Help with career choice

[D.P.]

I'm curious. Would you consider a joint honours CS/Maths a good choice, or would I be better going for pure maths?

I think Either would e very good. You would probably find that even if you did pure maths in the first 2 years you can do the full Maths and CS courses, specialize in the 3rd and 4th year (in scotland). I would recommend enrolling in the joint honors and then deciding later what you think is best.

Even if you go the Maths route you will probably have permission to do 1 or 2 CS modules that are maths based in the final years even on a pure Maths degree. Courses like Machine learning or analysis of algorithms have very little programming and are mostly applied maths. In fact most of my CS and AI modules were mostly maths with little or no programming. When programming was involved it as typically in Matlab, which is a very easy high-level language designed for mathematicians.


I would certainly say that a CS course is only of value if it s done at a very good university, while maths is probably safe even at lower ranked institutions.

 

[Tephnos]

I think Either would e very good. You would probably find that even if you did pure maths in the first 2 years you can do the full Maths and CS courses, specialize in the 3rd and 4th year (in scotland). I would recommend enrolling in the joint honors and then deciding later what you think is best.

Even if you go the Maths route you will probably have permission to do 1 or 2 CS modules that are maths based in the final years even on a pure Maths degree. Courses like Machine learning or analysis of algorithms have very little programming and are mostly applied maths. In fact most of my CS and AI modules were mostly maths with little or no programming. When programming was involved it as typically in Matlab, which is a very easy high-level language designed for mathematicians.


I would certainly say that a CS course is only of value if it s done at a very good university, while maths is probably safe even at lower ranked institutions.

Thanks for the reply. To specify, it's at Aberdeen uni, so it'll be a Scottish one with a specialization.

 

[Morte]

Astrologer
Accounts Payable Clerk
Museum Curator
Rochdale Tour Guide

 

[CREATIVE!11]

Do whatever makes you happy.

Being "realistic" is for those people who chose to live a life of mediocrity doing something they hate because they didn't have the personal strength/willpower or self motivation trust and belief to persue what they really wanted.

The word realistic has its place, but it's so misued around here. You arn't going to be an astronaut tomorrow when you wake up thats realistic. But if you choose to make it your focus work hard and let nothing stop you who knows what will happen.

 

[SheepBeast]

> Lists IQ

Online test or REAL IQ test?

Always ask this of people who claim about high IQs. You're using it to inflate yourself even if you think you are not. In addition, high IQ =/= being good at everything you do. You can be a jack of all trades, yes. However, when you say you could get *really* could at almost anything because you set your mind to it? It's doubtful.

As far as I'm aware, the loose meaning of IQ is the speed at which you pick things up. I've only done online IQ tests, but I have done about 15 of them over the past few years (mainly trying to compete with friends, sad I know) and the average was about 140. I figure they won't be really accurate but an average of 10 should be near enough. Not that I really care that much, like I said in my other post everyone is/can be good at something no matter what their IQ is. Unless someone has actual mental disability, I think focus, ambition and work ethic are much more important to success than high "natural intelligence", of which IQ is only a poor indicator.

Seriously lack of focus here. As has been said, knuckle down and get the best degree you can. If indeed everything you focus on you are good at then focus on your degree! Just because you 'can't be bothered' is very naive and you need to fix that kind of attitude asap. I know the feeling, I did a degree I didn't enjoy and was awful at but I put my head down and finished it.

What uni are you at? If your at Edinburgh then join the uni gliding club, great way to learn to fly and give you something to enjoy whilst doing your degree.

Yeah you're right. I've basically decided to knuckle down and get the best degree I can, and then worry about my career options afterwards. I'm at Edinburgh yeah, the gliding club sounds cool I'll look into that next year

If you want to take your programming further don't bother doing a degree in CS. The important thing is being a logical thinker, mathematically talented and willing to put up with debugging. I work with lots of computer scientists, very few of them have a degree in computer science. Most studied maths, stats, or physics.

Programming is easy and doesn't require higher education. Being a good computer scientist does require a lot more knowledge in data structures, algorithm design and analysis, architectures, but mostly lots of maths combined with logical thinking.

Also, most a astrophysicists I know program a lot.

It's true there's a fair amount of Java in my course, and I'm also doing an optional extra Java module too. But I still feel I only know the real basics although I'm good at seeing elegant ways to solve problems, it's my knowledge of syntax which is basic. I guess by the time I finish my degree (only 2nd year at the mo) I'll know a lot more.

 

[SheepBeast]

Something you might not have thought of, it potentially starting your own business. Something entrepreneurial - could be tech related like an awesome app or a game or a website... or it could be something completely different.

I'd love to do that, only problem is I've no idea where to start. I assume I'd start with a good idea, and then find a way to market it. But I don't really have any good ideas! Everything seems to have been thought of/done already. Obviously that's what people have thought in the past too so it's incorrect, but I really can't think of anything unique I could try to sell to people.

 

[daz]

I'd love to do that, only problem is I've no idea where to start. I assume I'd start with a good idea, and then find a way to market it. But I don't really have any good ideas! Everything seems to have been thought of/done already. Obviously that's what people have thought in the past too so it's incorrect, but I really can't think of anything unique I could try to sell to people.

You don't necessarily have to do something revolutionary. You just have to do something better or cheaper than everyone else (better tends to be the safer way to go as a small business...). Spot a gap in the market, and go for it. How do you think OcUK started?