<p>So, like many of you guys know, Computer Science is offered in L&S (with BA as a degree) and College of engineering (with BS as a degree)</p>
<p>My question is..
1. What is their significant difference?
2. If we want to apply for a job after graduation, do the employer care about the degree?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that if you want a BS degree, you're going to have to major in EECS. There's no stand alone Computer Science B.S. degree if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>Tiberius is right.
That's from the EECS Website:</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Not sure which program is for you?</p>
<p>If you have an interest in humanities and social sciences, then the BA program might be a good choice. There is greater opportunity to take courses in economics, statistics, business applications, and computer science, during your undergraduate years. If you consider yourself to be more of a technical person, or have more of an interest in sciences and math, the BS program may be better suited for you.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<ol>
<li>With the BA, your breath classes will compose of 7-course breadth requirement, which includes:</li>
</ol>
<pre><code>* Arts and Literature (language instruction excluded)
* Biological Science
* Historical Studies
* International Studies (may also be satisfied by participation in the UC Education Abroad Program or a recognized equivalent program)
* Philosophy and Values
* Physical Science
* Social and Behavioral Sciences
</code></pre>
<p>That's straight from the L&S site. There will be a much better opportunity to pursue a double major in a non-engineering field in the BA program as well.</p>
<p>For the EECS program (and you can have just as much of a CS focus in EECS as you can in the BA program), you will have more of a focus in engineering rather than those 7 breadths. We have a total of 6 humanities requirements (two of which can be placed out of with AP tests), then everything else is math/science/engineering. Those are the basic differences from a course perspective.</p>
<p>For example, the BA program requires either EE40 or 42, while EECS major must take EE40 (which is the more technical of the two).</p>
<p>The BA program only requires Math 1A, 1B, and 54, whereas the EECS major also requires Math 53.</p>
<p>The BA program does not require any physics specifically, whereas EECS requires Physics 7A and 7B.</p>
<ol>
<li>I have no idea. I know some very successful BA CS people and some very successful EECS people. If you do well in either, I don't think an employer will care.</li>
</ol>
<p>The major difference is that as an BS EECS student, all you have to do is pass your classes and you will graduate. Your spot in the major is secure. No such guarantee exists in the BA CS program. Plenty of continuing students try to get into this program and are denied. What you do is, during your first 2 years at Berkeley, you take most of the lower-division courses of the major. Then, you apply to the major, and you may or may not get in. There is a significant chance that you will not get in and will thus be forced to major in something else. </p>
<p>As you can see from the stats, even some people with 3.5's in lower-division Berkeley CS coursework are not allowed into the major. Getting a 3.5 is very very good. After all, graduationg with distinction (i.e. "cum laude") from the College of Engineering requires only about a 3.6. Nevertheless, even a 3.5 is not guaranteed to get you into the BA CS program.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics_data.html#sp02_tech%5B/url%5D">http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics_data.html#sp02_tech</a>
<a href="http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics.html</a></p>
<p>Hence, clearly the EECS program is a far safer choice if you are interested in CS. You can be in EECS and get a 2.0, and still graduate with the degree. On the other hand, you can get quite strong grades in lower-division CS courses, and still not be allowed into the BA CS program. </p>
<p>I agree with others who have said that in the workforce, there is no significant difference between the 2 degrees.</p>
<p>Q: how big is the CS major? how many graduate with CS BAs and BSs every year? tia.</p>
<p>I don't know if that last question was addressed to me, but I can answer it. </p>
<p><a href="http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CompSci.stm%5B/url%5D">http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CompSci.stm</a>
<a href="http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm%5B/url%5D">http://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm</a></p>
<p>~310 EECS grads and ~116 CS/L&S grads per year. The L&S CS is quite small, I agree that it should be enlarged.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with you sakky in your statement that in the workforce there is no difference between a BA in CS and a BS in EECS. A lot of my friends are EECS majors, and my father has quite a bit of friends in that area of expertise as well. It seems that a person graduating from the EECS program has more opportunities to go into a more challenging (and lucrative) field than the person with a plain BA in CS, who ends up doing a lot of lower level programming work. While the information I gather is purely anecdotal and thereby not-applicable to the entire Berkeley computer science population, I am constantly told by people in the computer science field (the private sector at least) that if you want to get ahead in computer engineering, you need to have that technical background which the BA degree doesn't provide you. You will inevitably find yourself going back to school to complete the required courses that an ever evolving market demands. The EECS program is a highly progressive blend of both engineering and computer science that is integral to staying on the cutting edge of current technology, therefore it is my humble and inexperienced opinion that for those students wishing to have more leverage when it comes to seeking a job after graduation, an EECS degree will be much more impressive than just a plain CS degree.</p>
<p>Some employers complain about engineers having poor communication skills, maybe the CS BAs are better equiped from that standpoint? Just speculating here...</p>
<p>Also, it probably didn't make much difference a few years ago in terms of employment prospects, given how incredibly tight the job market used to be, but maybe it does now.</p>
<p>As a manager at a large software company, I would say that BA or BS makes little difference in how software development applicants are viewed. In my experience, having a Masters degree is more of a differentiator.</p>
<p>Depending on the position, companies want very smart, creative people OR people who are smart and can reasonably communicate with other humans.</p>
<p>But you're misunderstanding the actual difference between the BA and BS. At Berkeley, you don't get a BS in computer science, there is no such thing. You get a BS in EECS, electrical engineering and computer sciences. Now you mean to tell me that someone with an electrical engineering background, as well as a computer science background is not preferable???</p>