Computer Science career

[PlanetJeff]

I want to become a computer scientist, I love computers and I would love to have a career working with computers. I'm going to community college but I might transfer to a bigger and better college after a few years. How difficult is it to become a computer scientist? I'm not very good at science but I'm willing to work as hard as I can to get where I need to be and succeed in computer science. Is being a computer scientist a hard career or is it a reliable career?

[theCPE]

I want to become a computer scientist, I love computers and I would love to have a career working with computers.

What do you love about computers?

 

If you like the hardware aspects of working with computers look into computer/network administration.

 

If you like using computers for problem solving then CS is definitely what you should do.

 

How difficult is it to become a computer scientist? I'm not very good at science but I'm willing to work as hard as I can to get where I need to be and succeed in computer science.

A B.S. in CS isn't too difficult. It will require a decent amount of work however. I am a Computer Engineer which means I took half electrical engineering courses (circuit design) and half software courses. I always considered semesters with more CS classes the easier semesters. There will be labs and lots of programming assignments so be prepared for that.

 

Is being a computer scientist a hard career or is it a reliable career?

 

I would consider it a safe career. CS and engineers don't typically have problems finding a job. I knew a lot of CS and CPEs that graduated with me and I can't recall any of them not finding a job.

 

If problem solving/critical thinking is something you enjoy doing, then you'll probably like the field.

[timo]

A B.S. in CS isn't too difficult. It will require a decent amount of work however. [...] I would consider it a safe career. CS and engineers don't typically have problems finding a job.

That pretty much matches also my impression of the field. However, be aware that "not too difficult" still is a decent level above school-level.

[PlanetJeff]

What do you love about computers?

 

If you like the hardware aspects of working with computers look into computer/network administration.

 

If you like using computers for problem solving then CS is definitely what you should do.

 

 

A B.S. in CS isn't too difficult. It will require a decent amount of work however. I am a Computer Engineer which means I took half electrical engineering courses (circuit design) and half software courses. I always considered semesters with more CS classes the easier semesters. There will be labs and lots of programming assignments so be prepared for that.

 

 

 

I would consider it a safe career. CS and engineers don't typically have problems finding a job. I knew a lot of CS and CPEs that graduated with me and I can't recall any of them not finding a job.

 

If problem solving/critical thinking is something you enjoy doing, then you'll probably like the field.

 

I definitely like problem solving aspects more than the hardware aspects of working with computers so I'm pretty sure I would like computer science. Thank you for the help it's greatly appreciated.

[Pangloss]

It should be a good career. Computer science programs are suffering low enrollments right now due to the popularity of "easier" programming-based curricula that focus on data-driven client-server apps and other "managed code" programming techniques. But managed code didn't appear out of thin air, and we need people to progress BEYOND what we're doing now and figure out what we're going to be doing ten years FROM now. Learn programming, yes, but then be ready to step back and look at what programmers do, how they do it, and (most importantly) how they could do it better. That's what we need, and lots of it.

 

Good luck!