<p>I am currently a student at USF. I transferred here in Fall of 2010 from a local CC with an AA degree. This is the start of my second year at USF as a declared CS major. I have only taken 2 programming classes. Java and C (currently in C). CS required a LOT of pre-requisites which consisted primarily of math which is what I have spent most of my time taking.</p>
<p>I feel like I am becoming less interested in computer science. I enjoyed my Java class, but I am not really enjoying my C class. It is much more involved since it is lower level and I have a hard time grasping some of the later concepts. It doesn't help that I am losing interest as well. I enjoy the basic concepts of programming, but seem to become less interested when it becomes more advanced. I also don't think I want to write code for the rest of my life. I have also read various concepts discussed in different programming/CS forums and they seem incredibly daunting and difficult. I know the CS major is very rigorous and a difficult one to complete which makes me very apprehensive.</p>
<p>I have been freaking out a lot lately and panicking. I cannot stop thinking about this each and every day. It is driving my crazy. This is the start of my 4th year of college and I am terrified of the thought of switching out of CS. I am already 23 years old and living at home still. I don't want to waste any time or money. Ideally, I should have been a college graduate by now with a job. </p>
<p>I truly wish CS was my niche and I was savoring every minute of it. I am still not 100% sure what type of job I want once I graduate. This is another problem that I need to solve. All I know is that I would like to work in the IT sector. I am not too deep into the CS curriculum, but I have taken all the required math (after this semester). It would suck immensely to change to a different major and have all those math classes become worthless because I worked very hard to receive good grades in those courses. I spent an entire year just taking a lot of the math pre-reqs for CS.</p>
<p>Is a CS degree only worthwhile if you want to pursue programming? Will the job I acquire with this degree revolve primarily around writing code? It seems as if the degree is rather heavy on programming. I will likely have a difficult time completing the coursework if I don't have the passion for it. </p>
<p>My school also has a B.S. in Information Technology program, but it is offered entirely online. I know changing to this would be a huge decision because I am sure the CS degree is more lucrative of the two. The IT degree seems a bit more enticing, but I dislike the fact that it is available online only.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice for me? I would sincerely appreciate any input you guys could give. I am feeling incredibly lost and in need of some guidance.</p>
<p>I have one full year(including summer) after this year is over. I am technically in my senior year but I still have another full year to go to complete cs(assuming I got all classes I needed each semester and passed on first attempt). Forgot to mention in the OP.</p>
<p>If you can stick with it, there are a lot of IT jobs that are less computer science heavy that you would qualify for and pay well. What are your other interests outside of CS?</p>
<p>I don’t find many other majors appealing to me which is very frustrating. Most of the ones that interest me relate to computers.</p>
<p>I am also interested in the Information Systems degree. This is a B.S. degree that is also in the Engineering discipline. It seems like a slightly watered down CS major with a few business classes tossed in. The main downfall of this major is my university is discontinuing it. I can pursue it if I desire (since I am in the 2010/2011 catalog year), but I am apprehensive about pursuing a degree which is being discontinued. Would this be a bad decision?</p>
<p>My school also offers a B.S. in Information Technology degree. The downfall is this program is 100% online. I don’t know how I feel about taking the rest of my college coursework primarily in an online setting.</p>
<p>There is also a Management Info Systems degree, but it has TOO many business courses and not enough technical courses.</p>
<p>The best choice would be the B.S. in Info Systems if I decided to change my major. It requires the same math coursework I have already completed. The I.T. degree only requireds Pre-Calc and any Physics course. Like aforementioned, I really would hate to have taken all that math for no reason if I switched to I.T. The main reason why I am weary about the CIS degree is the fact that it is being discontinued. This gives me the impression that this degree isn’t worthwhile. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Thanks again for your input. I truly appreciate it.</p>
<p>From my knowledge, you can qualify for a CIS job with a CS degree. So if you can push through and finish the CS quicker with a decent gpa I would.</p>
<p>This sounds practically identical to the doubts I am having with my CS major! I went from being very excited about it (for almost 2 years) to the sudden realization that I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk coding for the rest of my career. Like you I am trying to figure out if it’s worth continuing the degree or switching to something else. Everyone says there are many different paths for CS majors but all of the ones I have come across all seem to be the same and revolve around programming.</p>
<p>Well if you don’t want to be a software developer or a some other programming type of job, wouldn’t your education also qualify you for a a network/DB admin or other IT type of job? Or you could work in software sales.</p>
<p>I can see why C would be frustrating when compared to Java. My school taught C++ first and then Java. It’s really easy to get spoiled with the super-luxurious & intuitive IDEs like NetBeans, so it makes learning C/C++ a real drag afterwards (compiling, errors, debugging, runtime errors, etc). Wait until you get to assembly language…talk about low level.</p>
<p>I think you should stick it out and get to some of the “real” CS courses (programming is just scratching the surface), then see if you’re still disinterested. If you find that you’re <em>only</em> interested in high-level, object-oriented programming, you could always switch to something like CIS. You would still qualify for a good percentage of the jobs available to CS graduates.</p>
<p>Have you ever thought about computer engineering? Its kind of similar to a watered down version of CS with the rest of the classes in electrical/hardware type courses. This option would also utilize all of the pre-requisites that you’ve had to fight through.</p>
<p>ginger- How far are you in your track? I feel that changing majors would be a huge deal as I am currently a junior. I have completed almost all the required math (Calc 1-3, Physics 1-2, Eng. Stats) and I thought the MATH was going to be the biggest hurdle for me to overcome to major in CS. Turns out its the actual programming that I am weary about.</p>
<p>Dreburden- I believe a CS degree could get you a job almost anywhere in the IT field from what I have been told. The problem is whether or not I have the willpower to complete a CS degree. I am already feeling burnt out and I have 1.5 years to go. Definitely not a good sign.</p>
<p>Markladen- What would you consider the REAL cs courses? The ones pertaining to theory and what not? My university DOES have IS (Information Systems), but unfortunately it is being phased out due to lack of enrollment. I am unsure if I can still switch. Its very similar to the CS major except it has fewer programming classes and a couple business classes thrown in (Still a B.S Engineering degree though).</p>
<p>Erilejr- I don’t think I would do well in CompEng. I am currently in Physics 2 which deals with a bit of electricity (circuits/series) and I don’t really enjoy it. Physics is a class I cannot stand and I will be relieved once I am done after this semester.</p>
<p>The semester is winding down and I still really have no idea if I should switch. This is a huge change and it is terrifying. Would you advise against pursuing a major that is being phased out (IS)? My school also has MIS (business degree) and IT. The MIS has a pretty good chunk of business classes. The downfall of the IT major is that it’s available entirely online only. What do you guys think about taking 2 years of college primarily online? I have yet to really take any online courses.</p>
<p>Thanks for any additional input/advice anyone can give. I truly appreciate it more than you can understand.</p>
<p>We spoke via PM a year ago about very similar situations. You have a lot more willpower than me because Calculus I took me out (my school purposely made it extremely difficult and I didn’t have time for their weed out games). I switched to BIT (Business Information Technology) which is similar to your MIS and I am very relieved. BIT has extremely good job opportunities as well, at least for my school. I couldn’t stand my programming courses either, in fact I dreaded them. </p>
<p>I’d tell you to switch to MIS just so you can relieve yourself, you sound obsessive like I was about it and that is no fun. MIS with a CS minor is very good, opens up software development opportunities in case you wanted to ever go that route. There is a myth that CS majors are qualified for every job an IT or MIS major is qualified for and that is simply not true. The consulting firms at our job fairs won’t hire CS majors for certain positions because they don’t have that business knowledge. Big 4 companies regularly recruit BIT majors over CS due to BIT people having the knowledge how to develop and manage applications catering to the business such as decision support systems.</p>
<p>If you switch to MIS or similar degree program, you may want to take the CS versions of the operating systems, networks, databases, and security courses, as these will give you a stronger foundation of knowledge in these topics than most business IT people have. Knowledge here can be useful in the more technical areas of IT (i.e. computer system, network, and database administration).</p>
<p>Which degree would you guys say is more lucrative?</p>
<p>An MIS degree or IT degree?</p>
<p>I am still enrolled in CS for now (starting the semester and see how it goes), but I still have thoughts on switching which terrify me. Switching to IT at this point would not put me behind and I would still graduate on time (most of the CS classes ive taken count for the similar IT counterpart). I would have to go a bit longer if I switched to MIS.</p>
<p>It really is so frustrating to not be sure. I feel that I may not be cut out for CS. I hear it is VERY difficult and it is very intimidating because of the difficulty I have had comprehending quite a few things towards the end of my C language class. I won’t graduate until Summer 2013 (assuming everything goes perfectly) so I know its only going to get much more difficult.</p>
<p>Not knowing exactly what I want to do just sucks! Its driving me crazy.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input guys. I truly appreciate it!</p>
<p>Will CS be much too difficult if I don’t have a strong passion for programming? I jumped into this major since I love computers/technology, but I don’t LOVE programming. I enjoy it sometimes, but I don’t want to be a programmer for the rest of my life (I don’t think so anyways). Is it worth continuing this major if I did not want my full time occupation to revolve around being a programmer?</p>
<p>I tried to edit this into my last post but it was too late.</p>
<p>IMO, no, because the CS major is generally about the principles of computation, not programming. Although you’ll have a fair amount of programming assignments, you’ll most likely be covering more analytical subjects.</p>
<p>I actually think is difficult if you don’t have a passion learning or using programming. Just imagine sitting in front of the computer a few days because of a small bug / in front of your Linux OS and trying to figure out what’s going on with the build / package installation.</p>
<p>If you don’t enjoy programming that’s fine. But you have to tolerate it, and going to tolerate the bordem and frustration. You might find some programming areas interesting. Maybe you will love game design? At this stage, keep your opinon open is wise.</p>
<p>Computer Science is really about math. Programming is useful to understand that math but it’s also a pragmatic part of the degree because there is demand for programming skills. A lot of programming jobs, however, don’t require that CS math. The CS math may be quite useful, though, if you’re doing software engineering work or work on things like operating systems, database internals, advanced defense systems, etc, where math may be very important.</p>
<p>If you become good at programming and you know your math, then you could advance into doing design and programming work and then later become an architect. It might be worthwhile looking at the titles and responsibilities in a job posting site.</p>
<p>The IT route is quite a bit different and the college training is a little bit on concepts and a lot more on specific tools and packages and skills. You get trained to do something but you have to spend your life learning about the next version or tool to come down the road or you become obsolete.</p>
<p>The CIS/MIS route is interesting, especially if you want less math than CS and enjoy working with people more than working with machines.</p>
<p>(I have CS and CIS degrees and work as a software engineer but I was a consultant a long time ago).</p>
<p>Well I found out that I no longer have the option to switch to CIS even if I wanted to which is upsetting. The MIS route would be a completely different path and I would have to take a LOT more classes. Nothing I have taken so far would really satisfy anything for an MIS. </p>
<p>The IT degree DOES accept the majority of CS classes I have taken thus far. If I did decide to switch would an IT degree be a bad move? Can I be successful and get a job in the IT field with this degree?</p>
<p>Basically it boils down to this. Is it worth going through a CS degree if I do NOT want to be a programmer upon graduation? I know I want to work in the IT field and with computers, but I don’t think I want to program for a living.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot guys for your advice and input. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.</p>