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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP back again, the exchanges here are interesting. I appreciate the insights! 
To the poster wondering if I was suggesting DC not pursue a STEM degree because Calculus took effort you misunderstood my question, or it was poorly asked. A PP suggested that the ‘poor professors be spared’ having a kid who is not “gifted” in math courses being in their CS (or maybe any STEM degree) courses. I wondered if that is a legit concern. Then a different PP chimed in and mentioned another current thread about CS degrees from LACs and noted those professors may be more supportive of a kid who doesn’t immediately get it. I am not entirely clear if folks who gain CS degrees (or physics, math, etc) do struggle in those courses or whether they just “get it”. I suppose it is a silly question, of course all growth is uncomfortable and challenging. I guess I worry about the “weed out” theory.[/quote]

OP, former adviser in engineering from big state school here. You DC sounds awesome in that they know how to struggle through material. It means they will know how to study which is huge for anyone taking Calc through Diff Eq. The best advice I can give you is make sure DC starts the math sequence from Calc 1 where ever they go, especially if it is a big state school. [/quote]

PP makes a good point. Anyone who IS a mathematician is familiar with struggling, PAINFULLY at times, and I felt that part of the problem with the kids who ended up getting weeded out (more on that) were the ones who couldn't tolerate the struggle.

I also felt that when I struggled with a programming problem, it was very much the same as struggling with something in math, and  the way through was pretty much the same: wrestle in the weeds for a long time, feel frustrated, get up and walk away and sometime after that the light turns on, you go back and solve it. I would also argue that the thinking processes involved with math help train the brain to handle the thinking processes involved with coding.

And the people I met who were working with cutting edge computer research were using high level math as the foundation for defining the problems and solutions. [/quote]

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