<p>I love computers and computer science. I've taught myself HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, PHP and a bit of Ruby and I'm taking a C++ course in school (and acing it). I enjoy tackling programming problems and relish the logic involved in creating applications. I am planning on studying computer science or computer engineering in college. Yet there is one trait I have that boggles my mind...</p>
<p>I hate math.</p>
<p>Ok, well maybe not "hate" but I just dislike it for some reason. It may be because I'm not particularly good at it (690 SAT score and average in all my school exams) which may be surprising as I am Asian (Indian to be specific). However what is most puzzling to me is that computer science and math always seem to go hand in hand. I've heard that computer science courses in college tend to focus a lot on math than any other field of study. Universities like MIT, which are ranked highest when it comes to computer science are filled to the brim with math geeks. Yet I, despite my fascination for computers, am totally indifferent to math. That fact constantly bothers me.</p>
<p>So tell me, collegeconfidential, do I have some sort of rare genetic disease that's present in the asian bloodstream or is there really not much of a correlation between computer science and math as I keep imagining there is?</p>
<p>thomas edison was an inventor and scientist, but struggled with and disliked math. i mean, it does seem like science and math, or computers and math, should go hand and hand as subjects, but there is instances where that’s not true. i don’t know if this helps haha.</p>
<p>You could try talking to professors at your prospective schools and see what they say about their programs. They probably differ slightly from school to school, and you could find one more tailored to what you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Studying math a ton would probably pay off, too. For some people it’s natural, but if it’s not, you can still learn it, and if you get better at it, you might not hate it as much.</p>
<p>Most of CS majors don’t really “love” math, they just enjoy it because their good at it.</p>
<p>Solution? Work your ass off in Math classes, get good at it, soon you’ll enjoy it.</p>
<p>Um… like I said I’m not “bad” at math. Certainly the reason I don’t like it isn’t that I can’t do it. I just don’t excel in it. The math at my school is rather advanced relative to american schools (we’re starting multivariable calculus next year) but I’ve always managed to cope with it and score around 80% in exams (average). Again, maybe hate was too strong a word. I’m just indifferent towards math. It’s just a subject to me. I just don’t have that “OMG math I love math so much it is my favourite subject evarr!!!” mindset that most CS majors have, as I’ve seen on this forum anyway, and the fact that I don’t have that mindset when it is generally assumed CS and math go hand in hand is the reason I started this topic.</p>
<p>i like computer science, but i hate math and am generally average at it. i’ve met very few who actually love both.</p>
<p>I also thought I hated math even though I’m a CS major. But eventually I realized I just hated the math classes I was in. The education system has a knack for showing students what math is not; you spend most of K-12 learning what turns out to be the “basics” of math. Even calculus is “basic.” Since college, I’ve come to love math–it’s called the queen of the sciences for a reason and has a beauty that none of them can claim. I think you just need to find math (which is a very broad term) that *you *like. I discovered that discrete is really my kind of math. Theoretical computer science also offers you a different kind of math that’s just fascinating. That’s where the two disciplines overlap mostly; and the former is likely very different from any kind of math you’ve done.</p>
<p>Don’t give up on it–there’s really a lot more to it than you’ve probably seen.</p>