So, you’re keen to study Computer Science at UTS and you’ve already got all the info on the degree — take a quick look here if not!
But you want to know how students really feel about this degree?
Well, we’ve got you covered! Meet Mourya (Artificial intelligence and Data analytics major) and Mark (Business Information Systems Management major) who are both in their final year of Computing Science at UTS! We ask them those questions you really want to know the answers to.
Let’s get to it!
Why should you study a Computer Science degree at UTS?
Top 3 Pros of a Computer Science Degree
Top 3 Cons of a Computer Science Degree
Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make
Things to Know Before Starting UTS Computing Science
What Makes this Degree Different
Motivations for Studying UTS Computing Science
Potential Career Paths
Why should you study Computing Science at UTS?
“I’d definitely suggest it. My uncle works in the real IT world and he says that they normally get people from UTS as they tend to work harder,” Mark said.
The Computing Science degree gets you ready to confidently enter the IT world — you’ll learn all about programming, how to manage data, run IT projects and way more!
Top 3 Pros of a Computing Science degree
#1: Includes Honours
“The Computing Science degree is inclusive of an honours degree which gives students an academic level research experience as an undergrad student,” Mourya said.
He added that this “helps the students who are planning on pursuing a higher degree research for either Masters or PhD.”
Now, that’s pretty sweet!
#2: The Majors
There are ten interesting and different majors to choose from!
Mourya majors in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics which was his favourite part about the degree. “Some of the assignments are very interesting to work on and I’ve been able to use these ideas and knowledge to work on my own projects in my leisure time,” he said.
Mark took Business Information Systems Management as a major. He told us that his major “definitely teaches you about business processes.”
“You learn how to run projects and how the IT world expects stuff to be done,” said Mark.
#3: Small cohort
Now, one good thing about the degree is that the cohort is usually fairly small because it is quite a niche degree! But that means you get to know everyone really well!
“The community is very tight knit — it’s like a family in many ways because there’s not a lot of people doing the degree,” Mark said.
Top 3 Cons of a Computing Science degree
#1: Core subjects aren’t always useful/interesting
Well, let’s face it, core subjects aren’t always the most interesting but you still have to do them. Sometimes you might not even find them that useful to what you’re studying.
Mourya said, “Some of the core subjects are mandatory for every student regardless of the major we choose.”
“I believe that some of these subjects are either useless for my major or I don’t find them very interesting. However, I had to do them as they are core subjects,” he added.
#2: Not a lot of flexibility
When it comes to choosing electives, there’s not a whole lot of flexibility with Computing Science.
“I noticed when picking my electives you really can’t do a lot of things doing Comp-Sci because everything has prerequisites which you don’t have — we have very niche subjects,” Mark told us.
He also said it can be hard to work out which electives you can do. “There’s no guide to tell you what electives you can do based on the subjects you’ve done, so you kind of just have to search them via student admin and just look for it which is very time consuming,” Mark said.
#3: Few summer subjects available
If you’re thinking about smashing out a few subjects in the summer session to make your workload lighter or finish the degree a little earlier, we’re sorry to inform you, this probably won’t happen.
Mourya told us, “Very few subjects are available in the summer session for the students to enrol.”
He added, “If a student wants to accelerate their degree and finish early, it is impossible as most of the subjects are only available in spring and autumn — unlike other degrees, where the subjects are available in summer.”
At least that means you’ll get a proper holiday break!
Any regrets?
Well, neither of the students had any regrets about the degree! They simply answered, “None.”
Now, that says something about the degree, right?!
What do you wish you had known before starting UTS Computing Science?
Make sure you read through all the descriptions of the majors so you know from the start of the degree what you’re interested in and can choose electives that best relate to that! There are the ten different majors to choose from so you’ll definitely find something that grabs your interest.
“I wish I had known about all of the majors as that would have helped me to pick the major in the early stages and I wouldn’t have wasted some of the electives while trying out subjects from different majors,” Mourya said.
What makes this degree different from the ones offered at other universities?
#1: The awesome faculty staff
So if you choose to take on Computing Science at UTS, you know you’ll be in the hands of experts who are happy to help!
#2: Degree length
Computing Science (Honours) at UTS is a little longer than your average 3 year uni degree — it’s a 4 year degree!
“I believe that 4 years gives us enough time to learn and acquire the skills that are required for a student before they enter the industry,” Mourya said.
#3: Easy to make friends
Mark told us about his friends who chose UTS because they didn’t get into UNSW and then later transferred to UNSW, “They said it was really hard to find friends in Computing Science because everyone was anti-social whereas at UTS, you’re such a small group and you have classes with so many people that by the end of the first year, you know most of the people in there — you all try and help each other out, it’s like a family in many ways.”
“I’d say that’s a positive because if you’re struggling, you can always just ask someone and you feel confident in that way,” he added.
What inspired you to choose UTS Computing Science?
“My family works in IT and I had no idea what I wanted to do after high school and I thought why not, there’s probably a job there hopefully in the future,” Mark said.
For Mourya, he had always had his eyes set on a career in the tech industry. “I chose this degree because of the subjects that UTS is offering covers a lot of concepts of a specific field,” he said.
What are the possible career paths?
Luckily for you, there’s a load of different jobs in the computing science/tech world! It depends on what you’re most interested in at the end of the day.
You could find yourself in any of the following positions:
-
- Application analyst
- Data Scientist
- Forensic Computer analyst
- Cyber Security consultant
- IT consultant
- Web designer
- Computer Hardware engineer
- Researcher
And there’s way more out there — these are just some of the options!
Tanna Nankivell is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently in Germany completing a year of study for her double degree in Communications (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (International Studies). She has had articles published on Central News – the UTS Journalism Lab and wrote a feature piece for Time Out Sydney during her internship. Tanna has a love for travel and the great outdoors, you’ll either find her on the snowfields or in the ocean, teaching aqua aerobics or creating short films.
