The MCB major is very popular...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>The</a> career center says that 534 Molecular and Cell Biology majors graduated with bachelor's degrees in 2010. That is 6.8% of 7851 total bachelor's degree graduates in 2010.</p>

<p>Other popular majors:</p>

<p>498 Economics
457 Political Science
346 English
329 Psychology
317 Business Administration
292 Integrative Biology
282 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
252 History
235 Sociology
232 Political Economy of Industrial Societies
173 Environmental Economics and Policy (L&S and NR)
167 Mechanical Engineering
165 Architecture
152 Interdisciplinary Studies
149 Mass Communications and Media Studies
142 Public Health
138 Legal Studies
136 Anthropology</p>

<p>(Note: Mathematics and Applied Mathematics are listed separately, with 89 and 106 graduates; total for both is 195.)</p>

<p>None of the above seems to be a really big surprise. But the bigger surprise may be in what is less popular:</p>

<p>88 Computer Science (L&S)</p>

<p>(Note: EECS + L&S CS totals 370.)</p>

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<p>^^ I think that might just be because all potential cs degree candidates would rather just go for the bs in cs over ba in cs from L&S…or maybe even EECS since they end up putting in almost as many courses.</p>

<p>damn. thats a lot of mcb majors…</p>

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<p>Everyone wants to be a doctor, but we have a shortage of doctors.</p>

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<p>Part of the issue seems to be a matter of how one defines ‘popular’. The above numbers designate only those who actually managed to complete the majors in the enumerated subjects. Computer science is one of the most difficult majors on campus, where even passing your classes is considered to be an achievement. Many ‘interested’ CS students will flunk out and hence not graduate, or will leave the major because they fear flunking out. In contrast, let’s be frank, it’s not that hard to merely pass, say, a poli-sci or psychology major. {It may be difficult to earn top grades, but just passing is trivial.}</p>

<p>Furthermore, you don’t really need a CS degree to become a perfectly competent software designer/developers. I know a number of highly qualified developers - some having even won awards from their employers - who don’t have CS degrees. Some never even graduated from college at all, and indeed, a few never even graduated from high school. All of them are obviously highly interested in computer science despite never having completed a formal college degree in that subject.</p>

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<p>There are some highly motivated self-educated people in every field. That is quite a bit different from being uneducated, as you appear to be trying to imply with the “never even graduated from high school” comment. (And remember the distinction between software development and IT.)</p>

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<p>according to the 2010 career center in the What Can I do with a major in section, The L&S Computer science graduates had an average salary of $76,733, while the EECS graduates had an average salary of $73,045, probably due to EE jobs paying slightly less than most CS jobs. So I doubt the BS or BA actually matters. One would choose the BS (like me) if they don’t want those crazy breadth requirements and rather just focus on engineering or perhaps they want to do EE, or one would choose the BA is they wanted a more holistic degree program where they could more easily double with another L&S major like psychology or math.</p>

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<p>The MCB data is actually misleading.</p>

<p>Up until Spring 2010, MCB had a significantly higher declaration rate than IB. After the new IB major tracks were created, MCB declaration fell and IB declaration skyrocketed (which is why people had to wait forever for advisor codes). According to Nancy Finkle (when I asked her) currently, IB is almost as large as MCB.</p>

<p>The flurry of people who declared over the last two semesters are mostly members of the class of 2012. MCB has a lot of Class of 2011 students, but much fewer 2012 students. Wait for the class of 2011 to graduate, and MCBs numbers will crash.</p>

<p>Also, Diivio, breadth requirements are not crazy. Taking Physics 7A-B for no reason is crazy.</p>

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<p>I wonder what all the 1447 kids majoring in English, Psychology, History, Sociology, Communications, and Anthropology are planning on doing with themselves.</p>

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<p>I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m going to post-bacc med program.</p>

<p>EDIT: whats your major 123? I’ve always been curious.</p>

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<p>Well, that’s not quite true. For example, I doubt that you’d find too many humanities or social science tenure-track university professors who never even graduated from high school at all. {Note, you might be able to find a position as an untenured lecturer/adjunct, but to actual obtain a tenure-track position without even having graduated from high school? Doubtful.} Similarly, to work as a (non-computer) engineer, you basically need at the very least an associate’s degree, usually in engineering or perhaps in the natural sciences or math. Many industries will simply not hire you if you don’t possess the desired credentials, regardless of how self-motivated and self-educated you may be. </p>

<p>However, the computer (and IT) space is one of the industries that doesn’t care much about credentials and where you can be hired without the ‘right’ degree (or any degree for that matter). Hence, there are indeed plenty of people who are able to pursue highly successful computer careers without actually earning CS degrees. And yes, these are not IT careers of which I speak, but actual software engineering careers.</p>

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<p>Some of them will surely be heading for graduate school, i.e. law school, Ed school, or PhD programs. </p>

<p>But surely, plenty of them will be obtaining regular jobs. The truth of the matter is, at least for office work, employers nowadays expect that you have a degree. It doesn’t matter much whether the degree is actually relevant to the job, just as long as you have a degree in something. Otherwise, many employers won’t even grant you an interview. A degree in humanities or soc.science at least allows you to surpass that employment screen.</p>

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<p>Whether the highly motivated self-educated people can get a job that they can do in the field is a different question. Those hiring people for jobs like to see some “proof” of some level of minimum qualification or competency. Such “proof” varies by type of job and type of candidate (entry level or experienced, etc.). And how well such “proof” works in finding the qualified candidates while eliminating unqualified candidates also varies. Experienced people moving into a new area within their job (where their co-workers see the effectiveness of their self-education) does tend to more doable than trying to be a self-educated person without formal credentials getting an entry level job.</p>

<p>In other words, the difficulty of self-education of the subject in question may differ from the barrier to entry for some type of job in the subject.</p>

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<p>While true, such people these days are not the majority, at least at the entry level, in software development. Also, many of those moving into CS without CS degrees originally studies some math-based subject – even though the math involved in those other subjects may not be directly applicable, the ability to think mathematically is a significant aid in moving into CS.</p>

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<p>Uh, isn’t that exactly what I said in post #10, which I reproduce here:</p>

<p>*Many industries will simply not hire you if you don’t possess the desired credentials, regardless of how self-motivated and self-educated you may be.</p>

<p>However, the computer (and IT) space is one of the industries that doesn’t care much about credentials and where you can be hired without the ‘right’ degree (or any degree for that matter). Hence, there are indeed plenty of people who are able to pursue highly successful computer careers without actually earning CS degrees. And yes, these are not IT careers of which I speak, but actual software engineering careers. *</p>

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<p>If anything, that only serves to reinforce the point that computer science is more ‘popular’ - as defined by those who are actually interested in the topic - than indicated by the number of degrees conferred. Many humanities and social science majors are similarly less ‘popular’, as there are surely many people who are completing those majors not because of any true interest in the subject, but rather are just looking for an easy degree. {Again, let’s face it, it’s not that hard to complete many hum/soc-sci majors if you’re content with merely passing.}</p>

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<p>Wait…so essentially what you guys are saying is that any person with an associates degree in computer science or related fields can get a job as a software engineer?</p>

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<p>Or even no degree at all…heck, sometimes without even having graduated from high school.</p>

<p>But the key is, you have to have software skills. But those skills do not necessarily have to be learned in the classroom. It’s not that hard to obtain some programming books from the library or the bookstore and start learning. Computers are dirt-cheap and becoming cheaper every day. Most software tools are available for free or a nominal “student” price. Buy an introductory book such as “Teach yourself Java in 21 Days”, download the software, and start practicing and learning. Nor does software development - except perhaps when you begin to build advanced applications - require much prior knowledge. You don’t really need to know much math beyond simple algebra to become a perfectly competent developer. </p>

<p>Some of the better developers that I know are still high school students, but have nevertheless already built their own Facebook and Iphone apps. Heck, I know a kid who’s still in junior high school who wrote his own Java emulation of Space Invaders. None of them have ever taken a formal computer science course; everything they learned was through self-study and practice.</p>

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<p>I’m not saying I doubt what you are saying, but I find it a little difficult to believe.</p>

<p>I’d think that HR reps/hiring managers would completely ignore an application if they don’t have some sort of computer science/engineering degree. It seems to me that putting down on your resume or cover letter that you studied computer programming on your own would achieve nothing but scoffs.</p>

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<p>u don’t need a degree to be a software engineer/programmer. even dr. Harvey said in 61a that companies will hire us without degrees as long as we can program.</p>

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<p>Many if not all companies require BS/BA in CS or EE.
So there you go…of course, one can program by himself if he wants to.
It’s just that he’s not gonna get a full time decent job.
And it feels like CS 61 series are completely useless…</p>

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<p>If nobody hires you because of such a policy, oh well, you can simply be named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year and have a Academy Award nominated movie made about your life while becoming the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. </p>

<p>Any HR rep or hiring manager in the software industry would (or should) understand the self-negating nature of such a hiring policy. Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Apple, Twitter, Facebook - so many of the most famous firms in the software space were founded by people who never even graduated from college at all. {Heck, Janus Friis of Skype never even graduated from high school.} </p>

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<p>But you would not simply jot a line on your resume. Instead, you would show people a portfolio of your work, whether that be a functioning and popular web application (i.e. such as Facebook, Twitter, or Groupon), a working modification of GNU/Linux code, a video game, an Iphone/Android app, or some other substantial and useful code that you wrote. Your career strategy then becomes akin to that of a professional sketch artist or photographer - instead of merely listing that you have a degree in photography (if that’s even possible), you actually show people your work. Just as nobody would scoff at a professional photographer who lacks formal training but whose website is replete with luxurious shots that he took, nobody would scoff at someone lacking a formal CS degree but who can point to bevy of functioning apps that he wrote. </p>

<p>And the truth of the matter is, it isn’t that hard to make those apps. It isn’t that hard to write the very first version of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Yelp. {To be sure, popularizing that app to necessitate scaling to millions of users while installing an advertising monetizing engine is exceedingly difficult, but if your site becomes that popular, then you clearly don’t need anybody to hire you as you have a multimillion dollar company on your hands.} Similarly, it’s not that hard to learn how to write a relatively simple Iphone, Android, or Facebook app. Again, the point is not to write one of the greatest and most popular such apps in the world - although you should if you can - but to simply demonstrate to recruiters that you can do it. {I mean seriously: a “Pull My Finger” app? An “Ipint” app that simulates drinking a beer? A “Twilight the Movie quiz” app? Surely you guys can match that.} </p>

<p>[Twilight</a> Quiz - iPhone Apps | i[App]Phone](<a href=“http://www.iappphone.com/apps/318432281/twilight-quiz/]Twilight”>http://www.iappphone.com/apps/318432281/twilight-quiz/)</p>

<p>[Apple</a> Relents, Starts Selling iPhone Fart App (AAPL)](<a href=“http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/12/apple-iphone-pull-my-finger]Apple”>Apple Relents, Starts Selling iPhone Fart App (AAPL))</p>

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<p>While the opportunity to become a successful entrepreneur is greater in the software development area than it is in many other areas, such people are by no means more than a small minority of software developers. Most software developers get jobs at companies the more usual way; as in most areas, the self-educated whose achievements are not well known tend to have a disadvantage in showing credentials that employers’ recruiters will look at.</p>

<p>As far as showing a recruiter a simple iPhone, Android, or Facebook application goes, one would still have get the recruiter to make the invitation to an interview, which is only likely if the application is well known and well regarded (lots of people have made simple applications, so a simple application is not something that would greatly distinguish one applicant over another). Once at the interview, there will be technical questions – the most motivated self-educated people should do fine, but the ones whose self-education was just reading a “how to program in Java” book are not likely to do as well.</p>

<p>In other words, unless you are at the top of the heap in motivation and ability to self-educate and come upon an entrepreneurial idea or one which causes you to get widespread recognition (e.g. a non-trivial well known high quality free software program), the more ordinary way of going into software development of studying to a degree in computer science is a safer route (and that does not prevent doing something entrepreneurial if an idea comes).</p>