Question about a BA vs BS degree in Computer Science

<p>Ok, so this question has probably been discussed here a million times, but I've been thinking hard about this over the past few months. I know somewhat of the differences between the two, but still not sure which one to take? Will jobs look at both degrees equally? I'm decent at math, although I guess I could be better just never really applied myself in high school. So I'm not really sure how I would do with a math course at the college level yet. Any opinions?</p>

<p>A BS is no different from a BA per se.</p>

<p>But the courses you take do matter; thus any differences in curriculum that arise from doing a BA rather than a BS do matter.</p>

<p>But unless we know what differences those are, only you can tell…</p>

<p>It really doesn’t matter. All that matters is the experience and skills you have.</p>

<p>If anything, a BA might be better in terms of being well rounded. There is no disadvantage or advantage of being one or the other.</p>

<p>This is a college-specific question in that the content of what you learn behind the BA or BS degree is what is important, not the “of Arts” or “of Science” title.</p>

<p>It’s an eternal mystery to everyone how universities decide what to call a BA and what to call a BS. When you can get a BA in computer science and a BS in art history then things reach pretzel status.</p>

<p>It really depends upon the school. Employers who recruit heavily from your particular university will generally be familiar with the differences between the two, if such a distinction is relevant. Others won’t care or will put you through technical evaluations designed to weed you out if you didn’t complete (or do well in) a more rigorous pure CS curriculum.</p>

<p>It is really a college-specific question (like stated earlier). At some schools the B.A./B.S. difference is the number of courses in the major and at other schools, the B.A./B.S. difference is the number of courses in other science courses while keeping the number of courses for the major the same.</p>

<p>At some schools: BA = 10 CS courses, BS = 12-13 CS courses</p>

<p>At other schools: BA and BS = 10 CS courses but BS may ask for more Physics, Engineering or Math courses outside the CS major.</p>

<p>For ME when I interview candidates, as long as I know that they had the core CS courses, I ignore the B.A. or B.S. designation.</p>

<p>BA might be better for jobs like research since you probably have to learn a foreign language, which can help you in interacting with, finding positions, or connections at places outside the English-speaking world.
BS might be better for jobs like engineering since you probably have to learn more sciences.</p>