I’m currently a senior in high school and I plan on attending a community college for two years to get Gen Ed out of the the way and (mostly) to save money before transferring to FSU. Ideally I want to double major in Computer Engineering and English if feasible. To clarify, I don’t want to study both courses because I think it will look good on my resume; I’m aware employers won’t care that much. I just have a sincere interest in the two fields and want to take class on them both. However, I’m not entirely sure how double majoring works at FSU as far as costs are concerned, not to mention Engineering and English are entirely opposite schools with probably zero overlapping credits. Will it cost more to double major in the two subjects or will it be about the same cost if I manage to complete the required credits in the same time frame? I know I’ll have to give up most of my electives to fit in the additional English courses while I’m studying CE, but is the workload more crazy than I’m realizing? Am I just being a naive, over ambitious high schooler who’s better off minoring in English rather than majoring?
It will be nearly impossible to double-major in both Computer Engineering and English. I am a Computer Science major, and I can’t imagine trying to do this while also simultaneously majoring in English. I’m not sure if you can even have a minor if you are an Engineering major – there is just so much material to cover. Most Engineering majors that I know struggled to graduate in five years even though they are super smart and hard-working. Throwing an English major on top of that is going to be too much.
As an alternative, you might look into a Computer Science BA. Most people get a BS in CS, and they take as few liberal arts courses as possible. The BA has most of the same main CS courses as the BS, but also requires a separate minor. The CS BA is good for people who want to do CS, but enjoy “liberal arts” courses as well.
Realistically possible? Not really. The Computer Engineering program requires 128 total hours, and the minor coursework required to graduate from FSU is built in to the program’s coursework as a math minor.
Adding a second major is usually not a huge issue as it might only add a couple classes. However, engineering is a very tough program no matter which concentration you pick, and double majoring is almost impossible (if not outright impossible).
Would double majoring in Computer Science BS and English be more feasible considering it’s not an engineering course, or is that still unlikely? Also, what is the difference between graduating with a BS and BA in Computer Science? I assume you would be less marketable with a BA.
From FSU’s website:
http://www.cs.fsu.edu/current/undergrad/bs_ba_in_cs_diff.php
The course requirements for a BA in CS at FSU is very different from a BA at UF (since you’ve asked the same question in the UF forum). For example, FSU’s BA doesn’t require the same level of math, but it’s also much more “dual major” friendly with another humanities major, like English.
Good Luck!
As far as the marketability of a BA goes, I wouldn’t dispute that the BS carries a bit more weight. However, your and GPA and interview will be 90 percent of what gets you hired. This is especially true in the IT/Software industry when compared to other fields, where your pedigree carries more weight.
Software engineering interviews tend to run heavily into data structure and algorithm concepts. Both are definitely covered by the BA at FSU, and presumably at UF. Even with the availability of the BA, I think most CS students go for the BS because engineering/CS-types typically dislike classes that require writing lots of papers. The main thing that you will be missing with the BA is ABET accreditation, which is not generally important for CS. Also, if you want to go to graduate school in CS, you’ll probably need a BS.
The FSU BA has most of the same core curriculum at the BS, but as Gator88NE notes, it requires many more liberal arts classes than the UF equivalent, and has fewer math requirements. Discrete Math is the main math course in the BA. The BA requires you to complete a separate minor, while the BS has an “integrated math minor,” so this is taken care of.
Majoring in CS and minoring in English might be a good compromise that allows you to pursue your interests while graduating with a degree that gets you a career. I would not recommend attempting a double major BA English/BS Computer Science/Engineering. Having just gone through CS, I can assure you that this will be extremely difficult for relatively minimal additional benefit career-wise.