I heard it is mostly calculus and I never took calculus in high school. Is it extremely hard? Is a career in computer science a good career in terms of money and getting jobs faster? I am currently undecided in college and I am choosing between nursing, computer science, and accounting.
Calculus up to Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and Discrete Math. All will be difficult if your math background isn’t rigorous. But if you are willing to put in the work, you will be rewarded.
Computer Science is generally not a math at all in my opinion. It’s a bit of a cross between problem solving, logic, design, and art if you ask me. In an academic setting in particular (and occasionally in industry), it does frequently use math as a tool though. Generally, most programs include Calculus 1 and 2, Discrete Math, and Linear Algebra. Diff Eq and Multivariable tend to be rarer. In practice, most CS jobs are software engineering and will use little math beyond basic complexity analysis, which will be taught in an algorithms and data structures course.
If you go into CS for this reason and no other, it can very well lead to an unfulfilling career. I would recommend taking the first CS course before declaring it as a major, especially when you are choosing between three drastically different fields.
CS covers a very wide spectrum in terms of math requirement. At one end, there’re few requirements. In fact, you don’t even need to go to college. At the other end of the spectrum, however, you may need, on top of what have been mentioned above, graph theory, computability theory, complexity theory, probability theory, mathematical optimization, statistical inference, Markov Chains, martingale theory, stochastic analysis, information theory, differential geometry,… The list goes on.
All three careers can be rewarding and lucrative. Our experience is that CS majors earn typically $80-$110K in their first job (YMMV), nursing in our area pays $28-30/hour to start, and accountants (not CPA) about the same. Another field you might want to look into is Actuarial Science, also a very good paying job right from the get-go with the ability to increase salary as you pass each “test”.
My d called CS another type of Applied Mathematics. You’ll compute, but can avoid the proofs.
The theory courses at the more rigorous schools (and they tend to be the better ones) actually require lots of proofs. They’re almost indistinguishable from abstract math in that sense.
The list of lectures at MIT’s introductory Mathematics for Computer Science can give you a flavor of where it starts, after Single Variable Calculus, the only pre-req.
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I have a CS degree. People always overstate the math needed for getting a job. AFAIC, if you take one semester of calculus, one semester of statistics, and one semester of linear algebra, they you’ve got enough math for 95% of all the computer jobs out there. Unfortunately, most schools still follow the traditional, math-heavy curriculum that was formed back when CS was a major administered by the math departments of many schools.
@deb111 From your previous threads, you either are or were a pre-med student. A CS major with pre-med classes could work, but it would be a difficult road. If you have given up on medical school, then I suggest a long talk with a school counsellor about your options, and then try to follow their advice.