RMIT Diary

RMIT University is ranked 200th in overall yet 94th in technology worldwide. This also means that Information Technology is probably the best among the programs that RMIT Vietnam offers. However, the majority of students of RMIT Vietnam choose Commerce or Business, not IT or Design program. Why not?

I think there have been so many misconceptions among the students. Here are some of them

1. IT is difficult

When talking with my friend from other majors about the IT program, the most common respond that I received was “IT is difficult. So many students fail the courses”. It is comprehensible that many students did not choose the IT program at the very beginning. A large number of students in RMIT VN had no idea about the programs offered. Some chose the Commerce or Business as a crowd behavior while others accepted the rumours about the difficulty of IT program without any hesitation and then stayed away from it. As a result, the portion of student not studying IT is dramatically increasing.

I do not think it is a matter of difficulty. It really depends on the compatibility between the students themselves and the program that they study. An IT student may have a hard time doing the assignment of a commerce student and vice-versa. Nevertheless, we never know what we are really good at until we try. Then why don’t you give IT a try (even before applying to RMIT)?

Another reason that the IT program is considered difficult, in my opinion, in the difference in the way of thinking. In IT, the logic is strongly emphasized, which made it easier for students with a mathematics background to begin with the IT program from the scratch. However, you do not have to be a mathematics genius. A basic understanding and interest in the operation of the system are all it takes in order to be successful as a IT student.

Unfortunately, the majority of IT students, as of now, are from Aptech diploma program which is being offered at a lower cost, not from the direct entry. We (1st semester IT students) call this a “reinforcement” because without those guys who are really interested in and understand IT, there would not be enough students to open IT courses and we would never be able to graduate.

2. Business guys earn more money

If you think IT can not make as much money as other majors do, you’d better think twice. Let’s have a look at the list of the 100 richest people worldwide. How many of them work in the IT industry? (I would like to leave this small research for you since you will definitely be surprised.) It also takes much less time for IT people to get rich than in any other majors. For example, when you want to open a restaurant, you need to invest a lot of money on the site, on salary for waiters, waitresses, cooks, etc. And it usually takes generations to have a strong brand in those traditional industries. For IT, the investment is nearly zero. You just need some very good guys for a company. You can work from home and collaborate via the Internet, which eliminate the site rental cost. In other words, all it takes to succeed in IT are ambition, capability and performance.

Moreover, Information Technology is among the most innovative industries. Everyday, there are thousand of IT ideas coming in to action to solve the real life problems. It goes without saying that IT guys need to work with Business ones to make their products successful. Yet it always starts with the technology first. And I think it would be better to study IT and Business than BIS because that is how we can get the most out of our ideas without relying on anyone else.

3. IT is not for the girls

When it comes to girls, it is another rumour that IT is for the guys only. I totally disagree with this since there are many position in the IT industry that are much more suitable for female than male. For example, the majority of software testers are female. They also hold positions of importance in the industry and some of our best IT lectures at RMIT Vietnam are female. Seriously speaking, we are suffering from a lack of fun is my class due to the lack of girls. I hope this would be improved in a not-too-distant future.

4. IT is all about the information system

IT starts with the computer yet that’s just not everything. IT also involves creativity and I can say that IT is no less creative than Design or Fine Art. Programming is not only about writing the code in order to finish a task but also about finding the most optimal solution to a specific problem. In many cases, there are many revolutionary ideas found and implemented, which we call the Art of programming. Besides, a good programmer must be a good communicator. There is a lot of human interaction in the industry. That is the reason why IT students with good communicating skills (including language skill – English) are better regarded than those without these skills. We need to master the art of communications to be successful in every major including IT.

In conclusion

This afternoon, the first meeting toward the founding of the IT club was held. Now we have some ideas to improve the program such as making it easier for students and challenging ourselves even more through national and international competitions. I hope that in the next few semesters, there will be more students joining us in the IT program. We are waiting for you all.

{To be continued}