Computational Media FAQ
Classes, Software, Deciding on CM vs. CS, Post-Grad Opportunities, and Advice
My article on Why I Chose and Stayed in Computational Media is my most popular one to date, and I’ve received a great number of responses from prospective students and even current Georgia Tech students telling me that they’ve appreciated my article and how it has inspired them to pursue Computational Media (CM). This absolutely warms my heart and I’d like to THANK YOU all for reading it and reaching out! I’ve loved talking with every single person who has reached out and I’m open to speaking with anyone else who has questions about CM, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, internships, or anything else.
I’m writing this article because I want to provide a bit more information on what it’s like to pursue CM at Tech. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading my other article about CM first to get some context about what exactly the major is and why I think it’s special. With all that said, let’s dive into some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve gotten about being a CM major at Georgia Tech!
What kinds of courses do CM majors take?
The short, technical answer is: check the Degree Requirements page on the Computational Media website! The classes each CM major takes varies depending on what their threads (aka concentrations) are. Keep in mind that CM majors choose 2 threads: one computer science (CS) thread and one liberal arts thread.
Beyond the gen-ed requirements that students of all majors take (e.g. English, Social Sciences, Lab Sciences, Health, etc.), CM majors take the same foundational CS classes as any CS major would; like Intro to Computing, Intro to Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Objects and Design, Discrete Math, Media Device Architecture OR Computer Organization & Programming, and a few more. The CS courses a CM major takes begin to diverge a bit after the foundational stuff particularly because the course requirements vary depending on your chosen threads. For instance, a CM major with an Intelligence thread is required to take Intro to AI, while a CM major with a People thread is required to take Intro to UI Design. Your higher level classes become more tailored to your chosen concentrations. Once you get past the thread requirements, you can choose thread electives from a specified list of options; so in a room full of CM majors, you’ll find that everyone has taken a diverse set of classes and has a diverse set of skills and interests.
So since CM majors take a lot of CS classes, what exactly is the difference between CM and CS?
One of my favorite differences between CS and CM is that CM majors DON’T have to take physics, applied combinatorics, or probability & statistics.
Beyond your core CS classes, there’s one CM class in particular that is required for all CM majors, and this class is LMC 2700: Intro to Computational Media. This class provides you with a greater understanding of what Computational Media is and the various technologies you can use to create digital media projects. This class also requires students to create several projects throughout the semester (I believe it’s about 4 to 5 projects), so it gives you the opportunity to fill your portfolio! The projects in this class vary depending on the professor that teaches it, but some examples of past projects are a Twitterbot with JavaScript/Node.js, drawing tool and game with Java/Processing, 3D model with A-frame, and personal website with HTML/CSS.
The most notable difference between CM and CS is that CM majors choose one computing thread and one liberal arts thread; the liberal arts thread being from either the School of Literature, Media, & Communication (LMC) or the School of Music. The Music Technology thread from the School of Music is fairly new so I can’t speak much about the course experience from that, but for CM majors who take classes from the School of LMC, our classes are very design-focused. The types of classes one can take here are: Principles of Visual Design, Interaction Design, Information Design, Constructing the Moving Image (3D modeling/animation), Game Design, Intro to Film, Video Production, Cinema & Digital Culture, Experimental Art, and much more.
What tools (programming languages/software) do CM majors typically use?
Again, this depends for the most part on your threads and interests, but some of the programming languages CM majors are exposed to in their coursework are: Java, C, Python, JavaScript, and a bit of HTML and CSS. You’re also exposed to git, typically in the Objects and Design course, and this is a useful version control tool to learn for industry if you’re into anything involving coding and software engineering (whether front-end, back-end, or full-stack). Some of the other software we use in our coursework are Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, InDesign, and XD, as well as Figma, Processing, Maya, Blender, and Unity. If you’re in any video production classes, DaVinci Resolve is the video editing tool that is taught and used as well.
If you’re interested in front-end development, like me, you may have noticed that ReactJS, AngularJS, or any other front-end framework hasn’t been mentioned above. Unfortunately, as of April 2021, there is no class that uses these frameworks or libraries yet, but these concerns have been brought up to the CM program directors and we’re hoping that in the future, there will be classes that are more tailored towards front-end development skills. In the meantime, there actually are some student organizations where you can learn ReactJS and put those skills to use! Every semester, the Bits of Good organization recruits volunteer student developers who are interested in developing web apps for non-profits in the Atlanta area, and they offer a development bootcamp that teaches ReactJS and other front-end or full-stack tools and frameworks. GT Web Dev is another student club that covers the basics of web development and teaches ReactJS as well as other frameworks. Personally, I first learned ReactJS (using Codecademy) when my Junior Design team and I had to use it to implement our project, and I developed my React skills even further in the summer of 2020 when I helped develop a website for a student organization I was involved in (not affiliated with Georgia Tech). At Tech, I’ve been able to continue utilizing my React skills with my involvement in the SGA IT Board, particularly on the Course Critique team.
As you can probably already tell, if you have any specific interests like front-end development, you’ll find that you basically have to seek outside resources in order to develop those skills. This can be annoying, but to some degree, it makes you a better learner. It makes you more accountable because it shows that you’re willing to put in the work to learn something you don’t know or get even better at it. If you want to develop particular skills to land a particular job, you really have no choice but to develop the motivation to seek all the knowledge you can get and tackle any opportunities (student clubs, on-campus job opportunities, online resources) that’ll help you develop your skills. Don’t let this scare you away, this motivation itself is actually a really good skill to have! There are numerous jobs and opportunities on campus or even elsewhere that’ll take a chance on you if you demonstrate strong interest and/or that you’ve at least started to learn a particular skill. Even for the skills that are taught in classes at Tech, I feel that you can only become really good at what you learn in those courses if you put effort into utilizing and developing those skills outside of class.
Deciding whether CS or CM is right for you
I think the most important thing to consider when deciding between CS and CM is to look at all the thread options available (for both CS and CM majors), and make your decision based on which threads excite you the most. In my opinion, if your interests or career pursuits involve anything related to game design or development, UI/UX design, UX engineering (front-end development + UX design combined), product management, film, or animation, then CM would be the best option for you. CM majors are basically CS majors who have interests in digital art and media, and if they even want to pursue a career in coding, they’re interested in considering the visual design aspect of it and how users interact with the technology.
I’ll reference this website several times in this article, but if you’d like to read other student opinions on why you should choose CM, check out the Featured CM Students/Alumni page! The last question on each person’s profile is: “In one sentence, explain why students should choose the CM major,” so this should give you multiple brief answers on why CM may be the right choice for you.
Post-Grad Opportunities for CM
I’ve kind of touched on this already in the previous section, but there’s a wide variety of career paths available to CM students, all dependent on your interests and which skills you choose to invest in. To reiterate, CM students can graduate to become UI/UX designers, software engineers, product managers, game designers or developers, animators or story artists, film producers or production assistants, technical writers, technical consultants, and more.
For a more specific list of job and internship titles CM majors have held, check out the Jobs/Internships page of the CM website.
Instead of diving straight into industry after graduation, CM majors may choose to go to grad school. Georgia Tech offers a 5-year BSMS program for CM students so that they can pursue their Master’s degree in Digital Media one year after graduating with their Bachelor’s in CM. In addition to Digital Media, many CM majors go on to pursue graduate programs in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Information Management, Interactive Telecommunications, Game Design and Development, Film, and more.
Advice for prospective or incoming CM majors
Make the absolute best of it and be open to trying new things to figure out what you like or don’t like. It’s okay if you don’t exactly know what you want to do after graduation because the great thing about CM is that you’re exposed to a wide variety of skills and you get to choose which ones you want to dive into on a deeper level, either through classes or extracurriculars. For instance, if you find that you want to work on films or animation, you might be interested in taking classes like video production and constructing the moving image, and joining clubs like Filmmakers @ GT and Animation Club. You have a lot of options in the classes you take and clubs you can join, so use these available resources to your advantage!
Another thing to keep in mind about being a CM major is that many people outside of the CM program won’t know what the major is because no other university offers a Bachelor’s degree in Computational Media (Georgia Tech is just super cool and way ahead of its time like that). There’s a huge misconception even within the Georgia Tech community that CM is just “CS lite,” so you’ll have to be prepared to defend yourself whenever people try to belittle, overlook, or underestimate you and your skillset. Hopefully you can use some of the points I made in this article or in the other one I wrote, but another way to learn more about how to explain the CM major to others is to attend the annual How to Sell Your CM Major information panel hosted by the College of Computing! This panel is typically hosted every Fall semester and consists of CM seniors and alumni who explain to younger CM students the different ways they define the CM degree to others, and how the degree overall has benefitted them in their jobs or internships. I highly recommend attending this event if you’re unsure about how to define CM to others and want to learn more about the different paths CM majors can take post-graduation.
The reality is: CM majors are fucking awesome. There are some students who choose CS primarily for the prestige of a computer science degree (especially a CS degree from Georgia Tech), but CM majors typically choose CM because they genuinely like it and they prioritize their own interests over a fancy, well-known degree name. The CM program itself has its ups and downs (as literally anything else in the world), but all CM students I’ve talked to, even those who are graduating to become software engineers and have debated switching to CS before, have expressed that they felt they enjoyed their classes much more than they would have if they were just CS majors.
If you want to hear additional perspectives from different CM students, check out this page on the CM website: https://cm.lmc.gatech.edu/connect-with-cm-students/. The students on this page have expressed willingness to chat with anyone who reaches out to them to ask questions about the CM program. If you’re curious about the kinds of projects CM majors work on overall (either in class or on their own time), check out the Featured Projects page of the CM website as well.
Thank you for reading. 😊
