<p>I am a computer science major, but I'm also very interested in economics. In some careers, the two majors work great together. But since I'm an aspiring software engineer, economics won't be too useful for me in the future.</p>
<p>That being said, I can easily and enjoyably complete a double major in economics. Or instead, I could use that extra time to deepen my understanding of computer science.</p>
<p>On one hand, economics is interesting and will make me a more well-rounded person. On the other, computer science is also interesting and is my primary major, so the extra depth would be fantastic.</p>
<p>I greatly appreciate any of your thoughts and opinions. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’d wouldn’t recomend you go four a doulbe major in econ, seeing as you said you want to be a software enigneer. However, if you are really interested, definatly take some courses, and maybe even a minor.</p>
<p>I’m in CS and I’m double majoring in Physics because I like it. I hope I get to use it some day on the job, but if I don’t get to… I’m still glad I did it.</p>
<p>If you enjoy economics, I’d definitely say you should go for it. I would have been able to take more CS courses without double majoring, but you’re not really going to have a chance to study economics again. Economics is a fascinating discipline…</p>
<p>If you really want to get ahead in life, I think the best thing to do is know a little about a lot of things and gain a better perspective of the big picture. Personally, I would definitely use the extra time to study economics. Depth in something as technical as CS is a great way to secure a life of programming. Get out and learn some of the business side, use the CS along with the economics in your life and youll be much further ahead. CS skills alone are a sure way to work your life away for somebody else.</p>
<p>“CS skills alone are a sure way to work your life away for somebody else.”
That’s overly harsh. There’s certainly nothing wrong with focusing on CS, but I wouldn’t recommend it for somebody who wants to study a second field. Not all programmers are CS majors, and not all CS majors are programmers.</p>
<p>I double major in chemical engineering and physics. I do it because I love physics. And who knows, I might end up working in a field that is common on both majors.</p>
<p>Take more economics classes. Especially in a field like CS (many engineering majors as well), much of the content covered in an undergrad degree will only “last” you two to five years. You learn the rest on the job and by keeping up with new developments in your field. You have a great opportunity to study a different, but quite useful discipline. It will only increase your ability to approach challenges from different perspectives. You won’t ever stop learning about Computer Science, especially if it’s your job, so take the opportunity for some background knowledge in economics.</p>
<p>As has been said many times on the forum, if the computer science you’re learning will be obsolete in 5 years, you’re either taking the wrong courses or enrolled at the wrong college.</p>
<p>However, I do think you should take some econ classes. Just don’t major in it unless you really want to. Being familiar with the system, investments, and entrepreneurship are invaluable.</p>
<p>Depth in Computer Science can be important for getting your first job. Breadth in computer science is important for /keeping/ your job. </p>
<p>One problem in the CS/Engineering workplace is that sometimes you’ll be focusing very closely on a single problem so closely that you aren’t learning anything that will get you that next job.</p>
<p>My advice would be breadth, since the jobs that hire you as a holistic candidate are much better than the ones that just look at what you specialized in.</p>
<p>I would suggest taking a course each in finance, marketing and accounting and maybe economics. The economic theories that we’ve been using for the last few decades have been shown to be wrong yet universities are still teaching the stuff that hasn’t worked out. They have to as they don’t have a new model yet.</p>
<p>This article by Krugman, well-known economist is particularly brutal to his own profession.</p>
<p>BTW, I think that there is little time in the undergraduate degree for depth and breadth in just Computer Science. I think that security, compilers, robotics, databases, software engineering, graphics, parallel computing, sensor networks, networking, visualization, artificial intelligence and machine learning are all interesting areas to cover and it would be nice to cover them in undergrad but there just isn’t time (some of these courses have additional math requirements).</p>