Would a major in computer science be hard for a first time programmer with little or no experience in programming?
Also, how would the Computer Information Technology program be like for such a person?
Am a CS sophomore at Purdue. I had little experience (only programmed in Pascal for a few months) in programming before I came here. You will take CS177(Python) or CS180(Java) in the first semester, they are the introductory courses of CS so you should be fine, but do expect challenging projects/tests if you happen to be taught by some particular professors. CS240(C programming) and CS182(discrete maths) in the second semester are a keystone for CS and that is when you will find out if this is the suitable major for you. They both require some study/digestions after class and CS182 will soon turn into a headache if you do not like math or have trouble with it. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not impossible to get good grades at all but you gotta sacrifice your club/party/video game time to study, especially you did not have a lot previous programming experience like me. I witnessed a lot of people complaining about 182 and 240’s difficulty but they proved not to take them seriously.
TL;DR: Yes, it would be hard, but only to some degree which depends on which professor will be teaching you (trust me, the choice of professors plays a HUGE role in how you'll work out in the courses).
I don’t know much about CIT but I reckon both CIT and CS will have a good chuck of programming but CS will have much MUCH more mathematical courses, in respect of both numbers and difficulty.