Hey guys. I'm 18 and a senior in high school, when I graduate my plan atm is to attend a 4 year state university (florida) for a degree in some kind of computer science major. I was thinking possibly cyber gaming or control systems (security i guess?)

Honestly I am so clueless, could someone point me in the right direction?

Try:

http://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139

or

Take a look at the school and the program they offer for computer science. Try to find a professor that does things of your interest and look at some of their published work. Most likely it will be either Engineering - Computer Science (ECS) or comp sci engineering. Unless of course, you want to do theory, but I dont know very much about how computer science theory programs work.

edit: Here is the site for FSU computer science - http://www.cs.fsu.edu/

This post was edited by khemist on Sep 16 2013 07:36pm

nope

go in, take all the math courses and cs course

then decide

trust me, your opinion will change

thank you, and fsu is one of my first choices if i get in i've check them out


im trying to understand whats the difference between a BA in CS and a BS in CS?

also, i was looking into a new school (florida polytechnic university.) In fall of 2014 they will be taking their first class of undergraduates and i would like to be apart of that class
they have alot of really interesting programs there, im just skeptical about it being a completely new school. it checks out alright and the people seem to know what theyre doing but its BRAND NEW. I think thats ok?

does your school offer both? in general, each school decides whether it's BA or BS and there is no difference. i've never heard of a school that let you pick which you want. you'll have to ask them what the difference in curriculum is.



what games have you already made? if you haven't made any games yet, then what's your coding background like? if you dont have any background right now, then my advice is drop it and never think about making games professionally.

honestly man i've worked as a chef for the last four years throughout high school and ive realized i dont want to work hard my whole life. Id rather work my brain for a higher salary than sweat for shitty pay.

this leads me to believe i want to go to college, and i see computer science as a growing field with good pay option.

honestly i have made no games and no programming background. I've played games my whole life, I consider myself unfriendly and have a weird interest in things that don't matter (such as news, politics, sciences, etc.)

overall, i see potential in the field. i know its a competitive field but arent they all?

i was referring to gaming in particular. there are a few gaming companies that are really sweet, but they are highly competitive and likely beyond your reach if you have no background in it now. the vast majority of the jobs will suck cartman's balls.

you dont have to give up on CS, just any hopes of making games for a living. i'm a coder, and i dont know much about the non-coding CS jobs. i have no idea what "control systems" is so i can't comment on that. or do you mean something like a sysadmin? thats a perfectly acceptable career.


in CS, no they aren't. there tends to be a lot of demand. it's just the top jobs in general which are highly competitive. if you're perfectly happy making 50-80k/year mid-career with 40h/week, then you won't find much problems. but if you wanna make more, then you'll have to work for it.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Sep 16 2013 08:46pm

and if you think cyber gaming is a poor choice, what would you recommend as an alternative major? here are a few ideas


edit: my paint skills suck http://floridapolytechnic.org/academics/

This post was edited by known954 on Sep 16 2013 08:46pm

CS is fine. just dont think you'll make games. and idk what "cyber" gaming is. i assume you're just throwing that term in there, but you mean making games on computer/phone/console.

and that pic is too small to read.

i dont know much about careers so i cant help much there. if you're happy with 40h/week and making 100-120k/year then you can be a pharmacist. you do 2-3 years of undergrad then 3-4 years of pharmacy school (which will be hellish) then you're all set. most of my friends are actually in pharmacy school right now. the only non-pharmacist, non-cs i know is studying accounting. that makes 50k-100k+ but your work hours might suck

This post was edited by carteblanche on Sep 16 2013 08:50pm

imo you should take a wide variety of classes to find something you like. to me it sounds as if you dont know what you want to do, just not labor. but the best thing you can do for yourself is to keep your options open and have back up plans. it can be overwhelming so consider things such as classes you enjoyed, your hobbies, lifestyle, etc. im only 24 but 6 years ago i was a completely different person and college helped facilitate that change (def for the better).

one of the most important things i learned was to being able change a decision. for example, i went to university of oregon for my first year and was planning on staying a year in oregon and gaining residency for instate tuition (im from cali). but when push came to shove i was neither ready nor willing to work for a year in oregon. deciding to move back after my first year of it was heartbreaking (took me months to finally tell my parents), yet at the same time it opened new doors and i met incredible people in both oregon and when i came back for community college. ive since graduated from college and am in the process of finding my career path, and i certainly wish i took the time to do some research/ internship while at davis.

long story short is that you are in charge of what you do. im really tired so im rambling >_>