Computer Science/ Math Double major

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I'm currently in my second semester at UIowa for Computer Science. I have quite a few options when it comes to my double majoring, masters, and studying abroad for an extended(year) amount of time.</p>

<p>Option 1: BA in CS & BA in Math
I've read that to be prepared for grad school, one should have a BS but I wanted to double major in math anyway so I was thinking this would be enough to prepare me for grad school and give me enough time to study abroad.
Option 2: BS in CS & BS in Math
This would probably be the best for grad school but because of the math component (post-calc courses must be taken at Uni), I probably won't have that much time to study abroad.
Option 3: BS in CS
This has the EXACT same courses as the BS double but I don't think I have to take the math courses at the school. But would employers/jobs rather see that I had the double major?
Option 4: Combined BS/BA & Masters
This is basically a masters in 5 year but 1)I have to stay at the school longer which I hate and 2) I wanted to go to a prestigious CS grad school for my masters. Might have more time to study abroad though.</p>

<p>I know employers mostly look for how well you code and all that and research but if all candidates have the same abilities...Do jobs/grad schools care about double majoring? Do BA or BS or Masters degrees mean anything in terms of employment? Does the school you got it from matter? Are there good opportunities for CS majors abroad? Please tell me what you think would be the best option.</p>

2

<p>The double major, BS CS and BA Math, with a year abroad would be my choice.
You will be well prepared for grad school as long as you take the maths relevant to comp sci. You also get to be emerged in a new culture (priceless).</p>

3

<p>You don’t need to double major when it comes to Math & CS. You can take enough “overlapping courses” such that you could fulfill both majors within one degree. Plus, you are talking U-Iowa which has only 9 required Math courses for the BA degree (as I remember).</p>

<p>Employers do not really care about double majors but with Math/CS, at least they know that you can also be used for more scientific/computational software projects.</p>

<p>Now this is only my opinion (my B.S. is in Computational Math), going the “math route” for CS allows you more flexibility in choosing CS courses…especially if going the software route. You can omit the digital circuits and computer architecture courses in CS and probably the automata theory courses too. Another good thing about software engineering is that to employers…Math/CS = CS…meaning you are not viewed much differently than a full CS major.</p>

4

<p>Among math courses, algebra and number theory may be particularly useful if your CS interest is cryptography.</p>