I will be a freshman at Virginia Tech this fall. I was thinking about applying to their computer science major, but was afraid I would not get in because it is very competitive, so I applied for a business management major instead. My GPA is a 4.03, I have only gotten 4 B+'s throughout all of high school, took AP and IB classes, and am ending senior year with straight A’s. So basically I have a few questions…should I have applied for computer science, does anyone know how competitive it was this year? How easy is it to either switch majors to computer science, or minor in computer science while still majoring in business? And lastly, does anyone know anything about the business management major at Virginia Tech and is it a good major to get into?
The question you should ask is not whether CS is competitive but rather whether you have an interest and aptitude in the subject. Did you take AP Computer Science if offered at your HS? If not, why not? Have you done any programming of your own (or basic robotics)? I ask these questions because business management is completely different than computer science. If you like business but just want to work with how existing programs can be applied to solve business problems then you should look at the BIT and Accounting Information Systems degrees in Pamplin.
Computer Science is in the College of Engineering and you will have to apply to the College of Engineering to get the degree. You should take a look at the first year curriculum for General Engineering to see what you could take if you want to prepare yourself for an internal transfer. You will be meeting a guidance counselor during your summer visit to VT and can ask transfer questions then. BTW - what is your interest and aptitude in math? The VT computer science degree is almost a minor in mathematics (just one more course).
If you really like math you should also consider the College of Science (CDMA degree). It’s another blend of computer science, mathematics, and statistics for those interested in working in BIG DATA in the CS world.
Good luck.
Since you are already in to Pamplin take a look at Business Information Technology (BIT). It’s computer science but with business analytics that will make your computer knowledge useful in business. My son was thinking about CS but was guided to this major by a friend who does the hiring for a major IT company. She says the CS majors can code all day but have no business skills so are useless to them. Since all Pamplin freshmen take roughly the same classes you can easily transfer into the program:
BIT is a great major in high demand and there are many interesting opportunities working in the computer application of data for business purposes. It’s not CS though so if you were really interested in CS then check into the degrees offered by the CoE and CoS. For what it’s worth, a CS major might develop the software that that a BIT major then implements and uses.