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Contemplating computer science major, but I hate math...

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DeadFalling

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OK, so technically I'm a PoliSci major at the moment, but I'm thinking of changing it to Computer Science. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I have an extreme hatred for math. I enjoy working on and with computers, and have for a long time. I took all kinds of computer classes in high school, ran numerous websites, sold ad space, small-time web design work, some flash development, Photoshop editing, etc. Basic things that made me really fall in love with computers. However, once I saw the math required to get a CompSci degree I swore it off and went for what came easiest to me/the easiest way out (Political Science).


Now I'm wondering... As I'm not too far into my major yet, if I decided to switch and pursue Computer Science instead, would I stand a chance at all if I'm not great at and do not enjoy math?


edit: and here's what I would have to take in order to get a CompSci degree:
http://catalogue.uncw.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=3&poid=206&returnto=115
 
Set up a meeting and discuss this with the course leader, should be easy enough. They'll then give you a comprehensive break down of what the classes/modules will involve in terms the level of math. If it is at all possible, you may want to attend the classes of some Computer Science students just to observe.

Speaking from experience, you must not make this decision purely on your own presumptions.

Also, how do you feel about programming? If you dislike that, then this will be a bigger problem
 
Computer science isnt really dealing with computer, well it is, but not in the way you described. I was the exact same way as you were when I was entering college. Then I got into comp sci classes and it's all programming all of which was taught as if you had previous experience with it. I got to a data structures class and bailed on it.

Take an into cs class, a programming one, and see if you like that.
 
Wish I had switched to comp sci when I had the chance. (i like math)

Don't think about prerequisite classes you have to take. If you want to program (which tbh is 'mathy' based on my experience) then major in it.
 
DeadFalling said:
OK, so technically I'm a PoliSci major at the moment, but I'm thinking of changing it to Computer Science. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I have an extreme hatred for math. I enjoy working on and with computers, and have for a long time. I took all kinds of computer classes in high school, ran numerous websites, sold ad space, small-time web design work, some flash development, Photoshop editing, etc. Basic things that made me really fall in love with computers. However, once I saw the math required to get a CompSci degree I swore it off and went for what came easiest to me/the easiest way out (Political Science).


Now I'm wondering... As I'm not too far into my major yet, if I decided to switch and pursue Computer Science instead, would I stand a chance at all if I'm not great at and do not enjoy math?
Click to expand...

Computer science is not what you think it is. I thought the same thing as you. There are a lot of math and theories that you have to take in computer science.
 
Math and programming are fundamentally related fields. You can get away with being an okay programmer without a solid background, but it'll be tough to really elevate yourself.

learn2math

Edit: Consider graphic design, web design, digital arts, or information technology.
 
Superman00 said:
Computer science is not what you think it is. I thought the same thing as you. There are a lot of math and theories that you have to take in computer science.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Which is why I'm asking here about what to do
 
I honestly think you're going to have real trouble.

You might want to pursue an Information Systems degree instead of Comp-Sci degree. When you get into your upper level programming courses, you're going to be in serious trouble if you're not good at math. You may do well enough to get by in the course, but as mentioned, you won't distinguish yourself as a programmer if you don't have sound high level math skills. They really do go hand in hand.

what is comp sci?
Click to expand...
Computer Science
 
I majored in CS, and I took one math class, and I think it was a gen-ed requirement. Calc 2 I think it was. And a basic statistics class. That's it.

In my experience with programming, I have needed virtually zero math. It really depends on what kind of programming field you go into. Games? Physics? Shit be mathed up fo sho. But I'm making websites for a living, and I don't have to touch the stuff.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
well, people never get smart if they don't ask the dumb questions so I'm going to ask. what is comp sci?
Click to expand...
Comp Psy*; computational psy. Using computer systems to model and create telepathic or telekinetic effects.
 
You need an Asian dad.
 
DeadFalling said:
Exactly. Which is why I'm asking here about what to do
Click to expand...

If you want real answers, please contact the lecturers/teachers behind this course and ask them what level of math and programming does it entail. Go to the school library and look at the related books that'll have solutions. It'll give you a better understanding of what you're up against.
 
bill0527 said:
I honestly think you're going to have real trouble.

You might want to pursue an Information Systems degree instead of Comp-Sci degree. When you get into your upper level programming courses, you're going to be in serious trouble if you're not good at math. You may do well enough to get by in the course, but as mentioned, you won't distinguish yourself as a programmer if you don't have sound high level math skills. They really do go hand in hand.


Computer Science
Click to expand...


no, what is it? what does it entail? what do you do?

Comp Psy*; computational psy. Using computer systems to model and create telepathic or telekinetic effects.
Click to expand...

......... look, answer the question smarty pants.
 
Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering... all extremely heavy math fields. If you want to deal with computers and not have to jump so deep into math consider CIS or your university's equivalent.
 
Tathanen said:
I majored in CS, and I took one math class, and I think it was a gen-ed requirement. Calc 2 I think it was. And a basic statistics class. That's it.

In my experience with programming, I have needed virtually zero math. It really depends on what kind of programming field you go into. Games? Physics? Shit be mathed up fo sho. But I'm making websites for a living, and I don't have to touch the stuff.
Click to expand...

Damn completely different from my school. There was ton of math classes, and quite a couple of cs classes were basically math.
 
Computer Science more the programming/math side
Computer (Information) Systems is dealing with the hardware and software and the theory behind shit
 
Medalion said:
Computer Science more the programming/math side
Computer (Information) Systems is dealing with the hardware and software and the theory behind shit
Click to expand...

Computer Science is basically all theory.
 
DeadFalling said:
OK, so technically I'm a PoliSci major at the moment, but I'm thinking of changing it to Computer Science. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I have an extreme hatred for math. I enjoy working on and with computers, and have for a long time. I took all kinds of computer classes in high school, ran numerous websites, sold ad space, small-time web design work, some flash development, Photoshop editing, etc. Basic things that made me really fall in love with computers. However, once I saw the math required to get a CompSci degree I swore it off and went for what came easiest to me/the easiest way out (Political Science).


Now I'm wondering... As I'm not too far into my major yet, if I decided to switch and pursue Computer Science instead, would I stand a chance at all if I'm not great at and do not enjoy math?
Click to expand...

Doesn't really sound like you are describing Computer Science based on your experiences.

Get used to plenty of math in the form of Calculus, Discrete Math, maybe some Linear Algebra. If you don't get excited by this you have to have the will to power through it because you will see it in one form or another.

Programming is also a pretty large component. As well as classes dealing with Data Structures and Algorithms. This was the fun part for me. Programming is very rewarding to me personally and getting through the math let me program so it was a stepping stone to get there.

I'm not trying to scare you away, but it is a necessary evil to work through the math to get to the good stuff.
 
Medalion said:
Computer Science more the programming/math side
Computer (Information) Systems is dealing with the hardware and software and the theory behind shit
Click to expand...

Uh you have those wrong. According to my school and ABET.

CIS : programming/business side
CS : some programming/math/theories
 
Superman00 said:
Damn completely different from my school. There was ton of math classes, and quite a couple of cs classes were basically math.
Click to expand...

We had emphases you could choose between, applied, general, and theoretical. I did applied. It had some business classes in it (which I failed). Theoretical, theoretically, would've had more math in it. Maybe.

My programming classes were basically C++/COBOL/Assembler. A couple classes about underlying computer technology and theory. One with some SQL. None of them really had any math whatsoever. Absolutely nothing more than basic algebra, if that.
 
Look into information sciences. The degree itself varied within the school (let alone at other schools), but most of what mine focused on (just graduated) was Internet technologies, website building, networking, photoshop, some basic game development, that sort of deal.
 
I wouldn't go into comp sci if I didn't like math. If you still like programming with less emphasis on algorithms then maybe you should look into Software Engineering. Just remember that it's not all programming, a lot of classes will be about the different Software development processes, software testing techniques, etc. A big component is actually about management. Of course you'll still have math classes. Hope you like discrete math.
 
Superman00 said:
Uh you have those wrong. According to my school and ABET.

CIS : programming/business side
CS : some programming/math/theories
Click to expand...

I think he is saying that you will encounter dealing with servers and programming said hardware in a CIS degree. Where as a CS program is theory blended with math/programming. In my experiences CS has more programming than a CIS degree.
 
Don't hate math, man. You just have a bad relationship with it. Study the concepts, study hard and you'll begin to love it.
 
Tathanen said:
We had emphases you could choose between, applied, general, and theoretical. I did applied. It had some business classes in it (which I failed). Theoretical, theoretically, would've had more math in it. Maybe.

My programming classes were basically C++/COBOL/Assembler. A couple classes about underlying computer technology and theory. One with some SQL. None of them really had any math whatsoever. Absolutely nothing more than basic algebra, if that.
Click to expand...

We had applied CS, but I was pure CS. I learned assembly/java/C/C++/Lisp/SQL and whatever else. I took like 7 or 8 math classes. Then I had CS classes about state machines and algorithms which are completely math class.
 
Godslay said:
I think he is saying that you will encounter dealing with servers and programming said hardware in a CIS degree. Where as a CS program is theory blended with math/programming. In my experiences CS has more programming than a CIS degree.
Click to expand...

Yeah I understand. For my school, CS just seems so math heavy. There was programming, but once I was into the higher level classes, there was just more math and theories then programming.
 
Ketchup Boy said:
Don't hate math, man. You just have a bad relationship with it. Study the concepts, study hard and you'll begin to love it.
Click to expand...

I'm an artsy-fartsy creative type. Math has never been my strong suit. Still, maybe you're right...
 
DeadFalling said:
I'm an artsy-fartsy creative type. Math has never been my strong suit. Still, maybe you're right...
Click to expand...

Have you thought about trying to do some sort of digital design?
 
That's actually not that much math. Not even linear algebra (surprising) or differential equations. Though I could just be missing them.
 
DeadFalling said:
I goto UNCW and the only computer related major we have is CompSci...

http://catalogue.uncw.edu/content.php?catoid=3&navoid=115
^There's a list of degrees offered.


edit: and here's what I would have to take in order to get a CompSci degree:
http://catalogue.uncw.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=3&poid=206&returnto=115
Click to expand...

After looking at the program, you can do it. It has like 3 math class(I took over 8 math classes). Your concentration only has like 71 credits, compare to mine which is 91 credits.
 
Hey, sorry for posting this here but I can't make threads.

So, I'm changing my major to CS and here's the classes I can take:

Computer Programming I & II (C++)
Intro. to Computer Systems. (Logic gates and stuff)
Programming with/in Object Oriented Languages
Computer Organization (in the description it says machine language, assembly, subroutines.)
Operative Systems
Computer Architecture
Basic Microprocessor Applications (combinational and sequential circuits)
Data Structures and Analysis of Algorithms.
Programming Languages Organization
Programming Engineering (basically a huge group project.)
Programming Engineering Project (another project, but this time in says it has to do with the industry.)
Data Bases Design
Artificial Intelligence
Intro. Compiler Design

Is this ok for someone who plans on moving to the US to work as a programmer?

Also, how is the employment situation looking in the future for CS graduates? (Like in 2-3 years)
 
Go to a worse school. :D

All you really need is the degree anyway. Teach yourself what matters for the job you want on your own time.
 
DeadFalling said:
OK, so technically I'm a PoliSci major at the moment, but I'm thinking of changing it to Computer Science. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I have an extreme hatred for math. I enjoy working on and with computers, and have for a long time. I took all kinds of computer classes in high school, ran numerous websites, sold ad space, small-time web design work, some flash development, Photoshop editing, etc. Basic things that made me really fall in love with computers. However, once I saw the math required to get a CompSci degree I swore it off and went for what came easiest to me/the easiest way out (Political Science).


Now I'm wondering... As I'm not too far into my major yet, if I decided to switch and pursue Computer Science instead, would I stand a chance at all if I'm not great at and do not enjoy math?
Click to expand...

That sounds more like...digital design than CS

99hertz said:
Is this ok for someone who plans on moving to the US to work as a programmer?

Also, how is the employment situation looking in the future for CS graduates? (Like in 2-3 years)
Click to expand...

There's always going to be programming jobs. They can literally work in any field
 
DeadFalling said:
Ooh. How'd you get into that?
Click to expand...

You can even skip the business portion and just go straight Industrial Technology: Networking.

You are going end up middle management at the same pace anyways.
 
Same here, I ended up doing a BA in CS instead of a BS, less maths and sciences. Its a really outdated notion that math has a direct correlation to programming. It really doesn't. I can problem solve real world problems i just frankly dont give a shit about what is x after 10 other calculations.
 
You would love the program I'm taking in college right now. It sits on the fence between cs gory algorithm stuff and software engineering high level stuff, all with only a single math course. It's more about problem solving than about math.
 
From what I remember, the math classes I needed for my CS major is:

Calc I-III
Linear Algebra
Statistics

And that's about it. As someone mentioned, the amount of math you use depends on the field you are in. If you do a lot of server side stuff for a business, then you wouldn't worry about that as much. Developing games or something physics based? Completely different story. And at the school I went too, there was no 'general' programming degree. CS taught us both theory and coding practices.
 
On a related note, how much previous programming knowledge do you need to study computer science or any programming-related stuff at uni or college? I mean I've messed around with C++ a few years ago but I gave up because, I like to tell myself, I lacked the math skills. Can you jump in with close to completely fresh, just very basic knowledge?
 
See if your school offers a non-degree certificate program for CS.

When I did CS it wasn't necessarily math heavy, but it was theory-oriented and that may not be up your alley.


Jokab said:
On a related note, how much previous programming knowledge do you need to study computer science or any programming-related stuff at uni or college? I mean I've messed around with C++ a few years ago but I gave up because, I like to tell myself, I lacked the math skills. Can you jump in with close to completely fresh, just very basic knowledge?
Click to expand...

You can jump in fresh. You'd probably have to take an intro course that doesn't count towards your degree progress.

Not everybody has the aptitude for it though.
 
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