Best Uni Courses

[Rakk]

And I don't know cos it's ages since I went to uni, and even then I didn't do computer science (I don't think there was a games developer course at that point - certainly not where I went anyway), I did maths, but now work as a software developer

it will probably cost about £80,000 a year

I hope that was a mistype!!

 

[Corfate]

Rakk, it would seem you are a genius.. I respect people who can do maths after GCSE, i struggled at that level, but i scraped through

Yeah Wozza, any reliable links?

 

[Wozza63]

reliable links for what?

and i was sort of joking but at this rate Rakk it sounds quite likely :/

 

[Frenchy]

Calm down Wozza, im here now lol

Um ok id say computer science course will put you in a great position for most jobs as a junior programmer in any major company, be it, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc. Courses these days teach object oriented programming with some delving into subjects like multi agent systems, artificial intelligence, game design, animation etc. Each course will as others have said cover slightly different areas although I honestly wouldn't worry too much about the specifics of modules. If you are interested in learning to program whether games or business software developer then any computer science course from respected unis will be great.

I have been to both Southampton university and Aston University, and while I did Aeronautical Engineering at Southampton I know their computer science department is very good. Aston however id say has a less prestigeous computer science course however they do have the best graduate employability record outside of London, which tbh is extremely impressive. I cant remember the exact percentage but Aston try and get as many of their 3rd year students to do a placement, something I would highly recommend, it will place you in a much better position come graduation having already got a year of technical experience under the belt.

As for game dev and game dev courses, I did straight CS and am doing fine in game dev areas, however there is a difference between the two, game dev course will teach you a lot about game design, game architecture etc, not something that is specifically taught on a straight CS course. One thing I would say though, if you study hard and come out with a good grade from a CS course you will have no problem learning game dev architectures simply reading about them, they really aren't all that different from learning new design paterns of standard software.

I would also add that no matter whether you have a degree in CS or in game dev, big game dev companies will not take you on as a graduate, simply put you won't have enough experience in the field for them to risk taking you on. You will almost certainly start at a small game dev company and once you gain experience will work your way towards larger companies. I can also honestly say I don't think you would gain much if any of an advantage by doing a game dev course in terms of getting a job if you are someone, who like me, enjoys reading around the subject and enjoys learning.

Go for whatever course attracts you the most, read a bit about the different unis and their standings, try to go for the best you can and I would say if the uni system is stuill the same (apply to 6) then make sure you do apply to all 6 and apply to one thats above what you think is possible. I applied for Univeristy of Southampton MEng Aeronautical Engineering which when I applied needed AAA at A-Level, I got an A in Maths B in Further Maths and C in Physics, but they still took me on because they saw I was more than capable of doing their course. Also don't be put off by the fees, if you find a uni you like, no matter what the fees, go for it, if you study hard those fees will be insignificant within 10 years time.

 

[liamnic2]

Calm down Wozza, im here now lol

Um ok id say computer science course will put you in a great position for most jobs as a junior programmer in any major company, be it, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc. Courses these days teach object oriented programming with some delving into subjects like multi agent systems, artificial intelligence, game design, animation etc. Each course will as others have said cover slightly different areas although I honestly wouldn't worry too much about the specifics of modules. If you are interested in learning to program whether games or business software developer then any computer science course from respected unis will be great.

I have been to both Southampton university and Aston University, and while I did Aeronautical Engineering at Southampton I know their computer science department is very good. Aston however id say has a less prestigeous computer science course however they do have the best graduate employability record outside of London, which tbh is extremely impressive. I cant remember the exact percentage but Aston try and get as many of their 3rd year students to do a placement, something I would highly recommend, it will place you in a much better position come graduation having already got a year of technical experience under the belt.

As for game dev and game dev courses, I did straight CS and am doing fine in game dev areas, however there is a difference between the two, game dev course will teach you a lot about game design, game architecture etc, not something that is specifically taught on a straight CS course. One thing I would say though, if you study hard and come out with a good grade from a CS course you will have no problem learning game dev architectures simply reading about them, they really aren't all that different from learning new design paterns of standard software.

I would also add that no matter whether you have a degree in CS or in game dev, big game dev companies will not take you on as a graduate, simply put you won't have enough experience in the field for them to risk taking you on. You will almost certainly start at a small game dev company and once you gain experience will work your way towards larger companies. I can also honestly say I don't think you would gain much if any of an advantage by doing a game dev course in terms of getting a job if you are someone, who like me, enjoys reading around the subject and enjoys learning.

Go for whatever course attracts you the most, read a bit about the different unis and their standings, try to go for the best you can and I would say if the uni system is stuill the same (apply to 6) then make sure you do apply to all 6 and apply to one thats above what you think is possible. I applied for Univeristy of Southampton MEng Aeronautical Engineering which when I applied needed AAA at A-Level, I got an A in Maths B in Further Maths and C in Physics, but they still took me on because they saw I was more than capable of doing their course. Also don't be put off by the fees, if you find a uni you like, no matter what the fees, go for it, if you study hard those fees will be insignificant within 10 years time.

Thanks for the well detailed comment, great info. + rep

 

[MadMan]

yh I'm in my first year in computer science at coventry and we are currently learning c++ and should be programming a game soon. Just make sure you do a lot of research and are 100% sure on what you finally pick.

 

[TheKeir]

Computer Science is normally what you take at Uni for programming if I recall correctly (someone correct me if i'm wrong), but it's a general course not game specific.

Yep, the best course to do at uni if you want to get into programming is definitely Computer Science. All games companies recommend it.

 

[luksla]

A year ago when I started College I wanted to be a games developer and when researching jobs for it they all seemed to require a Bachelors in Computer Science or equivalent degree and when getting advice it seemed most of my teachers and uni lecturers (both computer science and other subjects) recommended Computer Science so I went for that. Hope this helps you with your choice.

 

[DanteWilhelm]

Well, people here, whoever can remember, Frenchy I remember you commenting on my thread that I posted called ''IT Qualifications'' or something similar and I spoke of me doing an apprenticeship.


Well at this moment in time I would have to vote for Uni and other ways of being qualified and have to say avoid an apprenticeship.


Mine was supposed to start January 9th or whenever that Monday was and it hasn't! Good old government, not 100% sure what's happening. Really don't want to have be indebted, what chance of there is a job for me if I do computer science at university?

And I suck at maths so I don't even see myself being able to do it

 

[Frenchy]

Well, people here, whoever can remember, Frenchy I remember you commenting on my thread that I posted called ''IT Qualifications'' or something similar and I spoke of me doing an apprenticeship.


Well at this moment in time I would have to vote for Uni and other ways of being qualified and have to say avoid an apprenticeship.


Mine was supposed to start January 9th or whenever that Monday was and it hasn't! Good old government, not 100% sure what's happening. Really don't want to have be indebted, what chance of there is a job for me if I do computer science at university?

And I suck at maths so I don't even see myself being able to do it

Sorry to hear that your apprenticeship hasn't gone ahead as planned. I wouldn't discourage others though from doing them as they are a very good alternative to university as university really isnt suitable for everyone. I unfrotunately think that university is pushed on way too many people who just aren't suited to that form of education.

Not really sure I could say how easy it would be to get a job with a CS degree, it depends on lots of things really, how hard you work at it, how well you do, how passionate you are about it amoungst other things. One thing is for certain though, there will always be an increasing demand for talented computer scientists.

Sucking at maths isnt all that bad tbh, as long as you can understand the logic behind decisions, and basic maths youll have a good grounding for CS. As you do more and more you will start to pick up the maths and although ull probably have to work harder than someone who understands maths really well its deffinately doable.

For anyone interested in improving maths / programming I suggest looking at project euler (search for it on google), its a series of questions (300+) of varying difficulty, and the aim is to answer as many as possible (without l;ooking at google). Once the problem is answered you get access to other peoples solutions which again improves your understanding.

Another great thing (for more advanced coders) for those wishing to improve their coding is TopCoder, really great website that has excellent competitions running all the time.

 

[TheKeir]

Computer science is what you should do even if you want to do games programming. Many games companies look for people who can do more than just one thing, which is where the more general CS comes in handy.

Just tried to put it into as few words as possible

 

[Wozza63]

if you are unsure on what to take, message a couple of game developers via their customer support see what they prefer

also send a tweet to one of the minecraft team, they seem to reply to questions a lot

 

[DanteWilhelm]

Sorry to hear that your apprenticeship hasn't gone ahead as planned. I wouldn't discourage others though from doing them as they are a very good alternative to university as university really isnt suitable for everyone. I unfrotunately think that university is pushed on way too many people who just aren't suited to that form of education.

Not really sure I could say how easy it would be to get a job with a CS degree, it depends on lots of things really, how hard you work at it, how well you do, how passionate you are about it amoungst other things. One thing is for certain though, there will always be an increasing demand for talented computer scientists.

Sucking at maths isnt all that bad tbh, as long as you can understand the logic behind decisions, and basic maths youll have a good grounding for CS. As you do more and more you will start to pick up the maths and although ull probably have to work harder than someone who understands maths really well its deffinately doable.

For anyone interested in improving maths / programming I suggest looking at project euler (search for it on google), its a series of questions (300+) of varying difficulty, and the aim is to answer as many as possible (without l;ooking at google). Once the problem is answered you get access to other peoples solutions which again improves your understanding.

Another great thing (for more advanced coders) for those wishing to improve their coding is TopCoder, really great website that has excellent competitions running all the time.

cool, cheers man!

yeh it sucks but nothing I can do about it, I haven't been told much, maybe I'm not being told the truth as the letter I received was very vague.

From what I understand I'll have to do the on the job training first, as opposed to first going down to the training facility then applying those techniques and my knowledge into a work based environment, makes so much sense. Now, if this course goes ahead I will have to do it **** about face so to speak!


My other presumption is that they are waiting on the government review, and that the course's start date has been postponed because perhaps the government feel that it's not worth funding, who knows. Can't find any info online about how the government is changing apprenticeships and how they work, something to do with needing an employer before you start, hence doing on the job training first.

 

[Frenchy]

Thing is any day on the job is a gd day, no matter if ur trained or not at the begining, experience allows you to build ur confidence, something especially useful when your gonna be working in small close agile dev teams. Whether they do some education first or straight on the job, its all great valuable experience.

 

[DanteWilhelm]

Thing is any day on the job is a gd day, no matter if ur trained or not at the begining, experience allows you to build ur confidence, something especially useful when your gonna be working in small close agile dev teams. Whether they do some education first or straight on the job, its all great valuable experience.

True words! There's 2 sides to the coin, I think to myself, why has it changed if that was how it was and how it worked in the first place, makes no sense to do it back to front, but maybe it's being done back to front because it WASN'T working.

Either way I'm a little dubious about being in the workplace not knowing much but like you said, it's all valuable experience. It just needs to begin.