<p>I'm transferring to a 4-year state school with a partial scholarship and while I feel confident I can keep respectable grades with the following courses, I am uneasy about Discrete Math and Physics.</p>
<p>3--Discrete Structutes I
4--Calculus III
5--Physics I + Lab
4--Programming I
3--Comp. Ethics and Pro. Responsibility</p>
<p>I have borrowed a college text on physics to try and get an understanding of physics before I study the subject for the first time but I have no idea what to do about Discrete Structures or what to read for it to get an idea of the subject matter. Can anyone recommend me a good textbook to checkout? Or an online resource...</p>
<p>Also, any feedback is welcomed also study tips and suggestions. In order to graduate in a seemly amount of time, I must take this schedule this semester. I don't feel worried about the ethics or the programming class. I feel "okay" about calculus 3, am resigned to physics and am curious about discrete math....</p>
<p>What does a typical day with this schedule look like for students who have been there already? I want to work about 35hrs a week in the fall also. (Partly online and also as a math tutor at my comm. college). This is something that I have gotta make work and am willing to try my hardest...</p>
<p>Can anyone please provide tips for resources, budgeting of time, study tips, etc?</p>
<p>I think it’s unrealistic if you want to work 35 hrs a week. May be 15 at most.
The Physics + Lab and Programming may take a huge amount of time.</p>
<p>I would never advise this schedule even with just a 12 hour a week job. Even with a 1 hour a week job.</p>
<p>Is there any way to take just 4 classes? Or work fewer hours?</p>
<p>Are you prepared for the possibility of tanking one or more of these classes? You are moving from your CC to a four year college and depending on the classes, they may be far more work than you are able to anticipate.</p>
<p>I agree the Lab class may take up huge chunks of time.</p>
<p>My son is an EEECs major and I advised him to not overload on classes, esp too many tech/math/compsci classes all at once. He followed the advice the first semester with great success. The second semester he got a bit more adventurous and took more units, including Physics (which he never had in HS so it was very new to him…his classmates all had AP Physics already under their belts and he was having to catch up on stuff that was assumed he “should” know) and he was pummeled. He said “never again” and got smarter about balancing his semester class choices.</p>
<p>My son also found that at times a class he thought would be easy might take HUGE amounts of time and vice versa. One semester his compsci class, which was actually not “hard” for him, took 20 hours a week just for that ONE class because the assignments were so very long and involved. And another class that he had been nervous about ended up being easy peasy with almost no work. So there is a level of planning that still goes out the window… but setting yourself up with too many STEM classes is almost always a recipe for trouble unless you are a natural wiz or can handle the non-stop pressure.</p>
<p>After making this post, I rechecked all the classes and I’m meeting with my advisor Monday to register for everything but Calc 3. I really wanted take it because I just finished Calc 2 this summer and it went okay and I didn’t want to put off taking it, however, I can only fit it in my schedule in a way that is painful. If I take Calc 3, then I will have to take both my programming and physics labs at night, my schedule during the day will be erratic and make it impossible for me to have some sort of normal work schedule.</p>
<p>I’m trying to get online work to offset working as a tutor, or else a night job. I don’t have any real experience so I’m expecting to make minimum wage but I need to make about 1500 a month. It really isn’t an option. If I can find one job that’ll pay me what I need then I’ll get only one, but if I need 2 jobs then I’ll get them.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that next semester Calc 3 will be taught at a time thats more in harmony with my other classes, or maybe I can get out of needing to take it. For my scholarship, I MUST take at least 15 credits each semester. I’m probably going to have to take 2 or 3 classes over the summer next year but I’m just going to see what happens…</p>
<p>As for Discrete Math, I looked at the book my school requires and its expensive and has very low ratings on Amazon so I’ll probably like to get something better OR get something to supplement…Any suggestions?</p>
<p>You’ll get bad books, and you just have to deal with it. Use professors and smart students for help.
As for cost: maybe try to find an international version? Those might be cheaper, if they exist. Look for extremely cheap new books on eBay.</p>
<p>I never understood how one can even think about such a schedule? Do you want to destroy your GPA or something? The lesser classes you take, the more you can learn. Isn’t the whole purpose learning?</p>
<p>If you haven’t taken any CS courses before, that discrete structures class is going to be a rude awakening, filled with a style of thinking that you are NOT used too. Multivariable calculus isn’t easy either. Physics, would be like a full time job, if you want a good grade.</p>
<p>I personally found discrete math to be pretty easy, though it may very well be one of those “you get it or you don’t” type things. Either way I would not suggest taking 5 classes and working 35 hours per week.</p>
Just google “discrete math” and you’ll find plenty of resources.</p>
<p>I do agree that programming and lab classes tend to be very time-consuming. Discrete Math tends to be one of the easier math classes (but it can be made arbitrarily hard if the instructor is so inclined).</p>
<p>Do you need to take Calc 3, by the way? It’s not normally required for a CS major.</p>
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a CS major that didn’t require Calc III. A good CS major requires lots of math, and any science/engineering major needs Calc III.</p>
Really? Single-variable calculus, discrete math and linear algebra seem to be standard for computer science. Multi-variable calculus, not so much. In the few instances I know where CS majors do need to take multi-variable calc, it’s actually a general education requirement (e.g. for all engineering students). CS programs that have the flexibility not to require multi-variable calc don’t usually ask for it.</p>
<p>The undergraduate CS program at my college required multivarible calculus.
Furthermore, some math departments will not let students take differential equations and linear algebra without taking multivaribale calculus first.</p>
<p>Exactly, Calc I, II, III would all be part of the general engineering and/or science requirements that are part of the CS degree. Also, CS majors should have a lot more math than just the Calc sequence and Discrete Math/Linear Algebra, at least if the degree is any good. The better the CS program, the deeper the math requirements.</p>
<p>But thanks for the heads-up. If general math/science requirements are trending weaker for CS majors, I need to check resumes/programs a bit more thoroughly.</p>
Can you name any CS programs requiring more math than that? CMU doesn’t, MIT doesn’t, Stanford doesn’t. Guess there’s no solid CS education to be had from the top-ranked departments? </p>
<p>
Hold on. Are you implicitly saying that CS majors which are not taught as engineering degrees are inferior? Many colleges teach CS as a liberal art, not an engineering degree. I’ve encountered very little multivariable calculus in CS proper. For me it’s only come up in computational math-type contexts (e.g. machine learning or computational geometry problems).</p>
<p>This is beyond silly. If you seriously believe that CS majors from CMU, MIT and Stanford don’t take substantial CS-oriented math courses beyond Discrete Math and Linear Algebra, then this just isn’t a topic that you know much about.</p>
<p>Why am I being silly? You made a very clear statement that the math requirements are important for the quality of the program:
You’ve yet to name me a single program that lives up to your standards. </p>
<p>I would also appreciate if you could elaborate in what ways multivariable calculus is essential for a CS major. I have never seen it used in a CS class (except for the obvious applied math-type classes, which were a tiny subset of the CS electives offered at my college) but I have nowhere near as much industry experience as you do.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a need for CS-only majors to take a lot of math beyond Linear Algebra and Discrete Math UNLESS their specialization and/or interests requires it. Now for a CS major interested in cryptology, YES it would be nice if they had a number theory and abstract algebra course. For scientifical computing, yes some numerical analysis and numerical linear algebra courses would help.</p>
<p>Probably the only higher-level math courses that I would suggest to a CS-only major that is not required is the junior/senior level combinatorics and graph theory course and DEFINITELY a probability/statistics course. The CS major can take the combined “Prob & Stats for Engineers” course and have enough…no need for the separate probability and mathematical statistics courses that math majors would take.</p>
<p>Other than that, the Calculus I, II, Linear Algebra and Discrete Math sequence is enough.</p>
<p>…and this is a Math/CS major’s point of view. That is why I said “CS-only”.</p>
<p>However, all of the above have CS theory courses that are very much like math courses. Also, courses like discrete math may be listed under the CS departments rather than the math departments.</p>
<p>So you may be correct or incorrect, depending on the definition of “math course” (e.g. do discrete math courses listed under CS departments, and CS theory courses, count as “math courses”?).</p>
<p>The CS discrete math course just provides some basics of several topics of math. CS students can go further in combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, abstract algebra,… in elective courses, independent study, and graduate courses.</p>
<p>My undergraduate database design class required me to learn tuple calculus.</p>