Information Day

I had my information day yesterday and it was quite interesting to say the least. My year group and I received lots of information regarding different courses. Basically, what we have to do is choose separate modules of what we want to study for both term 1 and term 2. In both terms there are five courses to choose from and from those five choices we have to pick three. I suppose the good thing about this is that, even if we fill in this application form, we can still change our minds, if we want after completing our exams.

The course tutors leading the course all gave presentations on their specific modules. We received information about coursework and exams. For third year courses we mostly get 1 piece of coursework which is worth 50% of the module and 1 exam which is also worth 50%. Some modules are 100% coursework and no exams. So I predict that those courses will be quite popular. The only negative thing I would say is that all those modules that carry exams will all be sat in May. There is no opportunity to sit an exam in January even if that specific module was studied in the first term, i.e. from September to December.

Some of my friends have already filled in the application form and submitted it to our personal tutor.  For me personally it takes some time to actually think about what I want to study. I remember that after the talk, I was talking to one of my friends about a particular course called, ‘Advanced Algorithms’. I considered applying for the course, but she called me a bit crazy. She was a bit put off because of the word ‘Advanced’. I told her that all 3rd year modules will be harder compared to our 2nd year modules. I still won’t let that put me off, because at the end of the day, I know that not all my friends and I will pick the same modules. Some of us will choose different modules, so we will be taking different classes next year. The good thing is at least that we have 2 weeks to submit the form, so I can think about my options and choices over the next week or so.

In terms of my coursework assignments, I have one more price left which is due next Friday. The good thing about this piece of coursework is that it can be submitted electronically, which works to my advantage as I can work on my coursework at home after attending my lectures and tutorials. Although this coursework can be complicated sometimes, I am determined to do well in this coursework and achieve high marks, especially because it is worth 30% of the overall module, so this coursework is very important.

I have a strong feeling that this weekend is going to be filled full of completing my coursework and doing some revision for my other modules. From listening to the talk on Information Day, I am more determined than ever to get really good marks in all my second year modules.

Plans for the weekend

I’m really looking forward to this weekend. On Saturday, I am working at the Greenwich maths master class.  I have already worked at one master class a few weeks ago, but I am especially looking forward to this one. This is because it is about how Google works. This seems like an interesting topic to complete a presentation about. The presentation will be carried out by a senior lecturer from the mathematics department. It would be quite interesting to see how he combines mathematics and computing together.

Since starting my degree in mathematics, I have become more aware of the link between mathematics and computing. Is it any wonder that my school is called; Computing and Mathematical Sciences? Studying mathematics incorporates many things like computing and data analysis. Next Monday, during one of my lectures, some people from GET will be coming in to give us some advice and guidance on placement and internships for next year or the following year. This depends on how many of us want to do a sandwich year. Personally I don’t want to do a sandwich year only because i want to complete my degree as soon as possible.  Also my course leader for operational research will be giving a talk based on what options we can take in our final year. It seems too early to be thinking what kind of courses I want to study next year, but nevertheless my tutor is insistent that we start to think about it now so that we don’t rush our decisions come August/ September. For some people making options can be quite exciting, however I do find it quite nerve wracking.  Some of my friends have already planned out some of the modules they want to study next year. But I still remain clueless. I mean, there is a total of 20 options to choose from, and we can only pick seven. Ah well, I think the best thing for me to do is take the advice of my course tutors and make some decisions later. I suppose i could talk to some of my friends and see what options they want to do and ask them why they want to do it and what they think they will benefit from by doing this module.

On Sunday, I am going to be attending my cousin brother’s birthday party. He turns one on ~Sunday. Aaw, so cute, innit? It’s just going to be with close family at my cousin’s house. My aunt called my mum up on last Sunday and asked her to come early this Sunday to help set everything up. My aunt and my cousin sister are really excited about the party, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a while since all of us cousins have actually met up; I think the last time we met up was during the Christmas holidays, so it has been quite a while. It looks like I’ll be having a jam packed weekend at the end of this week. I hope all my readers/followers also have an enjoyable weekend, whatever you’re doing. Take care.