IT Conversion Course.
======= Date Modified 06 Sep 2012 17:01:34 =======
I did an M.Sc. Computing conversion course years ago ages before my PhD. What basically happens is the University concerned tried to cram as much of a degree into a year as possible.
In my case, a modular format was followed. Firstly, there was an intense crash course in basic programming lasting a couple of weeks, the target being to bring you close to the standard of a end-of-first year undergrad (though honestly, we were still miles behind). This was followed by a set of six modules covering the first semester and a further six modules covering the second. Exams were held at the end of each semester. The project was conducted over the summer, this to be submitted late September and this represented the equivalent of the undergrad third year project.
It's high intensity and not for the faint hearted. Expect to do excessive hours if you expect to approach three year degree level by the end of it. My health failed during it and to be honest I thought I'd failed and I decided to re-enrol on a different M.Sc. (Quality Engineering) not too far removed from my Materials Science undergrad degree. But lo and behold, I ended up gaining the first M.Sc. as well after major corrections to my M.Sc. dissertation.
It helped me decide I did not want to follow computing as a career as also I got through, I felt I did not have the aptitude to succeed in computing. I returned to my core area in Materials Science and made a go of that instead.
The M.Sc.'s did help me later with PhD, as I gained some of the writing skills and structural / experimental design thought useful in PhD (I will admit the Quality Engineering helped more though). So if you intend to follow an academic path for which a PhD is advisable, it may give you at least a grounding for that.
However, if you intend to follow a career in computing in the real world bear in mind your competition includes people who have studied three year full time or four year sandwich degrees (one year industry), who will have that edge over you in the jobs market. That said, some IT recruiters have taken people from any numerate or technical degree with the thinking that a blank slate is better than an already fixed mindset of an IT graduate.
It depends exactly what you want to do afterwards as to how much it helps you and if you intend to go into academia, the fact you already have an undergrad degree preceding the M.Sc. conversion course may offset the advantage that former full time or sandwich people have.
Mine was at Newcastle University, however, there are a number of places that do conversion courses and I would shop around.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Dear Reenie ,
Hope you're doing fine. Don't say sorry ,its perfectly fine :-)
Dear Mackem_Beefy,
Hope you're doing fine.First and foremost ,i would like to thank you for spending your valuable time replying me. Your reply is greatly appreciated.I agree with you that Msc Computing is quite a challenge ,added the fact that I'm from a business background.However ,i think I'm up for the challenge :-) I even checked the course structure of the programmme and i think if i put in effort ,i would do just fine.
Yes ,one of my main concerns was whether i will be able to secure a job upon completion of my conversion course ,bearing in my mind that i would be competing with IT students who completed their undergraduate degrees in IT.Another factor that i'm considering in choosing IT conversion course is the fact that the rising of business information systems field these days?perhaps ,upon my completion ,i would be able to land a job as an IT consultant considering i have the blend of IT and Business knowledge?
My long term target is to become an academician..Do you think its possible for me to land a job as an academician as soon as i finish my conversion course. What worries me is the fact that a lot of universities these days opt for lecturers who are from a research background compared to those who did taught courses during their masters. I'm still in the process of considering my options as i have just recently finished my undergraduate degree.I'm planning to start my conversion course by next June.Do you think i should start it next year or should i wait a little longer and gain any working experience first?
Once again ,i would like to thank you for spending your valuable time replying me.Thank you.
:-)
It will be extremely difficult to follow an academic career straight after the conversion course. As you say, a research background with publications is also looked for.
You are generally expected to hold a PhD if you want a career in academia (i.e. as a lecturer). If you want to teach at a lower level outside the University sector, you will still need a teacher's qualification depending on what is required in the country where you live. In the UK, that would be a PGCE.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2012 19:44:12 =======
My husband's first degree was in physics and astronomy. He followed this with a 1-year conversion Masters course in Computer Science. This was very intensive, but it helped that my husband was already an enthusiastic programmer in his spare time - really he should probably have done a computing degree in the first place! He followed this with a computer science PhD, and for the last decade and more has worked in a university computer science department. He is now a research fellow.
If you want to work in academia you will almost certainly need to continue to complete a PhD. You should not consider a taught Masters on the way to be an impediment, but you need to do as well as possible in that conversion Masters (ideally gaining Distinction level or equivalent) to compete with other students trying to tackle a PhD. And in the PhD you will have to be excellent as well to continue on to academia. In the UK at least there are very few academic jobs available for post-docs.
Good luck!
Where did your husband do his conversion course? I did mine at Newcastle, admittedly years ago.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
