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People who do Computer Science in Uni: How much mathematics do you do?

I want to do Computer Science at University, however, I couldn't take A-Level maths so I'm lacking in high math knowledge. I'm concerned that because of this I might struggle, especially in my second/third years and I'm considering taking a gap year to study A-Level Maths, but not entirely sure it's worth it.

If you are a university student or have experienced computer science at a university level at all, how did you find the mathematics? Were there lots, was it tough? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Thanks!

Reply 1

Zacky VT

The math in computer science can be divided into two.

1. Continuous Mathematics: this isn't actually special to computer science, all STEM programs have some element of continuous mathematics.
- at minimum Single Variable Calculus (large chunk of which is covered at A-Level Math)
- Some universities do Multivariable Calculus (requires Single Variable Calculus & A-Level Math)
- If you want to take courses like graphics or machine learning you need: Linear Algebra (some stuff about vectors is covered in A-Level Math)
- Differential Equations (A bit of this is covered in A-Level Math); differential equations are pretty rare for CS though

2. Discrete Mathematics: this is the type of math that is special to computer science, and tbh A-Level math doesn't cover it at all. These are a few of the modules in discrete math:
- Set theory (last covered in GCSE Math)
- Propositional Logic & Boolean Algebra: this is the math that underlies computing
- Combinatorics & Discrete Probability: this is the math that underlies cryptography and security, amongst other things
- Graph Theory: its the theory of nodes essentially;
- Algorithms: this is the bulk of CS theory

As far as discrete math goes, A-Level math doesn't prepare much for it. A-Level math is mainly focused on continuous math, so you might struggle in Calculus, Linear Algebra or Differential Equations if your university actually includes those courses in your CS program. So check with your university. There's ways to study Calculus without doing the entirety of A-Level math though.