Why so few?

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by Kizmet, May 30, 2017.

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  1. ITJD

    ITJD Active Member

    Fortunately, I have my own opinion and I'm absolutely certain of it. No reason for me to read an article in that case.
    Besides which, if they need to ask the question, they don't know the answer themselves and it's a doubly concerning waste of my time :)

    Show me the article that proves something and I'll be glad to read it.
     
  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    What does any of this mean? This thread is about a specific article that asks specific questions. If you aren't going to read the article, then why attempt to answer its questions?
     
  3. instant000

    instant000 Member

    TL/DR: Ignorance.

    FULL TEXT:
    Ignorance? My stance is that it is hard to major in something that you do not know exists.

    In my case, I didn't do extensive degree or career planning before choosing my school and major. If I had talked to my Dad and done a little research, I probably would have majored in Computer Science.

    Where I grew up in Mississippi (and even to this day, unfortunately) there are no high school classes along the vein of computer science. The highest math in my high school was Trigonometry, so I didn't get Calculus until I went to college (talk about being behind the ball). I didn't have a single "best" subject in school, as I excelled in everything. I also didn't have a "passion" subject that liked more than others. I initially chose Chemistry because I had gone to my first school during a summer program, and I liked the Chemistry professor. (Yes, I was that stupid.) I eventually dropped out of that school.

    Later, I went to another school, and majored in Computer Information Systems (to a country boy, it looked like indoors, air-conditioned work) I dropped out of this school, too. Finally about another ten years later, I completed an information systems degree at the third school. Computer Science wasn't an option at either of my first two schools, and I cannot remember if it was an option or not at the third school I went to before getting my bachelors (information systems.)

    Another complication is that a lot of the degree programs for Computer Science appear to be designed for students who are already familiar with programming before starting. If a student is like me, and didn't have exposure to that stuff in high school (or younger), they're going to be behind the ball. I read stories of people who grew up programming computers and what not, and I wonder how that would have been.

    One funny anecdote is that I found out in 2017 that my dad had initially gone to college for Computer Science, but he had dropped out to go to work on the farm. We had never discussed his major before. I had always thought that his major would have been math, as my mom used to always say that my dad was very good at math, and he would always ace the tests, but he wouldn't attend school very much, due to often helping out the family. He was the oldest son, and he had enough siblings to field two baseball teams :D.

    Funny that I obtained a degree in Information Systems, and work in information technology, but I never knew that my dad had initially majored in Computer Science. If I had known then what I know now, I would have tried talking with my dad more while growing up, and I would have majored in Computer Science, instead of Information Systems. (College Confidential didn't exist back in those days, and I didn't really do career planning -- one of those cases where I was so ignorant I didn't even know what question I should be asking.)

    While I'm at it, if I'm going back in the past to tell my self what to do, I would do something like this:


    Heck, I could just tell myself to invest in a fruit company (Forrest Gump reference).
     
  4. tamil

    tamil New Member

    Thank you for sharing the informative post.
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Back in the day, he basically was majoring in math. Computer science started out being offered by math departments, and in some places it still is.
     

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