Any help or advice re unis and computer science

[Radi04]

I didn't go to uni and I'm trying to navigate this with dd, she's going in 2024.

No idea how you choose from thousands of courses!

Are there people at college who can help with this stuff?

School should help

It's worth knowing expected grades as you probably want to be aiming at that level

If you expect 3 B don't look at courses needing 3 a and don't look at courses asking for a c and a d

Think about the type of location that would suit - city or more laid back

That should get you down
Then nothing for it but read the prospectus- what does it say about the content of the course and how does that align with your interests

If very unsure - which courses have most options

It seems daunting but I helped my daughter - I was able to see the pattern in all the courses she liked the sound o all had similar features

If you live near a uni, you might find it helpful to go on one of its open days, just to get a sense of things without having to do a load of travel. We went to our local one first and that actually really clarified for ds the kind of place he wanted, which was the exact opposite of that one. He wanted a small place by the sea, we live in a very large city right in the middle of the country. That helped to narrow down the options.

Thank you that is useful. I think what is quite hard is choosing a course!

Hi, OP -

I am writing as a former admissions tutor in a very competitive Russell Group STEM School.

Yes, it can be overwhelming! Your DD’s first port of call should be her college. Computer science and related fields can be quite competitive. Your DD’s predicted grades will shape her choices to some extent.

Then she should think about what approach she likes best. Does she want to do straight CS, Computer Engineering, etc - the traditional and more theoretically orientated courses found at the RG and also beyond - or is she more interested in a vocationally orientated IT type of course? The latter could be general, or quite niche. There was a discussion on here about CS vs IT a little while back. I did some checking, and while virtually all the RG unis offer CS, only a couple offer IT. Many post 92 unis offer IT degrees. Good ones lead to excellent employability and earnings statistics so I very much support them, but the education is not the same as a CS education. I suspect there are also specialist hybrids of which I am unaware.

Your DD needs to figure out where her preferences lie. She could start attending some Open Days to do that, and she could join the online forum TheStudentRoom to ask curricular questions of current students. They can give her further tips. Best wishes

Thank you so much. That's so helpful!

So you think she should ask the college for some advice?

If they do A levels then presumably some / most students go on to university, so there should be help available. University open days will be starting up again soon (or already on the go), so it would be sensible for your DD to start looking st courses with typical offers around the grades that she is likely to be predicted.

The UCAS website hasa lot of useful information, subject guides etc; also details of 'Discovery Events' (used to be called 'UCAS Fairs', so the college may still refer to them as that), to which many sixth forms arrsnge visits later on in year 12. If you DD's doesn't, she can also attend as an individual, or with a group of friends.

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-and-where-study/open-days-and-events/ucas-discovery-exhibitions
digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/results

Hi OP, is she doing maths A-level?
If she isn't then it will rule out some of the RG unis, but there will still be plenty of courses available to her.
As pp said, if you know roughly what grades she is likely to get you can rule out courses who ask for much higher or lower grades. They often advise applying for two courses with the same grades as predicted, 1-2 aspirational (grades she could get if she works hard) and 1-2 safer bets, so ones whose grades she could get fairly easily. The minimum grades required are on the uni websites.
This process alone will rule out perhaps half of the unis.
Next, think about how far away from home she wants to be. This can rule out many more unis.
Then consider campus Vs city and possibly cost of uni accommodation and that may rule out a few more.
You are then left with a smaller number of unis she can consider.
At this stage you can then look on their websites at the courses they offer and look into attending open days.
Good luck 🤞

UCAS, whatuni etc all have filtering to narrow it down, by subject, grades, location, type of uni etc. The school/college usually starts the process towards end y12 and uni open days take place between June and October.

Hi, again -

All the advice you’ve received since I wrote is excellent. Many colleges have staff who help pupils with their uni choices and applications. Lacking such staff, teachers will sometimes give advice. One has to be a bit careful, particularly with informal advice from teachers, that personal prejudice doesn’t get in the way (I am thinking of the CS/IT divide). But on the whole teachers’ advice is a valuable asset

Which qualifications is she doing at the moment and what grades is she targeting?

The first thing that your dd needs to do is get an idea from her teachers what grades she is aiming towards, her choice of universities will alter depending on this.

I would then suggest you talk to her about what kind of university she would like to attend eg a big city, a campus university with everything on site, one based in a town/edge of city? How far from home, or would she like to commute?

Once you have an idea of both, you can together look through the lists on the ucas website to see what matches up. I would then recommend she reads the course prospectus for this shortlist to see which she prefers then try to visit at least 2 or 3 different places to get a feel for them. Don't feel you have to visit lots because actually the open days are just a marketing exercise, but 2 or 3 will help your daughter get a feel for university, the living options and courses.

Poetryandwine so would you say CS would be better than IT? Ultimately I'd like her to be able to get a job.

She is bright but not a very hard worker. She won't go the extra mile to get higher grades. Predicted grades seem to be ABB

She is also autistic, I don't know if that is relevant or if I need to find out which unis might be better in that respect. She never had problems at school though and has nice friends etc.

I really do appreciate this help. We've managed to establish that a campus would be better at least

Oh and she did not do maths.

Computer science, graphic design and philosophy.

Tried to get her to do maths as it's easy for her but she wanted to do things she found interesting

We have looked at UCAS website but there are still thousands of courses when we filter it!

I think I will ask at college for some help too

Does it matter so much to go to a uni where the required grades are lower?

I mean is it pointless and a waste of money or just important if you want to be earning loads.

Depends how much lower, with those grades you probably dpn't want courses requiring less than 3B/C or minimal points from btec. Some cs courses may prefer Maths past gcse.

Whilst normally it makes sense to aim high because employers can be picky over which university you attend, it's not absolute and it's important to check course content and how it's delivered (balance of lectures, classes, labs, seminars) and how it's assessed to make sure it matches your DD's requirements. A commutable university is sometimes needed too which may be a determining factor.

Would she want a course offering a year in industry? Technical or development focussed? Worth identifying a few different courses to visit or attend taster days perhaps. Some may be at Easter or this summer.

it's important to check course content and how it's delivered (balance of lectures, classes, labs, seminars) and how it's assessed to make sure it matches your DD's requirements.

This is the kind of thing we are struggling with, she doesn't have a clue what she requires and neither do I ! How do you know what you want if you've never experienced it? It's such a minefield, I do very much appreciate all the help. Lots of things to consider

Oh that was another thing! Is it a good idea to do a course with a placement year? I was thinking it would be

Hi, OP -

Thank you for the information about your DD. CS is not ‘better’ than IT. It is a more theoretical approach that suits some, not others. Good IT degrees definitely lead to good jobs, and that is the main thing, right?

Many of the traditional CS degrees require Maths. A CS degree is usually one of the harder slogs, and can be very maths-adjacent. Of course the ones not requiring Maths A level may be less so. Do look out for those if CS truly appeals to your DD. But with special needs, she needs a good uni also. I will return to this.

She does sound bright. I think she might thrive in a cohort where she likely fits well into the top third or so but isn’t going to feel she has the space to get lazy. IT won’t be as demanding as CS, but the outcome for a bright student will still depend mainly on how hard they work.

I think Queens (Belfast) and Manchester were the two RG unis I found offering IT. Be warned that for CS Manchester is extremely competitive and requires Math, so their IT may be similar. I don’t know about Queens. And I may have missed some RG IT, or there may be something new. But this leaves many excellent unis to investigate.
TBC

Cont’d

The other important thing for your DD is the uni itself. I agree with the PPs who said, essentially, that it would be useful for her to decide if she has preferences such as a campus, a city or suburban environment, a certain distance from home or region of the country, etc.

When you combine these two filters you will be looking at something like ‘IT programmes at campus universities in the Midlands and Northwest’ and we can really help you!

Particularly in IT, there may be niche programmes. Some may really capture your DD’s imagination. IMO if new programmes without employment statistics appeal to her, that is fine if the School or academic unit is well respected and has a good track record with employers, as many post 92 unis do. Not otherwise.

Oh, the special needs - the things I discussed above are important for your DD’s happiness at uni. You and she may want to investigate how the ones she ends up being interested in support SEND students. We can help with that later. I think it’s best if she comes up with, say, 8 to 10 choices of uni first. The SEND support nay help narrow it down

A placement year is fabulous in theory. Different unis offer students different levels of support in obtaining placements and, if issues arise ( which is rare) during their placements. When they work they are a wonderful component of the degree.