BS in CS better than BA in CS?

Parents Forum
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<p>Looks like biology is the largest department at 21.0% of UCSD undergraduates (4999/23805). Economics is next at 10.5% (2493/23805). CSE is third at 8.2% (1942/23805).</p>

<p>However, impaction not only depends on enrollment, but also departmental capacity. Biology and economics are not listed as impacted, presumably because the departments still have enough capacity to take all interested students.</p>

<p>Not going to graduate or professional school is perfectly fine, as long as the student has a reasonable idea of what to do after completing the bachelor’s degree.</p>

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<p>But am I right in assuming engr/physics isn’t a stand alone major? Better to do straight engr., I think, or was told.</p>

<p>Yes, I do see that the bio dept. has a much larger capacity. </p>

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<p>Looks like engineering physics is managed by the ECE department and has 26 majors and 20 pre-majors, according to the linked document. The curriculum described at <a href=“http://www.ece.ucsd.edu/undergrad”>http://www.ece.ucsd.edu/undergrad&lt;/a&gt; appears to be a mix of ECE and physics.</p>

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<p>I guess what I mean by stand alone is that, upon graduation, does one go out with a degree in Engr Phys. and get a job, or is it a degree that requires a masters? My dad was an engr physicist and he had a masters, but this was back in the dark ages, ha-ha, so I don’t know anything about it today. I just know my oldest will be able to go out with a math degree (with possible CS) from MIT and get a good job without a masters or PhD. Now, he could make an even better living were he to get a PhD, but he has no plans for grad school and that seems just fine.</p>

<p>I just don’t want this son to go into a degree that basically requires a student to do grad school. Does that make sense?</p>

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<p>Physics graduates’ job prospects are not completely dismal, since they may be hired in some engineering, CS, and finance jobs – but would likely be seen as “second choice” applicants compared to those who majored in those subjects. It would not be surprising if engineering physics graduates’ job prospects were better than physics graduates’ job prospects for some engineering jobs, but not as good as graduates of the specific type of engineering being hired (ME, EE, etc.).</p>

<p>Given that the UCSD engineering physics major is ECE-based on the engineering side, it may not be as good a fit if his engineering interests are more along the lines of ME. Note that the engineering physics major at UCSD is not ABET accredited, if that matters to him for such things as the patent exam or PE licensing (UCSD EE and ME are ABET accredited; see <a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=5766”>http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=5766&lt;/a&gt; ).</p>

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<p>Mine doesn’t want graduate school yet but I think if future employer pays for it she might change her mind. CSE at UCSD has double in numbers from 2010. I believe I read it went from 1000 to 2000. That’s why it’s an impact major.</p>

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<p>Right, and I did see that the engr phys major isn’t ABET accredited. I can’t remember where I was reading that CS ABET didn’t matter to prospective employers, but it didn’t mention opinions on ABET for Engr. Still, I think ABET is the way to go, which is why I’m encouraging him to take another look at the majors. For whatever reason, on first sweep, he thought Engr Physics sounded more interesting than ME at UCSD.</p>

<p>DrGoogle, that makes sense to keep options open for the future. Our oldest (and this son, too) could change his mind about grad school, and we even think it seems reasonable to get out there and work for a few years and then reevaluate. He’s currently a data analyst (was full time in the summer and is part time during the school year) and really likes it. He may just continue with this job after graduating, but is applying to other internships for next summer.</p>

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<p>@ucbalumnus: Actually, for the finance positions that physics majors get hired in to (invariably heavily quant roles), a physics (or other quantitative) background is almost certainly seen as superior to just a finance education.</p>

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<p>You need to look at individual schools of interest to see if requirements for the major differ with a BA or BS. At UW-Madison they don’t, it is the overall graduation requirements that vary. I doubt employers care either. I like the fact that major requirements are constant and it is the other courses that vary. It is quite possible to take many unneeded courses good for one’s major and still meet BA requirements, especially if one’s college allows HS foreign language to count for that requirement.</p>

<p>Remember- college is for an education not just job skills. Take time to explore things for fun, not just getting the degree. So much is learned beyond college in one’s field. Son, a software developer/engineer (added the comp sci major) to his math major, once told us how he helped a coworker with a problem even though he didn’t know the computer language he was using. My son had had some grad level math courses for his Honors degree in math and basically had the minimum in comp sci, added when he chose to work instead of grad school. He took a lot of unrelated electives he couldn’t get outside of college (the chance to interact with peers et al) while a lot of comp sci is self study.</p>

<p>The more important issue is which college to attend. The course content can vary vastly between schools. An average college may not teach as much material as the better school. This has been noted in comp sci and calculus courses. AP courses are not the equivalent of top college courses in material presented either.</p>

<p>Instead of worrying about which degree to get think about which schools to apply to. </p>

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<p>ABET accreditation for CS may be a sufficient indicator of a quality CS major, but it is not necessary. It can qualify for the patent exam, although specific science course work with a non-ABET-accredited CS major can also qualify.</p>

<p>For the more usual types of engineering (e.g. chemical, civil, electrical, materials, mechanical, nuclear), ABET accreditation is typically expected. For civil engineering, it is generally considered a must, since PE licensing is common in that field. For bioengineering and engineering physics, ABET accreditation seems to be less of an expectation.</p>

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<p>wis75,</p>

<p>UCSD is the local school that would be tuition free were my son to get in, so it really doesn’t matter if it’s not the right fit. He needs to apply for financial reasons. Unlike my oldest son, this son is neither a tippy top candidate nor is he a NM winner, so finances will be much more of an issue. (My oldest son won a yearly corporate NM scholarship of 6K a year and will easily graduate from MIT debt-free)</p>

<p>UCSD is <em>not</em> a good fit necessarily; thus, we’re trying to figure out a major that makes the most sense.</p>

<p>He has “fit” schools on his list: UCI, U Rochester, CSULB, SJSU, CSULB, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA and UT Dallas are a few. So, the two local schools are on the list because they are the most affordable given our modest income.</p>

<p>Also, he’s sort of paradoxical. While he says he just wants to go to college to get a degree and start working, he also has no clue what he really wants to be, to study, to major in. Sorry, but he’s a typical 17 year old boy in that way. Deep, deep thinker in some ways, and very age appropriate immaturity in other ways.</p>

<p>The BA in CS seems like it might allow exploration a little more-maybe take more music classes or something. </p>

<p>And in other threads it is noted that my son has a math disability, so engineering and CS are still iffy. He scored well on the SAT math (750) and I suspect he’ll score well on the SAT II math II (not a given, but he does tend to test well), and so far, he’s still holding an A in his pre-calc class at the community college. But yes, I do realize the math gets harder in top schools and universities.</p>

<p>He would not major in engr or CS in his reachy reach schools. He would go for music, visual arts, though possibly a less involved engr major such as Product Design. Possibly even English/creative writing. But his first choice majors/offerings are in the creative fields of game design, industrial design, product design, even film/script writing type majors, arts & technology majors, and animation. He’s really more creative than anything. If I could pick a school, it would be one that would draw out his creativity, nurture him, so that his ideas would come to fruition. He’s not a super go-getter extrovert, but with the right classes and support, he does some great things.</p>

<p>But the very real possibility is that he’ll end up local or even at the community college. We have zero expectations about college admissions. I went into the process with my older son the same way. Best to have no expectations since college admissions and financing college are so difficult these days.</p>

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<p>I think he should at least apply to USC from your description, money might not work out but it has an excellent music department and all the stuff you describe about your son.</p>

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<p>We’ve wrestled with USC, DrGoogle. The money is the main issue. I just don’t see <em>any</em> way he would graduate without significant debt. I don’t think he could win a full tuition scholarship and the numbers are coming out saying we would be paying 16K a year. Just can’t do that, I’m afraid. Plus, they want 3 subject tests from homeschoolers, and I am not certain he’ll have that. He’ll take two in Nov. and <em>possibly</em> one or two in Dec. I’ll have him look at the Italian in the next few weeks.</p>

<p>But yeah, we’ve looked at the Interactive Entertainment major and oh how I wish it could be! And of course they also have incredible music and animation, too.</p>

<p>But debt…simply is not what he wants. Ah for a rich uncle. :-)</p>

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<p>My CS kid did not go to grad school. He’s got his dream job and is well paid and happy. Presumably if he ever needs an advanced degree he can get it on his own dime. He’s got plenty of money. Younger son may go to grad school eventually - apparently in his field you usually work a few years and then go back after you’ve had some experience. He just graduated and is doing an internship now, so we’ll see how it plays out. DH has a Phd. which was necessary for what he wanted to do (research) I have a Masters in Architecture because I wanted a well-rounded education, but I could have gotten a B. Arch and been done sooner. All of which is to say, I expect my kids to get the education they need for their goals, if they don’t need grad school there’s no reason to go.</p>

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<p>Check the course requirements for computer science at schools on his radar. There can be quite a bit of higher level math. Your son will find his major once he is in college. Parents can only do so much to help their kids, it is HIS life and his decisions. It sounds like your son has some ideas for his future- be sure HE check what is involved in various majors that interest him. People most often only see a small part (tip of the iceberg) of what is involved in any field. Remember that there is time to find one’s focus in college- most entering freshmen will change majors. Also, he likel can take some interest and aptitude tests through his college’s career counseling center (I’m sure all colleges have this sort of service).</p>

<p>mathmom- my math major plus computer science major son also is working instead of grad school. Intellectually satisfying to date. A lot can be self taught after the basics.</p>