Major? Good classes?

[msw188]

That textbook thread has got me thinking about college again (I miss it sometimes, I admit). So I decided to start a new thread to try to get at some of the good of college (that thread highlights some of the really bad). Here are the questions. First, what major(s) are/were you, or do you plan on going into if you plan on going to college? Second, if you've already begun college, what classes have you enjoyed/found helpful in your major? How about any electives that you found interesting/enjoyable?

For myself, I was a mathematics major (graduate study option) at Penn State. In my major, two classes stand out in memory. One was an advanced class on Differential Geometry and Einstein's theory of General Relativity, which was cool for the sake of understanding Einstein. The other one was called Honors Discrete Mathematics, which was really just an excuse to practice doing proofs all day, but not boringly systematic geometry proofs; rather, it was like a great mathematical puzzle training ground for all things finite (no calculus). We proved so many small but interesting mathematical things in there, I really enjoyed it.

Elective-wise, I had a real good Intro to Philosophy of Science course, mostly just because of the reading selection which included Descartes, Hume, Pierce and Kuhn (both of those last seem to be lesser-known followers of Kant, as far as I can tell). The teacher (a grad student) tried to convince me to switch to becoming a Philosophy major, but I figured I needed some hope of having usable skills in case I didn't go to grad school (which I didn't, as it turned out).

EDIT: To clear up, the Diff Geometry class was advanced for an undergrad, but quite elementary from the point of view of Differential Geometry and General Relativity. I'm still quite ignorant about a lot of the harder aspects of both Special and General Relativity, and of course, I can only claim barest bones knowledge in terms of Differential Geometry, a vast field of mathematics.

[JSH357]

I'm an English Lit major, minoring in CS. I have no real plans for using this degree aside from possibly jumping into education (sigh).

The classes I've taken that have proven particularly enlightening and/or useful:
Symbolic Logic & Set Theory - If you aren't majoring in Math but taking something that involves it, I would stop here and possibly not go anywhere near Calc. It's fairly challenging, but pretty essential in understanding practical applications of mathematics.

Literary Theory - If you're taking English or planning on teaching it, do not pass up on this. Understanding different forms of criticism is vital in both cases.

Writing Short Fiction - If you plan on doing anything creative, take this, as writing short stories is pretty much the hardest creative writing you can do.

Survey of World Literature - Get out of England, see what's different and what's the same.

Latin - If you are doing anything involving language (any language), Latin will force you to understand it better.

World Humanities (Romanticism through Postmodern eras in Literature, covered Eastern cultures) - Similar to World Lit; it's important to understand the psyches of humans all over the world.

Swimming - One of the best physical activities to know how to do properly.

Computer Programming 2 (Which covered basic data structures, recursion, inheritance, templates, and stuff like that) - Stop making crappy games, learn how to do this stuff, come back.

US History post-1877 - Uh, less important if you don't live here I suppose. Get a good truthful knowledge of your own country's history, not the stuff they teach in grade school.

[msw188]

Of course the mathematician has to step in to discuss this:

Symbolic Logic & Set Theory - If you aren't majoring in Math but taking something that involves it, I would stop here and possibly not go anywhere near Calc. It's fairly challenging, but pretty essential in understanding practical applications of mathematics.

Honestly, I'd say this comment depends on what the "practical application" is. If you are doing something inherently finite (most computer programming), then yes I would agree with your comment. Also, any liberal arts major would get a lot more out of Logic than any other mathematical discipline. But good luck understanding anything in any physical science, or analytical economics, or practically any engineering, without a good dose of the calculus. And in fact, in most of those disciplines, I'd say you can get by for quite a while with little to no understanding of symbolic logic, although a general idea of logical thinking will probably be required.

In my opinion, the problem with mathematics is that you need so much of it, and it gets so difficult, before you can even begin comprehending how to use it. Really, it takes all of grade school plus three semesters of calculus before you can even begin talking intelligently about 3 dimensions. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to teach physics to undergrads who don't yet *know* calculus.

I also enjoyed your other comments. Despite my lack of personal experience, I've often felt that short stories would be the hardest thing to do, and also the most instructional thing to try, from a writing standpoint.

[Mogri]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who likes Calculus. Also, kinematics in first semester Physics is excellent. If you plan on doing any physics-related programming, even if it's just gravity in a sidescroller, you should have a fundamental understanding of kinematics.

I recommend looking into weird alternative courses you can take for your core credits. One of my history credits turned into Jesus in American Culture, which was one of the most fascinating classes I ever took.

[Leonhart]

Just like JSH, I'm also majoring in Literature, both English and Filipino. I plan on becoming a teacher and at the same time, a writer. So far, some of the classes I had had been pretty useful.

World Literature: A required class

Mystery Fiction: A good elective. I just love getting me some Edgar Allan Poe.

And, yes. Literary Theories...

[camdog]

I majored in English and Computer Science, with a minor in Music. My favorite class in college was probably my required "interdisciplinary studies" course, which is something all seniors had to take. The courses were attempts to marry two different disciplines in one class, and mine was on artificial intelligence, which covered both the technical aspects of developing an artificial intelligence system, and the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence (ie what happens when we make a computer program that passes the Turing Test).

It was basically a class that had lots of lively discussion with a techie bent and taught a skill useful for game design. I don't know how helpful it was in the long run (I do currently program for a living, but nothing to do with ai...), but it certainly was awesome, and is one of those classes that still makes me nostalgic for my college days. Ah well, there's always grad school...

[msw188]

Also, kinematics in first semester Physics is excellent. If you plan on doing any physics-related programming, even if it's just gravity in a sidescroller, you should have a fundamental understanding of kinematics.

I agree. Although I don't think you should fall into the trap of trying to imitate reality. Just understand it and use it as a template to mess with. Some of the best play control around is still Mario, because of your ability to defy physics. Contrast Castlevania or Adventure of Link, which try to comply with classical physics a bit more, and make jumping so much more of a hassle.

While first-semester kinematics was helpful, I would recommend the intermediate course to anyone with a mathematical mindset. At PSU I think it was called Theoretical Mechanics, and it was really refreshing to do physics in a class where 1) calculus and differential equations are taken for granted, and 2) you're no longer idealizing everything to a ridiculous degree. We did, among other things, air resistance, non-constant gravity (gravity changes depending on how far two objects are from each other), forces on earth taking into account it's rotation, and changes in mass (burning fuel induces a force and decreases your mass at the same time). If you ever get the chance to study the calculus of variations and the Lagrangian/Hamiltonian version of kinematics, it gives you a whole new appreciation for kinetic and potential energy, which were always a bit hazy for me coming from the Newtonian setup.

I'm finding it kind of interesting that so far everyone is in Literature-related majors, as well as Computer Science. Will that be a majority in the end? I guess it fits the idea of game-making to a tee.

[Mogri]

I agree. Although I don't think you should fall into the trap of trying to imitate reality. Just understand it and use it as a template to mess with. Some of the best play control around is still Mario, because of your ability to defy physics. Contrast Castlevania or Adventure of Link, which try to comply with classical physics a bit more, and make jumping so much more of a hassle.

Mario still has acceleration and gravity. Poorly-made homebrew sidescrollers tend to make fall velocity constant, so that you always rise and fall at the same rate. In reality, your y-position over time is an arc.

Now, maybe you want to have your own physics in your game -- that's fine, but I contend that knowing the real-world laws of physics and the equations they follow will help you design your own. (For that matter, understanding calculus will help you understand physics.)

[Bob the Hamster]

I eternally attend <a href="http://gilgamesh.hamsterrepublic.com/ga ... /Sculpture class at LAHC.</a>

I cannot recommend an art major in terms of useful job skills that might get you a good career, but I can definitely recommend it in terms of stress relief and emotional fulfillment

<img src="http://gilgamesh.hamsterrepublic.com/al ... .thumb.gif">

[msw188]

Poorly-made homebrew sidescrollers tend to make fall velocity constant, so that you always rise and fall at the same rate.

Ha ha, that sounds so rediculous. How do you figure where the turning point is this way? Jump height is a separate parameter?

I contend that knowing the real-world laws of physics and the equations they follow will help you design your own.

Yeah, I guess this is what I was trying to say with "understand it and use it as a template to mess with". In Mario, I was referring to your ability to alter horizontal velocity in midair.

And come on James, you're not going to tell us a little about your major? Although that sculpture looks very good, at least to untrained eyes looking through a computer screen.

[Uncommon]

I almost did an English major, Psychology minor, but turned out to be too poor.
I later almost became a Sequential Art major, but decided art school couldn't teach me anything.

So I never went to college.
I still think it would be interesting to study Sociology and Psychology, though.

[Shadowiii]

I'm currently studying Sociology, but still debating between a Psychology or Sociology major.
I might just give up and be a math major though. I also really liked calculus, and math has always just "clicked" with me (unlike everything else in college :P). But recently sociology has been REALLY interesting to me, so we'll see where that goes...

As for classes...take fun ones? BYU has a really good dance program, and even though I have to left feet dance classes are a blast. I'm also taking a small amount of music courses (guitar this semester), which makes for great stress relief when compared to my other classes (Bio and Stats kill me).

[Leonhart]

If I would have to choose between Socio and Psycho, I'd choose Psychology.

It was because my first ever professor in Sociology was a total b*tch and now I think that they're all the same. It's just me.

[Mazin]

As I mentioned in the other thread I'm a creative writing major. Although I enjoy writing a lot (obviously, it would be retarded to major in it if I didn't), a lot of the classes have been annoying because of having to read stupid things, but they're still useful.

Some of the classes I've enjoyed the most have actually been in computer science, I've taken a class in Visual BASIC (I didn't know it was going to be that or I probably wouldn't have taken it. Who really needs a class for drag-and-drop "programming?"), a couple in C++, and now I'm taking one in computer organization and assembly programming. This is a lot of fun because I never knew much (before now) about how computers work at the physical level. And working with a low level language like this is kind of like drawing 8-bit sprites, it's fun to figure out how to work within the limitations and then when you succeed it feels pretty cool.

[Bob the Hamster]

And come on James, you're not going to tell us a little about your major? Although that sculpture looks very good, at least to untrained eyes looking through a computer screen.

Actually, my major was CIS (Computer Information Systems) but I took a heck of a lot of art classes anyway, and I have been taking just the one sculpture class now for the past... 5? 6? 7? years.