Minoring in computer science?

troy88

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Jan 22, 2007
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hey, i guess i just done with high school and now its time for college. Im going to major in Physical Therpy, but i still need a minor and i was thinking about Computer Science. You guy make things very interesting here on the forums, with Overclocking, Building, Upgrading, Bios, and ect. that i was very seriously consider Computer Science as a minor, but i have a few questions...

What kind of stuff will i learn in Computer Science?

What career options are there for Computer Science?
What kind of Pay?

Have any of you went to college for Computer Science?
Was it interesting? Did you wish you picked something else?

What are the Pro and Cons of Computer Science?

Is a Computer Science degree worth it?

thanks alot guys, i hope to get alot of good information.
 

BaronMatrix

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hey, i guess i just done with high school and now its time for college. Im going to major in Physical Therpy, but i still need a minor and i was thinking about Computer Science. You guy make things very interesting here on the forums, with Overclocking, Building, Upgrading, Bios, and ect. that i was very seriously consider Computer Science as a minor, but i have a few questions...

What kind of stuff will i learn in Computer Science?

What career options are there for Computer Science?
What kind of Pay?

Have any of you went to college for Computer Science?
Was it interesting? Did you wish you picked something else?

What are the Pro and Cons of Computer Science?

Is a Computer Science degree worth it?

thanks alot guys, i hope to get alot of good information.


That's not CompSci. You're thinking about HW. Computer Science is all code and theory, with little to no HW training. Yo'll learn about registers and Hexidecimal but you won't have an Overclocking test.

It is also not easy. You will eventually have to create a compiler, do numerical methods (heavy math), learn several different programming languages and spend a lot of time troubleshooting your code assignments.

If that sounds like fun go for it.
 

airoh69

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Getting my bachelor of computer science in january.
You don`t learn how to overclock when studying computer science, but you do learn how things work inside that pc case. One thing i can say is that it is not easy. There are some interesting courses but there are some really boring. I can`t say about salary after getting bachelor as i don`t live in usa.
 

mpjesse

Splendid
There are many cons to getting a general "computer science" minor. If you just want to learn the theory of programming, machine language, etc... then it's fine. But knowing that won't make you any more marketable on the job market.

If you want a degree you can use, computer science ain't it. It's too general. Go with something like electrical engineering, networking, or programming. Those will help you out. And if you really want a back up plan, get your A+, MCSE, etc certifications.
 

dasgoat

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I have an A.S is Computer Network Support (A+ track they call it) it is mostly hardware and networking focus i love that stuff so im happy. as for my job i work for a small biz with 3 IT geeks. 1 unix guy and my boss the coder and me the hardware junkie.

As for cash i get around $12 an hour( alot better than geek squad from what i hear). it pays the bills while i still go to school and take some more M$ classes.

hope i helped.
 

dasgoat

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also i should have mentioned that im only 21 and have only been officially in the biz for a year and a half.
 

BaldEagle

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There are many cons to getting a general "computer science" minor. If you just want to learn the theory of programming, machine language, etc... then it's fine. But knowing that won't make you any more marketable on the job market.

If you want a degree you can use, computer science ain't it. It's too general. Go with something like electrical engineering, networking, or programming. Those will help you out. And if you really want a back up plan, get your A+, MCSE, etc certifications.

Engineering is definitely the better paid route (6 figures with a masters and 20 years exp) but I have a MSEE degree and the company paid for my masters so I might be a little biased. Engineering is serious math and science I had over 20 credit hours of each and usually an extra 12 credits just to graduate.

If you really want Phsical Therapy pick a minor in a medical field or business as a technology minor would be useless.
 

mbmcavoy

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Perhaps my thoughts are a bit out of date, as I graduated from the University of Washington (BSEE) in 1996...

Computer Science is generally the software angle. You will study programming, algorithms, databases, and the like. There will be some on hardware, as you will need to understand how a computer actually runs the software, but for the most part that is abstracted.

Computer Engineering is generally the hardware angle. You wil study, registers, buses, I/O, pipelining, etc. There will be software, as you will need to understand how the hardware processes the software, but for the most part, that is abstracted.

CS/CE can also be extremely competitive. I think it has cooled a but, but when I was in scheel, you had to have a 3.9 even to be considered. I knew a guy that had a perfect 4.0 that didn't get in... :evil: I really wanted to do CE, but with a 3.2, not a chance. Electrical Engineering touched on computer hardware, with a passing thought on software. I really hope it has more focus now.

In any case, both will be difficult subjects, I would not reccommend them as a minor, but good Majors.

Job Salary can vary wildly with how hell you do, how hard you look for a good job, and lots of luck. I also know a recent CS grad who is making like $65K (in a city with a low cost of living) as a computing security technician, but many others are likely making $25K working at call center help desks.
 

Battou

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There are many cons to getting a general "computer science" minor. If you just want to learn the theory of programming, machine language, etc... then it's fine. But knowing that won't make you any more marketable on the job market.

If you want a degree you can use, computer science ain't it. It's too general. Go with something like electrical engineering, networking, or programming. Those will help you out. And if you really want a back up plan, get your A+, MCSE, etc certifications.

Engineering is definitely the better paid route (6 figures with a masters and 20 years exp) but I have a MSEE degree and the company paid for my masters so I might be a little biased. Engineering is serious math and science I had over 20 credit hours of each and usually an extra 12 credits just to graduate.

If you really want Phsical Therapy pick a minor in a medical field or business as a technology minor would be useless.

:0 I have a AAS in Mechanical and Architectural drafting, and I am 3 semesters away from a BA in Civil Engineering. Engineering is a VERY hard field to be in, reinforced by the fact that at the last graduation ceremony there were only about 50 engineering graduates out of the several thousand people that showed up for the ceremony. I also have some friends here with me that are in computer science and engineering. Once again a very hard major that involves insane amounts of code work (which I have had a taste of and hate). My friend also got a very poor first starting salary working with a local bank, whereas on the other hand my friend that just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering started out at almost double what the CS major got offered.
 

YodaOfBowling

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I have a CS minor from Central Washington University in Washington State. For me it was just programming. I took a few quarters of JAVA programming (2 introductory programming courses, and a data structures course), I also had to take an assembly language programming course. Other than that I would have had to take a bunch of math courses, except that I was a physics major so I had to take enough math classes to automatically come out with a math minor anyways, so I had already taken all the math I needed for the CS minor.

Bottom line is, no hardware courses, just programming for a minor in CS. So if you are looking to work with building computers and stuff like that, a CS minor won't do it for you.
 

gm0n3y

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Computer Science is usually better taken as a 2-3 year college diploma than as a minor in University (at least in Canada). I have 2 friends that both majored in Comp Sci and I have a 2 year college degree. They both had a lot more trouble finding decent jobs that I did. University just doesn't teach you anything applicable in the industry when it comes to Comp Sci (unless you go for masters or phd). For a major, engineering is a much better route to go, as a minor, I would take something more interesting (unless you REALLY love math).
 

atp777

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I'm majoring in Computer Science, specifically Network Technologies. I will say it's more on theory and code, Models and the like. There isn't any real, Here's how to configure this router... So yeah, if you do get a degree then I would suggest going with Certificates also, they give you the hands on working knowledge.
 

BaldEagle

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:0 I have a AAS in Mechanical and Architectural drafting, and I am 3 semesters away from a BA in Civil Engineering. Engineering is a VERY hard field to be in, reinforced by the fact that at the last graduation ceremony there were only about 50 engineering graduates out of the several thousand people that showed up for the ceremony. I also have some friends here with me that are in computer science and engineering. Once again a very hard major that involves insane amounts of code work (which I have had a taste of and hate). My friend also got a very poor first starting salary working with a local bank, whereas on the other hand my friend that just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering started out at almost double what the CS major got offered.

Engineering is hard, very hard, in fact when I had freshmen engineering orientation we were told to look at the person to our left and the person to our right and were told now think only one of you will graduate with an engineering degree. (BTW neither person next to me finished in engineering).

Starting salaries for engineers depended on discipline civil being the lowest paid and chemical the highest but all of them are well above that offered CS majors.

Civil's really need to have a PE license more so than any other engineering discipline so take your EIT during your senior year while all that book learning is fresh. The EIT is a basic knowledge exam once so your out of school for a while the test gets more difficult because you don't use everything you learned in school in your job.
 

BaldEagle

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I have a CS minor from Central Washington University in Washington State. For me it was just programming. I took a few quarters of JAVA programming (2 introductory programming courses, and a data structures course), I also had to take an assembly language programming course. Other than that I would have had to take a bunch of math courses, except that I was a physics major so I had to take enough math classes to automatically come out with a math minor anyways, so I had already taken all the math I needed for the CS minor.

Bottom line is, no hardware courses, just programming for a minor in CS. So if you are looking to work with building computers and stuff like that, a CS minor won't do it for you.

You already were going after a technology degree so it would make more sense for a technology minor as you already have many of the required courses taken care of.

For a health degree adding technology makes no sense as there are going to be a lot of extra courses like calculus needed to get a minor.
 

gm0n3y

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@Bald Eagle, if you take ANY science degree, including medicine, you have to take Calculus. I have a friend with a nursing degree and she hated having to take Calc.

As for engineering being really hard, everybody that I know that has taken it has passes (admittedly only 3 friends of mine), but it has been said that those who can't hack engineering going into Comp Sci as a backup since many of the courses are the same.
 

billdcat4

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@Bald Eagle, if you take ANY science degree, including medicine, you have to take Calculus. I have a friend with a nursing degree and she hated having to take Calc.

As for engineering being really hard, everybody that I know that has taken it has passes (admittedly only 3 friends of mine), but it has been said that those who can't hack engineering going into Comp Sci as a backup since many of the courses are the same.

im graduating high school soon, and going to Queens College. I was wondering what to major and minor in also. I dont want to go into tech for several reasons.

I was thinking of going into medicine. I know that I have to take calculus though. What level of calc do I need? I suck at math, so Im not looking forward to calc.


What are some good ideas for areas for me to major and minor in? Any fun courses you know of?
 

Mondoman

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I was thinking of going into medicine. I know that I have to take calculus though. What level of calc do I need? I suck at math, so Im not looking forward to calc.
Certainly the equivalent of the AP BC Calc should be enough. More important is to get a good grounding in statistics (at least 1 semester for general life and 2 if majoring in any science).


...What are some good ideas for areas for me to major and minor in? Any fun courses you know of?
Follow what you like. As early as you can, try to get some first-person impressions of fields you like by volunteering a bit, interning, etc. See if you can imagine yourself enjoying that day after day.
Survey courses that give a wide intro to a subject are especially helpful your first year. You might even attend some extras for the first week or two, then pare them down, if you can do that at your school.
 

billdcat4

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I was thinking of going into medicine. I know that I have to take calculus though. What level of calc do I need? I suck at math, so Im not looking forward to calc.
Certainly the equivalent of the AP BC Calc should be enough. More important is to get a good grounding in statistics (at least 1 semester for general life and 2 if majoring in any science).


...What are some good ideas for areas for me to major and minor in? Any fun courses you know of?
Follow what you like. As early as you can, try to get some first-person impressions of fields you like by volunteering a bit, interning, etc. See if you can imagine yourself enjoying that day after day.
Survey courses that give a wide intro to a subject are especially helpful your first year. You might even attend some extras for the first week or two, then pare them down, if you can do that at your school.

thanks a lot!

I have a grandfather who is Professor of Statistics over at Rutgers in NJ, so I should have some help there.

Im sure I could intern someplace. I have a lot fo doctors in the family. Last summer I went to work with my dad for 2 weeks. thanks for the suggestions