Bachelor of software engineering (mathematics and physics)

D

dano120

New Member
I posted this topic in another forum, but I got no response :(

I graduated from high school several months ago and I found my way to software engineering. After taking a deep breath, I decided to go for bachelor of software engineering. I consulted an educational offices which is specialized in education and they recommended me that I'm not able to go for software engineering bachelor program. I was shocked, the argument was that my math and physics aren't sufficient even if the university accepted me. I studied math in high school except for the last 3 semesters, where I majored in (linguistics and the human sciences).I wasn't bad at math or have bad grades at all or can't understand math, but like I mentioned, they claim that I need prior advanced knowledge of math and physics from high school. Even though I'm going to study abroad, which means the system can differ and it does indeed, how could a university start from an advance level anyhow and it's not linked to the high school in which I studied anyway? Put another way, if that university started from an advance level of math, because they're assuming the students already have prior understanding from high school, what about those who discontinued their education for several years? They forgot most of the story?

I decided to look for the subjects and all the details from the university. I noticed there's no rocket science there. Here's a list of each year and its subjects that the students are going to take:


Bachelor of software engineering:

*First year:

Introduction to Computer,
**Preliminary course to calculus**,
**Algebra and Trigonometry**,
Orientation Program, Basic Chinese Listening,
Basic Chinese Speaking,
Essential English Writing,
Object-Oriented Programming,
Course Project of Object-oriented Programming,
Principle of Management,
Chinese Culture,
Academic English Writing,
Introduction to China.

*Second Year:

Data Structure,
Course Project of Data Structure,
Principle of Computer's Composition,
**Linear Algebra**,
Engineering Economics,
Chinese Reading,
Information Retrieval and Utilization,
Database Principles and Applications,
Computer Networks,
Course Project of Database Principles and Applicant,
Java Language and Programming,
Artificial Intelligence and Its Applications,
Communication in Chinese.

*Third year:

Software Engineering,
Course Project of Software Engineering,
Operating Systems,
Modern Software Development Technology,
Software Engineering Economics,
Supply-chain Management,
Chinese-to-English Translation,
Knowledge Management,
Software Process and Management,
Object-Oriented Method and UML Modeling,
Cross-Culture Management,
Management Information System,
Course Project of Management Information system.

*Fourth year:

Multi-media Technology and Applications,
Software Architecture,
Software Maintenance,
Software Testing,
Information Security Technology,
E-government,
Project Management,
Network Marketing,
Applied Statistics.


Do I need advance mathematics or physics from high school to study bachelor of software engineering?
*Though I forgot most of what I studied in math, but with some refresh to my memory I would be able to thrive to success I guess.

I hope someone will help me here
 
dano120, if your enrollment counselor has advised you that you do not meet the requisites for your chosen program of study then there is nobody on this forum or any other forum that can refute that argument.

In the computer science arena, mathematics and physical sciences are the two main focus areas when considering applications for admission. Your university isn't the only one that has this requirement in place. From what I have found in my own college experience going for a B.S. IT and Robotics w/Artificial Intelligence is that incoming freshman are expected to have, at minimum, an understanding of pre-calculus, preferably up to Calculus 1...which is also a secondary requirement for most physics courses in high school.

If you are unable to be admitted to this program based on those underlying factors, then if you are motivated and REALLY REALLY want to pursue software engineering as a career, then I would look into additional adult education classes that offer transferable credits to your institution of choice upon graduation.

Talk with your guidance counselor regarding your possible options of satisfying the program requirements outside of campus before you reapply.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that your high school curricula reflects an "arts" background and not one of a "science" background. This was probably a determining factor in your rejection.
 
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z3r0 said:
dano120, if your enrollment counselor has advised you that you do not meet the requisites for your chosen program of study then there is nobody on this forum or any other forum that can refute that argument.

In the computer science arena, mathematics and physical sciences are the two main focus areas when considering applications for admission. Your university isn't the only one that has this requirement in place. From what I have found in my own college experience going for a B.S. IT and Robotics w/Artificial Intelligence is that incoming freshman are expected to have, at minimum, an understanding of pre-calculus, preferably up to Calculus 1...which is also a secondary requirement for most physics courses in high school.

If you are unable to be admitted to this program based on those underlying factors, then if you are motivated and REALLY REALLY want to pursue software engineering as a career, then I would look into additional adult education classes that offer transferable credits to your institution of choice upon graduation.

Talk with your guidance counselor regarding your possible options of satisfying the program requirements outside of campus before you reapply.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that your high school curricula reflects an "arts" background and not one of a "science" background. This was probably a determining factor in your rejection.
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if your enrollment counselor has advised you that you do not meet the requisites for your chosen program of study then there is nobody on this forum or any other forum that can refute that argument.
Click to expand...

The counselor isn't affiliated to the university which I'm going to apply to in anyway therefore they talk generally not about specific standards. I'm not trying to change the fact, not at all.

If you are unable to be admitted to this program based on those underlying factors, then if you are motivated and REALLY REALLY want to pursue software engineering as a career, then I would look into additional adult education classes that offer transferable credits to your institution of choice upon graduation.

Talk with your guidance counselor regarding your possible options of satisfying the program requirements outside of campus before you reapply
Click to expand...

I wasn't rejected, because basically I didn't apply to them yet. Based on the list above I can say they're preliminary courses of math and I don't care if I'm going to take physics or rocket science, after all am I stupid or ignorant? I've taken enough math throughout school years and of course I understand the least and above the least in math.

But to say that I can't enroll to bachelor of SE, because I don't have sufficient mathematical skills, (this is a bit silly based on the above list). Put another way to understand my case. They claim because I came from literature, I can't go to engineering as I need prior very advanced math from high school. Since the university is not in my home country, how do they know what I studied here so they can start from that level ! YES, I need a hand that used to get dirty with math before, but I don't need a PhD of math or physics to be in that program.

About my literature background, yes I majored in literature(specifically linguistic and the human sciences), but I've taken math (algebra, trigonometry etc..) except for the last 3 courses.

All in all, this depends on the standards of the university, but I'm here asking only about the need of advanced or rocket science from high school to go for engineering, for instance, I studied algebra and trigonometry at high school, now I forgot most of the concepts and that's normal, but if you're going to explain an equation to me, I'll be able to both understand it and solve another, similar one.
 
This still doesn't change the situation. algebra and trigonometry are not the same as pre-calculus, calculus or chaos math. The only advice I can offer is to attend adult education classes in your home country in order to play "catch up", or to attend an accredited 2-year post-secondary institution first and then transfer to your university program of choice.

Admissions representatives will probably favor the second option. You have to crawl before you can walk. :)

EDIT: Introductory courses are considered to be summarized and not comprehensive. For example, (Intro to Physics) will not meet program admissions requirements but (Physics I) will. However, (Physics I) requires (Calculus I) as a prerequisite, so you cannot enroll into (Physics I) without FIRST having credit for (Calculus I). What sucks is that there is also a prerequisite for (Calculus I) and that is (Pre-Calculus). But since you have algebra and trig credit, this also does not provide you with the requirement for program admission. You must take pre-cal before you can take calculus and then calculus before you can take physics.

Understand?
 
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z3r0 said:
This still doesn't change the situation. algebra and trigonometry are not the same as pre-calculus, calculus or chaos math. The only advice I can offer is to attend adult education classes in your home country in order to play "catch up", or to attend an accredited 2-year post-secondary institution first and then transfer to your university program of choice.

Admissions representatives will probably favor the second option. You have to crawl before you can walk. :)

EDIT: Introductory courses are considered to be summarized and not comprehensive. For example, (Intro to Physics) will not meet program admissions requirements but (Physics I) will. However, (Physics I) requires (Calculus I) as a prerequisite, so you cannot enroll into (Physics I) without FIRST having credit for (Calculus I). What sucks is that there is also a prerequisite for (Calculus I) and that is (Pre-Calculus). But since you have algebra and trig credit, this also does not provide you with the requirement for program admission. You must take pre-cal before you can take calculus and then calculus before you can take physics.

Understand?
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First off, I don't need to change something. You're talking like I'm begging you to enroll me to your university!
Introductory courses are considered to be summarized and not comprehensive
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That's why they're called introductory!:P

[/QUOTE]However, (Physics I) requires (Calculus I) as a prerequisite, so you cannot enroll into (Physics I) without FIRST having credit for (Calculus I). What sucks is that there is also a prerequisite for (Calculus I) and that is (Pre-Calculus)[/QUOTE]

Yes, lalala + blalala!??

Admissions representatives will probably favor the second option. You have to crawl before you can walk. :)
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:eek:

In sum, you don't know what you're talking about.
 
Yes you do need to know maths to a higher level than just school because a lot of the programming will use it. Computers pretty much speak in maths, so if you have gaps in your knowledge you are likely to fail the course, which looks bad for you and for the college.

Now you say that you know enough maths, but have you done this course before? I am guessing not, otherwise you wouldn't need to again, so how do you know what enough is?

Let's assume that you DO know enough, you have no way to prove to the college. The college do not know anything about you at this point, other than what you have a piece of paper to prove about you. Why should they accept you saying "Yeah but I really do know!!" which goes against all policies?

What z3ro is saying is right, you need to take the steps sequentially to prevent these gaps in knowledge and ensure your success. This is the same advice as what you have been given elsewhere already because it is the way that it is, simple as.

You also came to us asking for help, you got that help, z3ro took the time out to help you with no gain for himself, so there is no need to have the attitude that you do. A thank you but... with a civil response would have been enough.
 
Aastii said:
Yes you do need to know maths to a higher level than just school because a lot of the programming will use it. Computers pretty much speak in maths, so if you have gaps in your knowledge you are likely to fail the course, which looks bad for you and for the college.

Now you say that you know enough maths, but have you done this course before? I am guessing not, otherwise you wouldn't need to again, so how do you know what enough is?

Let's assume that you DO know enough, you have no way to prove to the college. The college do not know anything about you at this point, other than what you have a piece of paper to prove about you. Why should they accept you saying "Yeah but I really do know!!" which goes against all policies?

What z3ro is saying is right, you need to take the steps sequentially to prevent these gaps in knowledge and ensure your success. This is the same advice as what you have been given elsewhere already because it is the way that it is, simple as.

You also came to us asking for help, you got that help, z3ro took the time out to help you with no gain for himself, so there is no need to have the attitude that you do. A thank you but... with a civil response would have been enough.
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I'm not saying I have gaps or I fully understand. The question was full misunderstood. I didn't apply yet to the university and the agent which I talked to doesn't fully know the standards of that school, but generally she said you're unable to go there without even seeing my grades or anything.

I'm not talking about my weak or good or fantastic grades or dismissing some policies, if that university does have certain policies which I don't want to comply to or I don't comply to then why would I bother going there? The world is spacious enough.

The question was simple but was misunderstood sadly. If I was going to apply for a bachelor of software engineering, how much knowledge do I need in math. The answer vary from one institution to another.
 
This isn't a question for a forum. You need to speak directly with the school you're interested in.

Out of curiosity, what is the highest math you took?
 
Darren said:
This isn't a question for a forum. You need to speak directly with the school you're interested in.

Out of curiosity, what is the highest math you took?
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A mixture of geometry, algebra, trigonometry etc.. what a normal high school teaches.
 
dano120 said:
I'm not saying I have gaps or I fully understand. The question was full misunderstood. I didn't apply yet to the university and the agent which I talked to doesn't fully know the standards of that school, but generally she said you're unable to go there without even seeing my grades or anything.

I'm not talking about my weak or good or fantastic grades or dismissing some policies, if that university does have certain policies which I don't want to comply to or I don't comply to then why would I bother going there? The world is spacious enough.

The question was simple but was misunderstood sadly. If I was going to apply for a bachelor of software engineering, how much knowledge do I need in math. The answer vary from one institution to another.
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You sort of already answered this yourself:

if that university does have certain policies which I don't want to comply to or I don't comply to...
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Different universities/colleges have different requirements. There is no one size fits all answer. The best way to find out what level of knowledge you need, speak to the universities and colleges that you are interested in to find out whether you meet their criteria, and if not then what you need to do to improve yourself to meet these criteria
 
You'll want to know more than just trig and algebra going in to a university setting. If you don't have some familiarity with at least limits or basic derivatives you're going to have a bad time. What you're describing is about equivalent to what I finished 2 years before I graduated high school. I'm in college now for something similar to what you're discussing and I know I would be absolutely screwed if I tried going in to college with my math skills as a sophomore in HS. I took PreCalc then Calculus 1 in high school after that and ended up retaking Calc 1 in college.

Really though you just need to talk to the school you're looking at. If you don't meet their requirements, ask what you can do to meet them and do what they suggest.
 
Darren said:
You'll want to know more than just trig and algebra going in to a university setting. If you don't have some familiarity with at least limits or basic derivatives you're going to have a bad time. What you're describing is about equivalent to what I finished 2 years before I graduated high school. I'm in college now for something similar to what you're discussing and I know I would be absolutely screwed if I tried going in to college with my math skills as a sophomore in HS. I took PreCalc then Calculus 1 in high school after that and ended up retaking Calc 1 in college.

Really though you just need to talk to the school you're looking at. If you don't meet their requirements, ask what you can do to meet them and do what they suggest.
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Most high schools teach us what we don't need. Take the example of our dilemma now! My school (the garbage) didn't prepared me to move for college, I need to take that into my account, I don't mind taking a preliminary course in math to equip myself with some knowledge, indeed I need it. Yes, I seriously should talk to them and I hope they'll respond very quickly as I'm very nervous.
 
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