Please help

Hello! I am also going to study CS however they don't expect you to know anything before hand, I think they give you a reading list before uni but other than that you don't really need to learn much. Just stay on top of work from the beginning, as if you start to fall behind at first it can impact the rest of the term. If you need any CS help I am here! If you do want to learn stuff before hand, maybe just learn / practice some coding as that is what some of the first part of the term usually is, or find some resources on the theory side like looking at A-Level theory, you can use https://student.craigndave.org/a-level-videos for some research but remember you don't have to and not expecting to unless it is in your reading list. I hope this helps

Hey, thank you for the reply.

That's the thing, I feel like university expect you to know stuff before hand. I'm afraid that when starting university I'll be extremely behind in everything and won't really understand stuff as much as everyone else.

It's as if one year of learning has gone to waste and then I'm worried that the second year will as well (For second year part of the course we do software which is coding) but I'm worried that I'm not gonna learn as much.

Surely when going into a certain university course they expect you to have a good understanding of the course and that's the thing - I feel like an A level student is learning all this complex stuff which is gonna help them whereas I'm here learning some basic **** which will result in me being extremely behind in university.

It's just really hit me these couple days and I can't help but feel depressed and stressful.

And also what's this reading list? I've never heard about it - Is it something the university provides?

Some unis provide a reading list when you get accepted, however I didn't. They are not expecting you to know anything about the course, unless in the requirements they do. The stuff I mentioned is to get a head start, so you can find it slightly more easier. You won't be behind unless you don't keep up with the work from the beggining. The don't expect you to know any CS unless they give you a reading book or mention it within the requirements. Which uni are you going to? You will do great, especially as many will not know anything about it.

I don't know which uni im going to - That's another depressing topic that's been on my mind.

I'm projected to get DDD at the end of the course but since I didn't do that well in GCSE, I can't go to any of the top/high universities.

My GCSEs were mainly 4's (one of them being maths) and like 2-3 5's, 1 B in Russian (I know it's really bad). The stress really got to me, I really thought I would do better in maths especially since I always extremely enjoyed maths and was good at it.

The thing is I live in Leeds so the only close university that's good is University Of Leeds but I know I won't get in there since their requirements are high so it's impossible for me to get in.

The only options I have left is Leeds Beckett Uni, Leeds Trinity Uni and then University of Bradford. - All of them are pretty low rankings. University of Bradford is like 65th but the other two are low

Honestly breaks my heart that I'm going have to go to a low ranking uni - My future is probably ****ed. I'll most likely end up getting a low paid job since employers will look at my uni at deny me over someone that has gone to a top uni/Russell group

Honestly things just seem to get worse

Please don't put yourself down!! Exams and education is hard in general and I'm proud you got through it so far I thought you were going to uni in september. There is nothing to worry about at all. Wait until summer to worry about reading for uni. I just about got a 5 for my maths, however a course required a 6, however they stilll let me in. The earlier you apply to a course the more likely the requirements will be lower. 65th is better than 115th, and even in those lower ranking uni's they still get good jobs. However do still apply to leads, as they could still give you a doable offer. Sussex gave me a offer of Distinction AB but it I firmed it my offer would of been Distinction BB, and I managed to get that. Uni isn't the end of progression. There are access courses too which let you get into CS if you are really bothered about getting into leeds, it would just mean an extra year as that is what a foundation course takes. There are different ways of getting around it, but first is to still apply to leads and get that offer. If it is too high, try and work as hard as possible but don't stress too hard. Counsiling really helped me with stress and stuff so I would recommend. I was predicted C's and a D* but I still exceeded it though just note taking in class and typing them up after class and it really helped. Uni isn't as strict with their guide lines with getting in too.

tl;dr apply to uni of leeds, they still might give you a good offer, and if you don't get those grades you have other methods by going though a access course.

Uni's are strange with GCSE grades, you can still probably get in!

Oh also clearning is really good, as if CS is listed on there they will show the lowered requirement to get in. Sussex went from a AAB to a BBC which is doable. Plus if you don't get in you can try and find a apprentiship which gives you experience and a A-Level or BTEC which will help you get into uni again. I'm not saying you are not, just showing alternative paths.

I can’t speak for other universities but mine the first year was basically getting everyone up to the same level of knowledge in the subject so I wouldn’t say you’d struggle at uni with the BTEC as that’s what I did the only thing that I did struggle with was the maths as it wasn’t taught along with the BTEC so lacked a bit of knowledge there but still got through it and my course didn’t require any prior qualifications in IT/Computer Science or Maths as everything you need to know was taught.

I went to Reading with D*D*D* but they accept lower for BTEC if I remember correctly, I did look at Russell groups but I think they all required Maths A Levels alongside the BTEC so that ruled out a lot to start. They still also have spaces available in clearing on the CS department for a range of courses

That's good to hear!

What course did you do? Computer Science?

University of Reading seems to be quite good but sadly it's something I can't go to due to the fact that I don't have the money to rent an accommodation.
My only option is Universities near Leeds where I don't have to move

Computer Science

Would you say when you were doing BTEC assignments, did you feel the same way as the way I'm feeling? - As in did you feel like it wasn't teaching you much?

I definitely felt like it wasn't teaching me anything I would say that the BTEC was the easiest 2 years of my life especially since before I started it I hadn't done anything related to IT in 5+ years yet still did better than 80% of my classmates who had done it at GCSE

I feel the exact same way - the whole BTEC course seems extremely easy and isn't teaching me much.
I will say the exams I kinda struggle on since I'm not that good with exams but the assignment work isn't hard at all.

What BTEC course did you? Was it level 3 computer science?

Overall, would you say uni is hard as people make it out to be with Computer Science and what year are you currently in uni?

I feel the exact same way - the whole BTEC course seems extremely easy and isn't teaching me much.
I will say the exams I kinda struggle on since I'm not that good with exams but the assignment work isn't hard at all.

What BTEC course did you? Was it level 3 computer science?

Overall, would you say uni is hard as people make it out to be with Computer Science and what year are you currently in uni?

I think the BTEC was L3 Computer Science

Parts of Uni can be hard but its manageable and there is so much support available to help if you need it, the parts I found hardest on the course was the Maths.

Having just finished my first year I had about 16-18 hrs of contact per week most of which were lectures but we always had a 2hr programming session where we'd be tasked with producing a piece of software using the methods taught in the previous weeks lectures however it was still doable even if you didn't attend (I didn't as these were the most useless & boring lectures ever) most of the time you'd find yourself either working with classmates or living on stackOverflow to get the tasks done.

With only having 16hrs per week of contact time you had so much free time to either revise or do extra reading and if you had a job then work without it affecting your course, this will often vary between courses and institutions but you can do as much or little work as you like to get by like so many others on my course did.