College....ugh

[Soybomb]

Okay guys I'm just gonna rant to tell my story but feel free to share your opinion on what you think I should do as well.

Before this summer semester I transfered to a university from a community with an associate in arts degree. I was planning on making computer science my major here. I was accepted as a CS major and during the summer I took college algebra and technical writing, and all was well.

The fall semester is now 5.5 weeks old and I'm gonna' go nuts. Discrete math is driving me up the wall, looking ahead at all the future math classes I can officially say I made a mistake, math isn't my strong point at all, trying to do calc2, linear algebra, etc is going to be very hard, if not take up all of my time. I just don't think I can commit the time for studying for a CS degree. Between a job and a love for having an hour or two of spare time, I don't think I can do the work.

I guess at this point I see two options:
1.) I need to switch majors. The only other major that interests me is this IST degree the classes don't sound all that difficult and it would be a BS to put next to my name which I feel could be helpful. Also it might tend to give me more practical experience in the area of networking since I want to be a network engineer or *nix sys admin.
2.) Maybe this is just my cue to leave college. I've got a pretty worthless degree, but loads of experience. I still think that if I could get my foot in the door somewhere I could work my way up quite well. The only problem is that here in the southern part of illinois there are hardly any IT positions open. Moving to somewhere more populated like St. Louis is hard to do because I'm about $10k in the hole from my move down here and the last few months.

Of course problems arise:
1.) The IST program is full and they are now accepting applications for the Fall 2002 semester. Thats a long time to go without knowing if I'm gonna make it in or not. I could take classes this next semester like accounting that would be necessary for it, but those would then be wasted if I don't make it into the program. Also my GPA is 2.5 which can't look all that hot.
2.) I'd love this option, but I"m afraid I'll quit and then find no job and be a "loser" of the utmost degree.

Like I said mostly this was just for my benifit, but if you actually read it all and want to comment feel free

 

[cdan]

That sucks man. I feel for you.

 

[Ameesh]

so a university degree is not for everyone, have you thought about going to devry or itt tech? that way you could put some sort of degree behing your name and be able to get support jobs.

 

[DannyLove]

interesting, i was in a very similar situation, but just replace your major to Electrical and Computer Engineering. The math courses were killing me, i lost all ambition to it, and a gave up for the most part, I decided Engineering simply isn't for me, so what did i do, I simply changed majors to Business, go figure.

But in between, I was a mess, I contemplated so much as to where my future was, I was thinking of dropping it all and quitting school itself, but unlike you, i really had no true experience in what i do. So I said "screw it" what do i have to loose in changing majors, sure I wasted time, in fact, i waited 2 years of my college life in deciding in what i'd want to do, but now I'm situated and I'm going to go for it, no more doubts, no more of those endless sleepless nights, thinking and thinking of my day to come. Now I can at least sleep well knowing i'm back on some highway, and on that path, i'm being taken care of and seeing my destination point.

I think you need to really look into yourself and find that exact thing you wish to do, or find that passion and simply take it. Hope my words helped. good luck!

danny~!

 

[atom]

I was in a similar position, almost a year and a half ago that I was considering switching to MIS instead of CS just so I wouldn't have to take all the hard math classes and physics classes. But I decided not to and endured a year of math and physics classes (in addition to CS classes) which I absolutely hated. I was miserable and tired most of the time, but I didn't want to quit and take the easy way out like I always did throughout high school.

I'm glad I didn't quit. I've already taken most of the classes I know I wouldn't like so my last year here should be much more fun.

 

[Static911]

i'm going crazy just trying to keep up with reading

static911

 

[Soybomb]

Thanks for the advice all, let me touch on a few points I remember

I've thought of places like ITT, DeVry, etc but honestly I think that money would be better spent on a few books for some certifications like cisco to study for, etc. Do those trade schools really carry that high of a regard? I was under the impression that they really weren't that impressive.

I don't view this as giving up as much as being smart. I"m way behind the math curve to put it simply. I'm a junior in college algebra (long story actually but....) Anyway that means I've still got to get through my current discrete math class, then Calc1, then Calc2, then linear algebra, then a high level statistics class. Thats a whole lot of math in a short time. Thats like asking a one armed man to juggle for me I think Also I'm afraid later down the road this math willbe employed more heavily in my programming courses and I'll just have an even more hellish time. With work I just can't put in that kind of time let alone the fact that I'd not be able to drop any class, and I'd still have a delayed graduation. With another route I might get out closer to on time.

Danny, man i feel for you, EE/CE! And I thought my math was hard. I think some of it just don't have what it takes. I can visually maniplulate things quite well, so I do well with geometry and the like, but on the other hand I lack with computation skills so my other math areas suck. I don't know if I have to worry too much about finding out what I want to do, I love computers, I have for years. I find networking to be particularly fascinating. With network engineering I get a mix of hardware and software that I love, and with sys admin jobs I get to tinker with OS's which I also find fun. I have absolutely no doubts that this is what I want to do, its just how to achieve that goal... Glad to hear you got your own mess worked out, I know just what those sleepless nights can be like. Actually my performance in classes and how unhappy I am with them is starting to make me a bit depressed I think, I'm even skipping alot of classes now to just sleep or something. I've gotta change, but how is the question

Thanks again all!

 

[joohang]

For similar reasons, I decided to pursue a B.A. in Asian Studies.

1) I usually have 3 or more part/half-time jobs. (All IT jobs, though. )
2) I'm good at Math, but I don't LOVE it THAT much. I believe that most CS programs require unnecessarily too much Math.
3) With UBC CS program, I don't exactly learn what I want to learn.
4) CS programs at UBC assume that you are going to be a low-level programmer or a computer scientist. Not the type of careers I'm looking into. Low-level programming is great, but I don't enjoy it as much as writing code at high-level and solving business problems.
5) I love History, especially Asian history. I'm in second/sophomore year but taking a bunch of 300- and 400-level courses. No problems at all and it looks like I might end up being one of the top students in class. *bragging*
6) Asian Studies classes got girls.
7) I self-studied most of my programming. I really prefer to just follow my passion and quickly read through good books at my own pace and start writing sample code to get practical experience. It worked well for me so far, and I doubt that I'll ever regret for not taking the CS program at UBC in my life.

My only advise based on my experience is that you should follow your passion.

Good luck with your decision making.

 

[Soybomb]

Soy-Bump

 

[randomlinh]

wow, i'm in the same boat.. sorta.. in comp e right now. It's a lot of work, but I don't know if it's worth it... do I really want to be an engineer... i'm second guessing that now. I've been tempted to switch straight over to business... but like you, it's 5.5weeks into the semester and well, i gotta stick it out this last semester. seems like a lot of waste cause i haven't taken ANY core (well, one actually..) requirement classes because I came in as comp e. maybe i'll do DIS but that would seem like i'm wastin my time.. i have no idea what i'll do...

 

[777php]

You have an AA Art degree, why not persue an Art BA? Have you thought of doing Graphic Design or Computing Arts? Classes are very fun plus you work with computers ALL the time. Depending on your school, you may even be required to program. (I do). Programming is all done by learning fundamentals, which can be done on your own. Pick up a fundamentals of prgramming book , plus a couple of language books and you should be fine.

 

[Soybomb]

No arts definatley not up my alley, nor is CE because of the even more detailed math requirements. Net engineering or sys admin is what I wanna do. Why can't there be a sys admin degree?

 

[vi edit]

Is there a CIS or MIS degree offered? Usually entry level math, some watered down business classes, and then about 30 credit hours worth of computer classes. I technically have a BS in CS, but it's really just a CIS degree.

Much easier, and a hell of a lot more useful.

 

[Ameesh]

imo (putting flame resisitant suit on) certs are not that impressive, its like taking a few weeks course and passing a test or doing a lab, i have no idea how good devry's circulicum is compared to a university but ive heard good things about them. plus you actually get a degree which will open many more doors then certs will.


on a side note, you think all the people in the major now dont struggle with it, cs is hard its ment to be thats why they get paid alot of money the four years of college that i went through i didnt get to goto parties or raves or sit around i had too much work to do, its a sacrifice you make but i think the sacrifice was easier for me because i love it. the math part will pass but you will be a brighter person for it, i am a strong believer that people really become better problem solvers when they can handle college level math, it definetly helps you think up programs better and dont even think of algorithim design if you dont know your numbers.

 

[jcballer1]

college....


college girls......



PICS ?????

 

[Soybomb]

IST Program

MIS Program

Which do you guys think sounds better? The MIS program sounds very very business oriented, where the IST sounds more computer oriented with some business. To be a sys admin which do you think would look better?

 

[GoldenBear]

<< college....


college girls......



PICS ????? >>

There's a right time and a wrong time to ask this.

Now is the wrong time.

 

[Soybomb]

<<

<< college....


college girls......



PICS ????? >>

There's a right time and a wrong time to ask this.

Now is the wrong time. >>


Actually I find when you ignore the ignorant they tend to go away. I'm sure he's wandered off somewhere already