<p>The computer science major offered by the college of letters and science that is. How's the courseload for it?</p>
<p>I'm assuming that since it's a B.A. degree it is much less streneous in terms of course work as opposed to the EECS major offered by the college of engineering. Is this true?</p>
<p>There's less engineering involved, but in terms of number of classes I believe they're comparable.</p>
<p>EECS requires:</p>
<ul>
<li>Math 1A, 1B, 53, 54 + a statistics (incl. CS 70, Math 55, EE 126)</li>
<li>Physics 7A, 7B, + another science</li>
<li>EE 20N, 40</li>
<li>CS 61A, 61B, 61C</li>
<li>Approx. 5/6 upper division EECS (no restrictions)</li>
<li>6 Humanities</li>
</ul>
<p>L&S CS requires:</p>
<ul>
<li>Math 1A, 1B, 54</li>
<li>CS 61A, 61B, 61C, 70</li>
<li>EE 42</li>
<li>5/6 upper division courses (additional restrictions apply: must take CS 170 and two of CS 160, 162, 164, 169, 184, 186)</li>
<li>L&S breadth requirements</li>
</ul>
<p>I'd say L&S CS has a marginally lighter load, but not by much.</p>
<p>Great. I'm interested in taking more statistics courses that's why.</p>
<p>Oh but I asked if the courseload was less streneous. I ask this because people typically say that CS majors have little time to themselves because they have so much work. But we're talking about a B.A. degree which inolves less engineering courses so I shouldn't have to worry about slaving over as much as CS majors typically do. </p>
<p>Now I know it's hard for one to even make it into the CS major offered by the college of letters and science. I've originally been wanting to major in Statistics. The only major I'd consider over Statistics would ofcourse be CS. It is suggested that one think of an alternate major to fallback into if one does not get into the CS major offered by the college of letters and science. The Statistics pre-reqs and the CS pre-reqs largely overlap so if I do not get into the CS major then I'm fine as I'll fallback into majoring into something that I've originially been wanting to.</p>
<p>Well you can see for yourself the course loads are comparable. It is less strenuous since you don't have to take EE 20N or EE 40 (EE 42 is a piece of cake) and you don't have to take Physics 7A/7B. Those aren't the classes you'll slave over, though. CS 162, EECS 150 & 152, those are the killer courses.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh but I asked if the courseload was less streneous. I ask this because people typically say that CS majors have little time to themselves because they have so much work. But we're talking about a B.A. degree which inolves less engineering courses so I shouldn't have to worry about slaving over as much as CS majors typically do. </p>
<p>Now I know it's hard for one to even make it into the CS major offered by the college of letters and science.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Right there, I think you just answered your own question. </p>
<p>What makes the BA CS program difficult and time-consuming is not the number of engineering courses you have to take, because, as you have noted, you don't have to do as many as the BS students do. The problem is that you have to do well in those classes to even get into the major. THAT is what makes it time consuming. The BS students can basically settle for just passing their clases. They don't "need" to get an A, or even a B. A C is good enough to pass them (heck, even a D is, in theory good enough to pass them). In contrast, the BA students have to always be gunning for the highest grade they can get, for fear of not getting into the major. There are people who get quite good grades (i.e. a 3.5) and STILL get denied from the major. </p>
<p>Honestly, you could taking just one class and still have no time for anything else, if the class was extremely difficult and you needed to get a top grade in it.</p>
<p>If I get denied into the major, I'll just major in statistics which is something that I'd like as well actually.</p>
<p>Oh I couldn't edit my post. I was going to add 'Right?' after the end of that sentence so that someone could confirm or inform me on that.</p>
<p>How about a minor in L+S Comp Sci? Is that still pretty competitive to get into? And would there be any worth in it? From the CS berkeley website, it says that it lets in rejects from the major, so maybe not that hard to pursue? And it also says that having only a minor in CS is good enough to do most programming jobs.. Any input?</p>