Two areas of study that interest me are computer science and business. When looking at schools, I’ve started to here about dual programs combining computer science and business. Anyone know of any schools that specialize in this area.
P.S. Scores don’t really matter right now, I’m still a Sophomore and have time to make those adjustments in the future.
Most colleges will allow you to double major or major/minor in those areas.
CS and Business are very different disciplines - it is rare to see reputable programs that combine the two disciplines in ONE singular major degree program.
There are several reputable schools that allow you to pursue BOTH as dual-degree or dual-major (sometimes through very structured programs like Penn M&T and sometimes through less strucutured dual-degree programs like at Michigan)
There are many programs that allow you to pursue Information Technology and Business together in one degree, however. However, IT programs are generally VERY different than CS programs.
The three programs that are best known for combining CS and business are probably Penn M&T, Lehigh CSB, and the new Berkeley MET program. The Penn and Berkeley programs have insanely competitive admissions. The Lehigh program is easier to get into, but I believe it is significantly more competitive than Lehigh as a whole.
One problem is that business BS degrees are typically offered by the College of Business, while CS degrees are typically offered by the College of Engineering or the College of Arts & Sciences. So to earn both degrees, you have to complete two different sets of major requirements (with little to no overlap), plus two different sets of College requirements (again, with little or no overlap). And the two Colleges probably won’t coordinate with each other on things like class scheduling. In practice, it is usually difficult to complete all of these requirements in four years. At most schools, it would probably take five years.
One way to make it work in four years is to “water down” the requirements for CS, or business, or both. Employers are often suspicious of four-year combined CS/business programs for this reason. So you should look carefully at any “CS/business” program to see if the requirements/accreditation for each part match those of the standalone degree. For example, I believe the Lehigh CSB and Berkeley MET programs are jointly accredited by AACSB (for business) and by ABET (for CS). OK, nobody is going to argue with that. But other combined programs may not have that level of quality assurance.
The Lehigh CSB program is relatively large; apparently it is now more popular than the standalone CS program. So if you study CS at Lehigh, it’s actually the norm to combine it with the study of business as well.