UCL Computer Science Msc

I'm about to study a Computer Science Masters at UCL next year.

I was wondering if anybody from previous years could give me any old timetables they have around and information about when holidays and exams are? Also things like how tough the workload is. Any information is good information really.

I'm trying to figure out if I can study and do a job which would be mostly evenings and weekends to help me fund my year as the student loan available to me isn't enough to cover even the fees themselves.

I've tried contacting UCL themselves but they haven't been particularly helpful thus far.

Reply 1

alleycat393

Timetables will change year on year depending on a variety of factors. Expect to be taught 20hrs a week or so and have to do extra reading on top of that. You can work part time but you have to manage your time really well and stay motivated. I'd say see how it goes for a few weeks once you start and then decide whether you can manage a job as well.

Reply 2

Incongruous

Having gone to their open day, they really don't advise people to work whilst taking this specific degree because it is very demanding.

In the open day, one of the current students there was an Imperial alumni who said that this degree was more challenging than her undergraduate degree in Physics.

Reply 3

willdubery

Original post by Incongruous

Thanks for this. I had heard it was a particularly challenging course before. If I may ask could you elaborate a little on how they said it was so challenging? Did other courses say this to you too? Did other unis say that to you too? Have you since gone on to study a Computer Science Msc elsewhere?

I did a Chemical Engineering undergraduate degree so I'm used to huge volumes of difficult work.

Maybe I'm just kidding myself though...

Reply 4

Incongruous

Original post by willdubery

Posted from TSR Mobile

I didn't really bother checking any other CompSci conversion courses because I had my eyes set on UCL.

It's more the large volume of work and learning something completely new so quickly which makes it hard.

I was particularly surprised to hear a physicist from Imperial describe it as hard since undergrad physics at Imperial apparently is one of their most demanding courses.

You can't really compare. Some people find CompSci intrinsically easier than others.

Reply 5

willdubery

Original post by Incongruous

Hmm, signs are probably saying I shouldn't do the job at the same time and just be really poor for a year instead. I think I'd be a bit arrogant to suggest I can handle a course better than someone who studied one of the most difficult courses in the country! And that's without the job too!

Dang not what I wanted to hear but probably for the best.

Thanks for your help

Reply 6

Incongruous

Posted from TSR Mobile

Well everyone is different. You never know.
Why don't you ask the course admin for advice?

Reply 7

willdubery

Original post by Incongruous

Posted from TSR Mobile

Well everyone is different. You never know.
Why don't you ask the course admin for advice?

I have done but they haven't been very helpful at all. They've given me less advice than you have. Not even told me a rough timetable, rough exam times or workload. Basically just said we advise not to get a job. I'm sure most masters' would advise that too. I was just hoping to get some concrete advice from somebody who was doing the course who could say yes or no from a more empathetic perspective.

It would help a lot because if I could work the first couple of months doing both and then quit I could comfortably save enough for the year and probably take advantage of what I assume to be the 'easy' part of the course (The first couple of months were always easiest for me). As it is I've probably got to live on around 2 grand for a year, after accomodation and fees, which isn't exactly a lot of money.

Reply 8

Incongruous

Original post by willdubery

https://timetable.ucl.ac.uk/tt/homePage.do

You might find this helpful :smile:

Do remember you also have to allocate time to study.

Also, aren't there overdrafts until a certain limit which you don't have to pay a penalty?

2K is very little.

Perhaps you should have a look at the Government Postgrad loans. That should help you up to 10k, which will cover almost all of the fees.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 9

willdubery

Original post by Incongruous

https://timetable.ucl.ac.uk/tt/homePage.do

You might find this helpful :smile:

That was helpful thank you :smile:

My course is TMSCOMSING01 so seems like it is pretty jam packed. I was kind of expecting that. Could potentially do just weekend work or some evenings but not sure if my job would allow me to cut back time. I'll have to see.

Yes I probably will end up having to get an overdraft, thanks for reminding me of that too.

Yeah I have already applied for the 10k so that shouldn't be an issue. Course is 11k though so I'll have to stump up a bit for now. I'll have managed to save up around 3k, potentially a bit more than that actually, by the time my course starts which will leave me with the 2k overall. Hopefully an overdraft will give me a bit of extra leeway too. Maybe I'm stressing over nothing. It's probably best to concentrate on the studies anyway :smile: