical stuff or b) get you a job. Often the degree is theory overload and the polytech grad is far more useful/practical/capable than you.

So really it's up to you to do the hard yards, not so much where you choose to do it. All IMHO too.

+1 Your degree is your meal ticket to your first, and maybe your second job - after that its all about the experience - what you've worked on and what environments you've worked in. Ups to massey though, I did my undergrad and postgrad there and graduated in 2001. Palmy gets knocked but its cheap and the campus is nice - its also where aid will fly out from if Welly gets hit by the big one lol :)

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Ragnor

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#481894 16-Jun-2011 14:59

reven: i did a BSc in Computer Science in 2001 to 2005 at University of Auckland. really good courses (stage/year 2 was a bit meh, rest was good). Took me six months to find a job (been at same job for 5 years now), but thats just because straight out of uni, hardly anyone will higher you (well for programmer, if you dont mind doing QA you will find a job easy (i hate QA)).

so I recommend UofA CompSci or theres Software Engineering up here as well, pretty similar really.

also you can do a conjoint in InfoSys and get BCom as well (InfoSys is mostly database stuff and routers/networking).

Similar story for me I did a BCom (Infosys) about 7 years ago at Auckland Uni. Pretty much straight out of Uni I got a good job paying 50k and onwards and upwards since then.

BCom(Infosys) or BSci (CompSci) or conjoint (both) are all good options.

We are hiring a junior developer for our team at the moment and the quality applying so far is quite sad.

We always look for what we call "full stack" programmers and they are hard to find, a degree like the above (if you choose papers wisely) will give you a good rounded skill set and most importantly teach you to self learn.

Explanation of "full stack programmer":

http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/the-full-stack-part-i/461505383919
http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/tag/full-stack-programmer
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch08_Get_Well_Rounded_Individuals.php