CS, math, statistics...Where to go from here?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I'm about to finish my lower division math requirements, which will cover everything for all my lower division coursework for all three subjects, bar 3 programing coures, one that can be taken next quarter, and the other 2 which can be taken concurrently in the beginning of next quarter. If I do the degree in CS, it'd be the BA because I can finish up the degree requirements in 2 years, and take extra courses if necessary after that. Worse comes to worse, I have very little debt, and could just do the BS.</p>

<p>However, in terms of interest, I'm very confused. I'm not very sure I'd like upper division mathematics. I enjoy doing the proofs in my statistics class, but they are very hand-wavy and more equations manipulation, rather than the more rigorous ones seen in mathematics courses. The math department does offer an applied math degree, which has business applications and the like so I'd be able to get a job.</p>

<p>I thought that I'd enjoy being a statistics major, but my first class is not only killing me, but also pretty dull and boring. It's probability, and from what I gather, it's only a portion of what a statistician deals with, but thus far it hasn't left the impression on me and it being my passion. Even then if I slogged through the program, to get a job, I'd have to go to grad school for sure and get at least a masters, which is extremely competitive, even for 2nd tier schools it seems. </p>

<p>And then there's CS. I really enjoyed the two intro classes I took (A- in intro with Python, B in problem solving with C), but I became turned off after the subject after I took a particularly tough quarter in which I took Calc II, Physics 1, CS and Philosophy all at once (I had no prior physics work, a poor quarter in Calc, missed a week to kidney stones....and I was a terrible, lazy student). However, it was the only time in my college experience where I felt compelled to work hard and solve problems, and that I was learning something new and useful. Now that my math is completed, at worst I'd have to take physics alongside a CS course, but never the 3-peat and bad study skills.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any sort of advise, know of any similar situations, etc etc? Any help would be very much appreciated.</p>

2

<p>It looks like you enjoy the CS courses and math proofs more than statistics. Is that correct?</p>

3

<p>You should be able to get a job with any of those degrees. In terms of employability, I’d guess CS is most marketable. You might want to consult the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (Google BLS OOH) and check out some careers. I’m not even sure what jobs these three degrees could open up, but you might want to skim the A-Z index and see if anything looks intriguing.</p>

<p>I think you’ll find the proofs in upper-level CS courses to be somewhat between upper-division math and introductory statistics in rigor (undergraduate level). The mathematical content of core CS courses will vary from not much (professional ethics) to some (operating systems) to almost entirely (formal languages).</p>

<p>It is also quite common for people to double/dual major/degree in math and computer science. This is one of the more sane doubling-up options there is. While I would never recommend you do this for marketability, such a combo shouldn’t hurt too much, and double majoring or minoring can give you a way to ensure you’re getting adequate exposure to a field you are interested in (for adequate exposure, I’m not a fan of the cherry-picking philosophy of taking only the courses you think you’ll like, for several reasons).</p>

4

<p>At least at my school, the CS classes that deal with math are rigorous enough that that the math department considers them acceptable substitutes for some courses if you plan on also doing a math major or minor.</p>

<p>Anyways, it really looks like you like CS stuff but had a bad experience one quarter where too many things were happening. I would suggest just taking that CS class you planned to take next quarter, and reevaluating then.</p>

<p>As far as statistics goes, probability is important, but it’s by no means the meat of the subject IMO. Like you said, there’s a lot of other stuff that you should wait to get exposure to before writing it off completely.</p>

<p>If you do end up liking statistics, take into consideration that there’s a lot of room for that within CS itself (AI, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing are a couple o examples). Also, data science jobs are really lucrative right now in the tech industry; lots of companies have a ton of data that they want analyzed. People who know statistics and can also program are extremely valuable.</p>

5

<p>ucbalumnus - So far CS courses > Statistics. I’ve never done a real math proof, so I’d have no way of knowing. That’s part of the problem :/</p>

<p>aegrisomnia - Well I initially wanted to be some sort of statistician or data analyst, but I had no idea what the job entailed. Just sort of popped into my head. I do like the sound of the more mathy side of CS, especially on the proof side.</p>

<p>Looking at my scheduling, even if CS is the tiniest of options, I should go ahead and take the next part of the sequence. The stats major requires much less core requirements, so taking a quarter off from the sequence wouldn’t kill me. If I finally write off stats for good, I can just take the next course in the stats sequence, and still be right on track. </p>

<p>I still have my doubts about CS though…it seems so broad and intimidating…like only super genius maniacs should try and pursue it.</p>

<p>sumzup - Looking into it, a lot of courses in the stats and CS departments of my school are able to fulfill the requirements of the others</p>

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<p>It looks like you don’t really need to decide now, but you can take additional courses in each subject to see what you like best.</p>

<p>So take the next CS course. And try to get in either a junior level math course with proofs, or an honors sophomore level math course with proofs. Your experience with these courses may help you decide. Seems like you could also throw in another statistics course as well.</p>

7

<p>Real junior/senior and Grad Stat classes are a lot easier (Prob Theory excluded). At least if you stick to applied statistics. But statistics is useful career wise more if you pair it with another discipline, on its own it’s harder (with an undergrad degree at least).</p>

<p>Look up ‘statistical programmer’ jobs that are in the NJ, San Diego, Chicago, and other Pharma-happy locations to see. Also lots of clinical research organizations (say, Quintiles, Covance) and universities do this kind of work as well.</p>

<p>The modern business world calls a lot of this ‘Analytics’ and ‘Business Intelligence’. The tools are different, some of them at least, but strong CS and stat background are useful. </p>

<p>You will need to have very strong statistical programming skills (SAS MACRO :)) and database skills. Interesting stuff. </p>

<p>Focus more on CompSci tho as it is more applicable to other areas. Maybe do a minor in Stat and go for grad school. With decent undergrad grades it’s not difficult to get into a decent program.</p>

8

<p>What they said + drink more water.</p>

9

<p>Right now, one of the biggest areas is cloud computing and analytics. Companies need folks who can not only program and know databases, but can extract that information and apply statistical computations to the data.</p>

<p>Your background helps because in many cases, a I.S./I.T. major may not be a good fit because they won’t know that statistical things or the company wants someone who can learn the ‘R’ Language quickly.</p>

<p>Probability and statistics is about as broad as CS. Actually, half my graduate degree (in plain 'ole Engineering) were Statistics courses: Experimental Design, Taguchi Methods, Advanced Probability & Stats, Statistical Quality Control and Software Reliability. About 5 years ago, I took a graduate Stochastic Processes course in preparation for an upcoming contract award.</p>

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<p>The only catch with Analytics is that the hiring tends to require some expertise with (imagine that) analytics / business intelligence applications…If there are schools that teach, say, Informatica, Business Objects, Cognos, SAS, SSRS, and the like I’d be surprised. A good background in vanilla flavored IT and some internships and the like are key.</p>