Computer Science
A comprehensive guide to studying Computer Science at university.
- - It’s a broad field with a wide range of different applications and professions. 🌐
- - You’ll be able to work remotely in both your degree and in your future career. 🏠
- - There are normally a lot of contact hours so you’ll get more time in your department. ⏰
- - Computer science students are some of the highest-earning graduates. 💸
- - There’s a talent shortage in careers such as software development. ✨
- - You won’t get as much industry or teamwork experience as you would in a job. 👔
- - Course applications are often quite competitive and require higher grades than other subjects. 📈
- - Mathematics may be taught as non-calculator which isn’t all that useful in the industry. ➗
- - There’s a significant gender imbalance, but people are advocating for change. 👩👩👧👦
- - There’s other routes into Computer Science which are better financially, such as apprenticeships and online collaborations. 🛠️
Most people only think of programming when they think of Computer Science, but it’s so much more than that! 👩💻 For starters, there are so many different types of programming, from low-level binary code (just 1s and 0s) to high-level imperative (C), functional (Haskell) and object-orientated (Python) languages. Each of these requires a completely different problem-solving approach to code in! So what is Computer Science, if not programming? Well, it’s a mix of psychology, technology, business, medicine and maths with a sprinkle of art mixed in! 💡🧠 At university you could study anything from graphics and design psychology to security and computer ethics all under the CompSci umbrella.☂️
At A Level/IB, most students study Computer Science from a textbook and only program small, self-contained projects independently. This is perhaps with the exception of any programming coursework, which for many will be the largest, most documented (and most time-consuming!) piece that they’ve worked on.
Oh boy, this changes when you get to university! 🎓Progression is no longer about what you know but how you know it as you’ll spend time dissecting algorithm complexity proofs, funky formulas and the fundamentals of code! 😆 When it comes to programming, you’ll be using real-world practices such as pipelines and repositories whilst working on large, collaborative and often initially unfamiliar projects. To sum it up, your work will always be fresh and your mind challenged with the innovative problem-solving you’ll be doing at uni! 🚀🔥
Most interesting/enjoyable topics you’ll study & why: The great thing about Computer Science is the diversity of its students, which includes their interests! 💪🎓 Each university will specialise in a specific type of CompSci, whether that be algorithms to graphical design to AI, so make sure you check out their current research on their department website! 💻
As a first year at Cambridge, I personally enjoyed my Interactive Design and Graphics courses the most as they allowed me to explore colour, psychology and matrix mathematics in new and interesting ways. 🎨🧠
Least interesting/enjoyable topics you’ll study & why: Once again this is quite subjective, especially with Computer Science being such a broad and dynamic field! 🔥
For me, I found Discrete Maths to be the least enjoyable course due to it being abstract in nature and the teaching style not quite suiting mine. 🤔 You can't expect to like every course in your degree!
A computer science degree can lead you to a diverse range of jobs, including those working with:
- 🧩 Software (games developer, AI engineer, Cybersecurity analyst)
- ⚙️ Hardware (database administrator, robotics engineer, network architect)
- 📊 Data (actuary, systems analyst, big data developer)
- 🗣️ People (researcher, penetration tester, IT consultant) This is only a short snippet of the current roles and innovative new roles are popping up all the time - a comprehensive list would be close to impossible!
Misconceptions:
A lot of people believe that everyone pursuing a Computer Science degree will graduate into a super-technical role, but this just isn’t the case! 💡🧠
Some people studying CompSci go into jobs where programming isn’t the main focus and some even avoid programming altogether. Professions such as business analysis, computer journalism, being a patent agent or mathematics teacher are all great examples of this.
However, there are other ways to get into these careers 🤗 You don’t need a degree in Computer Science to get into a technical job, though it will most certainly help. For instance, the tech sector is one of the most apprenticeship-rich fields with some major players offering this option (Jaguar, Accenture, IBM, BP- even GCHQ!). In addition, many non-CompSci students dip their feet into tech by doing an apprenticeship in their 1st or 2nd year of study. 💦 If you’re feeling particularly nifty, you may even be able to snag a job by competing in a hackathon or contributing to open-source projects in your spare time! 🏆🥇
What concrete, employable skills will you graduate with? In today’s job market, it’s all about transferable skills! 🌟 In addition to all the technical (and mathematical!) skills you'll gain, your degree will make you a stickler for accuracy whilst gaining stronger critical thinking skills and a systematic approach to work. This approach will enable you to efficiently analyse problems, trace them to their core causes and then see the bigger picture. 🖼