<p>Disclaimer: I know this question has literally been asked about 500 billion times on this forum but please bear with me haha</p>
<p>So I'm a recently admitted BioE major in the College of Engineering and I'm really interested in switching to either EECS/CS. Frankly, I'm a lot more interested in CS/software development than in EE. I already know that many people have claimed that there is absolutely no difference in terms of job opportunity/salary. But if you could answer the following questions it would be great.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Since I am currently a BioE major in COE, and I would like to transfer to EECS/CS as soon as possible, which major would you foresee as the "relatively" easier one to switch into?</p></li>
<li><p>How much more difficult would EECS be compared to CS? Do people who major in CS in L&S generally speaking have more of a life/free time than people in EECS? What are the average gpa's for these two majors.</p></li>
<li><p>If I ultimately interested in attending grad school (ie. Stanford CS or maybe an MBA), would CS = EECS in terms of grad school prospects or would EECS be slightly favored due to a strong background in engineering?</p></li>
<li><p>I have read that L&S CS majors usually pick up a minor/double major. In your experience what are the most common/useful to couple with a CS degree? I am really interested in working with software development/companies in the SV area (ie Google) so can you share some experience as to what non-CS courses would be particularly helpful if i do make the switch to CS in L&S?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) Since you are in the college of engineering already, I assume that switching to EECS would be easier…but I’m not quite sure about this. Could be wrong.</p>
<p>2) EECS people basically have to do more EE stuff (EE20, which I heard is freaking hard) and the physics 7 series while L&S CS people are able to do a much more wider range of material.(I myself did astro C10 with filippenko). CS classes are all the same, so if you are not comfortable with physics-y stuff, EECS will definitely be a lot harder than CS.</p>
<p>3) Not sure about this. I think EECS has a 5 year masters’ plan though or something like that, so that would probably be easier.</p>
<p>4) The major that is most easiest to double major with in CS is in my opinion cognitive science, which is a very new interdisciplinary field that combines elements of psychology, linguistics, cs, and anthropology. Non CS courses that would be helpful for you working in silicon valley startups or high profile companies would be stuff along the lines of UGBA 10/96 (basically intro to business/entrepreneurship). But CS by itself is still quite a time consuming major if you are just beginning it at Berkeley and have no prior programming experience.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Switching into L&S would be easier than switching to EECS. However, it is not hard to switch into EECS provided that you do decently in your lower division CS/math courses (which you would have needed to do if you plan on graduate school anyways)</p></li>
<li><p>If you’re focus is on the software side, than EECS will be the EXACT same as CS except for 2 EE courses and physics. CS majors have to take a few more breadth requirements. Personally, I’m an L&S CS major and I prefer to do EE/math/physics over boring breadth requirements, so it ultimately depends on the person. This is an old report done around 1999. [Grade</a> Distributions for EECS and LSCS Students](<a href=“http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~hilfingr/report/index.html]Grade”>http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~hilfingr/report/index.html). Take this information with a grain of salt though because back then LSCS was a capped major.</p></li>
<li><p>If it’s for MBA or MS in CS, than the degree does not matter. For the MS, the courses are more important and for the MBA, the job you get after graduate is more important. However, I don’t have experience in this area so read my post with skepticism. Also you can do a 5 year BA/MS program with L&S CS. You don’t have to be an EECS major to do this program. </p></li>
<li><p>Double majors are more common with L&S CS mostly because if you’re an LSCS major, than you have to complete the 7 course breadth requirement anyways while if you’re an EECS major trying to double in, for example, Economics, than you’d have to finish that 7 course breadth requirement since most majors are in L&S. Many people do Buisness/CS, Econ/CS, Applied Math/CS, or Cog Sci/CS.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>L&S CS</li>
<li>Slightly more difficult; Physics 7A, 7B, Math 53, and EE 20 are harder than most breadth courses.</li>
<li>EECS gives a marginally better background when your fellow grad students refer to multivariable calculus or fourier transforms on occasion. For admission it doesn’t matter.</li>
<li>Stats, Math, Art (not art history so much), BioE. Best to pick what you enjoy.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li> If you are interested in applying CS / software to problems in a particular area, you may want to take courses in that area. This can be subjects as varied as economics and finance, English (e.g. analyzing the history of English word use), other languages (e.g. computer translation), art (if you are interested in graphics and user interfaces), biology and statistics (bioinformatics), math, etc…</li>
</ol>
<p>if u want to be a baller programmer then it a cs + math double major may be even bettr than eecs. some jobs require a level of math that eecs majors don’t touch upon at all.</p>
<p>You could in theory construct a program of study in CS that would satisfy the major and breadth requirements of either EECS or L&S CS.</p>
<p>The main differences:</p>
<p>a. EECS requires Physics 7A, 7B, and 2 other science courses (not the joke ones that humanities majors take). L&S CS requires science only for L&S breadth requirements (1 physical science and 1 biological science; CS majors will fulfill the physical science with CS 61C).</p>
<p>b. EECS requires Math 53 in addition to Math 1A, 1B, and 54 that both majors require.</p>
<p>c. EECS requires EE 20N.</p>
<p>d. EECS requires EE 40 instead of EE 42.</p>
<p>e. EECS requires some non-EECS engineering courses.</p>
<p>f. L&S CS requires at least 6 upper division CS courses; EECS can choose any combination of EE and CS courses to meet a number of units requirement.</p>
<p>g. EECS requires College of Engineering breadth requirements, which are 6 courses in humanities and social studies, including R&C A and B (only A can be fulfilled by AP English with a 4 or better), 2 upper division courses, and a series including an upper division course (no more than 2 total lower division courses can be fulfilled by AP). L&S CS uses L&S breadth requirements which include R&C A and B (A can be fulfilled by AP English with a 4, B can be fulfilled by AP English Literature with a 5) and the 7 course breadth requirement (1 course each in arts and literature, historical studies, philosophy and values, social and behavioral sciences, international studies, physical science, and biological science; AP not allowed for fulfilling this requirement, but one’s major courses are). L&S also has a foreign language breadth requirement which is commonly fulfilled in high school. L&S requires some upper division courses (not necessarily 7 course breadth courses) be taken outside one’s major department.</p>
Wait, what? I thought that we could take non-EECS engineering courses, but that if we wanted to we could also just stick completely with EE or CS courses.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus & all: so would I be correct in assuming that I can take Math 53, Physics 7A, and CS61A as a BioE major first semester, and petitioning for a transfer as early as second semester? What other courses would I need to take first semester as I read somewhere that I need to take 4? haha sorry i’m so noobie.</p>
<p>P.S. so how much free time SHOULD i expect as a EECS/LSCS major? would I still be able to get away with 7-8+ hours of sleep every night haha</p>
That’s right. 20 units of technical upper divs, 45 total including the lower divs.
</p>
<p>@ballpointpen, they might make you wait until your third semester to petition since they usually want to see your first year’s grades and a commitment to EECS. Do Math 53/54, Phys 7A/7B, CS61A/61B, and two humanities that would also count for L&S breadth.</p>
<p>oh just got this from the site “Completion of two semesters of coursework at UC Berkeley (Freshmen can apply in the second semester to be notified at the end of the semester).”</p>
<p>but yea i’ll try to apply as soon as possible because i’m really interested in pursuing EECS/CS as a major now that i think about it. Thanks so much all! </p>
<p>Additional input/suggestions/help/experience is greatly appreciated =D</p>