How time consuming is Software Engineering? (1 Viewer)

[LemonIced]

I have recently become interested in the Software Engineering course at UNSW and considering putting it as my top preference. However I am a bit concerned as numerous comments on the forum which suggest that it is very time consuming and demanding. I would just like to clarify how time consuming and demanding it is, specifically:

· How many hours do you typically have per week of lectures/tutes/practicals and how many hours do you need to spend studying/working on assignments or group work to get reasonably good marks?
· As a rough estimate, how many nights would you be required to stay late at uni e.g. later than 6:00pm, and can this be avoided? (Reason is because the only route of public transport that allows me to get home requires me to leave no later than 6:30 since i don’t live anywhere near a train station)
· I’ve read that you lose a great deal of sleep and leisure time. To what extent is this avoidable? (Do you still get time off on weekends?)
· Finally, do you find this degree to be fun and/or rewarding?

Any help in response to these questions would be greatly appreciated .

 

[SH33P]

I have recently become interested in the Software Engineering course at UNSW and considering putting it as my top preference. However I am a bit concerned as numerous comments on the forum which suggest that it is very time consuming and demanding. I would just like to clarify how time consuming and demanding it is, specifically:

· How many hours do you typically have per week of lectures/tutes/practicals and how many hours do you need to spend studying/working on assignments or group work to get reasonably good marks?
· As a rough estimate, how many nights would you be required to stay late at uni e.g. later than 6:00pm, and can this be avoided? (Reason is because the only route of public transport that allows me to get home requires me to leave no later than 6:30 since i don’t live anywhere near a train station)
· I’ve read that you lose a great deal of sleep and leisure time. To what extent is this avoidable? (Do you still get time off on weekends?)
· Finally, do you find this degree to be fun and/or rewarding?

Any help in response to these questions would be greatly appreciated .

what u put in is what u get out... although life is unjustified
ur going to uni... its all about sleepless nights CANT WAIT!

 

[darkwolfzx]

I have recently become interested in the Software Engineering course at UNSW and considering putting it as my top preference. However I am a bit concerned as numerous comments on the forum which suggest that it is very time consuming and demanding. I would just like to clarify how time consuming and demanding it is, specifically:

· How many hours do you typically have per week of lectures/tutes/practicals and how many hours do you need to spend studying/working on assignments or group work to get reasonably good marks?
· As a rough estimate, how many nights would you be required to stay late at uni e.g. later than 6:00pm, and can this be avoided? (Reason is because the only route of public transport that allows me to get home requires me to leave no later than 6:30 since i don’t live anywhere near a train station)
· I’ve read that you lose a great deal of sleep and leisure time. To what extent is this avoidable? (Do you still get time off on weekends?)
· Finally, do you find this degree to be fun and/or rewarding?

Any help in response to these questions would be greatly appreciated .

It has been argued that Seng is similar to comp sci but with more core subjects than elective courses.

In UNSW we pick our own timetable. That means when you start uni and when you finish is up to you, with the exception of lectures, which are mostly held during the daytime only. You would only attend nighttime classes if you chose to do so.

Each computing course is roughly 5 to 6 hours including lectures, tutorials and labs. In a typical semester you will take 4 courses, so thats between 20 to 24 hours per week at uni if you take mainly engineering and mathematic courses.

To excel in computing you need to develop a habit of regularly programming. Unfortunately I need to develop this habit too. If you revise regularly after class, and you space the time you take to do your labs and assignments, sleepless nights can be avoided. For a first year this is not easy, time management is something that is sometimes learnt the hard way. Bottom line is if you time manage well, there is time for everything.

Whether or not the degree is fun and rewarding is up to your evaluation. Spend a year doing the degree and see what you think at the end of it. What do I think? I don't think its way fun, but its pretty cool to learn how computers operate on a very low level.

 

[darkwolfzx]

this is a little bit misleading.

the longer you spend at CSE, the more you will find that many interesting courses are only scheduled to run at night (later than 6pm), especially once you hit third year.

you could still finish a degree doing only courses during the day, but unless you are really lucky you will miss out on some interesting courses. i've taken courses that finished at 9:00pm, 9:30pm because i would have regretted not taking the courses. but the experience of being at UNSW at 9pm at night can be horrible

this is, as far as i can tell, a problem specific to CSE, and not to UNSW in general

don't do seng unless you are obsessed with money and getting a job in middle management. especially if you are worried about time commitments, i've seen lots of seng groups "sleeping over" at unsw to finish reports and diagrams and fluff like that. which, personally i think sounds fun, well it could be fun if they were working together on something cool and not just creating latex documents. but if you have to leave by 6pm you won't like it

forgive me. I'm only in first year

 

[LemonIced]

Thanks guys for all the replies, I really appreciate it!!!

don't do seng unless you are obsessed with money and getting a job in middle management

I wouldn’t say i’m obsessed with either of these things. Perhaps Seng is not for me

 

[gman03]

· How many hours do you typically have per week of lectures/tutes/practicals

Roughly between 25 to 30. You do feel like you have been working whole day anyway regards of number of hours per week.

and how many hours do you need to spend studying/working on assignments or group work to get reasonably good marks?

The thing with university is, it is not so much "I have spend X hours to get such result". You really just put in all your available time for your assignment. Is not like high school where you literally will spend like 2 hours and can stop to get a decent mark. In university, you really want to have your assignment as complete as possible.

· As a rough estimate, how many nights would you be required to stay late at uni e.g. later than 6:00pm, and can this be avoided? (Reason is because the only route of public transport that allows me to get home requires me to leave no later than 6:30 since i don’t live anywhere near a train station)

Probably none for the first few weeks, and probably 3 nights per week when your assessments are due. It is not so much avoiding them, but coping with staying at uni late (that when you find friends around to stay over).

With group project, you are unlikely to get any work done if you don't intend to stay until 9pm ish.

I’ve read that you lose a great deal of sleep and leisure time. To what extent is this avoidable? (Do you still get time off on weekends?)

There will be a week or two when you don't have any assessments due the following week. It also depends on how early you start your assignments and how quick you finish it. You DO get time off...

 

[Pace_T]

i did software eng for a half of a semester. it was extremely time consuming, 24/7 i was constantly doing homework, studying for quizzes or doing assignments
people who study this have NO life.

 

[sunny]

Depends how capable the people are you working with are!

 

[dumarab]

engineering at UNSW is generally more time consuming and more theoretical than any uni.

That is why there is a 40% drop out rate.

 

[Willow129]

It's one of those things you need to keep practicing, but once you know it, it's all logical and really is just another language I love this read on it- http://thefootnotes.com.au/software-programming-is-a-lot-like-writing/