CS and grad school

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I'm considering a major in computer science, and I've been wondering:</p>

<p>How "flexible" is a CS degree as far as graduate school goes? Can a BS in comp sci prepare you for a Master's or PhD in a different subject?</p>

<p>I haven't decided yet whether I want to go to grad school, but I want to keep my options open. If down the road I decide that I want an advanced degree in math or even a liberal art / social science, will a BS in comp sci be frowned upon by admissions?</p>

2

<p>Not sure about liberal arts, but if you take enough math-y courses (a lot of theoretical CS is basically math) or actual math classes in the process of getting a CS degree then grad school for math definitely seems possible. If you only do programming stuff, then it might not be as easy.</p>

3

<p>1) Depends on the school
2) Depends on how many Math and CS courses are cross-listed (in BOTH departments).</p>

<p>For example, take a look at the graduate CS & Math programs of U-Illinois and NYU and U-Wisconsin-Madison. At U-Illinois, you could actually take a set of 10 courses and get EITHER a MS in CS or a MS in Applied Math (not both because you only used 30 credits).</p>

<p>In general, if one takes CS/Math hybrid courses like:

  • Numerical Analysis
  • Numerical Linear Algebra
  • Cryptology
  • Combinatorics
  • Graph Theory
  • Parallel Algorithms (some schools)
  • Computational Complexity</p>

<p>One can get an Applied Math graduate degree although those courses could easily be offered in a BSCS or MSCS program.</p>

<p>3) A Computational Math, Computational Science or Computational Engineering graduate degree can be obtained easily from a BSCS.</p>