I am an international student in Japan. I do IB. I plan to major in Computer Science.
For many colleges there are choices between College of Sciences&Arts or College of Engineering and I was confused which one should I do.
Although I will move towards improving my math SAT score and my math IB predicted grade I wonder if there are different acceptance rates for colleges of engineering and colleges of arts&sciences on average.
I hypothesize that since my math and science scores are “okay” compared to high achieving budding engineers and scientists it puts me at a disadvantage to apply to the college of engineering and instead I should apply to the college of arts&sciences for better chance and it would be nice to try some liberal arts.
But let’s say I get in to college of arts&sciences since it has a higher acceptance rate/ was less competitive for me… could I transition to college of engineering if i wanted to in my first year… maybe because I really need to build up a strong CS degree and liberal arts isn’t the way to go or something?
If the engineering division is harder to get into for frosh admission, it is probably hard to change into later. You can web search for changing into engineering at the university of interest.
Some universities do offer CS in both the engineering division and in the arts/sciences division. Requirements and entry-to-major procedures may differ, so check carefully.
Poke around their web sites, or ask on the school-specific forum here.
If your plan is to apply to a college that doesn’t have CS as a major because it’s “easier” to get into and then just switch colleges, be aware that it’s not always easy.
We asked about students from other colleges transferring into the College of Engineering at Purdue after Freshman year and the person we asked chuckled and said, “well, first, you’ll probably need a 3.95 or better just to be looked at”.
Or have you actually found many schools that have Computer Science majors in multiple colleges - can’t see I’ve seen much of that.
I see. Well, for example University of Virginia or Tufts have BA in CS or BS in CS… and I’ll apply for BA in CS because I do value a liberal arts education and I would like to take some social science classes for fun and do entrepreneurship/business… but if I want to shift to more technical focus and I’m working hard then hypotethically I could if qualified enough move to the college of engineering… both colleges have a major in CS mind you.
There is no one answer to your question for all colleges that have CS in both LAS and engineering. Moreover, figuring out an answer for any particular university is usually not easy.
By example, I give you UIUC which has CS in engineering and CS programs in LAS, actually several in LAS but key one for focus is Math and CS in LAS. The CS courses you can take if in Math and CS and Engineering CS are the same. The main difference between the two majors is that the engineering major requires more other science courses in chemistry and physics than LAS, while the LAS major requires more math courses than engineering. One may look at the middle 50% ranges for both LAS college and Engineering college and come to the conclusion that it is significantly easier to get into LAS than engineering. The truth is those college-as-a-whole middle 50% ranges do not even tell you how hard it is to get into either CS program. The actual middle 50% ranges for CS in engineering are higher than those shown for the engineering college as a whole, and the middle 50% for Math and CS in LAS is actually close to that for CS in engineering or just a little lower. Both have an admission rate of 20% or a little lower, lower than the admission rates for the LAS or engineering colleges as a whole.
As to getting into the LAS program at UIUC and then transferring to the engineering program, it is currently very difficult to do because CS is considered an impacted major for which the university has more existing students than desired for the resources available. Moreover, if you are in a different major in LAS and want to transfer to Math and CS, a similar difficulty exists.
Other universities may have issues similar to UIUC and thus trying to guess whether it is easier to get into LAS than engineering CS, or being able to transfer, is something that requires substantial investigation into the particular university and the true answer may not be easily found. One can probably assume for most that it will not necessarily be easy to transfer to engineering from LAS, and that admission to engineering may be a bit harder than engineering, but just looking generally at middle 50% ranges for the particular LAS or engineering college in the university may give you false hopes because those figures may not accurately reflect the higher CS admission ranges… When considering CS, the better option often is to apply for the major you actually want and see what happens.
CS is going to be a very competitive major no matter which department it is housed in. And as noted, switching in can be very difficult.
My advice is to look at the four year plan of study and see which appeals to you more and matches up with your personal strengths. It’s always better to find schools that fit for you, than trying to suddenly make yourself into something you are not.
When applying as a CS major and the university offers both an A&S version and an Engineering version, here’re the things to consider:
Requirements. Engineering version typically has more STEM course requirements for engineers while A&S version generally has broader distribution requirement outside of the engineering school.
BS vs BA degrees. A&S version may grant a BA degree instead of BS. Generally that’s not an issue, but in some universities, a BS degree in CS has more CS content and requires more higher level CS courses.
Second major in addition to CS. A&S version offers more options outside of the engineering school while engineering version may restrict you to only majors within the engineering school or no second major at all.
Relative difficulty in admission. The A&S school and the engineering school may have very different applicant profiles, and most of them also try to achieve certain diversities, in gender, race, etc. If your profile is over-represented in that school’s applicant pool, it may work to your detriment. If you’re Asian male, for example, you may face more competitions if you apply to the engineering school. The opposite is also true.
Then what I’m seeing here is: I’m a strong all-rounder… i’ve got ok-to-good math and physics…and i do enjoy social sciences, econ, and management and stuff… so my best bet is A&S?
Also I’m Asian, International, Male, so do you think it helps applying for A&S (since there are less doing it compared to engineering?)
I’m concerned about only one thing: Jobs. I feel like jobs will obviously value a BS in CS compared to a BA in CS… thats my only conern