Computer Science - any experience?

[Rainyskies]

DD wants to do computer science at University. We’ve done lots of visits (because she was not sure what sort of course/Uni she wanted) and have narrowed it down, but she still hasn’t decide on her final list which is holding her back from submitting her UCAS.

Preferences

• A city Uni (or a campus close to a lively city) - prefers urban to countryside - not Scotland as too far

• Computer Science courses with software engineering emphasis (rather than a maths/data focus) and a games design module is a bonus

Predicted BBB at the moment
(teachers say she is working at A in lesson but exam technique lets her down, although they will be focusing on exam practice next term which should help. However I don’t want to push her into going for A* Unis if that is unrealistic and will be stressful for all of us).

I hope the fact she is studying Maths and Computer Science will help. Could that possibly get her a lower offer?

All the posts on this board seem to be about students predicted A*s and off to RG / Oxbridge etc! So what are good options for B grade students?

Is it worth applying for any Unis who want As, or is there no point?

Any experience of your daughters doing Computer Science degrees? I keep reading about how the tech industry is male-dominated and wonder how DD will find it once she is outside the safe environment of school.

The current favourites:

York Uni
Uni of Liverpool

more realistic:

Uni of Sussex
Manchester Metropolitan

possibly Leicester but we missed the open day
possibly Aston Birmingham but she liked Manchester and Liverpool better

Thank you for any advice!

Sheffield might be a good fit - they offer grade reductions if you take a comp Sci A level and / or a related EPQ.

Their modules include being able to switch to a software engineering focus after the first year.

Apparently, they have a roughly 18/20% female intake and are encouraging more women so that might mean they are even more flexible with offer grades.

My DC wants a campus uni so felt Sheffield wasn’t a good fit (the comp sci faculty is city based) but the course looked good.

Bath and Surrey (Guildford) do computer science and are less demanding on grades ime.

It's her really Warwick and Durham who demand A stars and As

Loughborough has a placement year but asks for AAA - suspect they'd take ABB at clearance if it includes Maths and CS? https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/computer-science-bsc/

Bath have upped their Comp Sci grades to A star, A star, A this year. Nearly all the top 20 CS unis require an A in maths. I mentioned Sheffield as an option as they do make reduced offers (eg a comp based EPQ).

Sheffield is AAA even with Maths and Computer Science. I have read good things about Sheffield Uni though, and the course does look good.
But I am guessing we can only have 1 or 2 aspirational options and need to have some more realistic ones on there.

Also we visited Bath and she wasn’t keen on the town - too small and touristy! (I love Bath, so that’s a shame). I think she’d prefer a bigger city.

Yes a lot of the top Unis seem to be asking for A* in maths for their CS courses, I wonder if that’s because of the popularity of computer science degrees.

Edge hill university has an excellent computer science program, it's a common first year and then you specialise afterwards so she could pick gaming then. It's a campus university but less than 30 mins from Liverpool.

Many of the Unis we have looked at are asking for A*s and I noticed quite a few have increased their entry requirements recently.

Manchester, Southampton, Nottingham, Leeds, Bristol all asking for an A*

So we are widening our search!

(sorry didn’t mean to italicise my previous post!)

Oh I realise I typed in A* and it italicised my post instead 🤦‍♀️

Guildford has lower grades ABB but I think it will be too much out in the countryside for DD.

Goldsmiths,part of London university, CS is BBB.

Thank you, the issue with Goldsmiths is that would mean living at home and she’s keen to try living elsewhere (sorry I should have put ‘not London’ in my OP) - same for Greenwich that we also looked at - too close to us!

We did the Sheffield open day on Saturday and the CS course leader said AAA was the standard offer but they drop a grade for a CS A level and a related EPQ bringing it down to ABB which is a bit more achievable.

Royal Holloway might be worth a look?

Hi, OP-

This is a great post. I love seeing a parent focused on helping her DD where the child is at, in terms of PGs and preferences.

I am a former Russell Group STEM admissions tutor and I think the RG is overblown. Especially in a highly desirable and competitive field like CS, the most important thing is to find a good fit so you can thrive. It is great that your DD knows her own mind to the extent of already thinking she may want to focus on SE.

Because CS is currently so competitive, many who have the PGs for the most elite degree programmes are not getting offers. I recommend leaving off any uni that requires A star, trying for one that requires one or two As, three that essentially require BBB and one BCC - because everyone needs protection against an awful set of exams. Everyone. I will come back later with some specific ideas. Good on your DD!

Thank you, that’s very helpful!

I agree that the most important thing is to find a Uni and course that is a good fit for her, rather than focusing on certain high-profile Unis and stressing to get those grades. A Levels are tough!

She is a friendly and approachable person who gets on well with people. So I think she will be OK!
She also liked the idea of year in industry as part of the degree to get more experience of the real world.

It’s been a gruelling process doing so many visits, but actually it’s been really useful going to all the course talks and meeting lecturers and students, in terms of her understanding exactly what she enjoys about CS - it’s such a wide field - so software engineering / AI definitely of more interest (with games design as an optional module if possible).

Manchester Met is BBB so we’ll put that down

Sussex is ABB

Aston is BBB

Brighton I see is BBB could be an option too, we haven’t visited the Uni but we like the city.

it’s a shame about Liverpool as she likes both the Uni and the course, but they’ve increased it to AAA this year (was AAB last year).

We’ll discount any A star unis as it will be a waste of a choice.

Anglia Ruskin? For Software Engineering. They are hot on pastoral care.

University of Salford has a lovely campus and is really close to Manchester City centre.

My ds is on 1st year of CS at Surrey. I would disagree that its our in the country. The campus is about 15 mins walk from the town centre and there are several clubs just before you reach the centre, though I guess its not exactly a big city. He also goes into London for nights out.

I think it is ABB and was BBB in clearing this year. Halls accommodation is fairly cheap and 2nd year houses aren't as pricy as you would imagine, ds just got a house for 127pw plus bills.
However if she wants more of a Software Engineering ficus then maybe look more at SE degrees having said that there isn't a huge difference between CS and SE modules at the higher ranked Unis.
Ds is having a great time, Surrey seems to put a lot of emphasis on placement years/careers.

Does DD specifically like the city of Liverpool? (I do). Liverpool John Moores has a wide range of A Level entry requirements topping out at ABB. Because the range is so broad I think there is a good chance someone with Maths and CS could attract a BBB offer. (The lowest offers are usually contextual). They offer a year in industry. I did not investigate the modules on offer

As a general rule, admissions tutors and admins like to help. DD (herself) should always feel free to contact a member of the admissions team with any questions. Eg, ‘ ‘My predicted grades are BBB in Maths, CS and X. Would it be feasible for me to apply for the Y degree programme in your School, or would you recommend that I focus my efforts elsewhere?’ There might be a very small number of extremely competitive places that would discourage a borderline candidate from applying, but I doubt even this. Everyone will politely discourage a candidate from wasting one of their five choices.

Email is much the best way to reach out. It doesn’t matter to whom. If they cannot answer they will route the message properly. It is a good idea to wait nearly a week if you don’t get a reply, before following up - everyone is that busy.

If its any help, I work in IT at an Investment Bank and I wouldn't give a crap if the university was Russell Group or not.

Middlesbrough/teeside used to be a good place for games design. They had a lot of very hands on options.

Both of my sons studied CS at Salford Uni. Both have great jobs in the field. One opted for an industry placement in Amsterdam for a year. Loved it.

Salford looks like quite a cool programme, especially with the option of a year in industry. But what I saw, and I may have missed something, did not appear to offer much of an SE focus.

Thanks all! Looking at all these options.

She did like the city of Liverpool a lot, so John Moore’s could be an option. The course looks good and it’s BBC - ABB.
It’s 66th on the university rankings but I never know how much notice to pay to the rankings. Really appreciate everyone’s suggestions.