My child was admitted to Arts and Sciences at Cornell as a CS major. Is there a difference between the BA and BS in computer science in terms of recruiting, graduate school and post grad opportunities? He is interested in the natural sciences as well, hence the choice to apply to Arts and Sciences and not Engineering. Thanks!
Assuming the same CS courses, I would not care about BS or BA if I were recruiting CS majors.
Found the checklists for Cornell’s BS and BA degree programs for CS:
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/undergrad/rulesandproceduresengineering/engineeringchecklist
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/undergrad/rulesandproceduresarts/artschecklist
The CS courses are the same. The differences in degree programs are in other courses (e.g. the BS degree requires more physics and engineering courses).
Neither program is ABET accredited (see http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=8&ProgramIDs= ), but the BS degree program includes two semesters of physics which fulfill the non-CS science requirement for the patent exam, and the BA degree program’s science electives can be used for physics courses that fulfill that requirement for the patent exam, if that is of interest to the student. ABET accreditation is not otherwise important for CS at a well recognized CS department.
I have read on Cornell’s pages that they report no differences in offers for grads of either. They are also a college that does very good reporting of offers for it’s recent class on each department pages.
ahhh, here is how they put it
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/undergrad/csmajor
And careers, research, internship and co-op info
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/undergrad/cscareers
Computer Science is not an engineering major at Wisconsin, a top tier CS school, it is in L&S where the difference between a BA and BS will be the non major breadth requirements. Therefore nationally I doubt employers care. Son majored in math and added computer science as a second major (ie he had minimal CS courses). He was a software developer in his first job then his job changed to software engineer when he was hired for his second one (they headhunted him). Can’t even count on a job title to be consistent with the same sort of work and credentials.
Most employers won’t care. A few will value the extra physics, etc. A few will value the courses taken instead of the extra physics–especially if they enhance writing and communication skills, etc.
It isn’t going to matter. This is Cornell. The on-campus recruiting is excellent. Assuming that he completes the computer science major with decent grades, he should have plenty of interesting job opportunities.
There is absolutely no need to decide now. Let him start and see where things go. Usually the BS degree is more rigorous/science oriented but either should serve him well coming out of Cornell.
This is not a standard BA/BS difference. The difference here is between majoring in computer science in the College of Arts and Sciences (which confers BA degrees) and the College of Engineering (which confers BS degrees). The major is the same in both instances – which is not the usual situation with BA/BS differences. At Cornell, what differs between the two programs is the requirements students have to fulfill outside their majors.
And there is no need to decide now because the decision has already been made. This student was admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences. At some later time, an internal transfer to Engineering might be possible, but right now, it’s Arts and Sciences or nothing.
What if it did? Is your student offered a spot in COE and A&S at the same time? This is a question to ask before he applied.
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At most programs the BA/BS difference in computer science is minimal. Most employers won’t care - some may prefer the skill sets that come with the extra science courses usually required by the BS degree, others may prefer the greater breadth the BA degree might imply. As far as I know nobody cares if CS is ABET approved.
I think the only employers who would care about the difference are a tiny minority of hardcore engineering/tech firms or hiring managers who need to fill positions requiring the physics/engineering core courses outside CS.
In the greater scheme of things, the BA/BS differences won’t matter and the Cornell reputation among engineers/CS folks will be a tip in the student’s favor.
“A few will value the extra physics, etc”
“…requiring the physics/engineering core courses outside CS”
Physics courses can be taken by students in the College of Arts & Sciences too, if desired. In fact the physics courses are taught by faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences. Ditto for the math, and chemistry.
In my day there were four student-selected engineering “intro” courses, taken as an “engineering breadth” requirement sophomore year before engineering college students selected their major. And one “intro engineering” survey course freshman year. If it’s still the same, those could be the only courses that are more or less necessarily distinctive to the BS. Why CS employers would care about those is questionable, since the courses selected sophomore year are introductory, are in various areas of engineering (probably at most one might relate to CS), and students do not select all the same courses.