JMC(Joint Maths&CS) or Computing?

I think JMC is the wrong choice if you want to study pure mathematics including parts from theoretical computer science, as I have deduced. :frown:

By the way, 'Software engineering - Design I' as a compulsory course sucks! I really *do not* want to know about the latest Java bickering for corporate whores. Noooo! Don't send me to a dreaded company. :frown:

I think I'll switch to straight mathematics after the first year (assuming I get in, of course). Unless, you know, they allow me to actually take extra mathematics courses with JMC in year 2, 3 and 4, or some parts of theoretical computing with the maths degree, which would be very cool.

Reply 21

xaxa

1

ycntv

I think JMC is the wrong choice if you want to study pure mathematics including parts from theoretical computer science, as I have deduced. :frown:

By the way, 'Software engineering - Design I' as a compulsory course sucks! I really *do not* want to know about the latest Java bickering for corporate whores. Noooo! Don't send me to a dreaded company. :frown:

I think I'll switch to straight mathematics after the first year (assuming I get in, of course). Unless, you know, they allow me to actually take extra mathematics courses with JMC in year 2, 3 and 4, or some parts of theoretical computing with the maths degree, which would be very cool.

You can skew it very much towards maths if you like, presumably you found the page explaining it. If you're going to switch, switch on the first day.

FWIW Software Eng I isn't corporate whore rubbish anyway.

Reply 22

digbycaesar

ehlswkdsu

JMC is demanding... and short of students coz of its difficulty (no wonder they encouraged me to do it... i mean they wanna torture students????????)

They want you to take the course that is the most appropriate for you. If you're not sure you like the Maths then, ask the admissions tutor to switch to Computing now. The courses offer similar choices, career-wise and noone will hold it against you.

Reply 23

Gimperial

11

You mentioned you want to do computational finance in which case JMC is far better suited than straight computing

Reply 24

Teddy Pain

Yep, computational finance is pretty much a combination of programming and mathematics, JMC would be perfect.

Reply 25

phyreskull

I remember the Software Eng courses actually being fairly useful - most (if not all) of the stuff they teach in all the courses, is quite up-to-date, useful, and not driven by the latest corporate fads but by real usefulness.

Reply 26

GreyCloud

MilliBilli

JMC is the same as doing one a half degrees: you're doing t75% of a maths degree and 75% of a computing degree.

Go on JMC, it is very easy to switch, practically expected, less than ten people continue with JMC after first term.

But wouldn't you first like to know if you could?

Apparently in the Huxley building (where computing and maths reside) everyone calls the JMC geeks. Everywhere else (I being other side of campus

Hi, I'm the current JMC3 year rep - so I'm a Geek :-) I'm probably biased also :wink:

Yes the degree is tough, but it is also rewarding, one of my favorite things about the degree is that being part of a small course (3rd year has 17 members this year) you make really good friends, yet you are within two large department so you aren't stuck with your coursemates all the time - most of the course is tought in common with either maths or computing.

btw its not 75%, 75% (though it often feels like it!) but more like 66 % 66 % so its not a free ride - you will need to work, but if you do so steadily (ie dont just start working when you get your assignments or worse when the deadline is tomorrow!) the work load is manageable - as long as you are well (self)-motivated!

on switching figures... for my year we started with 25 in September ... by the end of the year we had 17 i think... two failed the summer exams and we started 2nd year with 15 who together with a few who were retaking a year make the 17 of us finishing third year this year. We start 4th year with 5 of us MSci students (hard core :-) ). So it is possible to switch either to straight maths or straight computing however you will be at a disadvantage if you leave switching too late - but then why would you want to switch :p:

?

the JMC course is aimed at people who want to do both maths and computing - since everyone likes computing you need to work out if you are interested enough in the maths, specifically pure maths - specifically in the first year, group theory & linear algebra Analysis, and a methods, followed up by more group theory (*2), Stats, numerical analysis then you have more of a choice after that.

I guess those topics sound vague and confusing ... it is worth trying to get a feel for the subjects before you start, they are interesting if you are prepared to spend the time learning them - that i think is one of the biggest differences between maths & computing, with computing everything is accessible, easy to understand and fairly simple - just go to the lectures, listen and it (normally) all makes sense, in maths there is actually some challenge - you do actually have to spend time outside of lectures thinking logically and critically (and hard!) about what is being taught which is an extremely useful skill to aquire and helps endlessly with coding and other subjects. Transitioning between the two ways of learning is probably the hardest thing about the JMC degree - you cant just turn upto a maths lecture and expect to understand it like you might a lecture on say Object orientated programming in computing (least ways only 1 or 2 people i know can!)

Btw whoever said Soft Eng 1 is rubbish is wrong - it is one of the most useful courses in computing, together with my highlights of M3N4 Computational Linear Algebra, 'Simulation and Modeling' & 'performance analysis' (take those as a pair or die!), Rings & Fields, and though i never thought i'd say it logic & reasoning about program's were good fun (in hindsight at least!), AI & concurrency were also pretty good btw. though dont take soft eng 2 (1005 HCI rules to learn- yuck)!

THe nice thing is that once you are thorough the first two years you can skew the degree towards maths or computing as you prefer - upto 75% one way :-)

other highlights .. in the first year you are in 4 different tutorial systems - a weekly one hour Programing Tutorial meeting, a weekly one hour Logic Tutorial meeting - these are taught by 3/4th year JMC students (it's well worth doing if you get the chance!) with the support of an academic. You then also have a personal tutor in computing and one in maths. so there is plenty of scope for getting help.

on the results front i think it was 2 third's of people get a 1st or a 2:1 and yes most people who stay on to the 4 year do get a first - i think mainly because the course is pretty tough.

>>@ ycntv r
>>I think JMC is the wrong choice if you want to study pure mathematics ?>>including parts from theoretical computer science, as I have deduced
this is exactly the parts of maths & the parts of computing that JMC covers !!!

>>I was just wondering,seeing as its so difficult to transfer from computing >>to JMC is there any possibility of transfering from a completely different >>department say physics to JMC
computing to JMC is rare - i cant think of anyone who has - but i'm sure its possible
I also know a guy who started on JMC then decided to take not JMC but M & C and is more or less studying both simultaneously - i dont see him much now ;-)
It is occasionally possible to change depts - i know one person who did change from physics to mech eng - but they had to complete the entire 1st year in physics then start from scratch in mech eng

anyway hope that helps a bit ... now back to work on the third year group project :frown:

Reply 27

Spiker

Course transfers to or from JMC after the initial few weeks are incredibly rare. I know about someone who transferred late from JMC to pure CS at the end of yr 2 (I think), but going the other way (Maths to JMC or CS to JMC) is very very hard indeed and I've never heard of it happening. Changes from "non-joint" departments tend to be considered as transfers, and this would mean restarting from yr 1.

Reply 28

Ilka

And is there any possibility of taking additional maths courses while being on pure CS?

JMC doesn't suit me cos' I don't want to loose any cs courses and i'm not interested in financial computing.

Reply 29

Chemical_Scum

14

Ilka

And is there any possibility of taking additional maths courses while being on pure CS?

JMC doesn't suit me cos' I don't want to loose any cs courses and i'm not interested in financial computing.

loving your sig :wink:

JMC is evil.

Ilka

And is there any possibility of taking additional maths courses while being on pure CS?

JMC doesn't suit me cos' I don't want to loose any cs courses and i'm not interested in financial computing.

No. You could attend maths lectures and no one would care, but lots will clash. Computing will probably say you won't have time if you ask them.

Reply 32

Gimperial

11

Depends, certainly first year you don't really NEED to go to many computing lectures and do well enoguh.

Reply 33

Dupieux

firegalley246

Yeah, as someone whose just doing Maths I do think of the JMC people as 'geeks' but they are pretty highly respected because they cover so much more material than we do (when we think we have it bad) and have to be really up for doing all the work the whole time.

Is this coming from a chinese no-life in the front row or one of those fat chicks at the back? Or maybe you're one of those idiots at the middle who doesn't know when to shut up. In any case, I've seen the people in maths lectures and to be honest you shouldn't be calling other people geeks.

Reply 34

Gimperial

11

This "JMC = 75% Maths, 75% Computing" amuses me to no end.

Reply 35

feroz

Quick question - if I'm going into JMC with absolutely no prior experience in Computing, at how much of a disadvantage am I?
And what could I do to beef up on my Computing skills?

Reply 36

xaxa

1

feroz

Quick question - if I'm going into JMC with absolutely no prior experience in Computing, at how much of a disadvantage am I?
And what could I do to beef up on my Computing skills?

If you have a spare computer (well, one you don't need the data from anyway) install Ubuntu Linux on it, and have a go at programming in Python. http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html

If you don't have a space computer, you can run Python on Windows, but the lab PCs run Linux (some are dual-boot with Windows) and almost all programming is done on Linux, so being used to it is a small advantage.

Python isn't taught, but it's a good language to start learning with -- you probably won't pick up any bad habits with it, and it's not too complicated.

Reply 37

Gimperial

11

xaxa

If you have a spare computer (well, one you don't need the data from anyway) install Ubuntu Linux on it, and have a go at programming in Python. http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html

If you don't have a space computer, you can run Python on Windows, but the lab PCs run Linux (some are dual-boot with Windows) and almost all programming is done on Linux, so being used to it is a small advantage.

Python isn't taught, but it's a good language to start learning with -- you probably won't pick up any bad habits with it, and it's not too complicated.