Computer science uni advice please....

Hi all, I want to study computer science at one of the top unis....my academic stats are as follows:

GCSE - 4A*, 6A, 2B

AS levels - ABBB (Electronics, Maths, Physics, Computing)

I'm doing A2 atm and dropped electronics....im resitting 1 module from each other 3 subjects to make my total AS grade A since i was only slightly off an A in all those subjects.....i was 2 UMS marks off an A in maths for example......I have also picked up critical thinking......

Additionally I have decided (confirmed with heads of years and maths department obviously) to do further maths modules D1, D2, FP1 and S2 on my own and will sit for 2 of those modules in January (more if possible).....I have already finished D1 as of now in 1 week...atm i'm starting D2......

Now, I am predicted A in all my subjects and in computing A* i think but if i talk to my teachers im pretty sure i will get A* predicted for maths atleast......

In AS I was a lazy bum and thus the grades....but now im a much more dedicated to studies since these couple years will be the most important to build a successful career and thats why I will try to get all A* at the end of A2 or atleast 1 A* and 2 A......

As far as my programming goes I've learnt VB and a bit of C# but im only continuing with VB as of now to get good grips with programming concepts and such....to practice, so far I've built a pong game, tic tac toe, permutations and combinations calculator and currently working on a simplex algorithm solver program......all the code for those programs has been entirely written by me so if by any chance uni interviews me on that I can explain them how it works in great amount of details and maybe write programs of certain level of difficulty in front of them if they wish.....

Can I please get suggestions for 5 uni options? Im hoping to get in top unis as i said b4 but my AS grades may not allow me....

I was thinking:
Oxford
UCL
Warrick
Southampton
Bath (not sure)

I know those options are VERY risky but.....need suggestions please....I just want to get to the interview stage after that Im okay.....

Reply 1

Dartoxian

[QUOTE=
KrazyKro]In AS I was a lazy bum and thus the grades....but now im a much more dedicated to studies since these couple years will be the most important to build a successful career and thats why I will try to get all A* at the end of A2 or atleast 1 A* and 2 A......

With your AS grades you really need to get that point across when it comes to your PS when looking at those unis (Oxford particuarly). With regards to your programming, hey you learnt vb. Good on you lalalala. However i wouldn't hang too much on that point since VB is sorta frowned upon. I myself use vb as my favourite language, but i'm sure you'll agree, it does seem a little easy?

Then again anything that shows passion for your subject like that little portfolio of yours there will go down well. With regards to writing programs for them, i was only asked to do this once in one of my oxford interviewsa, and it was really not something you can practice. i was asked a simple bit of pseudocode to write and rather than complexity they prefered simplicity and efficientcy.

With your AS grades and predicted grades i imagine Southampton,Warrick and Bath shouldn't be too hard. Don't know about UCL, and of course with oxford it pretty much comes down to the interview. So if you can show you can do the maths in the admissions test and can get an interview, it becomes more about passion i think. Application deadline is soon though...

Reply 2

avaas

m8 i had BBCC(maths,religious studies, computing and physics) i t dropped physics. my b's were high and so were the c's. i was predicted AAB , in august i manged to achive AAB. i applied to aston , birmingham (cos theyre local), warwick , kcl and ucl . i manged to get 5 conditonal offers, cos my predictions were realy good , a top ps and reference and in my ucl interview i was talking to the lady it was a 20 min interview and i went on for 40 mins.

ucl are increasing their offer to AAA-AAB so i think youll be able to get in to the rest at least an offer not sure about oxford, best thing is jus research online on 1st yr computing moduels like the computational theories, informatics , discrete maths etc, and ull be fine , best of luck.

so now im starting warwick in oct :smile:

Reply 3

MGT_90

I'd go for Cambridge over Oxford for CompSci. Consider Imperial too.

I know it's ambitious, but Warwick isn't exactly an easy place to get into either, so you might as well aim for other top institutions.

I'd also take Dartoxian's pointer on VB. If you can start picking up some stuff like C, C++, Java, Python, or maybe even stuff like Scheme or Haskell, that'll look a lot more impressive than VB. Plus, it'll hold you in good stead for when you want to get a Software Development job. Last time I looked, industry wasn't clamoring for VB. PHP on the other hand...

Focus in your PS and on your interview about your existing skills and independent study. Also, if you haven't already, read. A lot. If you start reading K&R, mention it.

Also, anything quantitative will help, even if it's not directly related to CompSci. As for grades, I actually think a top grade in Maths and Physics will do you better than Computing. They don't expect you to know half a dozen languages when starting, but they do expect mathematical proficiency. Maths and Physics stretch you numerically more than Computing, and an excellent grade in them should get you on-target.

Reply 4

KrazyKro

thanks for the replys guys.....yea VB isnt that impressive but the idea was to just familiarize myself with programming concepts and be able to implement programs that needs good amount of thinking and maths in it and thats why I started with VB but obviously my main goal is C++......if I know programming than learning the new syntax of any language is not hard at all its just the algorithms and how I go about implementing a program.......wanted to get a bit of practice.....

Cambridge is far away from my league since they dont allow resits I think so my chance in there is pretty much 0%.......

I know bout the entry exam but what is the typical content in it? and whats the official name for the exam is ti the STEP exam? im gonna submit my UCAS application to school this friday I hope the deadline is after that? (was told it was at the end of this month)

Computer science uni advice please....

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