Help with choices and which universities to look at

Hi, so i'm currently looking into doing computer science at university, however i'm not entirely sure if it's for me or not yet ^-^ I've tried looking at the courses online however would appreciate some insight from people currently taking it Also, which universities to look round - i'm looking at doing a placement year, and getting involved with music and sport (although this isn't my priority)If it helps I have 2A*s, 8.5As and 1B at GCSE, and am currently studying Maths, Physics, Chemistry and EPQ ^-^ I don't have further maths - would this be a problem? Thank you to anyone who replies

I have offers to study CS and didn't do further maths.

Why are you thinking of doing it? Why are you unsure?

Have you done anything on future learn?

Thanks for your reply

I'm thinking about doing it because maths is my favourite a level subject, however I also love technology and would like to find out how it works. I have some knowledge and experience of html coding, however I understand that the course is about more than this, and would be interested in the theory behind code and writing my own languages. However, i'm unsure because of the maths involved - I do enjoy maths, however I don't want to completely focus on it. I guess i'm just quite worried that majority of my first year (and possibly second) would be learning maths without necessarily learning the coding.

I'm also quite interested in the visual artificial intelligence/ gaming parts of CS, however recognise that this doesn't seem to be a part of the website courses until second year

I haven't heard of future learn before - what is it about/ what would you recommend on it? ^-^

Thanks for your reply

I'm thinking about doing it because maths is my favourite a level subject, however I also love technology and would like to find out how it works. I have some knowledge and experience of html coding, however I understand that the course is about more than this, and would be interested in the theory behind code and writing my own languages. However, i'm unsure because of the maths involved - I do enjoy maths, however I don't want to completely focus on it. I guess i'm just quite worried that majority of my first year (and possibly second) would be learning maths without necessarily learning the coding.

I'm also quite interested in the visual artificial intelligence/ gaming parts of CS, however recognise that this doesn't seem to be a part of the website courses until second year

I haven't heard of future learn before - what is it about/ what would you recommend on it? ^-^

Further maths is, off the top of my head, only required by Imperial, although Oxbridge and Warwick may require it (CS with Maths probably would at Cambridge, although there are other routes in first year that don;t). The main topic in FM that's useful and extensive in CS is matrices, but if the course doesn't ask for FM A-level/AS level they'll expect to teach you that in detail anyway.

You have excellent GCSE grades so you should have many to consider. Southampton is particularly renowned for it's CS and EE department, as are the previously mentioned universities (certainly look into Oxbridge/Warwick to see if FM is necessary; I'm 90% certain you wouldn't need it for one of the other first year 50% CS routes or 75% CS at Cambridge). UCL is of course highly regarded, although I'm not sure how the CS department compares specifically. Bath, Loughborough, and similar Russell Group unis are all good options as well (the latter especially has a good reputation for engineering and industry links, as well as excellent student satisfaction, which is an important metric).

The best way to get a feel for it would be to try and do some basic programming tutorials in java or python or something (or C, if you're pretty hardcore ) which you can find many of on the internet. I wouldn't suggest getting TOO involved in it lest you develop some bad programming habits, but if you like the problem solving nature of it that should be a good sign. Also look into the various Raspberry Pi related things; this incorporates programming and elements of hardware/computer architecture understanding and is quite popular as a hobby activity.

Thanks for your advice! I'll definitely take a better look at those universities online

I'll try out some of the ideas you've mentioned - are there any particular websites that I could try these out on, or should I just search around for some?

Glad to hear that most universities don't require FM - I guess i'll have to look in detail before looking at the universities/ submitting ^-^

You will inevitably begin learning programming in first year, also usually you'll cover algorithms and data structures in first year (which are slightly more mathematical/abstract foundations of CS). You usually won't do those as options until second year onwards because you need a good foundation in the aforementioned areas; particularly in experience of programming so you're not spending half the time trying to understand how something is coded as opposed to the fundamental principles of the subject.

Yeah could be a good fit for you then

I am in the same boat with you about maths so chose my Uni accordingly (Southampton, Newcastle, Kings, Surrey, Durham), they mostly seemed to focus on programming.

Yeah Future Learn has taster courses run by unis, i seem to recall ones for both Games Design and AI, they are useful for your personal statement too if you decide to go down that route.

Ahh okay, that makes sense - i'll look into getting some experience and in the meantime probably try out some coding online and see how it goes



Thank you! I'll try that out then, and see what it's like I've been looking at southampton which seems a pretty good course, but i'll have to look at other unis as well as I didn't realise how different the courses for each were