Trouble Finding a Steady Academic Path (Major related)

Student Lounge College Life
1

Hello everyone!

[ Sorry, this is a long read. ]

I am a sophomore majoring in computer science at UCDavis, and I would appreciate some assistance with my current predicament. I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to change majors. Don’t get me wrong, I love my major! I love to code, solve problems with code, and learn about the theoretical concepts. The professors have done a decent job teaching. However, I do not perform well when it comes to class. I acknowledge I am a slow learner, so I’ve been taking extra steps to combat this fault. I go to office hours, discussions, and seek out supplementary explanations/lessons online if I want to explore the material in depth. It does not help that there is a lot of material distributed in a condensed quarter. Everything checks out…until exam day comes. I blank out during written exams, and I tend to do poorly on them. (Programming midterms and finals are doable). The only thing keeping me afloat was the fact that I did extremely well on assignments. This has caused my major gpa to enter a troubled state. It’s dipped to 1.9 which does not allow me to major or minor in cs. I’m afraid this will continue and I will be forced to resign. I’ve expressed these concerns to my family, but they either get uncomfortable or claimed that I just need to try harder. My advisor agreed with the latter or advised that I may need to change majors. I’ve thought about taking computer science as a minor, but I want to get out as much as I can from the program (and the gpa issue). I wouldn’t mind doing away with cs altogether because I would happily learn on my free time. I already work on personal projects out of school. However, I would prefer a formal education and I was told it would not benefit me much as a minor.

Ironically, I maintain A’s in every other subject I take. I am also more socially proactive with both the instructors and students. I especially enjoyed the courses relating to culture, art history, and design. I’ve been recommended by TA’s to look into humanities/arts, but I cannot let go of my love for computer science no matter how poorly I am performing.

It would be a major disappointment to my family if I did switch over to something else. I’ve already dropped the honors program because of stress and my deteriorating health, and doing any further damage would make them question my dedication to my education. They did not expect me to slip up this much since I graduated top of my class and I will be the first to graduate. I can already feel the disappointment seeping out of their passive aggressive and sometimes hurtful comments

I have been an extremely anxious person ever since I was young due to a traumatic childhood, so I’m not the best person when it comes to communication. Authoritative figures frighten me and I tear up for almost no reason. The STEM staff and students make me really anxious for some reason. I find it difficult to socialize with my classmates and professors. I imagine it would be a difficult to find research opportunities or internships. I really do try during office hours and discussions though. On the other hand, I feel comfortable and assertive in humanities and arts.

Long story short.

  • I’m studying what I love the most, but I have never felt more depressed.
  • I like really comp sci, but I don’t enjoy how it is taught (again, not really the prof’s fault).
  • Can’t major in anything else unless their is certain financial stability
  • The family wants me to be happy AND successful.

My ultimate goal is to have a technological + creative + artistic career such as a game designer, conceptual designer, or web developer to name a few. Although I’m not even sure at this point.

Where do I go from here? Any career recommendations?
Any thoughts are appreciated, and feel free to ask questions! :slight_smile:
Do not worry, I plan on talking to an advisor and my family again after I acquire some input.

Thank you for reading.

2

I don’t know anything about CS but I do know that you can’t try to stay in something just to please your family. I’m a current parent but went through a similar situation when I was in college. I didn’t do well in math and needed to do a lot better to stay in my major, so I had to find something else. My parents were extremely upset but they had never been to college and didn’t understand that sometimes trying your best doesn’t always cut it. It was difficult to decide what to change my major to but after talking with several people about my strengths and interests I found a new major and never looked back. I wish you the best and hope that you are able to find a major that better suits you. Sorry I don’t have any suggestions as i don’t have experience in your fields of interest but just wanted to say that I wish you well and that sometimes a little detour is needed to get us on the right path.

3

Please change to something else. Do the CS courses you already completed add up to a CS minor?

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Do the remaining CS classes all have the kind of final exams that you struggle with? Perhaps you can at least get a minor if you can choose classes carefully.

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@BuggerNutSquish Since you say you like coding and desire a tech career, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that your problem isn’t aptitude or interest, but instead that you are not properly preparing yourself for your exams. Make sure you practice the types of problems that will appear on the tests, and then that way you won’t panic and freeze up. Ask your professors for help with this. You mentioned your advisor in your OP, but nothing about your instructors.

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Try one more thing:
Davis has a wonderful tutoring program, which you did not mention in your original post. Have you thought of meeting with the tutors?

You are going to office hours but you may need to investigate different sessions. Go to the free tutoring which will explain your subject **at Davis **and will talk about what the tests, onsite, entail. If you are using an online program, it has not been helping.

If you find that you can’t do CS, because you seem to do well on everything else, then you need to change majors. Make sure you speak to an advisor on campus. Your parents aren’t taking the classes and they aren’t doing the suffering-you are. Do what you need to do for you.

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Thank you all for replying!

@HalfMoon22
Thank you very much for the wonderful comment. Your advice is helpful regardless, it gave me some confidence to look at other posibilities. I’m glad things worked out for you in the end!

@suzyQ7
I will probably consider changing in due time. Not quite yet as I have to complete some of the pre-reqs but I am extremeley close to taking those courses. I’m estimating I can complete the minor requirment by next year.

@CheddarcheeseMN
I’m unsure, but I will definetely look into it. I have noticed that more cs professors are replacing written exams with projects which is something I am more confident in. However, the theoretical classes will for sure have the type of exams I struggle with. Good advice!

@damon30
Yes, you have a valid point! I really do start to freak out before exams and become overwelmed when I probably have no reason to. And I will try to talk to my professor or TA when I feel that the same thing is happening. The new quarter has begun, so it would be wise to prepare early.

@“aunt bea”
I have thought about meeting with a tutor, but I get really anxious around others and freeze up during sessions. I begin to forget concepts and get even more frustrated because I come off totally lost. Oh, I go online to see “extra tidbits” and stuff not gone over class for the fun of it. Things like “what else can this be used for?” Thank you for the confidence boost and advice!

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It seems your problem is test anxiety and anxiety and general, not lack of ability. Have you talked to a counselor about this? Have you had therapy? If not, I suggest you start there.

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@yucca10
Hello, thank you for replying. I haven’t talked to anyone about my issues, so it’s difficult for me to open up and take that first step. I’ll take your suggestion to heart!

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I think you misunderstood me for the tutoring groups. My dd graduated from Davis almost 3 yrs ago. She wouldn’t have made it through her NPB program without the tutors. The tutoring is not one to one. It is free and held in the common rooms of some of the dorms.

Also, you can go to the student disability center at the Mem Union Center and work with them to have you assessed for test anxiety. They are really helpful and can answer any questions; they can also help with notetakers and podcasts. All you need to do is reach out for help.

https://sdc.ucdavis.edu

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@“aunt bea”
Ahh okay, I guess we are now on the same page, haha. Yes, I can give this a go when I want to review some material before an exam or if I have any further issues. This would probably lessen my stress and fear towards exams as mentioned by another poster. Maybe I need someone to reassure me before the big day.
And I appreciate the tip on the sdc. I never knew they handled anxiety related matters. You have been helpful, and I appreciate your kindness! :slight_smile:

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I agree with others that you can explore how to stay in the CS program.

The other way to go is how can you apply CS to the other areas you are interested in.

So can you use your art/design + CS skills (even if you didn’t major in it) to do webdesign?

13

@bopper
I like your suggestion. It’s something simple I overlooked. It plays with the possibility that I can pursue what I like without much sacrifice. Maybe that will help direct me to the path I like and motivate me to shape up. I will do some more thinking and consult with someone at the career center regarding the matter. Thank you very much!