CS Core Reqs in Arts + Sciences vs. Engineering?

<p>Hello there!</p>

<p>I'm a senior in high school, and I'm hoping to major in CS, or possibly Computer Engineering. My goal is to start my own small company after school (whether that is with or without graduate school I don't really know) but I have pretty good grades and standardized testing schools and am applying to schools including UMichigan - Ann Arbor, Cornell and Northwestern. All three of these schools offer computer science majors in both their School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering. </p>

<p>If I want to take classes to help me with starting a business, which school should I be applying? I really dislike history, and I do want to really focus on computer science, but at the same time I want to continue taking spanish, and I do want to improve my writing and hopefully even take courses on digital music + digital modeling. (I have had some enjoyable experiences involving professional level software in both areas). Me and my parents are struggling to figure out which school would be better for me.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>All that matters is that you take the same CS courses that most other Top-100 schools are taking. I was a Math/CS major and in all 23+ years of being a software engineer, NOT ONE employer ever asked me “did you take CS in the engineering department?”</p>

<p>Mind you, my degree actually says “The College of Natural Sciences confers the B.S. in Computational Mathematics”.</p>

<p>Thanks for you quick response global!</p>

<p>I do agree with you that the department itself doesn’t matter, but in terms of actually learning computer science, do you take more compsci courses in engineering than in arts and sciences, or do you take the same number of compsci courses in both, the only difference being that in engineering you take physics, chem, bio classes and in arts and sciences you take a world language, more writing, etc?</p>

<p>As I said I really want to take different kinds of classes: I do have that kind of broad interest of a liberal arts student, but I really do not want to sacrifice any number of CS courses, as it has been a passion of mine for a while now.</p>

<p>Thanks again!
eo</p>

<p>That will likely depend on the school in question. At my school, there’s computer science in the College of Letters and Sciences and computer science and engineering in the College of Engineering. The main difference is that CSE requires the core engineering courses (which would be purely electives for a CS major), and there are some CS and EE classes (hardware-focused ones) that are required for CSE and are major electives for CS. Overall, CSE focuses on both hardware and software while CS is software-focused with the option of taking classes in hardware beyond the requirements. CS also has more flexibility due to not having as many required units, though of course you’re free to take beyond the requirements if you can and want to. Check the requirements for schools you’re looking at though, as this will likely vary by school.</p>