Bachelor of Info technology (1 Viewer)

[Munchy]

I'm quite interested in this course. I was talking to the careers advisor and she was saying I needed to complete a questionaire and go to an interview to be accepted into the co-op course. It sounds scary... My friend who applied for a co-op scholarship in a different faculty, said the interviewers asked some random questions like "how would you find a needle in a haystack?" and "how would you harvest energy from grasshoppers?"

I've got some questions about the bachelor of info tech...
1) does anyone have any idea how the interview is structured?
2) How many ppl do they accept (roughly)? and
3) is the female: male student ratio roughly equal?

 

[neo o]

Obviously you'd use the grasshoppers wings to drive turbines.

Obviously.

 

[Addy]

Hi Munchy,

I'm currently in my 3rd year studying BIT @ UTS, so i will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Yup, thats right you have to submit an application form.. you can download the the form and also find out more info about the course here http://it.uts.edu.au/courses/c10143.html

The interview isn't that scary at all... the interviewers (one academic from UTS and one from a sponsor company) are really friendly and the format of the interview is more of an informal chat than grilling you with obscure questions (no needle in the haystack questions!!). Most of the things the interviewers will ask you will be referenced from your application, they just want you to elaborate on what you have written to get to know you better and what you have to offer.

The number of people accepted into the program varies each year depending on the number of sponsors, but generally there are around 20 - 25 places. The male/female ratio varies again from year to year. In my year there are 9 girls and 9 guys. In the year below me there are about 5 girls and around 17 guys? And 2 girls and 20 or so guys in the 1st year BIT cohort. So generally speaking, there tend to be more males undertaking the BIT course.

Hope i've provided you with some insight into the course.
Feel free to add me on msn if you have any further questions.

Cheers,
Addy

 

[Beaky]

The BIT course is a very good course I have heard. It is a very prestigious one.

I got to the interview stage which I was happy with. If they think your questionaire is good they will ask u to this stage. They will then ask lots of questions and you have about 20-30 mins to answer them. Its like a one on one interview sort of thing. I kinda choked on one question but yeah, I had never been in an interview like that before. It was deinately worth trying for it and its great experience for the future

 

[Munchy]

Hi Addy,

I've had a bit of a look at the questionnaire...

I read in the "recommended knowledge" part of the course they expect the students to have done 3U maths. I'm doing 3U maths now, but I'm doing really badly at it.... And you know how they ask you to list your subjects and trial marks? If it's a bad mark, will it deter my chances of getting an interview? Also, is there actually alot of maths involved in the course? I've read the course outline... and it doesn't really describe any maths intensive subjects...

Also, with my trial marks, most of them have just been mediorce with the exceptions of 2U eng and 2U IPT which were really good. Do they want applicants with really good trial results? (though I'm very sure I'll get above 90ish quite comfortably.)

Also, on the questionnaire, it asks about what work experience or employment I've been involved in, in the past 2 years. I've had very limited work experience and employment... will they also be discouraged when they see that?

Apart from that, the other questions seem fine and my IPT teacher said he'd help me compose the best answers possible. Beaky - my teacher said that this BIT is "arguably the best IT course in Australia."

Addy, now that you've described the interview... it does't seem that bad.... but that will be another story.... getting them to like me and my answers on the questionnaire is a different matter.... *lol*

The female:male ratio is becoming less equal.... I know it may sound really petty and stupid, but I don't wanna be hanging around guys all the time and only having guy friends.... but i guess this factor shouldn't really put me off this course *IF* i get acepted... but still... a girl has still gotta have her girlfriends!

Well yeah... I think they're the questions I have so far. Thanks for answering my previous questions. And you don't mind me adding you on my MSN later?]


Thanks, Monica

 

[Addy]

Hi again!

Well, 3u Maths may be recommended... but we don't do any maths in our degree, unless you choose it as one of your electives!!! Thank goodness!! I guess they might recommend it as generally maths is related with problem solving... and this skill would be helpful throughout the course in various subjects - programming, requirements analysis, systems development etc. There's a few students who only did 2U Maths, so its not imperative.

In terms of listing marks, I'm not sure about whether or not it will deter your chances of getting an interview - since i'm not on selecting the applicants! But generally speaking, as long as your marks are above average all round then it should be alright... if you're not too confident about this then try your best to impress them in your questionnaire answers and make yourself stand out! Remember they will be sifting through a couple of hundred applications...

For work experience or employment, list everything and anything... if you have done work experience in Year 10, any type of part time/casual or volunteer work, put it down and list the type of duties that you had to perform and any key skills that you gained! I know quite a few people who were offered a position in BIT and hadn't had much exposure to working before, so it's definitely not the be all and end all if you haven't.

It's definitely a good idea to get your teacher or careers adviser to help you with your application, especially to review it before you send it off.

True, the female to male ratio is becoming less equal because there have been fewer girls applying for the BIT course. But in reality, that's pretty much the IT industry and it will be quite hard to survive once you start working if you have that mentality (there's more girls in IT than in Engineering at least!). Within the Faculty of IT there will be more girls for you to socialise with from other courses (such as the Bach. of Sci in IT, IT Innovation, Comp Sci/Business) so you needn't worry.

The majority of my friends are non BIT students and you'll get a chance to make a lot of friends at the IT Orientation Camp (http://start.it.uts.edu.au/camp) at the start of the year and in your various classes as there are many common subjects that you'll study together. Additionally, you'll probably get to build quite a good social network of friends in the years above you so there's plenty of opportunities to make girl friends! There's heaps of IT and non IT societies as well that you can meet people/girls, eg - BiG (http://big.it.uts.edu.au). I have quite a lot of girl friends.. but hanging around guys isn't all too bad either

Anyway hope this helps!

- Addy

 

[quesera]

hi monica,

i am a first-year BIT and i'll talk a little about the process i went through in applying for this course.

1. you need to fill out the questionnaire. just be as honest as possible.

if you get through (roughly half the students will) you are invited to an interview

2. the interview process just be yourself. they don't ask trick questions they will just get you to talk about your hobbies/leadership roles/a little bit about yourself etc.

if you get through you will receive a letter. following this letter you will basically wait until UAIs come out. the day UAIs come out they will call the top 25 (approx) ppl on the list who got over 90.

as far as the male to female ratio goes - in IT it will always suck because girls just arent interested in doing IT. if you enjoy IPT (which i did) by all means go for it. at first it is a bit of a shock but eventually you'll get used to it.

addy's probably a bit more helpful than me when it comes to websites or contacts but if you want to know anything else drop me a line at ktang@it.uts.edu.au

 

[-=AETOS=-]

LOL if u want to pick up at uni dude, dont do IT its as simple as that........

On the other hand i cant see why u cant hang around ' girls ' after/outside of uni hahaha

what a funny one.