How is the Computer Science Major Like

[Master1]

Hi guys! With Neowin being one of the biggest tech communities online, I figured I'd ask this question here. How is the Computer Science major like. From what I've heard it's pretty hard and the students are pretty much doing work all day long. I would like feedback on this topic please especially from people who are currently CS majors or those who have CS degrees. This information will be really helpful for me :)

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

Which country are you planning to do it in? US I guess?

I did CS in the UK. It was hard work but a lot of it was fun. Over here it seems you really need to enjoy programming to finish a CS degree.

[Master1]

Which country are you planning to do it in? US I guess?

I did CS in the UK. It was hard work but a lot of it was fun. Over here it seems you really need to enjoy programming to finish a CS degree.

In California

[+LightEco Subscriber²]

It depends on the specific school. Usually CS degress involve programming and software development. My school's major starts with java, works in some C, and finishes on creating software. We also learn basic logic and you can take a variety of electives, like game development. Also, you need to take a bunch of math and physics for the CS of Science degree. These play into cryptography or algorithms.

[wrack]

I did my Computer and Mathematical Science in Australia in Victoria university, Melbourne. It was a hard work but a lot of fun and things we learned, seems useless when I started my job at first but as I grew senior with more and more experience; I found a lot of things that I learnt were useful.

Remember a good education and knowledge is never a waste and joke.

[Master1]

So it depends on the school ?

[acnpt]

So it depends on the school ?

Yes, make sure you check the modules.

Some universites can be just theory theory theory, which I hated.

[Master1]

Yes, make sure you check the modules.

Some universites can be just theory theory theory, which I hated.

Well my college is UCLA, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is the Engineering school, tho I'm not in it since I'm an undeclared major

[Brian M. Veteran]

It really depends from place to place.

I'm doing CS at Kings College London, and the majority of the course is theoretical - based around logic, etc. 2 of 8 units this year are programming based, and of that, actual code is only worth 35% - so programming is only worth 8.75% of this year.

Although sometimes I do wish there was more programming involved, I'm fairly happy with the course and enjoy every minute of it (even if it is ridiculously hard :p).

[Master1]

I've heard from the students that they're in the library all day long coding pretty much, is this true ?

[Guest]

Well, depends how good you are at programming i guess.

I just graduated from a CS course in Ireland this year. It was a tough enough course but very satisfying.

If you like computers and are interested in creating software then go for it... :)

[Master1]

Well, depends how good you are at programming i guess.

I just graduated from a CS course in Ireland this year. It was a tough enough course but very satisfying.

If you like computers and are interested in creating software then go for it... :)

Well I like technology and am pretty good at it, but I hear all these discouraging stories lol

[CentralDogma]

Each school offers different majors. Here's a list of the ones I've seen decreasing order of "hardness"(that?s a very loose term):

• Computer Engineering - hardware oriented, more practical applied experience
  
• Software Engineering - software development oriented, more practical applied studies than other majors
  
• Computer Science - the practical side is software development, but you also get some theory with it
  
• Game Programming - I haven't seen this one in the US, but i hear it exists in Europe. I can imagine this has less theory than CS, but more focus of software development.
  
• Web Design - more art oriented, not the same level of applied programming other majors get
  
• Information Technology - more management and business oriented than programming
  

I'm CS, so I can't vouch for the other majors, their just the impression I got for what others have told me about them and what I researched of them. A lot of this can be mixed and matched. A CS major can dip into some CE courses if they want to learn about the hardware side of things, but they?re not going to get the same level of detail as a CE major.

[Xilo]

Skip Computer Science. Computer Science is a joke. It's incredibly easy. However, you are much more limited in jobs.

Pick up Computer Engineering. Computer Engineering is very difficult, but it's worth it and you can do so much more than with just a Computer Science degree.

[ObiWanToby]

My personal choice was to avoid Computer Science and Engineering. I did not want to turn a hobby into a career. For me it was a personal choice. School will work you hard, will give you many frustrations. It is nice to sit back and work on something not related to your work. I instead chose Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Plus Chemilcal engineering, at least for me, is much more challenging. CS&E is not easy, but I figure I might as well do something hard and rewarding.

Almost any engineering major will have you in the library for a while working on problems.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Intelman

[Master1]

Thats also another thing. What can I do with that degree, with so many tech layoffs, im not sure about the future of tech jobs, imo the era of big name companies like Microsoft, Google is over. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, Larry Page did will not happen to people soon. The future seems to be with BioTech, or that's the impression I get from reading all the articles online. If someone wants to make it big, especially in this times, with computers becoming more and more commonplace, am I wrong in assuming that in the future computers and software companies wont be the status that the giants were

This is all opinion that could be either true or false, and its based on trends that appear online

For example I was reading that Intel is looking at human DNA and the brain in order to gain inspiration to design chips in the future

[Xilo]

That's why you don't do Computer Science and instead do Computer Engineering if you are interested. Computer Science is pretty limited to just programming, while Computer Engineering you can get into hardware and all sorts of stuff.

You are right though. BioTech is getting to be a pretty big industry. Anything related to medical field really is a good bet.

[Master1]

That's why you don't do Computer Science and instead do Computer Engineering if you are interested. Computer Science is pretty limited to just programming, while Computer Engineering you can get into hardware and all sorts of stuff.

You are right though. BioTech is getting to be a pretty big industry. Anything related to medical field really is a good bet.

Well at UCLA, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, you can get a B.S. in two computer science majors. Regular Computer Science, and Computer Science and Engineering. Also about BioTech, I remember that at a community college Introductory Computer Science course which I took, we discussed that the "current techniques" of Computer Science/Engineering will soon be "outdated" Were they right in that BioTech will soon take over them

[JonathanVP]

CS Major in California? Well, since California has the highest unemployment rate (and in tech), I would highly recommend either going into CS with a minor in something different or skip CS all together and do more marketable degree with less theory and more real life applicaiton. Gaming design is more marketable (if you are interested).

[Master1]

CS Major in California? Well, since California has the highest unemployment rate (and in tech), I would highly recommend either going into CS with a minor in something different or skip CS all together and do more marketable degree with less theory and more real life applicaiton. Gaming design is more marketable (if you are interested).

Thanks for the input Jonathan, im not too big of a gamer, so im not sure abt the game design part lol, i was thinking of maybe doing cs as a minor along with something better like you said, is that a more viable option ?

[Master1]

The thing is also that I like tech, but Im not sure abt making it a major, any ideas here

[CentralDogma]

The thing is also that I like tech, but Im not sure abt making it a major, any ideas here

The best thing for you to do is to (assuming you're still in high school) talk it over with your guidance councilor. If your school has some computer science courses, talk to the instructor and ask about what they majored in and ask what it was like. Visit some colleges and talk to the department heads.

[Master1]

The best thing for you to do is to (assuming you're still in high school) talk it over with your guidance councilor. If your school has some computer science courses, talk to the instructor and ask about what they majored in and ask what it was like. Visit some colleges and talk to the department heads.

Actually i'm a UCLA freshmen already

[Orien]

Actually i'm a UCLA freshmen already

Have you thought about EE (Electrical Engineering) with a CS minor? I have a few friends at UCLA who are also freshmen right now.

[Dance.]

^what he said

ECE is a very good course. If I were you I'd probably transfer to UIUC, they're ranked 4th (after MIT,Stanford, Caltech). They're SAT score req. is around 1900-2100. I'll probably meet you next year there anyway :p.