I am not very good at math, and I'm a computer science major?

<p>I'm afraid, because I was at tutoring, the tutor told me that I seem to make mistakes, like forget to bring down signs, totally lose numbers, or mis-write them, like if I get 120 as result to an algebraic problem I can write it out as 12 for some reason. I don't know why I make a lot of mistakes with numbers and numbers are an important part of computer programming isn't it. I'm worried that when I start college algebra I'll fail and I'll never achieve becoming a computer programmer. If I kind of suck at math, am in over my head with CSC?</p>

<p>What you described doesn’t sound like being bad at math, but rather simple careless mistakes which we ALL make from time to time (I got a 100% on my last Calc test…but careless errors plumped me down to a 70%). The best advice I can give is that as long as you’re technically sound, and fix on carefully sifting over your problems to make sure you’ve made no errors, you’ll be good to go.</p>

<p>I’m not far in my CS studies (and I likely won’t be due to me likely switching to Applied Math), but so far none of what we’ve done, or likely to do, involves pencil &paper calculations. The only problems I can think of would be tests, in which you would have to work out solutions by hand, and then again, that wouldn’t be 100% math based.</p>

<p>This is the best I can give, but there’s some other guys on here who are likely more better suited to answer this question. Good luck!</p>

<p>I totally agree with Intervenient.
I don’t think the tutor was discouraging you. Everyone makes mistakes. Yeah. Some people are more careless. I am. </p>

<p>Computer science doesn’t mean you have to be good in math. In fact, I don’t think computer science major need to be a mathematician. I bet half of the computer science major today aren’t interested in the mathematics. They are there because they think it is the only way to become a software engineer. '</p>

<p>One tip: before moving onto the next step of a major problem, check your work first.</p>

<p>:]</p>

<p>Have you ever been evaluated for dyslexia or attention deficit disorder? The kind of errors you describe are typical of the kind of mistakes made by people with these conditions.</p>

<p>You know what they say about programming: 10% writing code, 90% figuring out where the eff you messed up :D</p>

<p>^ The new version is 90% debugging, and 10% writing bugs.
@Lemaitre1, LOL I don’t believe any of those medical terms there. Just plain simple: I am careless.</p>

<p>LOL</p>

<p>Yeah, you don’t need to be hardcore mathematician to be a computer programmer. Logic is the key, I believe.
Finding errors in you code won’t that hard in real-life coding (consoles, debuggers).</p>

<p>Beyond Calc which all engineering majors have to take, computer science majors have to take 2 “math” classes at my school. Computer engineering majors have to take 1. You have to get through these classes, but if you want to be done with math after that you’re done.</p>

<p>There are some more mathy parts of computer science like cryptography, but I think at most schools you won’t be forced to take those classes for computer science major.</p>

<p>Note that at my school there is no software engineering major. Software engineering here is defacto computer science. If your school has two separate majors things will likely be different.</p>