For my interview with a Penn State faculty member, I chose to meet with Dr. Pavel Azalov. My intended major is computer science, so Dr. Azalov seemed to be the best option for myself. When I was coming up with questions to ask during the interview, I wanted to focus on my future at Penn State and what I should expect when it comes time for me to take courses related to computer science. By doing this, I hoped to gain a better understanding of the process of getting a degree in computer science. My first question I asked was to see if I was personally ready to begin taking college level computer science courses. I was not sure of the level of experience with computer programming was recommended for entry level classes in the field of study. As I would come to learn, there is no experience required for basic programming classes, and this came to me as sort of a surprise. Almost every major subject, whether it is math, writing, history, or science, usually requires some sort of background knowledge of the subject. Some people may not think of it that way, though. These …show more content…
Azalov focused on throughout the interview, and the idea was mathematics in computer science. I learned that Dr. Azalov’s first degree was in mathematics which was not what I expected. I knew math was important in the area of study, but I would find out how important it actually is. One question I often thought about was what minor to take alongside a computer science major that would be a good compliment. He immediately said math, and his explanation was very reasonable. The better you are at math, the better you will be at developing software. Learning the languages is not difficult, but using them effectively requires extensive mathematical acuteness. Especially as programs become more complex, more math is involved in the process. His emphasis on math gave me a new look at general computer science I did not see