GS 119 Exploration Activity

Zach Buford
EDPS 10500
December 4, 2018

1. Name of the presenter, the college, and the department/majors.

a. The presenters went by Brittney and Kevin, from the College of Science

for Computer Science and Data Science, respectively.

2. Provide a general summary of the coursework (i.e., is this major heavy in

science, math, foreign language, etc.). What topics will you learn about in your

junior and senior years? Be specific!

a. Computer Science is one of the heaviest in math majors that Purdue offers

outside of STAT and MA department degrees. Because of this, Linear Algebra is

required for all CS grads, as well as many computer science classes, which

require a different kind of mathematical thinking, but nonetheless is still math.

What you learn in your junior and senior years depends heavily on which CS

concentration you’re doing, of which there are 9. Data Science, on the other

hand, involves many statistics courses, which means junior and senior years will

be heavy on the advanced statistics that the major requires.

3. List any unique opportunities within the major (study abroad, internship

required, etc.).

a. In addition to the 3 CS learning communities, there are many events held

exclusively for people in Computer and Data Science. These include CS only
 career fairs as well as Hackathons, which are often sponsored by Partners of the

Corporate Partner Program.

4. What types of careers can you go into with this degree?

a. Traditionally, Computer Science graduates tend to go into software engineering

work, or software development. Depending on one’s concentration, the sector of

technical work they go into can change. For example, those in the security track

are much more likely to get jobs relating to their track, as their specific skills are

more highly suited for that.

5. What skills, personality traits, and interests do you think would be a good fit for

this major?

a. Those who are good at Math are very likely to do well in this degree, as well as

those with penchants for technical communication and problem solving. Although

most comp sci majors are introverts, there’s plenty of room for extroverts, as

group work and communication are heavily required in this major.

6. Name three things you learned from the presentation that you didn’t know

before attending.

a. Computer Science has a nearly 100% placement directly into the workforce after

graduation.

b. There is a quiz required for those trying to CODO into compsci that consists of

basic questions about codo requirements.

c. For Data Science, there is an essay required for CODOing, requiring applicants

to detail why they want to CODO, and why they’re interested in Data Science.
7. Are you still considering this major? Why or why not?

a. I am still considering this major, as I already knew that I wanted to get into this

major before I even accepted my offer to come to Purdue. However, watching the

GS 119 presentation did help me understand the CODO process into these

majors, and has prompted me into doing further research into Data Science, as I

am also interested in statistical work.