Math Major at UCSD, and feeling depressed about the future.

[math_nerd]

First of all, I used to be the kid that hated math back in high school. But did okay, besides in PreCalc. I go to UCSD now, it's my junior year, and I'm now a Math-Computer Science major. I only declared CSE recently. I got a D in my modern algebra class. I studied super hard too, but didn't really get it soon enough. I fell for math because I saw that math was interesting and I wanted to learn how these mathematicians think! But the thing is, I'm struggling with upper division courses. I only recently decided to do the CS concentration, because it makes my degree more marketable. I eventually want a well paying job in the tech industry. I'm also really worried about how long graduation is going to take me. I'm left with all my upper division classes now, so the workload is quite a bit. I need help!

My questions are:
1) I'm considering changing my major. how does a Cognitive Science major with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction fare in the market today? I am allowed to add as many 5 CSE for sure to my specialization. This may open up a possibility of minoring in Computer Science (CSE). don't know much on the minor though.
2) what advice do you have for doing better in classes?

 

[hadsed]

Why don't you just do computer science? It's probably the closest to mathematics (depending on your school anyway, I don't know the specifics about UCSD) and pretty marketable. I don't know how much a cognitive science degree would help. And are you sure you can't handle the mathematics classes? Can you identify the problems you had in the course and why?

 

[Chaostamer]

Don't give up on math just yet. I speak from my own experience when I say that it gets easier. From what I've seen and experienced firsthand, the first big rigorous and abstract math class is always exceptionally challenging. It's a whole new language and system to get used to. The good thing is that the more math you take, the more readily mathematical insight will come to you. I'd say, just take Algebra again. It will probably go a lot better and if you like it now, you'll probably like it all the more when you really wrap your head around it. After that, just take it from there and see how you feel. But I wouldn't give up on math just because you had some trouble with one class.