The areas of Computer Science I’m interested in would have to be software engineering, and purely as a hobby, 3D coding in OpenGL. I took Maths in High School, and I was never really good at it. I can’t say I was terrible at it either, but I wasn’t gifted with a great intellect, so in order to do well at it I had to work hard.

I shied away from doing advanced math in High School though, because I just didn’t really like it enough. Many people don’t like math, because learning the subject itself is a bore. When I started doing Compsci in University however, I did wish that I had done more Calculus in school, because it would’ve at least given me a jumpstart. However, just because you may not be good at math I wouldn’t discourage you from doing a major in CompSci.

As many have already mentioned, the amount of math required in most programming is very trivial, if not requiring any math whatsoever, at least in some areas of the software engineering department anyway. You will however need at least a general university/college background in calculus to do basic stg III courses in 3D coding and design, as you will mostly work with vectors and matrices. The more theoretical areas of Computer Science like algorithm design will require good discrete math skills though, and is not recommended if you don’t really like math as a subject, rather than as a helpful tool. Also, if you’re not too good in math, I wouldn’t recommend the low-level hardware side of computer tech either, because some of that requires a high degree of physics.

Still, you can make many choices over what’s on offer in your CompSci degree, and depending on where you’re studying, you don’t really have to go near any of the courses that demand a high level of maths. You will likely have to fill in the gaps though, and this will involve making choices you may not necessarily like, and yes, it will involve math. So if you do intend to study CompSci then I’m afraid you will have to be willing to at least slog it out in a general first year calculus course. When I started Uni I took a preparatory calculus course, thereafter I took the general calculus course, which was the minimum requirement for my higher level CompSci courses. As I mentioned, I have never really liked math, in fact I hated it as a child, but when applying it to Computer Science, especially to 3D graphics, I find that it is actually very interesting and rewarding.

I hope that I have given some encouragement to those willing to study Computer Science, but feel disadvantaged due to their math. Here’s what I suggest: study math all the way in high school. If you’re like me and didn’t go all the way with math during that time, or didn’t do too well, do preparatory courses in your first year of undergraduate study. You might still be able to finish the degree within 3 years by doing this. You should have an average grasp of high school algebra at least, though.

Lastly, don’t be too afraid of calculus if you feel your math isn’t up to scratch. General calculus is not really too hard to grasp if you work hard at it.

I remember for the first time in grade 11 trig, when I first started to see a connection. I saw the unit circle, and leant how to use it. It was then that I understood how sin, cos, and tan worked. That was probably the first time I really started to like math, because once you understand everything, you can really start doing some impressive things. With cartesian vectors, I then understood how projectiles work in 2D using sin and cos. So I also agree with relating math to things you know.

The problem is that I can’t take 2 or 3 tries to get it right. On an exam, that just doesn’t cut it. That’s why my marks aren’t that great, because I don’t get it right the first try. With a computer program, you’re allowed to run it, find bugs and fix it. But with math, the answer is unknown, and that’s where the trouble is.

My teacher told me about a saying, it’s impossible to write 1000 lines of code without a mistake, so don’t even bother trying [or something like that]. Math on the other hand, you must get the answer right to pass the course.

I think a big problem in understanding is the fact that high schools tend to teach mostly Programming, while calling it Computer Science. Programming is the application of Computer Science, and the latter could be studied as pure theory, without the use of computers. In such a scenario, the usage of Math is paramount.

Of course schools, both high schools and Universities, tend to combine both practical programming and theoretical computer science parts, as it’s difficult to learn one, without the other.