UCB has only two core options for CS, either EECS or BA(CS). EECS is half electrical engineering and half CS; out of half CS, only around half courses are programming, it is only about 0.25% beneficial for someone interested in computer programming career.
BA(CS) is a probably better for someone interested in programming; however it is impacted, students need to maintain gpa and there is no guarantee of the major.
Berkeley also does not offer option of specifying alternative major in the application. All of this makes UCB a difficult choice for students interested in computer programming. They have to take a chance at either EECS or none, or BA(CS) and struggle to maintain the major.
Any thoughts? What other options students with computer programming interest have for undergrad in SF bay area, other than CSUs?
I would choose the university for its overall package. This includes the overall quality of the student body and courses outside CS. Do not get hung up on mere programming- that’s something you can do via a community college AA degree. Consider the math courses available- some are likely cross listed in the math and CS departments.
btw- a student needs to make the hardware/engineering or the software/science decision. The two are very different fields. Choose the one you like most.
Son was an Honors major in math at UW (Wisconsin, another good school in the fields) who added the required courses to get the computer science major. He honed his programming skills in his first job. A few years later we find in talking to him that much of what he uses as a software developer/engineer (titles can be misleading, they depend on the company while doing the same sort of work) is self taught- different languages et al. Son (gifted, btw- not just an average student) has told us getting a masters is not beneficial.
I read a great article a year or two ago that was long and discussed CS including how math was important. I can see this- advanced math can help with thinking outside the box. Computer software development is much more than just programming.
Focus on a good school that accepts you. No school is perfect. Look at the total experience. There is so much more to college than one’s major and the academics.
So far son has been able to keep intellectually satisfied and work with intelligent people in his job. He would be the first to tell you that what you learn in college is nothing compared to what you learn by yourself, including after the degree. Many of the top schools that offer CS are limiting enrollment- you need to figure you are good enough to get into the major.
As your son said, these courses are not aligned with whats required today in the corporate world. They are mostly focused on mathematics and have courses such as C++, which are rarely used for software development today. Math would help, but only to some extent. Students are learning courses that have little relevance to what they would work on during their professional life. IMO, most of the courses in BS EECS are irrelevant for a software development job.
Actually, EECS, while it has additional physics and EE lower division requirements, does allow the student to emphasize CS for his/her upper division course work.
Found that this thread was moved from the parents forum after I posted. Somehow I dislike the term corporate America- I suppose most in the private sector work for corporations but they are doing the research and development- nothing to do with the business aspects. No business school courses needed at all. Getting a four year degree will teach you more theory and how to learn than just learning computer languages and how to program. Choose your college for a good education- UC- Berkeley is an excellent school.