MSc Computer Science

ekarrol

Hi, is anyone here going to study MSc Computer Science (FT) in Sept 2013?

Reply 1

man247

Original post by ekarrol

Hi, is anyone here going to study MSc Computer Science (FT) in Sept 2013?

Hey. I'm probably going to in Sept 2014. Starting this year isn't a good option for me at this point. What are your intentions? My undergrad is in maths and I'm considering a conversion MSc in CS but may do a specialist one instead. I'm hoping to get some funding but it seems like not much is available.

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Reply 2

Nathan2255

Original post by man247

Hey man247, where did you do your undergrad and where were you thinking of applying for the MSc? I ask as I'm going into my 4th year of my maths degree and was considering a conversion MSc in CS after I graduate. Been looking on TSR for a while now trying to get some advice on this, looks like you might be in the same boat.

Reply 3

man247

Original post by Nathan2255

Hi

Yes it looks like we are in the same boat :smile:

. I graduated from St Andrews but I'm really not sure where to go for an MSc at this point, maybe UCL or Imperial, don't know yet. Where are you studying? Because you are doing a maths degree it might be that you could start a non-conversion course as many MSc courses in CS don't demand a BSc in CS, but it depends on things like what your interests are.

see: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=43318900&highlight=

I'm interested in studying AI topics, do you have a specific interest? I guess the more specific we can be in our interests, the easier it'll be to choose an MSc (if you decide to go for a CS MSc). If you know you are definitely interested in CS before you graduate then that is amazing because I took a while to figure out my interests.

Reply 4

Nathan2255

Original post by man247

Hi

Yes it looks like we are in the same boat :smile:

Well as unlikely as it is, I'm currently at St Andrews doing a maths BSc, and so far the UCL conversion masters seems the most appealing personally to me. How long ago did you leave St Andrews? Well going into my last year we have got a few talks from accountacy, actuary and banking firms and that has made it pretty clear to me that I don't want to move into that after my degree. I was always interested in Comp Sci in school and it was a toss up between that or maths for my first degree, so this seemed the way to go. As for interests im not entirely sure, which is partially why a more general conversion course might be better suited to me. Internet security and networks in general have always interested me though.

Thank you for that link as well, it was very helpful. It looks like there are a fair few maths graduates considering this type of post grad.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

man247

Original post by Nathan2255

Well as unlikely as it is, I'm currently at St Andrews doing a maths BSc, and so far the UCL conversion masters seems the most appealing personally to me. How long ago did you leave St Andrews?.

No way, it often feels like a smallworld! I graduated two years ago and have many good (and bad lol)memories from my time there. Unfortunately I never had theopportunity to study CS at school and didn't find out my interest init until after I left St A. When I was in St A people were saying“become an investment banker” and many were going into thefinance sector, I even did the financial maths module which Idisliked; I find anything to do with finance boring so I totally hearyou on that one. I agree that if you're not interested in finance,don't do it; instead find what interests you the most, and build uponthat, because then you're be more motivated. Maths is so heavilyrelated to CS that you should have no problem switching to it, andemployment prospects are good. I recommend honing your interests inthe mean time, resources which may be of help:

www.coursera.org
www.codecademy.com/
www.udacity.com/courses

if you happened to get specificallyinterested in, say, security related CS then you never know, theremight be an MSc in that, it seems like there are quite a few MScwhich start from scratch on some topics so you don't necessarily haveto have a CS BSc. Some courses are practically like conversioncourses even though they don't use the word conversion and focus ondifferent topics. You can always go for a conversion course anyway asthat might be what suits you best, I may also go down that road, andUCL would definitely be a solid option for that.

It might be helpful to ask computerscientists for advice, for example the lecturer here:http://tristan.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/who did the UCL course.

I don't know if it's still an option totry some CS modules in St Andrews, but you'll probably be focused onyour final year, but you could always ask about it. Maths is a prettygood fit for computer science and if you like programming. Hope someof that was helpful :smile:

. Has anything changed with the maths department or St Andrews in the last two years? I was there briefly the other month and it seemed it's usual self...

Reply 6

Nathan2255

Hey, it hasn't changed in the time ive been here really, I still get all of my lectures in the same 70s style "Mathematical Institute" as im sure you will have done. Small world indeed as I just completed the Financial Maths course last semester which was easily one of the worst modules I've done in my time here. At least it helped me rule out working in finance in the future though if nothing else. Did you specialize in anything specific? A favourite lecturer if you have such a thing? :P I have been doing mainly pure maths modules so far.

Thank you for the links as well, I have used codeacademy before and it is really good. Some of the coursera options looked quite interesting, could be worth doing while im off for summer. Getting in touch with that lecturer in St Andrews from UCl definitely seems worthwhile. If there is anything I can help you with please let me know and I can try to help, been doing a fair bit of research into it as im sure you have. More than anything else the funding side of things seems to be the most complicated.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7

man247

I’m glad I've finally found someone who equally hates the financial side :tongue:

! I did a mixture of pure and applied initially with one sub honours module in statistics. Then I got fed up with pure and focused on applied modules later, and my dissertation I did on an applied topic. Some of the pure modules, like graph theory, would be useful in CS; although it’s so interdisciplinary you can probably find an application for all the maths types. I think I didn't get on well with group theory, and so decided to focus more on applied :biggrin:

. I also did the Fortran modules which I enjoyed. Anyway, as for favorite lecturers, I think Prof Neukirch was really good but I liked Dr Bell for his quirkiness.

Thanks for your offer for help, I'm definitely up for collaborating in our findings and thoughts; also feel free to message me at any time. The funding side of things is probably what I'm least clear on, so need to get a handle on that. I'm not sure how likely it is to get funding for an MSc but I guess it's partly dependent on how well you did in your undergrad; my impression is that there is not much funding but I could be wrong.

Reply 8

Nathan2255

I did the graph theory module last sememster, and it was probably my most enjoyable module. Much much better than finance. Im also signed up for the fortran module next year, hopefully that will be of use as well. Always been a fan of Neukirch, but Dr Bell retired last year I think. So some things have changed I guess :P.

As for the funding side of things it is almost as if it is intentionally difficult. My undergrad grades so far have been good but not outstanding, so a scholarship may be unlikely. Other than that the only slightly beneficial thing I have seen is a career development loan, but even they arent ideal. Here was a good guide to them I found actually:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/career-development-loans

Apologies if this is a repeat reply, I was having some problems with posts being approved for some reason the other night when I originally tried to respond.

Reply 9

man247

Sad to hear that Dr Bell has retired :frown:

. Good to hear you are doing the Fortran module, Dr Brookes was doing when I did it, and he is really good in my opinion. It is useful for programming, especially if you've not done any programming before. Fortran seems alot less popular than other languages but is still favoured in many places which are more scientifically orientated; still, it's probably worth learning at least the basics of a more main stream language before commencing on postgraduate study, if you don't already. I'm learning some Python at the moment, but plan to pick up Java at some point.

Either way, don't give up on your grades, if you're still in line for a first I'd say go for that, but if not then I wouldn't worry as most people won't and still try for scholarships anyway. Thanks for the link on SDL, I think they look like a good backup plan, I agree they're not ideal.

This info might be worth checking out, but may be not for Masters:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/Pages/help.aspx