I'm a self-taught UK-based web dev finally going to university in order to round out my knowledge with a degree in CompSci, trying to decide between London and Birmingham. In my research I've noticed that the best unis in London - Imperial College, UCL, Queen Mary, King's College - all require at least an A-Level in Maths (final years of high school in the US). By contrast, the more mid-tier unis - Greenwich, Brunel, East London - only require a passing grade in GCSE maths (early years of high school in the US).<p>As someone primarily going to uni in order to learn the CS theory that I'm hoping will both make me a better programmer and give me a good enough understanding of AI/ML to apply it to my business ideas, this leaves me wondering what the reason for this requirement might be and which type of course is right for me.<p>Are the top unis teaching more maths than I need - maybe to prepare students for a career in advanced computer science <i>research</i> - or are the mid-tier unis not teaching enough theory/maths for a reasonable understanding of computer science?
Math requires structure thinking, so does computer science. The best programmers I have met either had a degree in mathematics or it was the subject they did really well in.<p>In terms of day-to-day usage, it depends on what kind of development you do and in which sector. For example, web developers tend to not worry about math almost at all, video game developers, especially game engine one's deal with math a lot.<p>Sector is really important as well, if you work for a health insurance company you might need to understand statistics, finance companies can deal with large data set and algebra level financial formulas.<p>Of course, I'm speaking in generalities. In my opinion learning math is useful, in some jobs it's a necessity, in others it's not.
you should be able to see their CS syllabus online.<p>in me experience.. essential math is single variable calculus and multi variate culture usually taught over 1-3 separate courses. linear algebra..discrete math (more of CS class than just pure math).