How is MSc in Computer Science (not Advanced Computing)?

I am in Advanced Computing, but many of my friends are in MSc CS.

There is no possibility of switching. The course lists are totally different, so if you start in MSc CS, you won't have enough time to finish all the courses required for graduating from AC.

If you already have years of programming experience MSc CS is not for you. It's for people with little or no programming experience.

MSc AC is technically for CS students, but that is actually not a requirement. I know because I didn't do an undergrad in CS either, and I am doing AC now.

It's quite difficult (not impossible), though, if you have knowledge gaps (for example, mine is in more advanced logic, which I have never seen before).

Another option is the specialism program. It's more advanced than MSc CS, but not quite as difficult as AC, because you are allowed to take more 300 courses (in AC we are only allowed up to 2, and all other courses must be 400 or 500). It's much more popular than AC, which is tiny. Our year has 150 people (across all the CS master's courses), and only 12 are in AC.

Reply 5

Some people do get into PhD from MSc CS, but I would say it's probably not the best preparation for PhD.

It's really designed for people who want to learn some CS to apply it in their own field, and not stay in pure CS.

Don't worry about prestige. No one cares about that 2 years after you graduate, but the knowledge you get is staying with you for life.

And no, it's definitely not easy to get into, if that worries you for some reason. They told us they had 1700 applicants this year across all the CS master's, and admitted about 150.

Reply 6

Original post by ihavemooedtoday

I am in Advanced Computing, but many of my friends are in MSc CS.

There is no possibility of switching. The course lists are totally different, so if you start in MSc CS, you won't have enough time to finish all the courses required for graduating from AC.

If you already have years of programming experience MSc CS is not for you. It's for people with little or no programming experience.

MSc AC is technically for CS students, but that is actually not a requirement. I know because I didn't do an undergrad in CS either, and I am doing AC now.

It's quite difficult (not impossible), though, if you have knowledge gaps (for example, mine is in more advanced logic, which I have never seen before).

Another option is the specialism program. It's more advanced than MSc CS, but not quite as difficult as AC, because you are allowed to take more 300 courses (in AC we are only allowed up to 2, and all other courses must be 400 or 500). It's much more popular than AC, which is tiny. Our year has 150 people (across all the CS master's courses), and only 12 are in AC.

Hi! I've been reading some discouraging comments about Imperial but it was pretty much coming from undergrads (and oddly enough mostly from aeronautical engineering) so I'm not sure how much of that would apply to computing MSc's. I have an offer for the Secure Software Systems specialization and I was wondering if you had some more input about the classes in terms of workload (for someone with a BSc in CS), lectures, how happy the students seem to be with the courses overall etc. Basically everyone keeps saying you get really busy, but does that mean like absolutely no free time during weekdays?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 7

Original post by Exci

Hi! I've been reading some discouraging comments about Imperial but it was pretty much coming from undergrads (and oddly enough mostly from aeronautical engineering) so I'm not sure how much of that would apply to computing MSc's. I have an offer for the Secure Software Systems specialization and I was wondering if you had some more input about the classes in terms of workload (for someone with a BSc in CS), lectures, how happy the students seem to be with the courses overall etc. Basically everyone keeps saying you get really busy, but does that mean like absolutely no free time during weekdays?

Well, if you tell me what those comments are I can tell you what I think about them :smile:

.

The workload depends on who you ask. I am a member of 6 societies, and generally spend a few hours every week at their meetings, etc, so no, I definitely do do things outside of classes. However, I also know a few people who are struggling and are basically studying all day. They are definitely the minority, though. Imperial computing MSc has pretty high admission standards, so most people who got in are pretty good.

So it depends entirely on how comfortable with that stuff. It's definitely not an easy course by any stretch of imagination, but if you are comfortable with the material and learn pretty fast, it's not THAT bad.

Lecturers are generally very good. We are just finishing up on all courses now. I've had 9 lecturers I believe, and only one of them I would not say is good (I got good grades in that course, but didn't feel like I actually learned much). Again, they are not easy courses, so there will always people who complain because they don't do well, but that's just human psychology. We never want to place blame on ourselves. In general the lecturers know what they are talking about, are enthusiastic, and are pretty good at explaining things.

For specialist instead of AC, you'll be taking more 300 courses, and those typically have larger class sizes. The 2 300 courses I took weren't too bad, though (machine learning and computer vision).

I am not too familiar with the Secure Software Systems specialization, but I'm taking a course on cryptography, and I know the lecturer also teaches the web security course. He is pretty good.

For me, the best thing about Imperial is getting to meet all those amazing people. Most of us are within top 1-2% at our undergrad universities, so we all have very interesting stories to tell, and interesting projects we have worked on, or interesting jobs we've had, etc. Most people have some work experience.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 8

This thread from last year has the bulk of the depressing posts I've found on studentroom. As I said though, different courses, different level. But then again if master courses are supposed to be a lot more intense than undergrads, 24/7 shouldn't be enough :rolleyes:

I understand of course it's impossible to give an opinion that matches everyone's, I'm just trying to understand the workload level that people in the uk would usually characterize as "intense studies". I'm from Greece and I can tell you the threshold is quite low before people say their degree is hard. :smile:

Reply 9

Original post by Exci

This thread from last year has the bulk of the depressing posts I've found on studentroom. As I said though, different courses, different level. But then again if master courses are supposed to be a lot more intense than undergrads, 24/7 shouldn't be enough :rolleyes:

I would say almost all my friends are happy with the course in general, but of course, there is selection bias. We don't choose our friends randomly.

I understand of course it's impossible to give an opinion that matches everyone's, I'm just trying to understand the workload level that people in the uk would usually characterize as "intense studies". I'm from Greece and I can tell you the threshold is quite low before people say their degree is hard. :smile:

I don't know what the threshold is in Greece, but I am from Canada (did my electrical engineering degree there), and I would say the MSc Advanced Computing course (which I believe is a little more intense than specialist) is slightly less intense.

That said, EE is among the most intensive courses in Canada, usually ranked above CS (in terms of workload).

Reply 10

Original post by ihavemooedtoday

I would say almost all my friends are happy with the course in general, but of course, there is selection bias. We don't choose our friends randomly.

I don't know what the threshold is in Greece, but I am from Canada (did my electrical engineering degree there), and I would say the MSc Advanced Computing course (which I believe is a little more intense than specialist) is slightly less intense.

That said, EE is among the most intensive courses in Canada, usually ranked above CS (in terms of workload).

I see. I wonder if there's statistics about people dropping out or failing computing masters :colondollar:

I just spoke with a friend from the UK and he said usually masters at top universities are almost 3 years of undergrad workload stuffed together. For real? :eek:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

Original post by Exci

I see. I wonder if there's statistics about people dropping out or failing computing masters :colondollar:

I just spoke with a friend from the UK and he said usually masters at top universities are almost 3 years of undergrad workload stuffed together. For real? :eek:

They did give us some statistics verbally in the introductory talk, but I don't remember most of the details. I know 1 person failed Advanced Computing last year (I don't know how many people they had last year, but this year we have 12). He decided to do a startup during the degree, and spent too much time on that. He failed the course AND the startup :P. It's definitely less than 10%. Probably way less.

If they say Master's is equivalent to 3 years of undergrad, they have incredibly easy undergrad! I'm pretty sure my workload was heavier than that in elementary school.

Reply 12

Have you taken any half courses by the way? I wonder if they're regulated well enough or if they end up being like 70% of a whole course.

//also, general question. On each course it mentions something like "This is a level 7/M course" or "This is a level 6/H course". What exactly does this mean?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 13

Original post by Exci

Have you taken any half courses by the way? I wonder if they're regulated well enough or if they end up being like 70% of a whole course.

I didn't take any half course, but from what I heard, they are a little more than 50% the workload of a full course.

That said, the Independent Study Option (an option in second term) is usually much higher workload than a full course it replaces, but I highly recommend it. Most people taking that option like it.

//also, general question. On each course it mentions something like "This is a level 7/M course" or "This is a level 6/H course". What exactly does this mean?

I have no idea actually. Maybe 300 and 400 courses? 300 courses are designed for third year undergrads, and are usually broader and shallower, whereas 400 courses are usually narrower and deeper.

Reply 14

Original post by ihavemooedtoday

That said, the Independent Study Option (an option in second term) is usually much higher workload than a full course it replaces, but I highly recommend it. Most people taking that option like it.

Could this ISO serve as an intro/prelude to your final project? I assume this might be a good way to both pass a class and save some time for the project

Reply 15

Original post by Exci

Could this ISO serve as an intro/prelude to your final project? I assume this might be a good way to both pass a class and save some time for the project

Yes, and quite a few people do that.

Though if you do that, they will expect your final project to be larger in scope, so the amount of work you do excluding the ISO should be the same as what someone else would do without the ISO. Content from the ISO can be incorporated into the final thesis (and it's encouraged), but you'll have to cite yourself to avoid plagiarism, since otherwise you would be submitting the same work for credit twice.

In many cases people use the ISO to do essentially a literature review. Basically learn all the state of art techniques, etc, in the field they are planning to do their final project on.

And then for the final project they either apply it to their problem, or maybe improve on those techniques before applying.

Reply 16

amansharma20

1

Original post by ihavemooedtoday

I am in Advanced Computing, but many of my friends are in MSc CS.

There is no possibility of switching. The course lists are totally different, so if you start in MSc CS, you won't have enough time to finish all the courses required for graduating from AC.

If you already have years of programming experience MSc CS is not for you. It's for people with little or no programming experience.

MSc AC is technically for CS students, but that is actually not a requirement. I know because I didn't do an undergrad in CS either, and I am doing AC now.

It's quite difficult (not impossible), though, if you have knowledge gaps (for example, mine is in more advanced logic, which I have never seen before).

Another option is the specialism program. It's more advanced than MSc CS, but not quite as difficult as AC, because you are allowed to take more 300 courses (in AC we are only allowed up to 2, and all other courses must be 400 or 500). It's much more popular than AC, which is tiny. Our year has 150 people (across all the CS master's courses), and only 12 are in AC.

What was your undergrad based on? And did you have any work experience?
Also, are people in specialism courses from CS or related (electrical, electronics, maths, etc) branch too? Or does it accept people for branches like Material Science? For example, I have a bachelors in Material Science but I have been involved in CS project only. What would you suggest for me?

Reply 17