“I have cleared this XYZ entrance exam. Now what?” Student often have this confusion on which department to pursue, for they have no idea about what exactly goes on and what are the learning opportunities in a particular field. People generally follow, what we call, ‘the mob mentality’; they go for fields like computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc. just because everyone is fighting for a seat in these departments. This article focuses on some major things you should expect before opting for computer science and engineering.
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If you’re a mugger, computer science and engineering is not for you
You might score well by ‘mugging up’ in some of the theoretical subjects but even those subjects are supposed to be learnt with an analytical mind. Computer science and engineering involves learning about all the things which take place in the frontend as well as the the backend while you are use a computer application; and there are thousands of these things. If any, there is not more than a little scope of mugging in this field. It’s definitely a gift to be able to memorise stuff, but you’ll have to be more analytical to implement things you learn in Computer Science & Engineering.
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Don’t just study ,Learn.
There is a lot of in depth topics ranging from discrete mathematics to complex machine learning algorithms. Picking the learning approach will make things easier for you. Don’t just study for the marks it will only matter till the day you leave college,after that only your learning will help you stay in the game. This is true for all the fields but this is a lot worthy of mention when it comes to Computer Science and Engineering.
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Do the assignments on your own .
This may sound trivial but the volume of assignments and the deadlines they demand tempts students to copy them. Unlike many other departments where the assignments can be repetitive, every assignment of computer science is an opportunity to practice programming, which is going to be your bread and butter after you graduate. There may be times when you’d think these assignments are not worth the time, but they’re worth a lot more than that in the long run. So in this field if you copy assignments, you would become a very limited programmer. If you do it on your own, you’d become an irreplaceable asset! That said, you will have to develop habit of working in a team as well.
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Linux based Operating Systems
Don’t get too comfortable with Windows based Operating System. Because most of the programming you do will be in some linus based operating system. Try getting a hands on OS such as Ubuntu, Fedora or any other linux based operating systems. An introduction to them beforehand will definitely go a long way in making you comfortable with academics in college.
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Use the Internet
There are many courses and video lectures available on internet which will help you understand better and in much less time, because classroom instructions aren’t always clear. The only thing you will have to do is search for them. There are many MOOCs available, sites like coursera, edX, Udemy and many more. Project based learning will help you a lot. you can find many open project on the web too. You should checkout stackoverflow for learning. It’s a good platform to interact with those who know more than you and can help you deal with bottlenecks. To keep yourself updated, you might want to use Techcrunch, which offers latest news in technology & startups.
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Take up your own projects too
Your creations are only limited by your imagination. With the ongoing digital revolution, computers have become an integral part of our lives. Almost everything now is tangible through internet. But there still are many voids which need filling. They can be absolute voids or voids which are a result of the digital revolution. You’d always have to be on your toes to see if you can offer solution to a problem through programming. This will take you a long way irrespective of whether you solve it or you don’t.
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And last but never the least
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Enjoy the Coding!
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“The journey of a boy to become a man goes through college”. This quote is true irrespective of whether you are a boy or a girl. Use the college years not just to get a degree, but to make yourself into a well rounded person. Don’t be a nerd ,be a geek. To move away from monotony of your field, you may want to work on some fun projects of your own. Who knows it could become the next Facebook.
Hope this article helps you get a gist of what you’d be required as a student of computer science. You can also read about how you can become an android developer on your own.
Sometimes, we do come across a dilemma whether to prefer a good college or a good branch? Dont worry, we do have a solution for that too!
