<p>Firstly, I'd like to apologize because I had no idea where to put this. I figured if I had questions about science and math, Engineering majors would be the right people to ask. =)</p>
<p>I'm really interested in pairing my study program in linguistics with computer science, but I've always struggled with math. I passed Precalculus in 10th grade with a B first semester and C second, and pulled a 600 on the SAT math section. This is as far as my high school math career goes. I just don't "get it" when it comes to advanced math.</p>
<p>So my question is this: have you, or anyone you know of, ever struggled with math and then went on to be great at it? Or do you just have to have "the right kind of intelligence"? It seems like every science major I know has been doing calculus from the womb, as of right now I can't envision myself ever passing a calc class, let alone achieving anything meaningful in CS.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about math in CS, much of CS doesn’t actually require pure math, although it might require skills related to mathematical aptitude such as logic. I never really considered myself mathematically inclined (I barely got a B- in Linear Algebra/Diff Eqs and got a B+ in Multivariable/Vector calc) but I did well in my CS courses. CS to me is more about being clever and relying on one’s intution. The ability that seems the most important to me for CS is the ability to take apart something, look at it, and be able to figure out how it works (or the general idea at least). This is because many topics are algorithmic in nature rather than just purely mathematical (at least in the sense of mathematics that you are thinking of).</p>
<p>It all truly depends on how much you’re willing to work. Natural aptitude for math would be great for an engineer, but not all engineers were/are inclined to math. Some truly have to work at it, and you only get out as much as you put in.</p>
<p>Since I haven’t started college yet, I can’t fully speculate. But for me, I have NEVER been good at math. In fact, I took algebra three times in a row (although this has a rather interesting sotry behind it), and when I was a junior in high school, I only reached geometry. It was at that moment that I realized I wasn’t learning anything in the public school system, so I my senior year, I was only in trig. This year I’ve taken my placement tests for my college and I have placed into calculus without once ever taking precalculus (hence why I think the class shouldn’t even exist because I’m living proof that you do not NEED precalc to take calc).</p>
<p>This hasn’t been easy and by no means am I great at math. I’ve simply realized that no one will ever have the same vested interest in your success and that also not to let your schooling interfere with your education (Mark Twain came up with that, so ponder why don’t you.) I admit, I’m a lot better at math than I originially was, but I have a long way to go if I am to be the successful engineer I know I want to be.</p>
<p>You can do it too. Take advantage of colege tutor programs and study relentlessly. If you struggle, good. If you get frustrated, excellent. It means that you’re trying hard and that the material will remain in your brain because, once you’ve conquered it, you’ve…well…conquered it. When you can honestly say that you’ve broken a mental sweat trying to improve your mathematical skills, you’ll know that you’re making incredible progress. Math is not some unattainable or inconquerable phenomenon; you CAN become great at it. The amount of work required varies from person to person, but it is very well within the realm of possibility to master it.</p>
<p>Do not be fooled that you must have an innate ability to comprehend math to be a good engineer. While that makes you a good engineer, it will not make you a great one. You will quickly learn that hard work and perserverence will equip you with the right mentality and willpower that will greatly outweigh your mathematical short-comings. Never give in, and never give up. Where there is a will, there’s a way. But do you have the will?</p>
<p>Precalculus and calculus - and differential equations, really - are not a representative cross-section of mathematics, and especially not the mathematics that CS majors are going to be doing.</p>
<p>Fundamentally, CS is all about math. It’s all couched in terms of discrete math. You probably haven’t had much exposure to this sort of stuff, but you could look into it to see what you think. Try any of the following searches: propositional logic, predicate logic, set theory, discrete probability, graph theory, equivalence relations, algorithmic analysis (or analysis of algorithms), complexity theory, formal languages (or formal language theory), automata theory, etc.</p>
<p>There are really two kinds of math… there’s the math that’s like analysis and there’s the math that’s like algebra. CS is the math that’s like algebra. Despite what engineers will tell you, math doesn’t need to be done with numbers, and if you’re just trying to get an answer, that’s not really math at all, just calculating…</p>
<p>Thank you very much AMT, I will look up the fields you mentioned and see what they’re like. My problem, though, is that even if CS itself doesn’t require the math I’m talking about, the course prerequisites are still set in stone. One has to take calculus just to get in the door.</p>
<p>Toughen up, save. The math preriquisites are not a direct indicator for your ultimate success. They exist to weed out the less capable, the less confident, and the less committed. As long as you learn and pass them, you’ll find that much of what you studied is unused. What math and other technical disciplines teach you is to examine and solve problems logically.</p>
<p>I am wondering about higher level math courses, since I never took any myself. Are they more about manipulating numbers to get the right answer, or are they more theoretical in nature? Which do you think is harder?</p>
<p>Higher level courses are more theoretical and/or more intensive. </p>
<p>Either you’re studying a basic idea, such as, algebra or graphs, concepts you’ve used before, and are examining them in meticulous detail and rigour or you’re solving huge multi-step problems (e.g. differential equations) for use in more concrete applications. Oftentimes, these purposes merge. </p>
<p>Take, for example, calculus. Riemann sums, depending on the method of use, can come off as step-intensive, especially to the beginning calculus student, but it’s not theoretical. Limits, on other hand - what’s that?! It’s close to, but never is at zero? It may not even exist? Theoretical and/or Intensive. </p>
<p>Now, this is just calculus, but I attend a school which is engrossed in the math and sciences. The higher level stuff follow more or less the same patterns as the lower level.
No more 2+2=4 and x+2=5 kind of stuff.</p>
<p>just to let you know, talent can also come from hard work. Spend lots of time on math problems and you should be fine.
Math will make the courses seem easier to understand. I highly recommend you to work on that.</p>
<p>You might consider an Engineering Technology degree versus a Bachelor’s of Science Engineering degree. It is more applied and less theoretical and may require less math or less difficult math, but check out and compare the degree requirements. Off the top of my head, I know two schools, University of Cincinnati, and Rochester Institute of Technology, who have these programs.</p>
<p>“So ECE math is more complicated than CS math?”
No, I would say just the opposite. Name some math that ECE majors do. I would imagine…
… calculus
… differential equations
… linear algebra
… fourier analysis
… analysis, in general
Also, it’s my experience that the business of ECE majors isn’t proving things, but calculating things. Not to say they never do proofs, but I would imagine you’d be doing fewer proofs than in CS.</p>