I have narrowed my college down to UMD with Honors. However, choosing my major for now is quite confusing. I know i can switch later, but which one is beneficial now. The people at UMD have allowed me to switch. Finance is an LEP major and CS is not. However, i don’t feel like I’m leaning towards either one. Im interested in math and am very good at it. So which one is more stable and powerful in terms of job prospects upon graduation? Which one will provide the higher salary ultimately? Which one has the better life stored in it? I know all of these questions are subjective, but still want some opinion on the worth of these majors.
If you can get into the business school now, do it. Its much easier to transfer out if you change your mind than to get in later. If you are a finance major theyll still let you take CS courses with permission.
Also you shouldn’t base your major on salaries and jobs, both will earn you a pretty nice paycheck and have relatively low unemployment, but that’s worth nothing if you hate your job. I’m also a CS major so if I say more it’d be a little biased haha.
@MDBandGeek Are you taking CS classes where all they teach you is coding languages? Bc coding seems boring to me… Shed some light?
@prodigee You start out taking CMSC 131 & 132 your first year (object oriented programming I & II). In those classes the main thing you learn is Java. While it is very programming heavy, (usually a large portion of your grade is coding projects) there are a few other things that are taught. And at the higher levels there are some classes you can take that are much more mathematical or theoretical. Coding is boring to some people and very interesting to others. If you’re not sure I suggest giving it a shot because you never really know until you try.
These are all the CS classes offered in fall 2015 https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/201508/CMSC
@MDBandGeek Okay nice, and anything you know about Finance field? In terms of internships and productivity?
@prodigee sorry I know pretty much nothing about the business school. I’m sure someone on here can shed some light though
The CS program at UMD is one of the top programs in the country. I’ve done research on both these majors and others to figure out which one would be best for me to pursue. CS does seem like the better choice because it is pretty stable with all the tech going on in the world today. Its also a field where your creativity can be endless. Although I would obviously figure out if you actually like to code or not before deciding. Codecademy is very beginner friendly and can teach you the basics.
If you are interested in math and not good at it, I don’t have good news for you in terms of the CS major. The required engineering calculus sequence are some of the highest failed courses in the school, and they are weed-outs for engineers. You cannot even take the first required CS course until you are concurrently enrolled in Calc 1, and you can’t go to the second until you get a C or above in Calc 1. Any FURTHER CS courses require Cs in Calc 1 and Calc 2. I know you are planning on going to the university, and I don’t know the exact rules, but once you declare CS, you can’t take equivalent calc courses outside of UMD. I’d consider starting in Finance if you truly love it and then if you decide on CS, take the Calc sequence somewhere else before you switch, but honestly, I don’t know if that is even allowed.
I agree with @MDBandGeek , if you are able to get in business school, you should take admission in it since its really hard to get in later on. once, you are in, you could pick any other major whenever you want to. when i was selecting my major, i had same issue as you.i hate coding so i ended up selecting IS as my major.if you like math, you could certainly go for it but i don’t know anything about that side.
If i were you, I would get in business school and take classes in other schools(cs/math) to get feel of it and once comfortable, you can choose major that you truly like.
Remember, its better to spend 6 months figuring out what you like than hating your major for rest of your college life!!