<p>I am debating whether or not I should double major in MA & CS? There are several different sub-majors in both. I am currently on track for a standard CS, but I want to pursue a career in cryptography, which undoubtedly requires a ton of math, so getting a bachelors in both will probably be necessary. If I do a double major in math, then I think it will be in applied mathematics? I am probably not the smartest person out there, but I work really hard and have a lot of perseverance and don't think difficulty will pose so much of a problem that I can't succeed as long as I continue to work hard. I mean currently I am working about 20hrs a week and taking 14.5 credit hours and currently have all A's and one B. I also just took the IB biology test this last week in order to get my IB Diploma, so I definitely keep busy. Anyhow, that is somewhat irrelevant. I really just want to know whether that would be a good move academically? I want to work at Sandia National Laboratories or maybe the NSA or CIA as a computer scientist and/or cryptanalyst. If anyone has any experience in this area, then I would appreciate any advice you can give. Here is a link to my school's math department if that helps at all: UUMath</a> - The Mathematics Major.</p>
<p>Absolutely do it if you’re interested… and since you seem to be interested in discrete areas (i.e, crypto), you’ll have an lot of overlap.</p>
<p>You probably don’t have to register for both right away, so just take some of the core math courses and see if you can keep up.</p>
<p>Ok, sounds good enough. Thanks!</p>
<p>Don’t need to “double” major…just “dual” major…meaning that you would take courses that can be double-counted for both majors. That is basically how I constructed my degree (called Computational Mathematics).</p>
<p>Discrete Structures (from CS) can be replaced by Combinatorics and Graph Theory courses from the Math department.</p>
<p>All of those Numerical Analysis, Numerical Partial/Ordinary DiffEq, Numerical Linear Algebra courses count for both CS & Math (at many schools).</p>
<p>Cryptology (also called Error Correcting Codes) is another hybrid Math/CS course.</p>
<p>Parallel algorithms will sometimes count as either a Math or CS course.</p>
<p>Oh yeah…the Math/CS combo degree is the BEST degree…lol</p>
<p>Ya, I guess their is a distinction between dual and double majoring…And ya, it will most likely end up being a dual major. Although, there are still many classes CS/MA classes that are apart from one another. I guess I am just going to try it and see how it goes. Otherwise, at least I will have a BS in Math if I ever happen to need it! 
I will probably end up having like 8 different degrees by the time I am 30, but that’s ok, right!? lol Thanks for the info everyone.</p>
<p>I am not sure if the dual major can be obtained at every institution. if you are interested in cryptography, like my professor is, he’s a math PhD.</p>
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<p>This is true. I have looked at various Math/CS programs (Yeah, so what…some people collect bugs for a hobby) and some schools completely separate the CS from the Math departments and have no overlapping courses.</p>