[ale] Sort of OT: College Majors

[Geoffrey]

Parker McGee wrote:

<snip>

> A good story: One of the high schoolers at the program talked all day
> about how he was going to do computer science and nothing else; how he
> loved computers and such.  Then, I was sitting behind him in the Study
> Abroad seminar when the speaker said "Oxford College's dorms were
> built in the 1300s but they even have Cat5 wiring now!"  He turned to
> the person sitting next to him and asked "What's Cat5?"

Why would that matter?  Just because he doesn't know what cat5 is, 
doesn't mean he's not going to be good at CS.

> Also, it seems like I'm going to be bored out of my mind for the AT
> LEAST the first two years in the Comp Sci curriculum.  It's something
> that I've enjoyed so much for the past two years that I've practically
> taught myself 2+ years of college material.  I don't mean to brag,
> that's just how it goes.  I think I can teach myself the rest of the
> things I would be able to learn in that degree in another two years.

I think you need to go ahead and see what the first couple of semesters 
are like, they're likely to prove you wrong.

> The Internet is an amazing thing.  Going back to being a sponge for
> information, I don't think I can take, much less want to take,
> spending two years of college, when I could be learning tons, just
> relearning things.

I assure you, you'll be learning stuff those first two years.

> A good part of me wants to go get my PhD and become a college
> professor.  Now, if it's people like my Cat5 friend up there that I'm
> going to have to teach, I don't want any part of it.  I'm sure every
> major has their "l33t krew" but it seems like Comp Sci has more than
> its fair share.  I really enjoy the really out-there theory and almost
> philosophy based AI theory.  A good part of the reason I want to be a
> professor is that I will always have an excuse to learn something new.

You will find that many of the folks who don't belong in the CS program 
will be weeded out in the first couple of semesters.

>  Like if I want to learn about a new Physics theory, I could just go
> ask my friend the Physics professor.  I feel like in a 40 hour-a-week
> job, I'm limited, and learning new things would have to be put on the
> back burner as opposed to more of a "How can this information help my
> company earn more money?" Because of this and my enjoyment of the
> Physics class I took, I'm starting to get pulled me away from a Comp
> Sci degree.  I honestly don't know what to do.

I've got a CS, minor in Physics, and spent 26 years doing the 40 hour 
gig with AT&T.  I was constantly learning.  I had an absolute great 
time.  That's not the way it always is.  You could get stuck in a rut 
job, but you then change that.  Working for a large company has it's 
pros and cons.  The great thing I found was that when I got bored or 
didn't like where I was, the company was big enough for me to move on to 
something else.

> Part of me says pure Physics sounds interesting, but then I question,
> "Well, what if I decide that PhD isn't for me?  What do I do with just
> a Physics degree?"  The main majors I'm starting to lean towards are
> Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering.  I'm still, of
> course, thinking that maybe things aren't so bad as I think in
> Computer Science and I should give it a shot.  I honestly feel that I
> could major in anything and still be interested in it.  What I'm
> currently leaning towards is Electrical Engineering with an emphasis
> in Comp Sci, but then I go back to my original problem which is now
> amplified, I don't have enough electives to get past the boring stuff
> into the things that will actually be interesting to me.

Life's not always fair. :)  You'll have time to decide your direction 
once you're in college.  I changed my major twice.  Give it a shot and 
don't worry about your ultimate direction quite yet.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey