Should I study AP maths and Comp science at unisa???

[Techgirl26]

I'm currently turning 21 been looking for something I'm passionate in and I fell inlove with software development. So I spent the past year learning the basics (html, css, JavaScript, frameworks and recently git) so I'm teaching myself and building my portfolio with projects but I want to go back to school I want to enroll at unisa and do their Ap mathematics and computer science degree. Is it possible for me to land a junior position if i work on my skills ( mainly JavaScript and SQL plus testing) while studying at unisa (I have built a website for a non-profit im volunteering in already aside from my own personal small projects) or should i just go to traditional university full time?? Which would be a better option to grow myself as a developer??

 

[cguy]

I would recommend a good traditional university (ideally UCT, Stellenbosch or Wits) if possible, and Unisa otherwise. There are usually better/valuable student to student and student to staff interactions when studying at a campus.

Applied maths is pretty difficult. Personally, I highly recommend it, but you should be aware that App Maths and CS tends to lead to a very different path than web development (that currently seems to have your interest).

 

[bchip]

I would recommend a good traditional university (ideally UCT, Stellenbosch or Wits) if possible, and Unisa otherwise.

I've heard that Stellenbosch is quite a joke from a Computer Studies path - this was even from lecturers
at the University. All of them send people back to tuks

@Techgirl26

If you are looking at fulltime then have you considered BIS Multimedia -
They focus more on web design and programming.
Third year I believe you even build a game in VR.

Study Programmes | University of Pretoria

Welcome to the University of Pretoria's Programmes page. Find all the information you need on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes here.

www.up.ac.za

 

[bchip]

Career Opportunities

Programmers, web designers, animation specialists, video editors, electronic artists. The programme prepares candidates for positions at any of the following content producers: paper publications, television, radio, phone technologies and the web. Graduates can become coders and work for programming companies. They can develop skills in their particular areas of interest, such as digital music or video programming; or graphic, games or web development.

https://www.up.ac.za/programmes/programmeid/1875417/year/2020/print/pdf

 

[cguy]

I've heard that Stellenbosch is quite a joke from a Computer Studies path - this was even from lecturers
at the University. All of them send people back to tuks.

I can’t really claim to have any current knowledge about Stellenhosch vs Tuks, however the link below does show Stellenbosch as having a higher international rank of the two for CS, for what it’s worth. I am sure that either are fine.

I was quite impressed with some of the staff from Stellenbosch at the time - we had a visiting applied maths lecturer from there for an honours course. That was over 20 years ago, though.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/302552/the-best-subjects-to-study-at-sas-top-universities/

 

[bchip]

I was quite impressed with some of the staff from Stellenbosch at the time - we had a visiting applied maths lecturer from there for an honours course. That was over 20 years ago, though.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/302552/the-best-subjects-to-study-at-sas-top-universities/

Math is a different story, they have a very good maths department.
I believe Actuarial studies is very popular there. Its just the computer studies portion I've heard is not good.

My source is very anecdotal though, but it was from people in Academia that went to the
different universities to check out the courses for their daughter who wants to study IT.

 

[Techgirl26]

I would recommend a good traditional university (ideally UCT, Stellenbosch or Wits) if possible, and Unisa otherwise. There are usually better/valuable student to student and student to staff interactions when studying at a campus.

Applied maths is pretty difficult. Personally, I highly recommend it, but you should be aware that App Maths and CS tends to lead to a very different path than web development (that currently seems to have your interest).

Unfortunately the only universities I qualify for is ukzn, uj and unisa. So that was disheartening after receiving rejection letters(emails) from UCT and Wits after highschool (2016) and I couldn't receive financial backing because of my physical science and Afrikaans matric marks.

i took first year applied maths modules passed them well and enjoyed them while working full-time so that's the reason I figured doing the double major would be good Im just unsure if it would open up more stimulating opportunities down the line. I'm so much more mature than I was leaving highschool and more confident in myself academically we never had technology or computers at the high school I finished at so this whole new world is exciting and frightening since I don't have a road map.

 

[cheesus]

Have you considered maybe a few certs and a couple of UNISA short courses? I did the MTA certs from Microsoft and I enjoyed that immensely and then also did some of the UNISA short course web-dev offerings.

As a concept, a degree is not a bad thing I would just stress the need for a job first.

 

[cguy]

As a concept, a degree is not a bad thing I would just stress the need for a job first.

I lean the other way on this: If you don’t need to work now, rather study first and work later. Pre-study and Post-study work experience aren’t generally the same, so doing the former may involve a fair amount of wasted time and can also threaten your studies if done simultaneously.

 

[cguy]

Unfortunately the only universities I qualify for is ukzn, uj and unisa. So that was disheartening after receiving rejection letters(emails) from UCT and Wits after highschool (2016) and I couldn't receive financial backing because of my physical science and Afrikaans matric marks.

i took first year applied maths modules passed them well and enjoyed them while working full-time so that's the reason I figured doing the double major would be good Im just unsure if it would open up more stimulating opportunities down the line. I'm so much more mature than I was leaving highschool and more confident in myself academically we never had technology or computers at the high school I finished at so this whole new world is exciting and frightening since I don't have a road map.

The hottest area to work in right now is data science. App. Maths, CS and ideally some Stats would set you up nicely for this (although you may need to do more than the 3 years).

 

[cheesus]

I lean the other way on this: If you don’t need to work now, rather study first and work later. Pre-study and Post-study work experience aren’t generally the same, so doing the former may involve a fair amount of wasted time and can also threaten your studies if done simultaneously.

DOn't do CS if you want to be a web developer though.

 

[cguy]

DOn't do CS if you want to be a web developer though.

Agreed. Perhaps for backend, but for front end it would likely be a bit of a waste.

 

[Urist]

Informatics seems more appropriate for databases and the business side of things.