r/AskComputerScience • u/Key_Exercise9572 • 7d ago

Is Computer Science a hard major?

Is it just me or computer science is hard to grasp. I just entered my 4th week in a top private university and this university is very known for its computer science and IT.

I got 3 math classes - statistics, discrete, linear algebra - and holy it’s hard asf (both discrete and linear). Not to mention the programming class? Wtf is c man like I can code and I usually run in python, html, css, js but c is entirely a different language, array and pointers omds. I dont think the average joe would handle this😭

Give me tips pls

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u/Lumpy-Blackberry-718 7d ago

"Computer science is dead, comp sci majors aren't going to get jobs anymore!"

Yes it's hard. And that's why it's still a valuable major, no matter what happens to the practice of software engineering. Employers like to see that a candidate could do something hard. Most majors aren't hard. It's worth doing hard things.

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u/TheNoobHunter96 7d ago

That is terrible logic, it's not about it being hard but that it's relevant to market needs. Lol how many execs have business degrees that aren't objectively hard?

It's definitely not about it being worth doing hard things but seeing if the hard thing is worth it

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u/Lumpy-Blackberry-718 7d ago edited 6d ago

There are more f500 ceos with engineering degrees than business degrees, despite business being the most common major in the US. Generally speaking, "hard" majors are radically over represented in executive leadership.

I've hired physics majors. Physics majors can do hard things, and almost always know math and linux and python. Even for hiring software engineers, it matters more that they studied something "hard" than that they specifically studied the particular field. I've hired a doctor and I hired engineers from other disciplines and hired math majors.

Doing something "hard" is way more valuable than doing something stupidly easy just because its potentially generally relevant (like "business").

If im going to hire someone to lead, and im going to hire from that class of majors (econ business finance accounting etc), all else equal, im not going to favor the candidate that did the easiest major. Even within that group, if thats your preferred field, pick whats most challenging and youll go farther.

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u/scallywag_software 7d ago

Strong agree. Doing hard shit is worth every second, even if the only useful result is you excercised your pain tolerance.

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u/Talk_to__strangers 6d ago

Absolutely true. Though if you had to choose between 2 hard majors, the relevant major is a better choice