Marian, “He wanted to major in computer science. I was concerned.” - There is no math in CS, none. I love math and wish it was some math in CS. I have been in IT for over 30 years and still absolutely love my job, very hard to retire from, it is the biggest entertainment in my life. But after working at 9 different places, in completely different and unrelated industries on different computer platforms, with different languages, environments and department sizes, from being 1 of the 2 in entire department to being 1 in 250 in department, I have never ever needed to use my strongest subject - math. Still love math and after never using it, was able to help my D. in HS when she had questions. But math was also her strong class and she also went to have a career that does not use math.
Your S. has chosen absolutely right career for himself, he will have fun!
Math may not play a role in your day-to-day work, but computer science majors have to take a pass several math classes.
Mathematical concepts can apply.
There is no math in IT. There is a lot of math in computer science. Discrete math, algorithms, complexity, machine learning, are all extremely mathematical. A good CS degree of 2016 is not an IT degree, though some graduates do work there. Computer science is much broader than just computers.
IT is just a lingo, a label, the departments are not even called IT. they may be called whatever, depending on the company. There is no difference between IT, CS, programming languages, many types of computers, various technology…etc. The difference between the field that is using tons of math - engineering and the CS, that does not use math aside from the requirements of the major is that CS is developing of the software and not a hardware. The algorithms are nothing else but the fancy word “the logic”. And the logic is nothing more than the bunch of if-then-else’s, which may get very very complex and deep, but there is no math in it, just pure logic. But I agree with "Computer science is much broader than just computers. ". Frankly, a programmer does not need to know much about computers at all. Computer is just a machine, a black box that is controlled by your program. When my laptop “does not behave”, I call our help desk, I do not need to know how to fix it, I should not be spending my time doing that.
Anyway, he CS is a perfect field for the non-mathy person who does not have a good memory.
Well, that takes the fun out of it. And the brilliance.
"Well, that takes the fun out of it. And the brilliance. " - What takes fun out of what? If you refer to CS, writing software is the most fun in a world and the most entertaining activity, very hard to retire from as nothing is as entertaining. Everybody who does it for living feels this way, like playing whole day long and getting paid for it. I do not know anything about brilliance. One does not need to be an Einstein to write computer programs, but Einstein also had to work much much harder than any of us, that was his fun though. As many people as I knew at my 9 places of employment, I did not meet any geniuses there. just very dedicated bunch who absolutely love the job.
Wow… I almost never am on the same page as @MiamiDAP, but I wholeheartedly agree. I always roll my eyes at the “differences” perceived in the CS degree and the work they do vs IT. And agree that very, very few jobs in the computer world require anywhere near the math that CS majors require.
I told my kids “If you like your major and what you are doing soldier on.” If you don’t like what you’re doing, find something you do like.
I’m with @momofthreeboys. If my child likes the courses in her major and meshes with the professors and fellow students, all is good. Doing less than stellar in a class or two isn’t grounds for switching. Sometimes a student gets it after going through a struggle.
It sounds like the OP’s child is still finding her way doing college. She’s just not using all the resources available to her. Joining a study group usually helps but it is often a new concept to freshmen, especially those who did well in high school on their own. If she had extensive tutoring, taken the course twice, went to the professor and then got the “mediocre” grade, I’d worry. That hadn’t happened.
One thought - If the student was a top student in high school, she may be embarrassed to ask for help. Hopefully she’ll realize everyone needs it sometime during their life. Getting help on a calc problem is pretty minor.
S1 realized halfway through his first semester that he was not suited for his declared (STEM) major, but didn’t know what direction to take. His solution was to scroll randomly through the (Large Flagship) course listings, noting which classes sounded interesting. He ended up with double majors in humanities areas. One eventual major was what anyone who ever knew him would have told him to major in, had he asked. But he really needed to get there in his own way, to own his decisions. Post college, he is doing what I would have guessed he’d be doing.
S2 never changed directions from his declared (STEM) major, but added a minor in business that we more or less pushed him into. He was offered automatic admission to the (Large Flagship) business school when he was admitted to the university (one of several options offered). He wasn’t really drawn to any of the options, so we told him everyone could use some business classes. He wasn’t interested enough to major in business, but that minor has served him incredibly well. He spent all or part of every summer in South Africa, Malawi, or Nicaragua working on (grant funded) projects for his university. He got the fully funded spots because, while the larger projecte were biology related(his major), the project leaders needed someone with business skills to work on a specific part of the larger project. Three summers he was working on the university’s medical school’s reasearch projects. He was in way over his head, but learned a lot and contributed a lot. The job he got upon graduation is a good combination using his major, minors and everything he did during those summers. So that push we gave him was well worth it.
However, as he looks ahead in his career we are NOT making sugestions about what seems like an obvious direction, because he needs to own that decision. We’ll chime in if asked, but so far he hasn’t asked our opinion.
D is in the middle of her freshman year, and struggling a bit with her own direction. She will figure it out, and we’ll give an opinion when asked, but not before.
@MiamiDAP - I respectfully disagree. IT does not require much math on a day-to-day basis. Software engineering can require it, depending on the product you are working on. If you are doing any kind of scientific modeling, you better know your math.
Source: Am software engineer, coding tools for electrical engineers.
It is difficult to give you great advice without more information, but I will try.
- Physics is harder than most other subjects. Getting lower grades in physics and calculus than other classes may not mean she is not good at it. They are often more difficult, more time consuming, attract better students, and are graded on a more difficult curve.
- Very few advanced math students cruise through their math courses without a few bumps in the road. They almost all have subjects where they are a bit confused. When that happens, the key is to get help early when you need it, and keep working at it. Often a student will get through a topic that they find difficult, and will then have a much easier time with other math topics, so be slow to decide that she can't do it. Even then, it is more likely that she is not willing to work as hard as the subject requires than that she can't do it.
- Being successful at math is about getting clear explanations and putting in a lot of effort: get a tutor, go to class, go to recitation, do all the homework, go to office hours, talk to her faculty advisor, and don't give up.
- Get help early and don't let it snowball. She should not wait to get help and,"See how the next mid-term goes."
- If tutors only have weekend times available, then she may have to do that. Physics and calculus are definitely subjects where students do have to do homework on the weekends.