Summer courses for young people into computing

[DC17C]

The point of these courses is they are free so are designed to widen participation. ...and not many will get places if awareness is not spread...and yes it is government funded to widen opportunity and experience in this area...It is difficult to provide every where...but I don’t think that means such courses don’t have a value....

[Guest55]

Yes but only in certain parts of the country. If I had wanted my child to go when he was that age it would have cost a fortune in getting him to a station and then the daily fare - of course most families could not afford that.

[Loopyloulou]

You do not need work experience or a course for computing degree; they won't help an application.

The second half of that sentence might perhaps be true at a university where the course is undersubscribed (if there is such a place). It might even be true at Oxford, where CompSci is the second most over-subscribed undergraduate degree .But at most universities where there are more suitably qualified applicants than there are places available, good work/course experience is undoubtedly an advantage.

[Guest55]

LLL - evidence? There is absolutely no need for work experience in computing - it is not available to many students. Universities are now very careful not to use criteria that restrict applications from certain types of student.

[Loopyloulou]

Evidence? Mmm...
DS2 applied for CompSci, as did a number of his friends and acquaintances. All are clever boys. Perhaps the main difference between them was that we had organised some very good work experience for DS2 (I'd have to say some of it probably wouldn't have been accessible to many) whereas others had struggled or not bothered at all. Many of them applied to oversubscribed courses at Durham and St Andrews. DS2, most unusually, received very early offers from both those universities. Others eventually received offers from neither.
In any case, the argument is obvious.

[DC17C]

You do not need work experience or a course for computing degree; they won't help an application.

The second half of that sentence might perhaps be true at a university where the course is undersubscribed (if there is such a place). It might even be true at Oxford, where CompSci is the second most over-subscribed undergraduate degree .But at most universities where there are more suitably qualified applicants than there are places available, good work/course experience is undoubtedly an advantage.

Hmmm...having been to a briefing about applying for computer science at Oxford it was clear a real interest and passion for the subject was being looked for...but having top grades in a level maths and further maths were essential ..I’d guess none of this is going to harm an application and at least helps one get an idea if the field is an area you want to work in....

[Hera]

Evidence? Mmm...
DS2 applied for CompSci, as did a number of his friends and acquaintances. All are clever boys. Perhaps the main difference between them was that we had organised some very good work experience for DS2 (I'd have to say some of it probably wouldn't have been accessible to many) whereas others had struggled or not bothered at all. Many of them applied to oversubscribed courses at Durham and St Andrews. DS2, most unusually, received very early offers from both those universities. Others eventually received offers from neither.
In any case, the argument is obvious.

Loopyloulou that's interesting. What kind of things did your DS do?

[Loopyloulou]

I'll pm you...

[Guest55]

Evidence? Mmm...
DS2 applied for CompSci, as did a number of his friends and acquaintances. All are clever boys. Perhaps the main difference between them was that we had organised some very good work experience for DS2 (I'd have to say some of it probably wouldn't have been accessible to many) whereas others had struggled or not bothered at all. Many of them applied to oversubscribed courses at Durham and St Andrews. DS2, most unusually, received very early offers from both those universities. Others eventually received offers from neither.
In any case, the argument is obvious.

One school, one cohort ... hmm.
Early offer means nothing just maybe an early application ... they have to consider every application submitted before Jan 15th so there is no advantage really.
I know of many students in many schools who have or are studying computing in good unis [note these are not necessarily RG for something like computing!] - few have been able to access work experience.
What all the universities say is that students need to show a personal interest and that does not include having a parent organise stuff for you.

[Loopyloulou]

If you do some research G55 I think you'll find that an early offer from Durham means a lot!