Why get a degree in CS?

[Explv]

Honestly I feel like CS is far too broad, you learn a whole lot about little. You end up getting your degree and have nowhere to go from there

 

I feel like you don't know anything about CS.

 

Broad is good, if you learn something extremely specific at university then you restrict yourself when it comes to employment. 

 

Also you mixed it up, you meant "you learn a little about a whole lot" and that is good. The field of CS is enormous and there is a lot to learn. By being introduced to subjects it allows you to self teach in the areas that you are interested in. It's not about spoonfeeding.

 

Unlike many other jobs, working in software means that you have to constantly learn new technologies and skills. That's why there generally isn't much point in spending all of your time learning one specific thing.

 

"You end up getting your degree and have nowhere to go from there"  ---- except for all of the jobs that ask for a CS degree  / any software job you want 

 

It is a field where there is high demand for graduates, and a lot of universities have 100% employment rate for CS students.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Explv

[Botre]

I feel like you don't know anything about CS.

 

Broad is good, if you learn something extremely specific at university then you restrict yourself when it comes to employment. 

 

Also you mixed it up, you meant "you learn a little about a whole lot" and that is good. The field of CS is enormous and there is a lot to learn. By being introduced to subjects it allows you to self teach in the areas that you are interested in. It's not about spoonfeeding.

 

Unlike many other jobs, working in software means that you have to constantly learn new technologies and skills. That's why there generally isn't much point in spending all of your time learning one specific thing.

 

"You end up getting your degree and have nowhere to go from there"  ---- except for all of the jobs that ask for a CS degree  / any software job you want 

 

It is a field where there is high demand for graduates, and a lot of universities have 100% employment rate for CS students.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Yes you learn a lot of foundations and a broad skill set, an a lot of it may not seem relevant to the market you're aiming for (yet).

However, and I'm speaking as someone with no degree in CS and a couple of job interviews in the sector behind me, you will get quizzed on those foundations because even though your position might not require direct knowledge of them, you'll be expected to able to work fluently with people that do. 

 

EVERY SINGLE job interview I went to, every single one of them, I ended up adding something new to my "to-learn" list, now I'm not saying all of those additions would have been covered by a CS degree but a lot of them would've, 50% easily.

 

In order to be employable, knowing one language will rarely suffice, you'll be expected how databases work, how networking works, etc... (this on top of all the enterprise frameworks and APIs). I'm not saying you can't all learn these yourself, but do not underestimate the learning package.

 

[Idris]

tbh I'm doing my first year now, infact, haven't even started yet, starting in a week. I haven't even picked my major/minors yet, but from my point of view, and from what you have stated, I think Robotics would be the choice you want to go.

[Explv]

tbh I'm doing my first year now, infact, haven't even started yet, starting in a week. I haven't even picked my major/minors yet, but from my point of view, and from what you have stated, I think Robotics would be the choice you want to go.

 

The thing is, as you will find out, Discrete Mathematics is the main subset of Mathematics used in Computer Science. It underlies many of the algorithms that you will use, and covers useful topics like Graph Theory. 

 

Considering OP is interested in algorithms and AI, he will want to do DM. 

 

Take a look at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_mathematics

Edited March 13, 2016 by Explv