<p>I just transferred into Computer Science (Sophomore), and I'm super behind. I have 5 semesters left until my 4 year limit is up (my parents say after 4 years I have to pay for college since my sister will be starting). The BA is doable in the situation I'm in within 4 years maybe an extra semester. The BS... not so much. The degree is so beefy and lengthy, that it'll be a 5 year minimum for me to graduate. That's if I take 3 CS courses per semester after Spring. And CS courses are extremely time consuming.</p>
<p>Anyone have any experience with BA and BS in CS? Will my entire career be crippled if I get a BA in CS?</p>
<p>In my honest opinion, no. Might you miss out on some technical things that a BS might have, yes. Will it gravely affect you, no. I think you’ll still be able to get a job, you’ll just have to put in a little more effort in technical interviews.</p>
<p>What do you plan to do with the degree? A B.S. is strongly preferred unless you are going into business or something not very technical.</p>
<p>I honestly have no idea what I plan on doing. The plan was just get a job wherever I can. Maybe do a co-op one semester.</p>
<p>[Comparing</a> the BA and BS Degrees | Computer Science Department The University of Texas at Austin](<a href=“http://www.cs.utexas.edu/undergraduate-program/curriculum/comparing-ba-and-bs-degrees]Comparing”>http://www.cs.utexas.edu/undergraduate-program/curriculum/comparing-ba-and-bs-degrees) describes the difference between the BA and BS degree programs in CS at UT Austin (the differences between BA and BS are obviously school-specific, so generalizations are not really useful).</p>
<p>For the BA degree program, you would take:</p>
<p>3-7 credit hours (1-2 courses) fewer CS courses
3 credit hours (1 course, M 340L) fewer math courses
8 credit hours (2 courses) fewer science courses
6-8 credit hours (2 courses) more foreign language courses, unless you already have a higher level proficiency in a foreign language (e.g. native or heritage speaker)</p>
<p>Total is 6-10 credit hours (about 2-3 courses) fewer courses needed for the BA degree. However, what may result in a shorter time to completion for you may depend on what you have already completed.</p>
<p>It is not likely that the difference between BA and BS in this case will adversely impact your job and career prospects, assuming you choose your CS courses reasonably. Yes, there is a small chance that some job will make use of the stuff in the one or two extra CS courses or two extra science courses you would take for the BS, or the greater foreign language proficiency you would take for the BA, but the chance of that is not huge, and hard to predict unless you are targeting a specific subarea or industry (e.g. if you want to go into natural language translation, then you would want the extra foreign language proficiency).</p>
<p>Thanks for the information ucbalumnus. I have been to that page before, but I feel like you gave me a better perspective. I think the BS is a better option because either way, it seems like I’ll be spending 5 years in school. Also, at UT, the foreign language courses are 6 hours per semester. And although I would love to learn a new language as much as the next guy, high school Spanish has failed me so I don’t think it’s worth it to do the BA. Then again, the extra math courses and science courses are kind of a waste of time also… </p>
<p>I’m currently leaning towards the BS and I talk to my counselor in less than 2 weeks, so if anyone has any other opinions or comments it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Try constructing sample schedules for your remaining semesters for each degree path to see if either path will take fewer semesters than the other, and whether either path will prevent you from taking a desired course due to lack of schedule space.</p>
<p>It does look like Texas has several tracks of introductory and intermediate Spanish courses:</p>
<p>506-507-312K-312L = 4 courses of 5+5+3+3 = 16 credit hours.
604-612 = 2 courses of 6+6 = 12 credit hours.
601D-610D-611D = 3 courses of 6+6+6 = 18 credit hours.</p>
<p>It appears that 611D, 612, and 312L are all equivalent for the purpose of more advanced Spanish courses.</p>
<p><a href=“http://catalog.utexas.edu/undergraduate/liberal-arts/courses/spanish-portuguese/[/url]”>http://catalog.utexas.edu/undergraduate/liberal-arts/courses/spanish-portuguese/</a></p>