19. Sep 2019 |

My 3rd time in university. In TalTech this time.

Well. I though I should document this path somehow. So I will just take rough notes here.

I am MSc in pharmacy (graduated 2012) and MBA (graduated 2019), left my daily job after 6+ years to study tech at the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) on IT Systems Development program.

There are 500+ first-year students (daytime and session study combined) on this program. Though, I believe they are split between different curriculums and not all on the IT Systems Development program.

1st weeks (because it is 3rd week already)

My curriculum for this semester is based on the standard study plan prepared by the university. So it includes the following subjects:

  • Introduction to Information Technology
  • Discrete Mathematics (it is math!)
  • Social, Professional and Ethical Aspects of IT
  • Introduction to Programming – intensive Python course
  • Sets, relations, systems (it is math!)

+ optional subjects:

  • Mathematics refresher training (YMA0090)
  • Programming “helping course” (which mean more Python)

If you are thinking of choosing Mathematics refresher training (YMA0090) I would recommend taking the simplest level even if you graduated high school with close-to-100-ish math score. It has been a long time if you graduated 10+ years ago and the course is an intensive 5-week lasting reminder (first impression).

📌 If you are pre-gymnasium (pre-high school) student and reading this then please do learn math as deep as possible. Do not make any compromises at this point in your life. It is not that difficult but it pays off later.

Do we learn coding?

We do. A lot. From the first days. We use JetBrains PyCharm (licensed by the school for students) and GitLab (because it is open source). It is also my first experience with IDE and git but no need to worry. This onboarding is very well taken care of.

During the first semester, it is mainly Python but Java will follow on 2nd and C# in the third semester. If you are able to learn then you can learn pretty much everything here. And it will be very intensive immediately – loads of tasks, loads of deadlines + endless options to practice on Codecademy (don’t believe that 25-hour thing), CodingBatCodera and many more. So if you want to master coding then you can do. But you will also spend endless hours practicing coding.

Do you have to learn math?

Yes, you do. “Discrete Mathematics” is compulsory and a prerequisite for following obligatory subjects. “Sets, relations, systems” (seems to be part of discrete mathematics in depth) is an elective course but hopefully useful at some point.

More math will follow in the future.

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