[ModernMech]

IMO the big difference between CS and other subjects like math, engineering etc. is big tech. No one goes into a math degree at 18 thinking they're going to be earning $200k in 4 years time. But in CS, this is the general expectation of students. They are obsessed with learning everything they need to know to pass Google's and Facebook's white board exams. Students demand prep sessions to help them pass, where we just give them interview questions to solve. They are not so interested in learning CS for the sake of learning CS.

Students and parents view our CS department like a trade school. They are very focused on us teaching "practical" skills that students will use when they enter the work force. I think that's something we should do, but that's not all we should do. But any time we try to teach more theoretical CS concepts, there's always a lot of push back like "How will I use this thing when I'm at FAANG, and if I won't then why am I even learning this?"

Then there are employers, who have in the past come to us trying to get us to teach their tech stack so they don't have to. They wanted us to convert our entire curriculum to .Net, because that's what they use. Would that ever happen in the math department? I don't think so.

[aidenn0]

> "How will I use this thing when I'm at FAANG, and if I won't then why am I even learning this?"

Maybe college has changed since I went there, but a similar question was asked and the professor responded with "you are free to drop the class." It was a required class for a CS degree and when the student pointed this out, the professor said that it's still freshman year, feel free to switch majors and that they should shut up because they were interfering with everybody else who (unlike them) were actually trying to learn something.