Course/program reccomendations? (1 Viewer)

brent012

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Im looking into what i want to do at university now and there are so many options - and none really stand out. My main interests are computers and programming, in software design i am rank 1 and get high marks but to be honest i cant see myself getting a job as a programmer. I am also a bit interested in engineering (electrical) and have been entrepreneurial since i was young as well as getting good marks with little effort in economics.

I would like to do a combined degree preferably involving commerce and something with computers. Unfortunately my maths is not too good so im not too sure if i should pick something that has engineering. Commerce combined with computer science or something at UNSW seems perfect but the cutoff atar is around 96 - i think ~90-95 is an achievable goal but im not too sure if 96 is realistic for me. Trials are still 2 months+ away and theres plenty of time until HSC so i suppose it is possible but i have to make sure my backups i submit to UAC are all good as well if i dont get 96+. What i was looking at also was Commerce/Information Systems but from what my software design teacher explained IS sounds boring, despite that i think i would be good at it.

There are also similiar programs at UTS but they have a business and not commerce degree which im not too sure about. Is the business/commerce even needed? I could try Electrical engineeering/Comp Sci as well, and maybe even do business through correspondance during and/or after i suppose.

My goal since i was very young has been to eventually start an online business or some kind of company involved with technology, so keep that in mind. Sorry for such a long post, appreciate any suggestions. Im also not too sure about some of the university terminology xD so sorry if im misusing stuff like course, program, degree etc.
 

twistedrebel

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if you want to start some startup then UNSW is the place to go. Alot of leading companies have started up at UNSW, and the amount of work current/pass UNSW students have done amazes me every day. IS has barely anything to do with pure computing, and if you want to a business start-up you are going to get nowhere with a IS degree. IS is more like oracle admin etc work. IS at UNSW is run by the School of business, hence no programming.

If you want to start up a business, a business/commerce degree isnt needed at all. Just do comp sci/software engineering. You could do a comp sci degree and pick IS/business subjects in 1st/2nd year because comp sci has a shitload of electives during the early of the degree.
 

kaz1

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You also have to be really adept at maths when doing computer science and don't worry that much about the cut off, you can get bonus points for getting band 5+.
 

brent012

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if you want to start some startup then UNSW is the place to go. Alot of leading companies have started up at UNSW, and the amount of work current/pass UNSW students have done amazes me every day. IS has barely anything to do with pure computing, and if you want to a business start-up you are going to get nowhere with a IS degree. IS is more like oracle admin etc work. IS at UNSW is run by the School of business, hence no programming.

If you want to start up a business, a business/commerce degree isnt needed at all. Just do comp sci/software engineering. You could do a comp sci degree and pick IS/business subjects in 1st/2nd year because comp sci has a shitload of electives during the early of the degree.
Ok thanks, UNSW has been where i wanted to go and i didnt even know that. It just seemed more appealing then Usyd and from what i have seen UNSW seems to be the best university in NSW if not Australia for computing (from reading things and based off all the stuff they run like ProgComp). I might look into combined Comp Sci/Electrical Engineering then which had a cutoff of 91 atar last year, cant combine compsci with computer or software engineering. Or would you reccomend not doing it combined for more Comp Sci electives (i think thats how it works) and extra time to do some tafe stuff or get a bachelor of business through correspondance with some average uni at the same time haha.

Oh and about maths. At the moment it does not look like i will be able to get a band 5 in maths because of my first two exams, and that it seems likely i wont do good in the next exam. I will put a lot more effort in over these holidays before trials and in the gap between trials and hsc though i guess. Even though maths wont count with my ATAR and its probably too late for a band 5, if anything it will help me with the maths i will be doing in Comp Sci. I will probably do a 3u bridging course, i started in 3u but struggled for the first two terms before i finally dropped - unfortunately into a 2u class made up of mostly people who are now in general. Those two things have meant i bassically suck at preliminary maths which makes things hard.

Does anyone know the full details about HSC Plus btw? Im looking at this thing (http://iaro.online.unsw.edu.au/pls/non/hsc_bonus_points.main) but it doesnt have electrical engineering or computer science there and im not sure how it would work for combined anyway.
 
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MrBrightside

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if you want to start some startup then UNSW is the place to go. Alot of leading companies have started up at UNSW, and the amount of work current/pass UNSW students have done amazes me every day. IS has barely anything to do with pure computing, and if you want to a business start-up you are going to get nowhere with a IS degree. IS is more like oracle admin etc work. IS at UNSW is run by the School of business, hence no programming.

If you want to start up a business, a business/commerce degree isnt needed at all. Just do comp sci/software engineering. You could do a comp sci degree and pick IS/business subjects in 1st/2nd year because comp sci has a shitload of electives during the early of the degree.
the school of business has two I.T related courses, BIT (Business information technology) and ISM (information systems management). BIT contains a more technical focus than ISM, but comp science is heaps more technical than both of them combined. I'm kinda stuck too, even after 3 years of thinking this through I'm still stuck in the mud :(
 

nutting

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Computer Science degree has LESS math than Computer Engineering or Electronic Engineering...ALL Engineering has 50-70% math content
There are Business and IT combined 4 year bachelor courses..... look around...I think UWS has something like that
 

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