How to Prepare for a Computer Science Major from a Student of St Christopher’s Senior School

Have you wondered what the best ways to prepare and understand AI are? Read on to learn how to prepare for a computer science major in college, and how to understand AI in your major.

Source: timeshighereducation.com

Topics Covered in this Post:

• Understand the fundamentals

• Revision methods

• Read ahead in the textbook

• Optional summer courses regarding artificial intelligence

• Being patient with yourself

• Before we get started, I want to introduce: what is AI?

AI (artificial intelligence) is, as defined by BuiltIn.com, the branch of computer science related to building machines that can complete tasks that require human intelligence. Artificial intelligence can be used in many fields and is an important field of research since it can negatively or positively impact the world. AI can be used in the medicinal field to create lifesaving technologies, or in cyber security to protect people's information and privacy, or in gaming, or many other fields.

How should I prepare for a Computer Science Major?

1. Understanding the fundamentals

   Before taking a course, it is always a good idea of understanding the fundamentals before starting a course. The reason is, this will allow you to walk into class knowing the gist of your topic- and you won't be left scratching your head at the new topics and ideas put forward by your lecturers.

2. Revision methods

   It is always a good idea to know how to study/revise before taking the vital step in your life to go to university; this can apply to anyone regardless of major, so, find your best revision method. It is always useful to know this beforehand as you don't want to waste time researching what methods do not work. Some revision methods include (but are not limited to):

   1. Flashcards

   2. Videos

   3. Writing

   4. Reading

   5. Acronyms

   6. Mindmaps

   7. And many more!

3. Reading ahead in the textbook

   When you receive your textbook, it is always a good idea to: read ahead on the first few topics that you will study in the first semester. It will help you understand the topic more, as you will go into class with a simple understanding of what it is that you are studying. You don’t have to read through the whole textbook, but simply reading a page or two a day before your class (and maybe making some notes) will help you in the long term. I personally tried this out during my final year of high school- and it certainly helped me out a lot.

4. Optional Summer courses

   One way in which I decided that I wanted to study artificial intelligence was through my experience with Inspirit AI. I learned about kernels, convolutional neural networks, logistical and linear regression in this course; whilst it was a little complicated, I found out that I loved it very much and wanted to pursue it in university. So, I recommend doing the same: apply to any computer science that you find and see what works for you. It’s much better to know now that you don’t want to go into a field rather than finding this out in university. If you do not want to do that, there is no harm in, as previously mentioned, reading an article on how GANs work- for example.

5. Being patient with yourself

   University is a monumental change from high school, from the people around you to the content that you will study. Understandably, you will go through a period of time where you are not sure what you are doing, and that’s okay. Just always remember that you will eventually understand what it is that you want to do, what it is that you want to study and what on earth is going on!