Considering Computer Science at Uni?

Thank you so much @JustaSpork thats so helpful what other kind of things do that ask in interview?

Interview? Does one of the unis of your choice interview? I assumed most dont.

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I've found that most unis want an interview for this subject, Newcastle definitely does

Yeah, every single uni I applied for ended up having an interview/open day.

It was a while ago so I can't remember exact questions but it is quite standard and fairly logical:

"Why this course?"
"Why this university?"
"What part interests you the most?"
"What makes you think you'll be good?"
etc.

They'll ask about your personal statement, and then ask maybe one or two questions related to the subject, a few them asked a simple maths question (and helped you through it). It's really nothing to be worried about (although I was for my first one as I did not know what to expect (I remember looking up what all the professors were specialised in and rehearsing my answers on the train xD)).

The thing is, the interview for CS is really not a deal breaker. If you're getting an interview that means you're doing well and they are close to giving you an offer. The real purpose of the interview I came to find is much more about making you want to choose them over other unis (and it works as a tactic) rather than them deciding if they want you.

Advice for an interview for CS. or any uni based interview, is to simply talk and speak your opinion. Giving brief answers means you have to answer more questions and also gives nothing for them to work with as often it's just a conversation about your interests (and sometimes theirs). If you're really passionate about something just talk about it and enjoy it.

Personally, I found sometimes that the professor who was interviewing me was more shy than me! Being nervous is perfectly normal and they expect it, they don't want to see that you're a prodigy, they just want to see that you are interested in learning new things.

I always asked a question at the end of the interviews (and sometimes I got some really interesting answers). It's obviously optional but I think if you come up with a good question it's a quite nice for the professor to talk and a nice way to be remembered if you come back in September

Edit:

Thinking about it. If you're not going to take maths they will definitely ask you to explain that/explain how you'll cope with the course. Definitely worth thinking about the answer beforehand e.g. :

"I wasn't able to take it at school as I realised I wanted to do CS after I could swap subjects. I believe though that I am capable of keeping up with the pace of the course. During my summer holidays I have taught myself AS maths and also I have read books related to the maths in computer science("quote books here". My favourite was X book for Y reason." *continue to talk about the books/what you've learnt*

That would be a fairly generic answer I can think of. Don't lie though. I'll say it again, you really do need to like maths for CS. Don't just talk the talk and not walk the walk. You should do some studying to justify your choices.

Oh right, maybe it just the Scottish ones that don't interview. So in most cases they will not examine your programming skills I assume?

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How much mathematics is really used in Computer Science outside of the academic theory, when you get a job in technology/computing? Can you do it without maths?

Pretty much 90% of CS interviews are for marketing purposes only. They just want the very valuable information of "why is this uni better than that". Once you have the interview you are pretty much guaranteed an offer unless you are ridiculously weird or blatanly lied about everything on your PS.

Even with the latter, they don't really grill you about your PS. I 'bluffed' most of it but they had never bothered to ask me about the books and what not simply because it would have wasted too much time.

Think about it from there point of view - they have hundreds of students to interview and they have to process them within a very small time frame to get you your offers back. They are more likely to give out more offers simply because they are conditional offers. Meet the grades? Well, you're in.

I am currently studying Computer Science at uni, during the first year a lot of people changed course or dropped out because it wasn't for them (there is definitely a lack of communication about what the subject entails).



Ultimately, Computer Science is an applied form of maths, similar to engineering in that sense. If you don't enjoy maths then its unlikely you'll enjoy CS.

If you are really interested in taking the subject, have you considered waiting a year and getting Maths A level as it will really open up your options?