Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Part time computer science degree or full time?

I have an offer for computer science from City uni where I would have the opportunity to do a paid placement in my 2nd, 3rd and 4th years and attend uni one day a week. I also have an offer form Queen Mary uni but it is full time 3 years with no work palcement. City has a better employment rate but I keep thinking Queen Mary has quite a good reputation. Would I be better off going to City and doing the placement so I have the experience when I graduate? I'm thinking will I have a better chance of employment?

Reply 1

leeming

From what ive picked up... as long as u come out with a first ya should be ok. This puts focus on you and not the uni... where as if you wanted to do postgrad then i think thats when you consider the uni

Reply 2

Psyk

Well I'd have thought that doing it part time alongside a relevant job would be far better for job prospects. Because then you have a degree and 3 years experience. But that's assuming you can hack doing both at once.

Reply 3

manwood

Experience counts for a lot when you're starting out - it would probably get you your first job and quicker than a graduate from queen mary, all other things being equal. A recruiter would much rather have a graduate with the job skills that a uni course just doesn't give you. You want to make sure the job is actually going to give you those skills though - if you're going into software development, you would want to come out of the course with experience of meat on the bones development work, source control, qa cycles etc. There wouldn't be much point in taking a job where you're just making tea and looking at girls arses, though looking at arses is a good thing. Having said all of that, if QM has a better course, more closely aligned to your interests, more technical / lower level / challenging, then you should factor that into your decision. You can always demonstrate experience to a potential employer by showing them projects you have done in your own time.