computer science final year project due march, havent started yet, advice please!!

Hi all,

As title suggests, I am in my final year and have my final year CS project due in March. My project idea is meant to be sort of straight forward, a web app for managing stock (as in inventory). My proposed stack was PHP and MySQL, obviously the front end tech would be involved as well.

My problem is that I have been having a tough time at uni lately. I pretty much had a mental breakdown last month and have spent the last few weeks shut down instead of working on my project, now I have shot myself in the foot for not starting until now.

I am extremely anxious that I am going to screw up my whole degreee by not completing on time, or submitting something low quality. I would say I am a decent programmer but have not much experience with any web development, and this project will be the biggest project I have written.

Today, I have about 3 months until due date, so realistically that is about 2.5 months development time. Can anyone give me some much needed advice, is this doable? Has anyone been in a similar situation? Please help!!

Reply 1

xBlueCrystalx

Original post by hs22ach

Hi,
I am also in my final year of CS. I'm studying at Aston Uni. I was in a similar situation as you and was held back because of my mental health.
I don't know how it works at your university, but at ours, there's a supervisor for every project that we meet up with regularly to make sure we're on track. I got the courage to contact the uni and my supervisor, and they gave me other options that I could do, such as extending the deadline or coming back next year to complete my project. I don't know how severe your case is or whether you have a supervisor, but if your mental health is affecting you badly, then do contact someone at the university because there are more options out there than you think.
I ended up declining the options they gave me because I wanted to get my degree over and done with. Instead, my supervisor and I have built weekly goals to complete without overworking myself. And I also go to counselling sessions at the uni to manage my anxiety. For my project, we have to also complete a report and do a presentation in April, so this is my schedule so far:

•

Last week: Requirements analysis and write up that section of the report.

•

This week: Design phase and write the design section of the report.

•

Next week: Start coding and build 'Must' requirements of requirements analysis.

•

Week after: Build 'Should' requirements.

By the end of January or early February, I will have an MVP (minimum viable product) for my project and keep that as a backup in case my fully developed project fails. Until March, I will do the 'Could' and other requirements to build my app fully and complete as much testing as possible. My project is due at the end of April, so that is when I will complete my report and prepare for my presentation.

Don't feel like you have already failed or let yourself down. There are many ups and downs in uni, especially during final year. If your project is due on March 18th and you set yourself weekly tasks from today onwards, then you have 12-13 weeks to build a good project. I recommend first doing your requirements analysis to know what is essential and make an MVP as a backup. Then, build on your MVP to make a completed app. Don't be anxious about not doing anything earlier this year because that has already been done, and you can't change it. Just put all your effort and thought into getting organised and what you will build.

Good luck, and take care of yourself! 😁