MInf Informatics at Edinburgh

I had a quick search and couldn't find any recent threads concerning this degree so I thought I'd ask here.

After going to the open day on the 27th this course really caught my eye. At first I was planning to do Maths/Comp Sci. but now I'm not so sure.

Is anyone else going to apply for this course? It seems really interesting. If I heard the guy right yesterday they basically took every computer science degree, a load of maths, and combined them into this overall degree in "Informatics". He also said it was Edinburgh's most intensive computer science course.

Anyone here with experience in the degree? Also, since it's so new I'm a bit concerned about it being recognised nationally and internationally. Do employers see it for what it is? When I looked at it for the first time on their website I didn't know what it was and thought it was an information systems course. :rolleyes:

Reply 1

informatician

Anyone here with experience in the degree?
I teach on it, that do? :smile:

(Hope it's OK for me to drop in. I'm not recording names for admissions purposes, honest.)

It's a good degree course, I think. The main differences between the MInf and the other Informatics degrees are that in the extra year you get more depth in the form of a longer project, which you work on over two years, and more breadth in the form of more higher-level courses. The first two years are the same as for the other degrees. There's no more maths in the MInf than in the other Informatics degrees, but then, there is a lot of maths in all the degrees. You can see a lot of detail, e.g. full details of the requirements for each degree and in lots of cases web pages for the individual courses, by going to http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk and going in through the Taught Students link, i.e., go in as though you were already here rather than as a "prospective undergraduate". Here's the formal MInf page:
http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/08-09/dpts/SCE_FINAL/250.html

Also, since it's so new I'm a bit concerned about it being recognised nationally and internationally. Do employers see it for what it is?
It is very new, but it's been designed taking into account input from employers, and Informatics at Edinburgh has an excellent record of students going into relevant employment, so I wouldn't expect recognition to be a problem. In any case, in the end, reputation of the qualification itself is less important, in the end, than how impressive you are as a candidate: the main point of going somewhere with a good name is to get the best opportunities to become impressive. We certainly expect Edinburgh MInf graduates to be impressive :biggrin:

HTH,

Ed.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

Xeraii

Thank you very much for the reply and links, much appreciated. I wasn't sure where to look for a detailed course-breakdown.

Based upon what Stephen Gilmore was saying on Saturday, the entry requirements for School of Informatics degrees are being tightened this year (and presumably onwards) due to an unexpected increase in applicants. Will this increase also apply specifically to MInf Informatics? I assume there aren't the same volume of applicants to this course compared to the standard CompSci, AI, Linguistics and so on.

Considering I am hoping to enter direct into second year, would I be correct in estimating a conditional offer of AAA at Advanced Higher to include Mathematics? (As opposed to the current AA requirement).

Thank you for your correspondance! :top:

Reply 3

informatician

Xeraii

Based upon what Stephen Gilmore was saying on Saturday, the entry requirements for School of Informatics degrees are being tightened this year (and presumably onwards) due to an unexpected increase in applicants. Will this increase also apply specifically to MInf Informatics? I assume there aren't the same volume of applicants to this course compared to the standard CompSci, AI, Linguistics and so on.

Considering I am hoping to enter direct into second year, would I be correct in estimating a conditional offer of AAA at Advanced Higher to include Mathematics? (As opposed to the current AA requirement).

You're right that we don't (yet) have large numbers of applicants for the MInf; but it is intended to be a high-prestige, demanding course, so I'm sure we would never give lower offers for the MInf than for our other degrees. Also, although AA may be the published requirement for second year entry, in practice we look at each candidate for second year entry individually, and would normally require AAA for any second year entry. So yes, if you want to enter in second year for MInf, I'm sure you want to aim for AAA at AH. Although of course, I'm speaking purely unofficially, and it's not I who make the decisions about offers anyway. Good luck and have fun!

Ed.

MInf Informatics at Edinburgh

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