I am somewhat an international student although I am not in the U.S with a student Visa.I am 27 and this is my first university experience.I used to be an Oil&Gas marketing expert and made some decent coin in that field but due to a change of circumstances my family moved to the states.This is where the problem is:
I have been admitted to the university of Maryland (college park) as a letters and sciences major(in case you do not know its where your major is undecided).My initial thought was to apply for Accounting/Finance as my dream and goal of life is to become an M&A banker,however many times the best goal to something is not the direct route people think you should take and given the fact that I am not a U.S citizen I have to work extra hard to get a company to sponsor my visa.Maryland has an average business program,but the school is known for its CS major,so there is a thought like a virus in my mind that keeps telling me to go for CS as I have a higher chance of enrollment(its not a limited enrollment program like business) and if I do well the career path for CS is a well defined one even in finance.The trouble is the only thing I know to do with a computer is turn it On/Off.I have started to take online courses (not university) in python and programming to test myself and see if I enjoy it or not and have liked it so far but I do understand that being able to program in python is far different from a CS major.To give extra information I am not a genius by any means and my math is Ok(I have never out shined in it but I have never had trouble).So anyone wants to share their wisdom ?
Additional info:Contrary to CS,I do know a thing or two about Finance/Accounting.
Best
Gabe
Honestly, it sounds like you have neither interest in nor aptitude for computer science, while you have both for accounting, a similarly stable and highly useful field. If not for the admission criteria, I am sure you would choose accounting.
My recommendation: go for accounting, and you can either do accounting at a different school (e.g. a community college) or do CS at Maryland as your backup option.
Is it today’s trend for everyone to “major in CS”?
Doesn’t anyone realize => more people major in a field => more worthless the field becomes => 
<especially with=“” cs=“” being=“” super=“” duper=“” popular=“” these=“” days=“” (seems=“” like=“” every=“” able=“” bodied=“” male=“” majors=“” in=“” cs),=“” …=“”>
Honestly, are we planning to super over-saturate the CS field? What propaganda is it that claims that we need this much exponential growth of CS majors? Yes, there are lots of programming/IT jobs out there but those are disproportionately not the jobs most people even want with a CS degree. I mean, if you include basic programming jobs in which the salary for the workload is damn low and close to minimum wage then ya, lots of jobs but honestly, I don’t think it’s even worth it at that point.
That said, quite frankly, I recommend you go for the business program.
Less than 24% of college grads initially even get the jobs related to their major and that percentage quite diminishes over time with ur 2nd and 3rd job (and so on). In other words, more than likely, anything you major in by probability will not be “useful” directly to your future career.
At that point, isn’t it better to major in something you want to learn than to force yourself in a field that is currently most likely going to get super over saturated because of a potential job security for like only the next 5 years?
Also,
I have friends in business programs (well, not in Maryland but Maryland is still a fantastic university). They seem to be doing extremely well getting internships. In fact, even better than me, a CS major (that said, they are more active than most people so …). And best of all, they almost all agree on one thing: Why would you ever want to stare at a screen from morning to night every day unless you want to make yourself blind before your 40s? <we all=“” know=“” such=“” phenomenon=“” does=“” not=“” actually=“” occur=“” but=“” it=“” is=“” indeed=“” true=“” that=“” many=“” times=“” your=“” eyes=“” will=“” have=“” strains=“” from=“” dryness=“” so=“” ya,=“” if=“” you=“” aren’t=“” into=“” cs=“” and=“” are=“” more=“” aligned=“” with=“” the=“” thinking=“” my=“” business=“” major=“” friends=“” (including=“” econ,=“” finance,=“” etc.)=“” have,=“” then=“” wow…=“” gl=“” life=“”>
btw,
“Maryland has an average business program”
University of Maryland is a respected university in the east coast. If you do well there, I am sure you will have many opportunities. And before you say anything else:
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/office-career-services/prospective-students/undergraduate/2015-undergraduate-senior-survey-results
Maybe Maryland has an “average” business program. But I see that <~78.1% of graduated students got a full time job. If you are honestly not the lower 20% of the whole business school, then I don’t see why you won’t be faring so bad with this “average business program”.
That said, I apologize for the ranting above. It just frustrates me that everyone I know wants to major in CS including ones that hate math and can barely use a computer (not at you but to the ones I know).
Like Neo had said, try for accounting. Accounting is a very useful field and it seems you seem to want to do it.
*
You are going to hate your job one day more or less anyways even if it is something you truly love to do. Don’t torture yourself more in your life (in which you will live only once) by avoiding your passions just for the school’s “reputation” in a field.
On average, a CS degree is going to be more valuable than a business degree. But I agree that you shouldn’t get a CS degree if you can’t tolerate programming. And sitting in front of a computer day after day does get old.
I don’t get some of the earlier responses, since it looks like you have enjoyed the programming you’ve done. That’s really promising. Could you not take some introductory CS classes the first semester and see what you think then?
I wouldn’t worry too much just yet about CS jobs. One of the schools we visited said the average starting pay for their starting engineers was around 65k, vs 75k for CS. The thing is, even with a degree, not everyone actually can do it well. Like engineering, there can be strong practical and style elements, and like engineering, long term it acts a little more like a skilled trade. Put it another way, lots of people can assemble Ikea furniture. Not many have the interest, mindset, or skills to build and install custom cabinets in a house where none of the walls are orthogonal.
First of all I thank everyone for their response they all seemed to be well thought out.
I think I forgot to add two elements:
1)I am still thinking about doing a finance job once I graduate with a CS degree,its not like I want to be a programmer or IT guy,however CS is respected in the finance world especially in roles like trading.So even if I do CS,I want to do something finance related.s Letters and Sciences program(undeclared major) and shifting to the CS major is much easier than the business one.
2)The bad thing about the business school is that I have to apply to the school and see if they let me in.I have been accepted into UMD
Some more additional info: Since I am an International Student I have a weird belief that companies are more willing to sponsor someone with a harder degree(CS,Mathematics ) than something like business.
Indeed, a quantitative background is useful for working in finance because that’s much harder to teach than the principles of finance. However, to put it lightly, openings in finance for new graduates are highly competitive and highly political. You should be comfortable enough with CS in general because you can’t bet on getting your job of choice.
It will disqualify you from quite a large number of positions if you have to find visa sponsorship to find work. I’m not certain myself which degree is harder to find sponsorship with and you should honestly research that question yourself.
@NeoDymium
Thanks for your quick reply.Due to family connections I have somewhat a head start in the finance industry (even in the U.S).However connections are only useful in my opinion if you have the right skill for the job,much like a zero if it comes before the number it has no impact however if it comes after it multiplies it by 10.A thought that came to my mind yesterday was that for someone in my age (27) and background its easier to be in the top percentile of a business degree than the top percentile of a CS degree.I guess working on developing my programming skills alongside studying finance/accounting would be a wiser choice,since most of accounting/finance types have no interest in programming.I think I will settle for a minor in mathematics with a finance degree to help me get a better grasp on the more quantitative side. AMIRIGHT?