<p>Hi everyone!</p>
<p>I am considering applying to UIUC and I am interested in double majoring in chemistry and computer science. Please share some thoughts on the matter, such as difficulty, permissibility, and so forth. If you want any specifics about my academic history or future goals feel free to ask.</p>
<p>This is my first posting, so please be considerate when berating me for forum rule violations :-)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There is a CS+X major for Chemistry, so no need to double major. </p>
<p>It is a brand new program and you would graduate with one degree.</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that CS+Chemistry was more of the “intersection” between chemistry and CS. In other words, it was CS only through the lens of chemistry or vice versa. I was personally more interested in the “union” of the two; that is, a complete grounding in both chemistry and CS.</p>
<p>Getting two bachelor’s degrees one in Chemistry and one in CS would be very difficult if not impossible to complete in two years. They seem to discourage this. </p>
<p>A normal engineering CS degree requires about 27 credits of core CS requirements plus 15ish credits of core Math courses (Calc and the like) plus 24 credits of electives in a specific elective track: CS, Math, or CSE (Computational Science and Engineering). The CS plus Chemistry degree requires 30 credits of core CS requirements plus 12 credits of Math plus 24 credits of Chemistry electives, 12 of which must be at the 300 level.</p>
<p>UIUC offers two Chemistry degrees. The “specialized” degree is more hard core and prepares people to be professional chemists. This requires 36 credits of core Chemistry requirements plus 11 credits of advanced Chemistry requirements plus Math requirements and a bunch of technical electives. <a href=“http://www.chemistry.illinois.edu/undergrad/degrees/curchem.html”>http://www.chemistry.illinois.edu/undergrad/degrees/curchem.html</a></p>
<p>I suspect that you could then declare a Computer Science minor (my son plans to do this on top of his Engineering degree, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem.) That requires an additional 18 credits of CS courses- 3 core requirements and 3 elective courses, one of which must be at the 400 level. </p>
<p>I think you need to decide which area you are most interested in. I don’t know if I would call CS + Chemistry as the intersection between CS and Chemistry. Rather you will get the core CS classes that all CS majors take, and then you will augment that knowledge with a grounding in Chemistry. However you will have considerably less training in Chemistry than someone doing the specialized degree. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of your responses. They have been really helpful!</p>