[plug] [OT] Soft Eng .vs. Comp Sci

[W.Kenworthy]

I wouldnt be too quick to blame the career adviser.  I have been to a
few sessions at expos on behalf of Murdoch Uni and find that on the
other side of the fence that you are generally dealing with people
straight from/still at school who have no idea what they really want to
do (something with computers ...).  The few that have done their
homework and are focused are generally no problem - but they are really
few and far between.  Another factor is that individuals in this group
usually change their mind a few times (hence one reason for trying for a
large amount of commonality between first year courses) - after
experiencing the courses and talking to peers their view changes - the
category in which I see you.

Basically, dont fuss that you are changing, pick what you want to do and
choose the course, then the stream/electives to get you where you want
to go - if this requires changes so be it.  After graduation, you will
find that a) its the qualification i.e., piece of paper and the process
it represents is probably more important than the exact content, and b)
the job you will end up after graduation will in all likelyhood have
little to do with what you originally intended.

Dont worry, be happy - if not change until you are happy.

BillK


On Fri, 2005-08-26 at 11:48 +0800, Timothy White wrote:  I see the Uni's
generally equal in quality: its the focus on the focus
> On 8/26/05, Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
> <snip>
> > 
> > I think and suggest that, first, what the person wants to do with the
> > degree, needs to be established, and then, the appropriate degree
> > (and maybe, institution, if a different degree at a different
> > institution, is appropriate) should be able to be found, to satisfy that
> > need.
> 
> Thanks for the course clarifications. That really helped. It seems
> that what happened was the career's adviser really didn't know what
> they were talking about when I first talked to them (they were from
> the computer division as well.) It seems that all they really wanted
> to do was show me that an engineering course was better, and I'd get
> more money when I left. Even though it wasn't really what I wanted to
> do. I think I already said this in a previous post, I've now dropped
> all units except maths, and I'll take up Computer Science next
> semester. I guess I should have looked in detail at the differences
> myself, now that I look at the course outlines I can see that computer
> science is better suited to me.
> 
> I won't name the uni, I'll just say that now I know I'm doing computer
> science, I'm kicking my self that I didn't get into UWA. Oh well,
> Curtin is closer to me, so it's a little easier to get to. And if I
> get this new job it'll also be closer to work.
> 
> Thanks to all who gave me suggestions, much appreciated. Now I'm off
> to spend the rest of the semester coding my personal projects; I wish,
> mum's going to make me get a 'real' job. Oh well, money = car,
> computer parts... I still have a hard disk to replace that Seagate so
> far doesn't want to.
> 
> Tim
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