IE vs. CS vs. Math vs. Accounting

<p>I'm thinking about potential majors. Here are my thoughts on each of these four options (+ = pro, - = con):</p>

<p>Industrial Engineering:
+ seems to offer both technical and business skills
+ math-intensive
+ still an engineering degree, which leaves that path open
- the whole manufacturing/ergonomics angle is uninteresting
- not a very common major</p>

<p>CS:
+ skills valuable in many areas/industries
+ lots of discrete math and problem solving
- I'm okay with programming, but doing it all day might be kind of depressing
- software industry can be a stressful place to work
- many jobs available to those with programming/software skills but other majors?</p>

<p>Math/Stats:
+ I know I like proofs and can see myself doing math coursework
+ actuarial field sounds interesting
+ can be paired with IE or CS easily
- only feeds straight into actuary jobs, which represent a very small and concentrated industry
- academia is unappealing</p>

<p>Accounting:
+ I find the structure of businesses' finances interesting
+ direct lead-in to careers at Big 4 firms
+ jobs available in many places and industries
- lots of memorization
- not very much math</p>

<p>I don't need to decide what I want to do forever while still in HS - that can wait until after I try a few courses. But what would be the best major to ENTER college as? What would be easiest to transfer out of but hardest to switch into?</p>

<p>“seems to offer both technical and business skills”

  • So does every major on the list (if you do actuarial math)</p>

<p>“math-intensive”

  • So is every major on the list (if your school has a good accounting program)</p>

<p>“still an engineering degree, which leaves that path open”

  • What, being an engineer? You can do that with any degree. It might make getting a job as an InSys Engineer easier, but that might not be what you want. Presumably, if you were interested in becoming some other kind of engineer, the corresponding major would be on the list.</p>

<p>“the whole manufacturing/ergonomics angle is uninteresting”

  • It sounds like InSys is a bad choice for you.</p>

<p>“not a very common major”

  • This can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing.</p>

<p>“skills valuable in many areas/industries”

  • Every major on the list has them.</p>

<p>“lots of discrete math and problem solving”

  • If you like discrete math, that’s one valid argument for considering CS. All of the majors involve problem solving. Every college major does. Think about it.</p>

<p>“I’m okay with programming, but doing it all day might be kind of depressing”

  • Most (good) jobs won’t have (good) people with a (good) CS degree coding all the time.</p>

<p>“software industry can be a stressful place to work”

  • Every industry can be a stressful place to work. The stress in software is exagerated. It has recently been ranked as one of the best careers available by CNN Money magazine.</p>

<p>“many jobs available to those with programming/software skills but other majors?”

  • Programming isn’t valuable because anybody can do it. If all you learn in a CS program is how to program then you have wasted time and money. CS majors know a lot more than that and this is why they get software jobs over other majors. EEs, CompEs, even MechEs and CivEs can program. High schoolers can program. There’s more to it than that.</p>

<p>“I know I like proofs and can see myself doing math coursework”

  • That’s a compelling reason to do math.</p>

<p>" actuarial field sounds interesting"

  • So do the others on the list, in fairness.</p>

<p>“can be paired with IE or CS easily”

  • A lot of these majors can be paired up pretty easily. I suppose Math might be the easiest, though.</p>

<p>“only feeds straight into actuary jobs, which represent a very small and concentrated industry”

  • You can get lots of jobs with a BS in math. Consult SIAM, AMS, etc. for resources.</p>

<p>“academia is unappealing”

  • Why are you going to college?</p>

<p>“I find the structure of businesses’ finances interesting”

  • See previous comment on interest in field.</p>

<p>“direct lead-in to careers at Big 4 firms”

  • If you do well, and assuming they don’t hire more technical people - IE, CS, Math, etc. - over yourself.</p>

<p>“jobs available in many places and industries”

  • Not any more true of Accounting than of the other majors on your list.</p>

<p>“lots of memorization”

  • Every college major is.</p>

<p>“not very much math”

  • Depending on the program, this could be true or false. You could always supplement your education with additional coursework.</p>

<p>“But what would be the best major to ENTER college as?”

  • The one you end up in eventually. Then you wouldn’t have wasted any time.</p>

<p>“What would be easiest to transfer out of but hardest to switch into?”

  • Probably Industrial Engineering.</p>

<p>Summary:
You should do what you like and forget the idle speculation about the job market and job placement later on. Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. You’re too young and inexperienced to know what you really want to do with your life. I am too. You have to be a jedi… focus on the here and now. What do you want to study?</p>

<p>Accounting is going to pay far below what those other three majors. I would recommend not doing that one. </p>

<p>For IE, you probably really want OR. In some schools (like Michigan) it’s part of the IE program, I think in some schools it’s part of the Math department, in other schools it’s its own department. If you’re not at any particular school yet, and don’t have an obvious choice, look for one where it’s not part of the IE department. </p>

<p>By the way, IE is a pretty common major as far as Engineering majors go. Might be a little less common than Math and CS, but still fairly common.</p>

<p>I was (guess I still am…) trying to decide between IE and CS too, the conclusions I came to were…</p>

<p>Pay wise: CS > IE > (this is probably pretty close to equal if you do actuarial math) Math >> Accounting
Diversity-of-opportunities wise: CS >(at least how it appears from Michigan, some here may argue) IE > Math… Don’t know where accounting fits in, but I would imagine worse than Math.
Quality-of-opportunities wise: CS = IE > Math… Don’t know where accounting fits in.
Ease of Program (at Michigan): Accounting >> Math > IE >> CS (Easiest to Hardest)</p>

<p>I am picking CS for right now, mainly because if I start with it and then decide to do something else, I can minor in CS, where as I can’t in IE. CS is also WAY more flexible with what classes you can take than IE is, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with the field in general.</p>

<p>The best major to enter with if you’re completely unsure (but don’t do accounting, that’s lame) would depend on what classes you need to take for each major, and what you would start taking. For instance, if you could minor in CS or Math, but not IE, I would start in one of those two, and then later if you decide to switch, you might end up with a minor in what you started in. Also, you may need to decide before you go to college on Engineering school vs. Arts & Sciences school, CS might be in either of those schools, Math/Stats in A&S, IE in CoE.</p>

<p>Okay, thanks for the info. I have a few questions/comments on some of those points:

I have a number of family members who went through grad school and then into academic positions. I’ve seen how that game works, and I don’t want to play it.

Doing well will be a prerequisite to success in any area. Accounting firms have legal obligations and much advancement is restricted to CPAs.

I’m not so sure about this. Just about every major city will have large accounting firms, but not necessarily a large population of actuaries.

That’s why I’m worrying about this now.

  1. I find all of these areas interesting, so there’s no clear “I want to study x”. The whole point of asking this question is to find out what I want to study.
  2. It seems like it ought to be possible (at least on a probabilistic level) to determine that some majors lead to careers that may be more interesting than others.</p>

<p>It seems like IE/CS/Acc + Math minor might be the best option. That simplifies things a little, I suppose…</p>

<p>EDIT: Cross-posted… I’ll respond to #3 in a minute.</p>

<p>

This is true for starting pay, but it seems like accountants have very good advancement possibilities.

Very few schools offer an undergrad major in OR. Generally it seems to be a concentration in IE.

Yeah, that’s really what I want to work out. If I’m going to apply to engineering or business instead of A&S, I would need to figure that out soon.</p>

<p>By the way, what do you all think of finance? I don’t like what I hear about the crazy schedules in banking, but that might be another possibility.</p>

<p>your reasoning of pro’s and cons behind those majors are general and vague.</p>

<p>

I know, but I can’t get much more detail until I actually take courses. That’s why I posted this thread.</p>

<p>K, if you don’t know which one to do , but you are ambitious, you could get an undergrad in something like ME or EE. With those engineering degrees you could spawn into any of those things you listed plus others. </p>

<p>Though if you want to become a fancy investment banker or something it takes engineering + some (top of class, prestigious school)</p>

<p>

I don’t like building things or thinking about how to build things. My mind is as 2D as a sheet of paper.</p>

<p>“By the way, what do you all think of finance? I don’t like what I hear about the crazy schedules in banking, but that might be another possibility.”</p>

<p>There’s more in finance than investment banking… though investment banking sounds bad.</p>

<p>If you are going to do I.E…goto a school that has more of an “systems engineering” slant. Systems engineers will make near what CS major make, especially in defense and INTEL.</p>

<p>I would say major in Math as an undergrad and get a masters in Systems Engineering and take a good CS core throughout. Why?..because I did it, lol</p>