College Life
College Life
Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major
State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major
- U.C. Berkeley
- University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
- University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Purdue University
Classes in the Major
Discrete Mathematics. Unfortunately, this is not a class in which Your Friend Mathematics learns all of your secrets and then is really cool about it. That would be discreet math. Bahaha.
Discrete here means, "separate." This refers to the subjects of discrete math, namely the stuff that tends to separate itself out. It's a pretty tricky kind of math. But math is basically the language that all computers speak, so we think it'll be in your wheelhouse.
Calculus. What? More math? What are you panicking about? You're the one into computers, buddy. Wait, that was us panicking? Sorry.
Calculus is the advanced part of math that doesn't get covered in discrete mathematics. Calculus is essentially the mathematical study of change. This is relevant because computers, despite the best efforts of engineers, tend to change. Hardware wears down. Code becomes corrupted.
Calculus will give you the tools to understand what those changes do to computers.
Statistics. This one can't be right. What, are they polling computers about their opinions on various political candidates? Are their views anything other than, "beep beep, boop boop, exterminate all organic life"? (Seriously, that robot uprising is going to happen.)
Um. Right. Statistics is the study of large data corpora. These courses, then, will teach you how to derive meaning from data. Which is exactly what computers do every day. So while you're not supposed to become a computer yourself—well, not yet, anyway—it can't hurt to understand just what it is they do.
Computer Science. At most tech schools, it's pretty hard to avoid this class. It's been part of the core curriculum at most of them since at least the mid-1990s. You know, back when computers were so big you couldn't even fit them in your phone. (True story. It was a dark time.)
Computer science will teach you the basics of the most common programming languages. Yes, there are multiple programming languages, and they go in and out of style like paint colors. Learn it, live it, live it in style.
Management Systems. Individuals, organizations, and computers all interact with each other. Of course, right? "No man is an island" and all of that. This is the study of exactly how individuals and systems interact with each other, and the best ways of solving problems in such systems. Management Systems is kind of like an advanced problem-solving course. Gnarly. This knowledge will come in handy when, as a software engineer, your job description will be to explain to computers how to solve problems.
Whoa. Mind blown.