<p>I'm having trouble choosing between the two. I got admitted to cs (games) and I recently made up my mind (or so I thought) that I would change to cs/ba but now I'm back to square one and I can't make up my mind.</p>
<p>I plan on creating a tech start-up and it'll most likely be related to web development or mobile apps. Here are my reasons for pursuing each major.</p>
<p>CS (games): I figured that although game dev is not web dev or mobile app dev, some of the concepts learned in this major might benefit me such as how to create a user interface for games (which could be applied to making a user interface for an app or website). Since I would be collaborating with people from different departments, I would get experience on what it would be like to work in a real company setting with a team. I read the other thread on cs games and hsKid101 said that he talked to a google employee and that person gained a lot of experience in debugging and troubleshooting--a big aspect in cs--and because the major is so hands-on, I feel like it would benefit me in the long run.</p>
<p>CS/BA: Because I plan on creating a start-up, theoretically I would be the CEO. So I don't want to go in clueless about how business and attempt to be a good CEO. With the recent story of the groupon CEO being fired by his own company, it got me thinking that I don't want that to happen to me. </p>
<p>At this point I don't know what to choose. Do you agree/disagree with any of the reasons above?</p>
<p>Not sure if this is useful, but there was reddit thread about the CSBA major. Two of the comments are as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>“I think I only had one friend go through it since it is hard to get into. If you are specifically looking to get into engineering it may not be a huge benefit. Having a business background is super helpful if you ever want to join a startup or found your own company though. It is very common for usc students to form startups(I did this) and they often bring engineering and business students together to network for that purpose.
I’ve heard since the program is based out of viterbi that it is more CS focuses than business focused. Another potential option is if you have considered going into finance. It is pretty common for quant finance recruits to have a CS background and having the business(finance classes) on top of that would give you a boost.”</p></li>
<li><p>“The professors at the Admitted Students Reception didn’t feel so enthusiastic about it…One of them even went as far as to say that “some of the CSBA kids struggle with the CS material in my class.” If you’re looking for a standard engineering job, then I recommend CS, CSCE, or even CSGames. I’m not completely sure about this, but the professors (and students at the reception) made it seem like a watered down version of CS.
In my honest opinion, business can be your minor if you really want that experience. I recommend any of the other CS majors simply because they go more in-depth.
Another thing: One of the professors said that during project time, he would pair several CS students with one CSBA student so it would offer “business-like” experience for the CSBA student as the leader. If you’re into that kind of thing, then CSBA might be for you as well.”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for for post this! It seems like cs/ba gets a lot of hate haha.
But the second comment is geared towards the typical cs major that wants to find a job after graduation and that’s just not me.</p>
<p>@HeartyBowl, yeah I was just posting something I had found while I was doing some research as well. Take it with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>In my honest opinion though, if I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I would major in BA and minor in CS. Otherwise, I would do CS(Games)/ CS and minor in entrepreneurship(I think USC offers that).</p>
<p>CSBA seems like a good choice for you.
To explain the CSBA ‘disdain’: there’s a number of CSBA students who took it because they thought it would be a watered-down version of CS and they don’t want to put in the full work of the reg CS curriculum. A number of them, like you, choose the major because they want to form a start-up and be an entrepreneur. But they don’t want to go through all the CS classes. If you choose CSBA, know that you’re getting into a CS degree and be prepared to put the work in and gain the technical skills. If you don’t want to put the work in, then do something in Marshall and minor in CS.</p>
<p>This is relevant and sort of a big picture thing: 70% - 90% of startups fail: [Why</a> Startups Fail - Forbes<a href=“one%20src%20of%20many”>/url</a>. While I wish all USC students/alumni would succeed, some ideas suck and there’s not enough room in the market for some good ideas (obviously a very simplified statement). I think it’s a diservice to students not to present this hard truth. In my experience (CS & ITP classes), all the ‘Be the next Facebook’ is presented, but not the negative side, risk, and how to prevent/handle it. I hope to God this is gone over in business/entrepreneurship classes. But from a lot of USC student startups, it doesn’t seem like it =</p>
<p>How is this relevant? Insulate against failure. If your first startup fails, then sure you can save some money and try again, but lets say you have to work for 2 years to save money to engage in another venture. Would you rather have a CS job or a business job for 2 years? If on your first startup (or venture try #2) you want to be the business-man and not develop (as in program) the product, then consider minoring in CS or doing one or two of the ITP minors, certificate, or just hodge podge of courses to get exactly what you want. If you want to be the CEO but having the knowledge & skills to develop the product is still important to you, then consider CSBA.</p>
<p>Check this out and it might be worth while to look through the Courses to see what’s available: <a href=“http://itp.usc.edu/minors[/url]”>FAQ | Minors - USC Viterbi | Information Technology Program](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/davefeinleib/2012/11/13/why-startups-fail-2/]Why”>Why Startups Fail)</a></p>
<p>I would rather be the ceo that knows cs and some business than a ceo who majored in business and minored in cs. Mainly because I love programming and I want to help in the creation of this future start-up. Oh and lets not forget what happened to the winklevos twins… two business brothers hiring a mark zuckerberg and he just left and started his own company. Of course this isn’t always the case though. thanks for your input</p>
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<p>And for people right out of college with no real-world business or programming experience, the odds of failure are likely about 98%.</p>
<p>I posted this question on a private usc cs group on facebook and I got many helpful responses. I’ll post them below.</p>
<p>TJ: “To me, it doesn’t sound like CSGM is the way to go for you. There are some classes in it that would be directly relevant to what you want to do, but you could easily take them on your own. Look at the minors/classes in ITP - it has a lot of web development stuff.”</p>
<p>Alec: “Def sounds like CSBA. My roomie was CSBA with a Web Dev minor. Agreed, ITP minors are really good (I minored in game programming through ITP). ITP even has a digital entrepeneur minor. So yeah, CSBA is going to give you more flexibility and you are going to need to know some business stuff if you really want to run your own start-up. You can also do the opposite of what we are suggesting and major in CS (games) and take a minor directly through Marshall, but thats probably more units for not the same payoff.”</p>
<p>Kevin: " CSBA all the way I’m csba & building my own startup and it is by far the best decision I have made major-wise. You get to take the core classes from both schools and still have a bunch of elective courses where you can take any tech or business class that interests you (everything from web dev to hands-on startups. my favorite classes have been from these electives). plus you get to make a wider variety of connections."</p>
<p>Kyu: “I recommend you to major in CSBA, which can give you the basic business knowledge, and minir in one of the ITP minors. If you are interested in mobile and web development, you might be able to find more interesting and helpful classes even in ITP courses rather than CS courses. You should know that there are not that many electives that you can utilize to take any other classes in CSBA curriculum. I was a CSBA major and this point made me change my major to just CSCI and minor in accounting as well as take some more classes in ITP department.”</p>
<p>Michael: " ^ Interesting point. I’m not familiar with CSBA requirements, but it seems like a good option and Schrader is a wizard when it comes to making an ITP class count for something if you have a good reason.
Not picking CS (Games) is a good decision. You can get all the benefits you speak of (UI, team work, debugging) if you get involved in some hands on projects, and ITP classes are a great way to do that. Or you could get involved with a project outside of class."</p>
<p>Larry: "I was CS Games and in my last two years of school I’ve been a founding member of two LLCs, pitched to executives of basically ever major gaming company and a few other huge tech companies, taken meetings several of Silicon Beaches biggest VC firms, and even had a successful exit. I don’t think that would have happened if it weren’t for CS Games and CS 491.</p>
<p>That being said, the major you pick really shouldn’t matter. The only way you’re actually going to acquire the skills you need is going out and getting your hands dirty. Start a bunch of things and fail and learn until you start something that sticks."</p>