Software engineering :)

[speedy]

Hopefully some people know a bit about this, but I want to do software engineering (or computer science) at university. I have put Monash as my first preference, however I'm still not sure as I don't want to do a course that is too theory based, or has a really high workload...

Anyone have any ideas?

[zhenzhenzhen]

I think you'll be fine. Quite a lot of practical work to do (assignments every two weeks for example) but not as many hours as science courses.

[silverpixeli]

I'm friends with a guy in Monash CSci and from what I've heard it's pretty practical, with stuff like Industry Based Learning etc.
I'm doing Computing and Software Systems through Science at Melbourne, and it's a good balance of theory and practice so far (first year) but I know there's plenty of hands on and team based projects in second and third year subjects, plus next year they're introducing IBL into the masters program if you want to go that way. If you have any questions about that let me know.

[speedy]

I'm friends with a guy in Monash CSci and from what I've heard it's pretty practical, with stuff like Industry Based Learning etc.
I'm doing Computing and Software Systems through Science at Melbourne, and it's a good balance of theory and practice so far (first year) but I know there's plenty of hands on and team based projects in second and third year subjects, plus next year they're introducing IBL into the masters program if you want to go that way. If you have any questions about that let me know.

I was originally interested in this, but I was put off because I don't want to be doing subjects that aren't relevant to what I want to do. That's why I thought a straight software engineering course would be better.

What is the balance like at Melbourne? What subjects do you do? What does the regular week consist of?

[silverpixeli]

I was originally interested in this, but I was put off because I don't want to be doing subjects that aren't relevant to what I want to do. That's why I thought a straight software engineering course would be better.

What is the balance like at Melbourne? What subjects do you do? What does the regular week consist of?

Fair enough, the diversity was something that drew me to melbourne so if you want a very focused undergrad then monash is better for that. I get to study maths, physics, computing and breadth in first year and I chose introductory japanese as breadth so I've been all over the place. But like I said it worked for me because I initially thought I was here for engineering but now I'm leaning towards computing (or mathematical physics) and the thing about melbourne is I get to keep all of them all the way to third year as electives. Down the track in breadth I've got no more japanese (by choice) and I'm going to try teacher placement and a science communication subject.
If I go on to do a masters of math physics or comp sci, those 2 years will be a lot more focused than BSci.

In a typical week I had about 10 hours of lectures to attend/watch ( 5hrs at 2x speed :> ), a 3h physics prac and a tutorial for every subject which was a problem solving class distinct from lectures. These are 1-2 hours each.

In terms of assessment, there was an assignment from maths and physics each and new vocabulary or characters to learn for japanese (plus sometimes a test or presentation to prep for), and computing assignments were more concentrated around mid and then end of semester with 2-3 big assignments and the only work each week was to keep up with lectures. The IT assignments were about 15 hours of coding/planning/debugging each for me and I completed all of them successfully + got full marks for my solutions.

OH AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT took 10ish hours a week since I was in 3 days and it's 1.5+hrs each way for me. This is a big/important part of the decision unless you're planning to move to near your campus! Train time can be spent studying or watching lectures though, so It's not a deal breaker.

As you can see, it was all over the place and I'm glad so far because I get to keep learning new stuff in so many interest areas and I don't have to give any of it up.

P.S. in swotvac (now), a regular week consists of zero study and lots of crying :')

[zhenzhenzhen]

Fair enough, the diversity was something that drew me to melbourne so if you want a very focused undergrad then monash is better for that. I get to study maths, physics, computing and breadth in first year and I chose introductory japanese as breadth so I've been all over the place. But like I said it worked for me because I initially thought I was here for engineering but now I'm leaning towards computing (or mathematical physics) and the thing about melbourne is I get to keep all of them all the way to third year as electives.

Just wondering, how is the Melbourne breadth system better than other universities' electives system in terms of allowing diversity?

[silverpixeli]

Just wondering, how is the Melbourne breadth system better than other universities' electives system in terms of allowing diversity?

I can't speak for other universities much, but as far as I know electives are supposed to come from your own faculty e.g. a physics student taking chem or IT electives, but not art electives. At melbourne uni, you have whatever subjects make up your major and prereqs for that major and then you have electives to fill the rest of your degree, (like physics students taking chem or IT on top of their physics) PLUS you need to do a few subjects from a different faculty, i.e. Arts, Commerce, Environments, etc. For me that was Japanese (from the language section of arts) and next year will be Teaching (from education department) on top of the mix of sciencey subjects that makes up my already-diverse BSci.


EDIT: 'better' is relative to what you want out of a course, of course. Some people prefer the extra related knowledge instead of added diversity for multiple reasons.

[Harru!]

I just looked at the monash handbook for a single bach of science. (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/courses/S2000.html ) And here it says:
(B.) free elective units (48 points) which can be chosen:

from Science or another faculty
to form additional level-one science sequences
to form science minors or a second science major, or minors/major from another faculty
as individual units.

So it seems monash can provide more flexibility than melbourne as you can double major of science or science and a major from a different faculty in monash. Also it means you can do engineering units in your degree if you meet the prereq and receive permission to enrol. It may help sought you out whether you like engineering or not.
 

[speedy]

Fair enough, the diversity was something that drew me to melbourne so if you want a very focused undergrad then monash is better for that. I get to study maths, physics, computing and breadth in first year and I chose introductory japanese as breadth so I've been all over the place. But like I said it worked for me because I initially thought I was here for engineering but now I'm leaning towards computing (or mathematical physics) and the thing about melbourne is I get to keep all of them all the way to third year as electives. Down the track in breadth I've got no more japanese (by choice) and I'm going to try teacher placement and a science communication subject.
If I go on to do a masters of math physics or comp sci, those 2 years will be a lot more focused than BSci.

In a typical week I had about 10 hours of lectures to attend/watch ( 5hrs at 2x speed :> ), a 3h physics prac and a tutorial for every subject which was a problem solving class distinct from lectures. These are 1-2 hours each.

In terms of assessment, there was an assignment from maths and physics each and new vocabulary or characters to learn for japanese (plus sometimes a test or presentation to prep for), and computing assignments were more concentrated around mid and then end of semester with 2-3 big assignments and the only work each week was to keep up with lectures. The IT assignments were about 15 hours of coding/planning/debugging each for me and I completed all of them successfully + got full marks for my solutions.

OH AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT took 10ish hours a week since I was in 3 days and it's 1.5+hrs each way for me. This is a big/important part of the decision unless you're planning to move to near your campus! Train time can be spent studying or watching lectures though, so It's not a deal breaker.

As you can see, it was all over the place and I'm glad so far because I get to keep learning new stuff in so many interest areas and I don't have to give any of it up.

P.S. in swotvac (now), a regular week consists of zero study and lots of crying :')

Thanks for the input

And tbh public transport kinda puts me off Monash, I'd rather catch a train aha :s