July 5, 200818 yr Hey all! I'm 19 and finished college this time last year. I completed a BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners whilst there and ended up with a grade of MERIT MERIT MERIT. I went to look round several uni's across the country (none near home) and at the time decided it wasn't for me mainly due to financal reasons and decided to be a smart ass and ignore my parents advice. Needless to say they were right and I've not ended up with a job I like. Ideally I would like to tech support or a web developer. But I've been working in Maplin since October. Whilst it's ok there, the pay is barely above minimum wage and it's just soo repetitive day in day out. Whilst it's probably too late to go this year I'm looking at and thinking about uni's again. Had a quick look at coursers nearer home (free accommodation!) and found one I quite liked the look of. Just wondered what people's thoughts and experiences of uni are like? Is it worth going just for the life expereince? Have people really benefited from going? Cheers, G
July 5, 200818 yr Your only got Merits! You suck... On a better note you could teach yourself HTML/CSS and try freelancing on the side in web design, that is what I did during college and I really enjoyed it, so I applied to do it web design was accepted and start in october can't wait. But for me it was wasting another 3 years, getting very drunk and coming out with a degree. I know I am not much help but I tried...
July 6, 200818 yr I did a BTEC in E-Media at college and at the end got DIST-MERIT. I decided to go on to uni and am currently at Manchester Metropolitan University (about to start my 2nd year) studying Web Development. I live in Manchester anyway so it's handy for me. My advice to you would be to visit the websites for all the uni's you're interested in and viewing their prospectses etc etc. If you want to do a web development course then go for it. Also, if finances are an issue, maybe you could check if you're eligable for a bursary/grant/whatever the hell it is where they pay for you and you don't have to pay it back?
July 6, 200818 yr Make sure to go to the open day too, the social environment you're in plays a huge part of Uni life and can be the key to success or failure really. If you don't enjoy the location and the people the changes are you probably won't like the course.
July 6, 200818 yr Make sure to go to the open day too, the social environment you're in plays a huge part of Uni life and can be the key to success or failure really. If you don't enjoy the location and the people the changes are you probably won't like the course. This is slightly off topic, but I was actually considering going stoke-on-trent for Uni and doing the course you're doing. Multimedia Graphics isn't it? Does some American woman teach it and is the course actually any good?
July 7, 200818 yr This is slightly off topic, but I was actually considering going stoke-on-trent for Uni and doing the course you're doing. Multimedia Graphics isn't it? Does some American woman teach it and is the course actually any good? An American woman doesn't teach it currently but she's going to be helping next year. A guy called Colin Chambers currently teaches the course, and somebody called Phil Russel part-taught it. However Phil retired this year just gone and I believe that the (I think she's Canadian actually, not sure though) woman is going to be taking his place. Personally I love the course, it gives me freedom to do as I like on some projects and teaches a wide scope of stuff. It's not really overly specialised in any one area of the web (or even web for that matter) but covers everything multimedia based. A lot of people on the course tend to specialise in one particular area by the third year though (as you can choose your own third year project to do, and a major one in the second year too).
July 7, 200818 yr An American woman doesn't teach it currently but she's going to be helping next year. A guy called Colin Chambers currently teaches the course, and somebody called Phil Russel part-taught it. However Phil retired this year just gone and I believe that the (I think she's Canadian actually, not sure though) woman is going to be taking his place. Personally I love the course, it gives me freedom to do as I like on some projects and teaches a wide scope of stuff. It's not really overly specialised in any one area of the web (or even web for that matter) but covers everything multimedia based. A lot of people on the course tend to specialise in one particular area by the third year though (as you can choose your own third year project to do, and a major one in the second year too). Ah i see. Thanks. I went for an interview at the uni for that course and was interviewed by some american woman who was filling in for some guy, but I think she said she was in charge of the media department or something. Anyway I opted not to do the course as the American woman kind of put me off and the course was a bit too broad for my needs. Although some might prefer to learn a wider scope, I really just wanted to focus on the web stuff. Anyway the American woman (can't remember her name, but she was chubby and wore glasses) was really rude. She asked if I had a portfolio so I showed her my site and she didn't seem one bit interested. She also seemed to try and make out that the course/uni wasn't right for me. Not only that but she randomly came out with "We have to make sure all our students use legal software whilst undergoing projects" as if she was hinting something. So then I was like, since when did I mention anything about me using illegal software? She probably just thought I was secretly a terrorist.
July 7, 200818 yr Ah i see. Thanks. I went for an interview at the uni for that course and was interviewed by some american woman who was filling in for some guy, but I think she said she was in charge of the media department or something. Anyway I opted not to do the course as the American woman kind of put me off and the course was a bit too broad for my needs. Although some might prefer to learn a wider scope, I really just wanted to focus on the web stuff. Anyway the American woman (can't remember her name, but she was chubby and wore glasses) was really rude. She asked if I had a portfolio so I showed her my site and she didn't seem one bit interested. She also seemed to try and make out that the course/uni wasn't right for me. Not only that but she randomly came out with "We have to make sure all our students use legal software whilst undergoing projects" as if she was hinting something. So then I was like, since when did I mention anything about me using illegal software? She probably just thought I was secretly a terrorist. Yeah that's ridiculous, at the time I went to uni I used nothing but illegal software, though cleaned up my act a little now. I had an interview with Colin though who's probably the nicest guy you could hope to have as a lecturer. Why would she think you're a terrorist?
July 7, 200818 yr Surely that's being rascist??!! Report her! BTW, how can they tell you use illegal software? (Disclaimer - mine is legal)
July 7, 200818 yr BTW, how can they tell you use illegal software? (Disclaimer - mine is legal) Its a simple stereotypical mathematical equation poor students + need of expensive software = steal it from the net
July 7, 200818 yr Yes, but surely you need the tools to do the work? Lets face it - Quark Express - £100 - http://www.education-store.com/stores/prod...;familyID=62651 CS3 Design Prem - £250 - http://www.education-store.com/stores/prod...;familyID=70769
July 7, 200818 yr Yes, but surely you need the tools to do the work? Lets face it - Quark Express - £100 - http://www.education-store.com/stores/prod...;familyID=62651 CS3 Design Prem - £250 - http://www.education-store.com/stores/prod...;familyID=70769 Still massively expensive, I have to buy anything I want in the holidays as £250 is a quarter of what I get to live on in 14 weeks. Also there are quite a few Asian people on campus, perhaps you caught her on a bad day though I've heard people saying she's a bit hostile before.
July 7, 200818 yr Yes, i agree it is expensive, and im not going to argue any more cos i feel like i'm digging a very deep hole
July 7, 200818 yr plus you have to remember with the student version you are not allowed to use these for profit, you can only use them to learn so using them for freelance work during your studies is illegal...so it is a very expensive learning tool
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