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I had a feeling you might come to this when you asked for help on your last assignment. I don't think it is such a lost cause though.
First off, the myth that you need a good transcript to get a job is a myth. For a lawyer or a doctor or a researcher, that is the case. But for a programmer no one will ever give a crap about your transcript. It is a field where there's very little bullshitting going on. It is obvious to everyone who is good and who is not. I've worked with high school students that were awesome and an ivy leaguer who was fired on the first day.
I had about the lowest grades it was possible to have and still graduate due to my general apathy. My advisor shook his head in disbelief looking at my grades, but here I got a job after a single resume/interview while most of my contemporaries ended up waiting tables.
Now, as for your problem. It sounds to me, and I could be wrong, but it sounds to me as if you are attending lectures and talking to TA's but you aren't reading the book or experimenting on your own. This isn't the same as say a history course, where there's a big book that the teacher will summarize the points you need to know, and you can use the book sparingly. You have to know everything that is going on in that book until it reaches the point where you are in this class. If you don't understand the basic concepts of C++, it is like trying to play soccer without a ball. But more than that you need to have an editor open with code samples from the book you are reading that you can compile and tweak, and really SEE what is happening. I also agree with one of the above comments, that you should rely a little on google. Every CS student has asked the questions you are asking and the answers are all there for you to find. Also it could be the case that your book sucks, and there are better tutorials online.
But seriously, if you think you'll only end up with just a C, that isn't a big deal. In my first C++ class 3/4 of the class dropped out by finals and then half of those failed out of the course. That means a C puts you around the 92nd percentile of people who started the class.
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Find one of the top students in the class (that's not a boner face) and offer to buy him/her lunch/coffee/whatever in exchange for an hour of talking about CS. If you can find one that's strange (but not crazy), I'd bet that they can explain the stuff.
@illu God I can't agree more with you on computational courses. I don't know how Chemistry, Biology and Physics could possibly have boring courses, but somehow it always happens :S
How can you make exothermic reactions boring? Teach it. How can you make elastic collisions boring? Teach it. How can you make evolution boring? Teach it. How can you make dichotomous key boring? well, bad example.
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However, do know that programming is a HORRIBLE job. It's mental labour, really, and you cannot possibly be doing it for more than 20 years because you will grow old and retarded. Therefore, unless you want to live the second half of your life in poverty and misery, it is important that you maintain your GPA, get in graduate school, and get a high-end job. Seeing how you boasted your straight As so far, I am sure you can do it.
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Marks do matter, but not as much as you think - and in the job market, I believe that practical experience tops anything else (including marks). How do you get experience before you get your first job? Work/research with a professor. How do you work/research with a professor if you have no previous experience? Tell him/her you'll volunteer.
Trust me, professors WANT more students helping their research and such. Volunteer = they don't have to be committed to a financial output while having someone that can potentially help them. Of course, for you, you get experience that you need and you can proudly list the things you did/with the professor on your resume - and now you've got a valid, practical experience!
If you have a cumulative GPA of over 3, that's pretty much all you need. 3.99 and 4.00 may get you paying research positions with profs, but when you're out in the industry, it's experience over marks.
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I switched major, from Automation & Mechatronics to Software Engineering, I never regretted it.
Also, the entire topic header is about you NOT wanting to switch, so dont switch. If you want to feel bad about getting one bad grade, do that instead of going emo about 0mg MY LIFE IS DOWN THE TOILET.
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On November 09 2009 10:25 illu wrote:
However, do know that programming is a HORRIBLE job. It's mental labour, really, and you cannot possibly be doing it for more than 20 years because you will grow old and retarded. Therefore, unless you want to live the second half of your life in poverty and misery, it is important that you maintain your GPA, get in graduate school, and get a high-end job. Seeing how you boasted your straight As so far, I am sure you can do it.
Masters ain't a bad idea.
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Economics is a decently high paying major, but gets very difficult toward the end. You're also virtually obligated to go to graduate school if you plan to have a career in the field, though perhaps not if it's a business economics degree. I'm taking international econ for my economics major and it's definitely the hardest class I've taken in my entire life. I've learned to dread the phrase "...now if we apply some simple calculus"
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Dude don't be a discouraged, 99% of your job knowledge comes from outside the classroom anyway. Just study your ass off about c++, write extra programs, learn other programming languages <- this is pretty big, and just generally be interested in what you're doing. It will come to you. C++ is a bitch language to learn as your first (its why most universities started switching to teach java as a starting language) cuz its so picky and there's a lot to learn.
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You should make friends and work together. It helps alot more when you have a fellow student help you out than just having the teacher or TA telling you the same text book theory. Also, internet.
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I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class...
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On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class...
I sense faulty logic in this sentence.
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On November 09 2009 12:34 searcher wrote:Show nested quote +On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class... I sense faulty logic in this sentence.
I agree. C++ is way easier than math.
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You should not worry if you're having trouble mastering a particular language, its the underlying concepts that you need to need to be more focused on. Entry level CS classes aren't about learning the language, they're about sculpting you to be able to write good code in any language.
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On November 09 2009 12:59 illu wrote:Show nested quote +On November 09 2009 12:34 searcher wrote:On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class... I sense faulty logic in this sentence. I agree. C++ is way easier than math.
I disagree. Computer science blows my top. I'm majoring in math and have little experience in CS though, so that might be it.
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On November 09 2009 14:00 Kwidowmaker wrote:Show nested quote +On November 09 2009 12:59 illu wrote:On November 09 2009 12:34 searcher wrote:On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class... I sense faulty logic in this sentence. I agree. C++ is way easier than math. I disagree. Computer science blows my top. I'm majoring in math and have little experience in CS though, so that might be it.
I learned C++ when I was 13 (I had no friends and I was bored... so yea). I couldn't do university level math at 13, though.
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Why don't you post some of the assignments here? Maybe some programmers here can help you out. (I'm also a CS major and im always interested in what others are learning at the same time)
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On November 09 2009 08:56 meeple wrote:
I wouldn't go into econ. No offense to econ majors here, but my experience has been very dissapointing. I've found that the courses aren't really that challenging, and the job prospects are less than optimal. There are of course exceptions to this, but my friend just graduated with an econ degree and is currently in the military because he couldn't find a job. I'm sure there are people who land great jobs with an econ degree, but I haven't seen it. I would probably stick it out. A degree like computer science is definitely worth keeping, even if you're not getting straight A's..
These days econ is only worth it if you're very specialized in one of two other areas: law (stepping from a BA in econ to a law degree) or applied math (quantitative economics is hot -- but you need to know a lot! Modern models are all controlled stochastic differential equations, which requires heavy duty knowledge!).
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On November 09 2009 14:02 illu wrote:Show nested quote +On November 09 2009 14:00 Kwidowmaker wrote:On November 09 2009 12:59 illu wrote:On November 09 2009 12:34 searcher wrote:On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class... I sense faulty logic in this sentence. I agree. C++ is way easier than math. I disagree. Computer science blows my top. I'm majoring in math and have little experience in CS though, so that might be it. I learned C++ when I was 13 (I had no friends and I was bored... so yea). I couldn't do university level math at 13, though.
Fair enough, I suppose I didn't quite reply to what you were saying. It's not difficult to be able to use C++, but CS isn't quite fiddling with code  Of course it doesn't help that I've missed half of my classes.
I really couldn't say which is harder. I'm just offering my experience here v0v
(As an aside, I think the average 13 year old would be able to do university math if all of his teachers up till now hadn't stopped at grade 11)
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On November 09 2009 14:23 Kwidowmaker wrote:Show nested quote +On November 09 2009 14:02 illu wrote:On November 09 2009 14:00 Kwidowmaker wrote:On November 09 2009 12:59 illu wrote:On November 09 2009 12:34 searcher wrote:On November 09 2009 12:12 kaizenmx wrote:
I envy most of you. I can't handle most of math classes, let alone, a fucking C++ class... I sense faulty logic in this sentence. I agree. C++ is way easier than math. I disagree. Computer science blows my top. I'm majoring in math and have little experience in CS though, so that might be it. I learned C++ when I was 13 (I had no friends and I was bored... so yea). I couldn't do university level math at 13, though. Fair enough, I suppose I didn't quite reply to what you were saying. It's not difficult to be able to use C++, but CS isn't quite fiddling with code Of course it doesn't help that I've missed half of my classes. I really couldn't say which is harder. I'm just offering my experience here v0v (As an aside, I think the average 13 year old would be able to do university math if all of his teachers up till now hadn't stopped at grade 11)
I think he is having pure programming issues, not theoretical computer science issues.
Like I mentioned before, I sat in some computational complexity classes and they are easy + fun  You should try it sometimes! It's all about mathematics in that class... on proving theorems, finding "inequalities", etc.
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EPT
