Is comp sci the right major for me?

Hey all,

So I’m a high school senior about to enter into undergrad and I’m freaking out about selecting the right majors. A major I know I’m doing for sure is media studies (with a concentration in emerging media) since I want to do something related to computer graphics/video/digital design. But I want to take up another major since I’ll have plenty of credits left.

I always thought I could do CS since it was my original plan to major in it. While in high school & middle school I’d program game mods, sound synthesizers, flash games, and other things. I never did any large scale program or program something that wasn’t fun or valuable to me.

I’m starting to realize that I don’t want to be a software engineer since it isn’t exactly the kind of career that will appeal to me. I don’t really care for higher level computer science concepts, finding efficient algorithms, and other stuff like that. Things just get way too abstract for me at that level. I don’t think the job would be a great fit for me, I’m not sure.

Just to clarify, my ideal career would have something to do with animation & digital graphics. I’m strongly considering making my second major studio art since I figured those skills would be important to me but I’m scared to leave the cs degree behind. Why? Well because I have this idea that a CS degree will get me a job somewhere if my creative endeavors don’t work out. I mean I like programming sure but not enough to do it 9-5 everyday.

So I need some advice. Should I just suck it up and get the CS degree? Will the stuff I learn in it help me with my future career in ways I’m not seeing? Or should I just take up studio art and do programming on the side? This has been plaguing me for a bit and I would love some fresh input. Thanks.

You haven’t started college yet and you want to know if you should suck it up and get a degree in a field where you aren’t interested in the concepts covered at the upper levels? Easy answer. No, Heck no. How about you use your first year to explore a little bit?

Even for those who ARE CS majors, a lot of them don’t really know what they want to do until they start taking upper division classes. You can go in many directions. Being a programmer is not necessarily the end result of a CS degree, contrary to what many knowitalls will tell you. And that’s the beauty of school, you have some time to figure things out.

Nothing wrong with focusing on UX design or Graphics Design or Animation, some schools will have specific majors in these categories.

You don’t have to decide now. By all means take a few basic CS classes, plus classes related to game programming, web development and other stuff that interests you, and then see how it goes.

@ordinarylives
Yeah I just might do that. Take a few classes in some subject areas that interest me and see where it goes.

@ProfessorPlum168
I’ve actually thought about UX design as well as motion design but I’m not sure how good employment is for these types of jobs. I’d imagine it would be hard to stand out since there a lot of graduates competing for these jobs with great portfolios but I would still give it a shot. At this point I’m still worried about job security even though I’m years away from entering the work force.

@AdrianTheVile all industries need good UI/UX design people, so there should be plenty of demand out there.

I agree that there’s no harm trying, but to me, it sounds like you want something in the design world. A CS minor may pair well but I don’t think CS is the right major in this case. UI/UX/Graphic Design would be a good area to look in.

A second major in CS could be a solid plan, assuming a few things aren’t deal breakers. Are you good at math and problem solving? The core CS major typically includes calculus, discrete math, two classes in programming, data structures, computer organization, maybe an algorithms class and then CS electives. Maybe study your school’s catalog and make sure you are willing to sit for all the requisites and get good grades. One elective you should consider is machine learning/deep learning, although that might mean taking additional math prerequisites. One other consideration is that some CS majors have trouble getting their classes because the sections fill up quickly. UT Austin is a case in point: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/technology/computer-science-courses-college.html