In other words, realistically can a kid who was just average in math and got around 650 - 690 in SAT math but 4.0 GPA be a good or decent Computer programmer? Basically, my kid was around middle of pack in his pre-calculus class. Probably not but was curious if you encountered a student who intended to major in languages, political science or non STEM major who got into Stanford and “accidentally” found out he or she was actually good in CS programming? I want to encourage my non STEM kid to still take an intro CS class at Stanford just to gain a basic understanding of CS even if he isn’t going to major in CS, but I don’t want him to flunk the class either. Lol
To be able to program one needs at least high school algebra level skills. Coding in specialized areas will require more advanced math. CS106A is a very popular intro class that students from all backgrounds take.
Some quotes from a related article are at https://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/10/04/cs106a-enrollment-reaches-record-high/ .
Has anyone met someone who was a good programmer but not good in math?
To be good at coding, you need to be strong at math and logic. If you fear he will fail, why not just study it on his own?
The OP mentioned his son had a ~92nd percentile math SAT score. That’s not a bad score. It’s just lower than most at Stanford. Having a score lower than most at Stanford does not mean you are likely to fail, and it certainly does not mean you cannot handle a basic intro programming class, like CS106a. A large portion of students from all backgrounds take this class, and almost nobody fails classes at Stanford. In most classes, hardly anyone gets grades below B-. Yes, there are likely to be some students in the classes who are better at programming than your son or have more innate inability, but the same could be said for almost any class at Stanford. If he works hard in the class, I expect he’ll be successful. It’s only a basic, intro programming class, not that far beyond AP CS level.
When I attended Stanford, my CR SAT was in the bottom 1% of my entering class; so I was probably in the reverse situation as your son. Objective CS with everything following a simple set of rules was naturally easy for me. I won the CS106x final project competition, when I took the class. However, subjective writing with no such rules/logic was more challenging for me. Nevertheless, I took a good number of lower level writing intensive non-STEM classes and did reasonably well in them (mostly A’s, some B’s, nothing below B). My “critical reading” and vocabulary improved quite a bit while taking such classes st Stanford, such that when I became a co-term a couple years later, my verbal GRE score was no longer at the bottom of the class. It was slightly above average for Stanford MS students.
Today I work with SW engineers on a daily basis, and some of them appear to struggle with basic math. That may relate to being out of school for several years and forgetting things since they use little math for their position. It does help to have a logical/analytical mindset, but doesn’t require high level math.
@Data10 Good info. Tx.
CS106 A is one of the most popular on campus for STEM and non-STEM alike.