Advice for 2nd year computer science students

University courses Mathematics & Computing
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2nd year computer science is a step up from 1st year. It brings new and more challenging modules, exciting new projects and more opportunities. While it may be more difficult, this should not be off putting, as it can be very manageable. Here are some tips to get through 2nd year:

  • Maintain, or develop, a consistent routine - if you had not been doing this in 1st year, it would be highly recommended and beneficial to do so in 2nd year, in order to allow yourself plenty of time to work on different modules, but also to allocate some time for yourself as well

  • Look for internships - many organisations do not offer internships, or do not very often offer internships to 1st year students, therefore it would be advisable to start looking for an internship early into 2nd year, so that you will have greater chances to secure a place before the deadlines, which can be in January and February

  • Do more research into which area of computer science you wish to go into - this would be a good idea as you would have had a feel for a few different areas of CS in 1st year, and also in 2nd year it is likely that you would be choosing your 3rd year modules, so you would want to be prepared

  • Network and continue to make friends - while 2nd year isn’t as busy as 3rd year, you still have plenty of opportunities to meet new people and make friends and overall grow your network, both inside your course and outside as well

  • Familiarise yourself with GitHub and VCS - typically in first year it isn’t widely used, most students will still store and work on their projects locally, however in 2nd year it is a good opportunity to acquaint yourself with it and how it works and how to use it, as you can use it in several projects, and it will absolutely help for 3rd year

  • Start preparing ideas for your final year project - it is good to have a few different ideas so that you are not struggling for ideas when you have to choose a project advisor, which is typically in the Summer between 2nd and 3rd year

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I totally agree, second year computer science brings a whole new level of challenges and opportunities!
Do you have any tips for getting started with GitHub and VCS? Like, are there any specific resources or tutorials you found helpful when you were learning about them?

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Great tips! I’ll say look for internships asap!! super important!

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Thank you for sharing these insightful tips for navigating through second year computer science! It’s reassuring to hear that while second year may present new challenges, it’s also manageable with the right approach and mindset.

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There are plenty of tutorials out there, I’ll be honest I can’t think of any specific ones. However, when using GitHub and VCS, or at least at the beginning you’d only need a few commands, which are push, pull, merge, add, commit, mostly, so it would be a good idea to use Github for some basic projects and get used to it directly with hands on experience.

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