I’m applying for transfer to Carolina, intended major Computer Science. I want to double major or minor in Japanese, so the B.A. is best for me, especially considering I am horrible at math and barely scraped by in Calc I even with countless studying, 2 tutors, and meeting with my professor numerous times. What will I miss by taking the BA route besides not having as many math classes?
My son is a Junior and he is doing the BS Comp Science degree which is very math intensive. If you are not good at math do the BA according to my son. Goal is to be successful! Good luck!
@Nurse001 my son has been accepted into Chapel Hill & NC State for Computer Science. May I ask why your son chose to go with Chapel Hill? Chapel Hill had been his top choice, but now he’s torn in his decision.
@ParentOf2022 It has been a little rollercoaster ride. His original major was Political Science and that is what he got admitted into UNC for. We live in NC so we told him he had to choose instate. He got into all the NC schools he applied to but the end of the day he was sure it would be UNC. Fast forward to 1 year later and he told me he wanted to change to Computer Science. He is very good in math and sciences so the BS degree is good for him. In retrospect that should have been his major from the beginning. I am not really sure how UNC vs NC state is comparing the programs. I think he cannot go wrong with either school. I will say UNC is very more generous with work study and grants as he has received multiple grants from them. I would suggest have him revisit the schools one more time and see if he can decide which would feel like home to him. Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions. Be happy to help.
I work in technology near NC State’s campus. If you want to get a good job in CS, do the BSCS, not the BA. If you want to have the best opportunities after graduation, go to NC State and not UNC. There are far more opportunities to explore different fields, algorithm development, and possible graduate programs. Many CS majors get into engineering fields after graduation. Exposure to engineering in undergraduate study is very valuable, and UNC has none.
I actually looked it up and Duke iis #1, UNC is #2 and NC Stare is 3. So really they all are all great schools. I believe it matters where your child fits in the best! Good luck. Let us know his choice 
We feel that he would get a great education at either one. Doing Internet searches for comparing the two programs Give vastly different opinions 
we have visited both. If he were to go just on “feel” he loves the campus at Chapel Hill. But, he’s very practical. He wants the best education at the best bang for his $$. I think if either college offers him merit $$ that would make his decision. He also would like to participate in honors college. Looks like emails have gone out for UNC & we didn’t get one (still holding out hope). NC State says within @ 2wks of acceptance in… It’s an important decision & he’s worked hard to have the good fortune of having a choice between the two. I’ll keep trying to help him gather information & continue to be proud of how seriously he takes this decision
Oh & he is intending to go for a BSCS with a possible minor in mathematics…& would like to pursue a Masters & possible PhD in the future. He’s an academic. First love is coding.
I was looking at NC State’s curriculum, and it’s the same amount of math pretty much. I love coding and programming, and I’d consider myself pretty good at it for a beginner, but I’m not sure I’d be able to pass the math classes needed for a BS considering I failed almost every exam in Calc 1 and had to fight hard just to get a B-
I love computers and technology, however I don’t see myself becoming an engineer or anything like that because I am horrific at math. I was told by my therapist that it is very likely that I have dyscalculia (learning disability in math) Do you recommend still going with the B.S. even though there’s a solid chance I wouldn’t be able to excel in math? I’d have to take the classes at community college if I did.
@ParentOf2022 It sounds like your son has a good head on his shoulders. Either way he cannot go wrong. Are you instate? We were very surprised my son didnt get any merit for instate. He did get a free computer from Chapel Hill. Second year is when he got grants and works for housing so he got free room. My son did not get invited for honors either. He was #3 in his highschool so we thought he would qualify. The classes are very rigorous and struggled 1st year so we are glad now that he wasn’t offered it. He is also getting a dual computer science with a math degree and only has 2 math classes left. Such an exciting time for your family. He will make the right choice for him.
@Nurse001
Yes, we are in state & my very practical son, chose to only apply only to instate schools. Both Chapel Hill & NC State are within 2 hours of home, which makes this nervous mom of one, feel slightly better…knowing I can get to him quick & vice versa if needed. He chose in-state due to knowing other kids that went away & financially found it difficult to get back and forth to home as often as they would have liked & $$ for a lot of schools out of state prices are crazy tunes AND he knew if he got accepted into either Chapel Hill or State, he’d get a quality education.
He’s top in his class & we’d hoped he’d get offered some merit $$ both schools seem to be a little stingy there & competition is tough!
He did get offered Honors & Scholars programs with NC State as well as picked as a finalist for the Goodnight Scholarship & still several smaller scholarships available…so, still holding out hope on that side.
Not getting merit $$ won’t keep him from attending either school. He was offered large scholarships at several of his safety schools & we could go that route. But, we feel fairly confident that NC State or Chapel Hill will offer the best program for computer science.
Does your son have any tips about dorms? That’s my sons only real fear “who will I have to room with for a year”…only child and used to his privacy.
Did get offered a $5000 grant for research sophmore year with Chapel Hill. So, that’s great! We know that very few get offered anything from excel@carolina & if he chooses them he’ll definitely be accepting!
@ParentOf2022 …We understand as we did not get much from instate schools. My son applied to Ohio State, Maryland and UVA. Got into Ohio State with 18,000 grant, no money from Maryland and rejected from UVA . It was then that I told him he had to choose instate as they were less expensive. He choose from NC State, App State and Chapel Hill. He picked Chapel Hill as hasn’t looked back. First year he was in Hinton James…It is the furthest on campus. Not his first choice. Worked out great because he rode his bike everywhere so no gaining the 15 pound freshman :). 2nd year he was an R A in craige which was nice free room provided. 3rd year he was in Cobb but changed at Christmas as his roommate and him could not get along so he moved to Carmichael. He has a job in that dorm so it worked at great. There are few single dorms but they are few and far. My son got one of the last ones for next year. He is waiting to see if he gets RA. My daughter is a freshman at ECU and submitted a transfer application for UNC next year. So might have 2 in that school. We love the Tar Heels. Let me know if you have more questions. Would be happy to help. We live 2 hrs away in Matthews which I like too
You can compare the course content of the BA and BS versions of UNC-CH CS here:
http://cs.unc.edu/academics/undergraduate/ba-requirements/
http://cs.unc.edu/academics/undergraduate/bs-requirements/
Looks like the differences are:
BS requires MATH 232, 233, and (547 or 577)
BS requires STOR 435, while BA allows STOR 155 instead
BS requires PHYS 116 or 118 and a second non-CS science course
BS requires COMP 455 and 550 plus 5 more upper level COMP courses, while BA requires 6 upper level COMP courses
Both require:
COMP 401, 410, and 411
MATH 231