<p>“Sorry for going a bit off-topic… but is Computer Science a discipline in engineering? If not, which department does it belong? Just “science”, as the name implies?”</p>
<p>That is the million-dollar question which still has not been answered after all of these years. Computer science has always been a discipline that had no distinct home. At some schools, CS is part of the engineering college. At some other schools, CS is part of the Math department. The two different homes have also caused differences in how much math is required for CS.</p>
<p>“wrong. both subjects are hella useful in numerical analysis. i hear that lin. alg. is useful in computer graphics too.”
Good point. I meant useful to the actual content of CS, as opposed to a particular applications area in CS. You’re right that Cal, DiffEq, and LinAlg are all incredibly important to study numerical analysis or computer graphics, which are applications of CS in a sense.</p>
<p>“Is it a good idea for someone who isn’t required to take numerical analysis in CS to take it anyway?”
Unless you have something better to do with your time. Only you will be able to answer that question. There may be other classes you like the look of better, and there might not be. You may have time to do it and you might not. Etc. I would recommend taking it if you’re interested, but not if you’re not.</p>
<p>Here at the U of MN the Computer Science guys all take the same math sequence the as the engineers minus multi-variable calculus. Unless you want the B.A. Comp Science degree (not sure why you would) than you get away with only taking calculus I. </p>
<p>“Sorry for going a bit off-topic… but is Computer Science a discipline in engineering? If not, which department does it belong? Just “science”, as the name implies?”
The answer to this depends on the school. Here at the U of MN there are 2 Comp Science degrees. A B.S. Comp Sci that is offered through the Institute of Technology, and a B.A. Comp Sci that is offered through the Center For Liberal Arts. I tend to not consider the Computer Science students “engineering” material. especially considering they seem to have considerably more free time than I do…That being said, The CS program is by no means easy. It’s just that their classes are harder on a different level than ours. While we study thermo they are studying computational algorithms. To each his own.</p>
<p>“I tend to not consider the Computer Science students “engineering” material.”</p>
<p>It’s funny you say that… I was talking to a couple of Math/CS double majors today that seemed to think that engineering majors weren’t Math or CS material. I guess it goes both ways.</p>
<p>"It’s funny you say that… I was talking to a couple of Math/CS double majors today that seemed to think that engineering majors weren’t Math or CS material. I guess it goes both ways. "</p>
<p>It does work both ways, I should have explained more when I wrote that, guess that is what I get for posting at midnight. I am not saying that CS people are inferior in any way to engineering students. The CS kids work just as hard as we do to get their degree. I just feel that people who choose CS vs those who choose engineering have a different mentality. Not in a bad way, some people just have a knack for programming and computational theory while others a knack for one of the various engineering disciplines. ultimately we need BOTH if technology is to continue advancing. My apologies to any CS major’s who took that offensively, I know you guys work very hard for your degree.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many schools require the calculus series, differential equations, linear/matrix algebra, and often some probability and statistics. There can also be a lot of algorithms and discrete math.</p></li>
<li><p>Depends on the school you go to, but in general it will probably be one of the harder programs to get into.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Statistics can be important for many areas of CS like machine learning and artificial intelligence. To do statistics well requires Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra. I would do Calc3 before I’d do diffEq. I fail to see why a CS major needs to take diffEq. It’s just about the the dryest area of math I can think of. I would delay it as long as possible and hope that Michigan wises up and changes the curriculum. Linear algebra, on the other hand, is one of if not the most useful and certainly one of the most beautiful.</p>