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Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

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Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#1
Long story short, I'm a junior taking CS, I hate it (sorry to everyone who loves it. Also, to clarify, my university isn't very theoretical in its approach), and because of my circumstances it's too late for me to switch majors.

I originally wanted to be a physicist, but I switched midway into my first year because CS has got more financial security, physics isn't as glamorous as pop science would have you believe, academia might be a bad fit, etc etc, and I thought I'd like it. Hell, everyone thought I was in love with CS until I started complaining their ears off, because I SEEM like I'd like it. It's to the point that it affects my work. I do submit my work on time unless life gets in the way, and I do pretty decently actually, but getting through the thick wall of "fuck fuck fuck i signed up for this" and boredom takes a lot of effort — more than I thought, and I don't have any side projects because I'm not interested in anything. My resume would probably look like a big wall of entry-level skills because I've tried so many things hoping I'd find something bearable. Finding this tolerable would really be the best-case scenario for me, but it's simply not happening. I wish I was having a bad time because I'm frustrated or burnt out, or I'm having a very very hard time, but I'm not. I just hate this.

My question is: do you know anyone who ended up with a non-coding job with a CS degree? If so, how did that work out for them? Also, were they able to get a job that didn't glue them to a desk all the time?

Right now I'm only interested in my electronics, math, and 3d modelling/animation (an elective) classes (which shouldn't be surprising - I love physics), and I wonder if I should've gone with engineering instead, but it's too late for that. I'm looking into embedded systems since it's "closer to the metal," I have some arduino parts lying around, and I do like C and assembly better than high-level languages, but if even that is too much software for me... I don't know anymore. I like managing and organizing projects ("Type A" apparently), and they say I'm a decent talker, so I'm also considering minoring in something business related and getting business experience. My family is full of businessmen, and they all say it's about the skills and a degree in management is useless, so I might be able to get into it. International business, maybe? I'm fond of learning languages.

Well, if nothing works out, I'm going to choose something random from the things I've tried (web dev, android dev, malware analysis, whatever) and run with it. It's about time I do something I hate for my resume so that I can get that 9-5 job I'll hate. Sue me, I need to eat. I'll just simmer in the irony that someone like me, who is passionate about so many things, some of which are practical, ended up in something I don't like.

If I sound desperate, I am.

Any advice?

Edit: This thread has given me better advice than I've gotten anywhere else. Thanks guys. Also, what I hate specifically about it is programming, of all things. For some reason, I just don't like coding.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#3

Why do you hate it?

I realize any interest I had about computers was more of a "how does this work?" type of deal, and I'm not interested in making whatever app or site or something. "Oh, you don't need to know that. You just need to know enough to use it. Treat it like a black box." Great, I'm interested in how it works, and not in what I can do with it. And when it's something like networks or operating systems how it works can become boring very fast because they're often basically just design decisions of other people, from how I see it anyway.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#7

Why do you hate it?

I realize any interest I had about computers was more of a "how does this work?" type of deal, and I'm not interested in making whatever app or site or something. "Oh, you don't need to know that. You just need to know enough to use it. Treat it like a black box." Great, I'm interested in how it works, and not in what I can do with it. And when it's something like networks or operating systems how it works can become…

You should view computers as a tool to amplify your ability to otherwise do the tasks and hobbies you like. By becoming a computer scientist learn so many tools that can be applied to just about any other industry. School is supposed to be hard and you’re being exposed to a lot of different areas of computer science and you’ll find your own niche that interests you

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#8
If you have a chance to change, do physics, but there's every chance you wouldn't enjoy that as much as you think anyway. Except for people that work at universities, most people that I know who did physics (even to associate professor level) are no longer physicists. Physics is a great entry point to business, accountancy, finance, actuary, insurance, data analytics/MI/AI all kinds of stuff that you might equally hate :-)

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#9
post #8

If you have a chance to change, do physics, but there's every chance you wouldn't enjoy that as much as you think anyway. Except for people that work at universities, most people that I know who did physics (even to associate professor level) are no longer physicists. Physics is a great entry point to business, accountancy, finance, actuary, insurance, data analytics/MI/AI all kinds of stuff that you might equally ha…

This is exactly why I left, actually. Although it's looking like I'm more obsessed with it than I thought. Whoops. I'm seriously considering taking a bachelor's in it for fun in the future, after some years of working.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#10

Why do you hate it?

I realize any interest I had about computers was more of a "how does this work?" type of deal, and I'm not interested in making whatever app or site or something. "Oh, you don't need to know that. You just need to know enough to use it. Treat it like a black box." Great, I'm interested in how it works, and not in what I can do with it. And when it's something like networks or operating systems how it works can become…

Even computer engineering is like that --- a bunch of neat ideas supported by an inordinate number of man-hours.

But since you are stuck as a CS Major, here are some areas that you might find interesting:

1. Security --- This is an arms race, so there is always something interesting to do

2. Machine Learning --- While this field is very hyped up right now, there are still many areas that need a lot of work. Things like robustness against adversarial attack

3. Quantum Computing --- Honestly, I don't have much experience with this. But this is one field where your interest in physics can complement your current major

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