<p>I'm a sophomore at a community college, soon to transfer to a major university. I was an English major at first, and then a General Studies major -- my skills lie almost entirely in the liberal arts sphere.</p>
<p>But out of doubt I attended career counseling at my college, and the battery of personality tests I was given strongly indicated a job in the computer field. My counselor said that for personal and financial reasons, a degree in the computer sciences would be the way to go.</p>
<p>But I'm very weak in math. I merely B'd my introductory math course as a freshman, and I've had trouble with math courses since middle school. My counselor, as well as others, have suggested that with hard work I could get better, but I doubt I'd ever be particularly good at it, and in any case I don't want to kill myself with frustration in my final two years, or suffer poor marks, or end up dropping out/changing majors if I get in over my head.</p>
<p>So I guess my longwinded question is this: is a computer science major a terrible choice for a math-weak student, or is it possible to do well without a mathematical skillset?</p>
<p>I’m a computer science and applied math double major in my senior year. You definitely do not need to be good at traditional math for the major, but you do need to pass your single var calc, linear algebra and stats for the degree (math requirements could be different based on your uni). Furthermore even though the major on the surface doesn’t need as much pure math classes like some sciences (physics etc.) and engineering the entire field is conceptually mathematical and you generally need to have/build up a good base of ‘number theory’ and logic in general for you to succeed. Of course you can be a code monkey, and regurgitate some apps for businesses but that’s not really Computer Science, and honestly you don’t need to go to a traditional school (if at all) to do that sort of thing. Hope this helps a bit.</p>
<p>Edit: BTW this is if you want to scratch the surface of CS and try to get out with a degree. So many wonderful opportunities in the field require a fairly strong math program…(crypto, graphics, scientific computing etc).</p>
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You definitely do not need to be good at traditional math for the major, but you do need to pass your single var calc, linear algebra and stats for the degree (math requirements could be different based on your uni).
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<p>Yeah, it’s this stuff that I’m worried about – I fell off the mathematical boat the minute I was introduced to algebra in middle school. I’m not sure if it’s something you can really get over, either. I mean, you can learn how to do it, but I doubt you can ever learn the ‘knack’ for it.</p>
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<p>Information (or maybe library) science was something I’ve been seriously considering, but unfortunately they don’t seem to be offered at UGA, which is really the only uni I’m capable of attending now (due to family concerns). If UGA somehow offered I would probably go for it.</p>
<p>CS is a great field, and I highly recommend it. It’s very versatile and usually pays very well. However, yes advanced math is required. At my school, the two peak math classes you do is Calculus III (Multi-variable calculus) and Linear Algebra And Differential Equations. Those two classes, while difficult, are definitely manageable. You just need to focus and try hard on them and you can do it.</p>