Pawel Orzechowski: Computer Science

3rd year

Student profile: Pawel Orzechowski

I studied for an HND in Computing at Edinburgh’s Telford College and while I was there my tutors encouraged me to take my studies further.

I started to research the options available to me in my second year of college. I attended the Heriot-Watt Open Day and really liked the structure of the Computer Science programme. I felt that it offered an excellent progression from my HND.

I also really fell for the campus: it’s so green and such a nice environment to study in.

Study

The workload at university is greater than that at college.

There is a lot more maths involved in my degree than my HND and in order to secure a place in the third year of the degree, the university asked me to complete an A-level in Maths. I studied for this whilst at college and, after passing, secured an offer to come into the third year of the BSc Computer Science.

I really enjoyed my time at college and was greatly encouraged by the staff there to continue my studies at university. After the first week at Heriot-Watt I knew I had made the right decision.

The timetable at university is similar to the hours I spent at college but the subjects covered are definitely more career-focused and we go into them in far greater.

I have one or two days that are free from classes each week and I use this time for independent study either in the labs (which are great) or the library.

Lifestyle changes

I lived quite near to my college and was able to cycle there each day. When I decided to make the move to university I opted to move to a flat where I was still able to cycle to campus. Edinburgh has a fantastic cycle path network, which makes it easy to get around the city.

I also quit my part-time job when I moved to Heriot-Watt. I felt that I had saved sufficient funds to do this and wanted to apply myself fully to my university studies.

Career plans

I am about to start work on my PhD in Human Computer Interaction and the most exciting part is that I will be studying in Sydney Australia. After my PhD? Who knows!

Top tips

  • I’d recommend all new students to look into summer placement opportunities in order to gain more practical experience.
  • Make sure you do your research on the opportunities for advanced entry. I took an A-Level in maths during my spare time from college studies so that I could enter the course at Heriot-Watt in year 3. This means I qualify with my degree one year earlier than I would have.