I am a senior wanting to major in economics and computer science. I equally as passionate about economics and about computer science so I’ll be happy to pursue a career in either one (however, I would love to major in them both since they can be complementary in terms of skill sets).
Berkeley is a financially attractive option since I’m a California resident and I got the regents scholarship. However, when I applied to Berkeley, I applied as a psychology major and I do not believe that I can change my major to computer science because it’s under a different college (college of engineering). But I believe can still switch my major from psychology to economics.
For Carnegie Mellon, I was admitted into their Dietrich college of humanities and social sciences, which means that I cannot major in computer science (it’s really hard to transfer into their computer science program because of how competitive it is).
I really like Barnard because it’s in New York and because of how small the school is (more resources and attention from professors). When I applied, I applied as a pre-engineering major. Since we don’t have to declare major until later, I can basically major in whatever I want. This means that Barnard is the only college out of the three where I can double major in economics and computer science. I thought because Barnard is located in New York, it’ll be easier to find internships both during school and breaks which would set me up for a career in finance and economics. Barnard also has a 4+1 program where you can get a graduate degree from Columbia University in 1 year after receiving your bachelor’s from Barnard.
I am having a hard time choosing between the three schools. Although I REALLY like Barnard since it’ll allow me to also major in computer science (something that I’m passionate about). However, comparing to the two other schools, Barnard seems to not be as well known or highly ranked. Since Barnard is a small women’s liberal arts college, I also don’t know how good the hiring opportunities are for econ/comp sci majors. I believe I will get a decent GPA at either one of the three colleges so course rigor isn’t something that I’m worried about.
I am really struggling to choose a college. Do you guys have any inputs on the job opportunities for econ/comp sci major at Barnard? Since Barnard is right across the street from Columbia, I am worried that most employers would want to hire out of Columbia just because of its prestige instead of Barnard.
It sounds as if you are having a touch time deciding what to major in and that is fine. After all, college is a time when you should be discovering yourself and your interests. The challenge with CS as a major is that most colleges do not allow you to just switch into CS once you decide that it is what you want to do. At Berkeley, in particular, the GPA requirements for CS are quite stringent, and it is not easy to get that if you are unsure that CS is where you want to put your energy. For example, there are three key CS courses at Berkeley (61A, 61B and 70) and your average GPA in these three courses determines whether you are able to declare CS as a major. You have to put about 20 hours of work per week into each of these classes and you will typically take one every semester. You have to decide whether you will be able to put in that kind of work.
Barnard is the kind of college that will allow you to discover yourself.
If you want to discover what you are interested in, go to Barnard. If you are certain that you want to do CS, go to Berkeley. Just be prepared to work hard and have a back-up major (Data Science is a popular choice) if CS does not work out. And, Berkeley has a very strong economics department - one of the best in the country.
I also got into Berkeley. Yes, you can still switch majors even if it’s in a different college. There is no guarantee you got in, but since you got the Regent’s scholarship I’m guessing you’ve got the academic talent to get in. Honestly, I think Berkeley is the way to go.
I just wanted to say switching from the college of letters and sciences to the college of engineering is impossible at cal. (it even says on the website it’s “Strongly discouraged”)
But the college of letters and sciences also has a computer science major so you wouldn’t need to. You could double major in econ and comp sci.
Both econ and cs are impacted majors though (so they get capped) and you’d have to maintain a strong GPA to declare those your junior year.
also just like Barnard you go into cal “undeclared” so you can declare any major in the college of letters and sciences your junior year as long you meet the major requirements (in terms of GPA and stuff)
Cal is very well known for CS and Econ. The opportunities and industry surrounding cal is unbeatable for these two fields.
This is true. Getting into any other college at Cal is relatively simple. However, getting into the college of engineering is impossible. Trust me, I have met with pretty much everyone at Cal in the college of engineering and they absolutely will not allow it regardless of GPA/Academic talent.
You will have to go through the entire competitive application process again.