Course change; Electronic Eng to IT

Hi Guys

I'm Currently in my first year studying Electronic Engineering at Reading Uni.
I quite enjoyed the course for the 1st term but now the maths side of the course as increased an enormous amount and i'm finding it harder and harder to keep up. Its got to the point that i am seriously worried about failing.

I have also found my self becoming more interested in the computer application and software engineering side of things which has made me think about switching to Information Technology (IT).

My questions are these; is it likely that i will have to pass this year to switch degrees in the hope of starting IT in September? Are Universities in general quite accommodating to people switching degrees this late in the year?

Thanks in Advanced

Michael

You will only get correct responses by talking to a tutor at Reading,

I have organised a tutor meeting for tomorrow, i just wanted to hear if anyone else has had any similar experiences. Thanks for the reply.

It is really impossible to comment on the specific process at your university because they all operate differently.......

However, I just made a switch from an IT based degree to a foundation year leading onto Electronic Engineering (so reverse of what you are hoping to do!). At my uni I did not need to complete the year and I'm simply taking a break from now until the new course starts in October.

It is highly unlikely you would be able to switch this year (i.e. straight into term 2 now) as they are very different courses and you will have missed too much. However, assuming you can get the agreement of the admissions tutors/course leaders for both your current and new program a switch may be possible next academic year (2012), although you would be starting at year 1 again.


You also need to get advice in regards to student finance. Most likely you will lose any further funding for this year and possibly have to repay some grant if you leave now. Also, I'm told if you take a leave of absence and return to a new course it is possible to stay on the 3k fee system, but if you withdraw completely and reapply it becomes a new period of study at 9k. It is very complex and can also depend on the policy at your university, so seek advice!

Also keep in mind that any decent Computing/IT course will still have a fair bit of technical content (i.e. programming) and still a pretty strong work load. Computer Science would be similar to Computing/IT but with mathematics modules, more programming and an even higher workload overall....... possibly not dissimilar to Engineering.

Most on this forum will tell you to do Computer Science rather than IT/ITMB/Computing..... fair point I guess as it is the more 'respected' degree, but if you really struggle with maths you will need to think carefully as Computer Science doe have a fair bit of maths involved.