i am currently looking to get back into school full time, as the past three years i have been on and off. i am looking to attend school in Chicago (Roosevelt/Loyola) and i am not sure what degree would be a better choice to peruse. i have taken one basic CSS class my freshman year and really enjoyed it (this was about 4 years ago) and i am currently enrolled in an accounting class (about a month in) and i also enjoy it. so i am kind of undecided of which path i want to take. I have done research on both majors, as i have found computer science pays a lot more has high demand. and i know a lot of people will say its not always about the money or which do you like more??! thinking about that i like them both, although i have only had a bit of experience with accounting i am leaning towards computer science. i would want to do the business side of computer science so i don’t have to spend multiple years taking math classes. so my question would be for accouting and computer science majors/graduates who have jobs in these fields. or anyone who was in one major and switched to another what do you think is a better idea?
(i do enjoy both classes i took, computer science came more easily to me and was more interesting. also planning on going to school in chicago and wanting to nail a job in chicago after school money also comes into factor more than if i was living somewhere else!)
You need someone with a crystal ball, don’t think they are out there (or if they are they aren’t going to give answers for free). Not really sure what you mean by “the business side of computer science”.
CS demand fluctuates; talk so some CS people who were around after the dot-com crash in 2000 or so. Accounting has been a stable field, but the lower level jobs have been steadily replaced by automation. In the 1950’s people could build a solid career as a bookkeeper, now a $100 Quicken Office program has replaced them in small offices and Oracle software in larger companies.
How much more of accounting can be automated or shipped to low-wage countries via the internet? How long will CS people be in demand? You’re asking, essentially, for answers these questions and nobody knows without that aforementioned crystal ball.
Well… Accounting is high demand and will see an increase around ~15% until 2022, based on most sites. So… chose whatever you enjoy and don’t listen to people saying things about off shoring and outsourcing to scare you.
You can get a CS job without going through the CPA accreditation process, which is something to consider. I feel like generally accounting IS the easier academic path, but both seem to have decent career prospects. There is something to be said for focusing on the IT/MIS side of computer majors, too. I feel like a lot of programming gets offshored, but they need people here to talk to the business users and really nail requirements, user acceptance testing, etc. And they like to have the project managers on shore so they can blame them in person when things go wrong (I say this as a career PM!).
Take a couple more classes and major in whichever one you enjoy, they are both employable/excellent fields. Note that to be a CPA (in addition to passing a rigorous exam) in most states you need 150 credit hours which is more than the standard 120 credits needed for a bachelor’s degree so many accountants go on for a one year masters in accounting degree before they start work.