Math or Engineering or Computer Science?

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I am a current senior attending to a university this fall.</p>

<p>I find myself unlike my other classmates very indecisive of what I should be majoring in and what to expect.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I wish to pursue math and keep learning math for a long...long...long...if not my lifetime.
The mathematical beauty is like art to me and the sensation of understanding a math concept is beyond description (unrivaled exhilaration?).</p></li>
<li><p>I love the theoretical side of math but I don't want to be completely useless to others in my life. I applied for "applied math" for I wish to help the world with my intelligence. I strongly believe to the core you learn to help better the lives of others.</p></li>
<li><p>Since I was in elementary, I attended many high school level robotics tournaments (from the ones with legos to etc.)
I am currently vice president in engineering club (president is the one who donated the robots) and am basically running the whole club myself.
I LOVE making robots and want to make it a hobby and keep doing it for as long as I can. </p></li>
<li><p>I also have this euphoria when I am teaching. It is one my main motives for my career to be a professor so that I can both research and teach. I have great pride in my teaching ability in math.</p></li>
<li><p>I LOVE coding. Since middle school, I learned HTML (did not like as much), Visual Basic 6.0, C++, Java, and a couple more.
I feel like when i am coding, I can do anything. I can make SOMETHING happen!</p></li>
<li><p>I want to work with robots and attend to a university like Carnegie Mellon for grad school robotics applying as a pH.D.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't want to miss out with math because...who knows, I currently take AP Calc BC and Discrete Math and I enjoy both math. I also remembered in the past, I ENJOYED TO THE CORE geometry proofs and algebra.</p></li>
<li><p>I love the pure side and the logical side of math.</p></li>
<li><p>I want to just "study and learn" the theoretical side of math throughout my life while applying it to make robots that I can code with.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I know these numbers are very contradictory to one another. I am conflicted of which major I should be majoring in for currently, I am enrolled in applied math and to be honest, I do not really understand...
"What is Applied Mathematics?" If I am focusing on engineering/computer science on applied mathematics, won't that give me a disadvantage because I won't have ABET accredited? And won't I be missing out all the theoretical side by going applied? </p>

<p>Oh ya... I can never seem to understand right hand rule so I guess I am weak with electricity...
(Mostly due to the fact that teacher never once taught but....just something I have to consider maybe)</p>

2

<p>Applied Math is just math that you use to solve actual problems… Theoretical math is its own field. It has no intended applications anywhere. It is doing math for the sake of math. Any applied effect is unintended. If your goal is to “help people” you won’t really do that in “pure math”. Also, only engineering degrees are ABET accredited… ABET doesn’t accredit CS or math programs .</p>

<p>dw about it too much right now. Find out what you like when you are in college, average person changes their major like 3 times or something.</p>

3

<p>Actually, ABET does accredit CS majors. However, ABET accreditation is not generally considered necessary to indicate a quality CS major (although it is generally considered sufficient). ABET accreditation per se is only really an issue for niche areas like taking the patent exam.</p>

<p>You can take both math and CS courses (and breadth courses) in your first two years. In many schools, you may be able to major in one and take lots of electives, or even a second major, in the other.</p>

4

<p>In many universities, CS and Applied math are very close. You should be able to go from a B.S. in one to a graduate degree in the other. The same can be said for Computer Engineering and CS. As others have said, you don’t need to make a choice immediately. Most of the courses you take in your first year are the same for all three majors.</p>

<p>By the way, having an ABET accredited engineering degree is not that important for graduate school. I know students who start from a B.S. in physics and who go into a graduate program in engineering.</p>