Computer Science BS vs. BA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I noticed that Berkeley offers a BA in computer science. This is a little odd, but actually preferable since I'm very interested in the arts and humanities subjects as well. However, would having a BA in computer science limit my job prospects? Would employers not take it seriously? Based on this assumption, I was planning on applying for the BS program. Am I able to put the Computer Science BS as my first choice and BA as my second? Is the BA easier to get into?</p>

<p>note: I'm a prospective transfer not an incoming freshman</p>

2

<p>The B.S. in Computer Science is the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science degree in the College of Engineering. It is much tougher to gain admittance to EECS. Here is a relevant quote from their website about the difference between the two programs:</p>

<p>

[url=<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/]Source[/url”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/]Source[/url</a>]</p>

3

<p>Well, based on my interests, I definitely feel like a BA is the way to go. Unfortunately, I’m still not sure about the difference in job prospects.</p>

4

<p>I believe there was a thread about this a while ago you can try digging up. If I remember correctly, it was stated that the difference in BA and BS was essentially negligible in significance.</p>

5

<p>Hmm, well, if job prospects aren’t hurt and it’s easier to get into, then a BA definitely seems to be the way to go, haha. Let me try to dig up that old thread, and thanks for the info.</p>

6

<p>Here’s the old thread, if you’re still interested:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/698236-ba-bs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/698236-ba-bs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>People who get the CS degree from L&S make more money on average after college than those who get the EECS degree. Go to ‘career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm’ to see for yourself. This is a site where many Cal graduates from all majors have reported their earnings and employment after college. You’ll notice that L&S CS students work at companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM etc., as do EECS grads, although L&S CS students have reported slightly higher salaries. This is pretty definitive proof that the difference between a CS (L&S) degree and an EECS degree is (professionally) negligible. Also, the higher earnings for L&S CS grads is likely due to better communication skills and more developed social intuition as a result of a more broad educational experience. I’ve seen some incredibly smart people at Cal that will nonetheless be completely uncompetitive in terms of employment because they have the social skills of a young child.</p>

8

<p>^the money thing as actually slightly misleading as there are a population of EECS majors who are in it more for the EE than the CS. If I recall correctly, electrical engineers make less than computer programmers.</p>

9

<p>^Good point. But if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make cents!</p>

10

<p>BA is easier to get into. Employers don’t care.</p>

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</p>

<p>This is misleading. This stat is an anachronism as a result of the CS (BA) major being CAPPED until about 2 years ago. Before that, the CS major was extremely hard to get into, so the students who graduated were all pretty much CS studs. The CS majors that are graduating now will certainly not make more than EECS graduates on average. However, this has nothing to do with BA versus BS. This is because 1. EECS majors tend to take more tech classes overall which is appealing to employers and 2. EECS majors tend to be stronger academically because the major is now more difficult to get into. And yes I realize major requirement wise EECS requires fewer tech classes but very few people stop at 5.</p>

11

<p>“1.EECS majors tend to take more tech classes overall which is appealing to employers and 2. EECS majors tend to be stronger academically because the major is now more difficult to get into. And yes I realize major requirement wise EECS requires fewer tech classes but very few people stop at 5.”</p>

<p>The second point I can agree with, but I am not so sure about the first. </p>

<p>As part of the LS CS requirements, you have to take a total of 27 upper division technical units. Within this requirement, it is mandatory that you take at least six upper division CS classes. Assuming you fill the last three units with a CS related technical elective, you have yourself seven upper division CS classes that you are doing for requirements. That means two technical classes every semester, except for one, if you started knocking out upper division classes starting in junior year. </p>

<p>In EECS, they force you to take more Math, Physics, and EE, filling up your schedule with non-CS technical classes that are not very useful for programmers. So you end up taking about the same amount of CS classes in EECS anyway even if you choose Option IV with a CS focus, assuming you chose CS upper division for your electives. </p>

<p>More tech courses overall, yes, but for courses that are useful to programmers like actual CS classes, you will take about the same amount. And those are the courses that matter to employers in the first place if you are applying for a programming oriented job.</p>

12

<p>There is another reason L&S CS majors make more money than EECS (other than the fact that some go EE). L&S CS has more people who have been doing programming before college and have had more exposure/interest to it. The are usually better programmers or have more experience. Therefore, they usually get better jobs.</p>

<p>EECS tends to contain more people who were good at math/science in high school and decided to go into EE/CS.</p>

<p>I have friends in EECS and CS who both agree with this.</p>

13

<p>Also the additional required technical courses for EECS could easily wound one’s GPA. Getting Cs in classes (even if they are classes totally unrelated to one’s field) is never good for graduate school or employment</p>

14

<p>“Before that, the CS major was extremely hard to get into, so the students who graduated were all pretty much CS studs.”</p>

<p>From an employer’s perspective, anyone who graduates with a CS or EECS degree from Berkeley is a CS stud.</p>

15

<p>That’s hardly true…Try being a 3.0 in L&S CS. It’s a *****.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for all the input guys, I’m definitely now feeling that the B.A. is the way to go</p>

17

<p>It would be great to get more opinions on it though</p>

18

<p>It basically comes down to this.</p>

<p>If you are already in L&S CS and you may want to pursue EE, go for EECS. If not, stay CS.</p>

19

<p>I want to go into the L&S program as well :). My understanding is that EECS is hardware oriented, while CS is software oriented. In EECS you will also learn about science and biotechnology and stuff, but in CS you will focus more on computer science than anything else. You can go to UC Berkeley’s website and look at the required classes for each degree if you are interested. If you are more interested in programming than hardware configuration and integration, then CS is definitely the way to go. Either way, however, Berkeley is one of, if not the, top computer science school in the country so either degree is going to lead you to great jobs.</p>

20

<p>“Either way, however, Berkeley is one of, if not the, top computer science school in the country so either degree is going to lead you to great jobs.”</p>

<p>trwj is right. If you can’t land a sweet job with a CS or EECS degree from Berkeley, then it’s your own fault, not your degree’s. I’m a CS major at Cal and I already work as a software engineer, even though I won’t be graduating for a few more semesters.</p>