<p>I'm a senior at my high school, contemplating whether or not I should go into the computer science field. I'm a female, Feminist, Puerto Rican and lots more. I'm what I like to call a mutt. People tell me you can't really tell that I'm Puerto Rican except that my skin is a little more olive toned. I'm still me. Anyway I love writing, playing video games (logical), arts, and talking to people. I've always contemplated being a social worker because I grew up in the system and I figured I could help fix it, however I'm fascinated by how things work. I love creating things out of nothing which is why I really like art. Im not convinced I'm that great though. I'm still really creative. When it comes to computers, my guardian works with them. He doesn't exactly write code but he knows how to fix things if they aren't working. Mostly basic stuff. He's shown me a bit and I thought it was really interesting. He even took my computer apart and walked me through the steps of how to replace the parts when my computer stopped taking a charge. Or he walked me through what to do when we hacked my kindle. I like to say it thinks it is an oversized smart phone. In school I'm not that great at math. I stopped at Trig. I feel it is not my strong suit. I moved around a lot when I was little and the teachers never took the time and well from there it was hard. I'm really good at science which isn't exactly something I would think is useful. I know there are so many different jobs that can be done with such a degree but I don't know if it is something worth pursuing. I don't know a lot about this degree but I fascinated with electronics and I'm really good at problem solving. Everyone says as a social worker I would be burned out and not make a lot of money. I'm not necessarily looking for a job because it makes a lot of money. I want to do something that makes me happy. And I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>it sounds like computer science could go either way for you. you might also consider computer engineering, with the experience you have. the math thing might be a little troubling, but i find that college professors can be more engaging and willing to help you, as long as you show them that you are enthusiastic and dedicated to learning the material. if you can manage to go to office hours and, if whatever college you go to has one, the math center, and you put in the time, you can definitely make up for any lost time with math.</p>
<p>you can definitely do work related to social work with a cs degree, so if later on down the road you decide that’s what you ultimately want to do, i don’t think you’ll have cut off that opportunity by pursuing cs.</p>
<p>i also wanted to add that, as a fellow feminist woman studying computer science, i encourage you to seriously consider it, because there really aren’t enough of us and if it’s something you can get excited about, it’ll be incredibly rewarding.</p>
<p>CS is a lot more logic and math and less hands on than the things you have mentioned. I’m inclined to agree that computer engineering would be better suited. You can certainly integrate social work and CS/CE</p>
<p>Ah, a fellow kindred soul. </p>
<p>Like the others have said, you seem to have a tendency for the more hands-on aspects of computer related activities. Because of that, I would recommend computer engineering as well. Along the line, you can try mixing some CS classes in there to “test the waters”, in a manner of speaking. </p>
<p>Either way, being of a minority ethnicity (like myself), and a woman (unlike myself), you might find yourself having a greater chance of being accepted into either major. </p>
<p>Though I do hear CS can be a bit harder due to greater job market potential. But I suggest that you leave college be college, and focus on job opportunities until later.</p>
<p>^A CE will have plenty of CS classes in their Curriculum (including OOP and Assembly language). A CE must be able to inferface with both hardware and software. Because of this, a CE can find work in computer science or electrical engineering. Also, harder is an opinionated perspective. However, a CE major will require more math and physics while a CS major will do more software.</p>
<p>Because CS people work in a lot of areas you can do CS with tech, finance, business, science, social services, fraud detection and govt work to name a few. If you think you can do it, it is very worthwhile from a career perspective. Usually you work reasonable hours with good pay and benefits. You don’t have to have an advanced degree to get a good job. For sociology, you can apply for any job that needs a degree and no specialized skills but you need an MSW to work in the field.</p>
<p>My daughter was a CS major and really liked it. She liked math, though. If you have trig you are prepared for college calc… For CS or CE or EE you are going to have to do calculus. But you probably need a good CS intro class to see if you will like it. It is not an easy program and there are a lot of people who weed out of most programs. Can you keep your major open and try it out?</p>
<p>Also there is a booming area called Data Science. Often data science team will have a group of people with different talents. CS, statistics,. Sometimes they use trained sociologists and psychologists who have worked with statistics to help with data interpretation and presentation. These people will know something about computing too… These groups are often trying to improve infrastructure and services, including social services in cities. Here is some info on that until I can find something better.
<a href=“http://datascience.nyu.edu/about/”>http://datascience.nyu.edu/about/</a></p>