<p>Yes, computational science is an extrememly valuable program. The reason it is often overlooked is because it is relatively new and because it is something that is done at very high levels of academia, government, and industry, so not many people are aware of it. Also, besides having difficult coursework, not many people understand just what the hell is going on. I know for me, I have done a lot of research on the field and still don’t understand some things. Go ask a random person what “numerical analysis” is and see what they say. Computer science is less mysterious because people can readily visualize its direct applications. Computational science exists to solve problems that normal science disciplines are incapable of solving, making it obvious why people can’t readily visualize what the field is all about.</p>
<p>Don’t make a decision yet. You need to do some more research. Check out MIT’s computation for design and optimization program. They have a report on there from the President’s information technology advisory committee on the importance of computational science. That will give you a lot of insight into what the field is about.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nitrd.gov/pitac/reports/20050609_computational/computational.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nitrd.gov/pitac/reports/20050609_computational/computational.pdf</a>
[MIT</a> Engineering: Initiatives: Center for Computational Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.mit.edu/research/initiatives/cce.php]MIT”>http://engineering.mit.edu/research/initiatives/cce.php)</p>