Can I apply to 2-3 different courses?

Hi guys i am interested in computer science, software engineering or creative computing (maybe just soft eng and creative comp). The thing is I want to try and apply to a mixture of these courses so all of my options are from higher ranking unis.

Can I do this as they are all quite similar, if so, how could I reflect it properly on my personal statement?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Software engineering degrees are normally just CS degrees with some pre-selected optional modules. If you look at many universities software engineering vs CS courses you'll see they're almost identical. Don't get hung up on semantics. You can apply to a mix of both with the same PS without any issues. Creative computing is a very different kind of degree normally, and offered by quite different universities. A PS tailored to creative computing may be less suitable for more general software engineering and CS degrees.

I'd also note that the "higher ranking" universities usually focus on areas quite different than degrees in creative computing do, and you might find it hard to write a relevant PS for those kinds of universities. Place like Imperial, Oxbridge, Edinburgh and similar often focus much more on the theoretical and mathematical underpinnings of the subject.

Reply 2

blluefish

Original post by Clivierx

Creative computing is a much “softer” subject than CS or Software Engineering - it includes modules like digital design, visualising methods, Ethics of Computing etc, and it is more about creating digital artefacts, and not about Maths or software development.
Computer Science in top universities is mostly Maths in first year, and then they study the theoretical side of Computing and learn different programming languages. You do not get this in Creative Computung.
You need to look at the relevant courses at several universities and compare side by side which modules they include in their course content, to truly understand what you are getting yourself into. They all publish the modules required in each year of study.

For PS, if you have done reading/courses/projects in all those areas, you can just structure your PS to write a paragraph about your experience for each of those areas (Creative Computing, Computer Science, Software Engineering).
In the conclusion, you would have to say what you are planning to achieve with the degree, amd this part can be tricky when applying for different courses.