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<p>Math is a liberal art, and all of those majors have direct paths - sociologists, artists, musicians, creative writers.</p>
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<p>UC Berkeley only offers a BA in computer science. I wonder that means that UC Berkeley is not as good as other schools in CS…</p>
<p>Math isn’t a liberal art any more than engineering or physics. Stop trying to argue that it is because you can’t win. And as soon as you can find someone who has a business card that says “Creative Writer” on it, then I’ll believe it has a direct career path.</p>
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<p>And you’re actually wrong…UC Berkeley does offer a BS in CS. Except it’s rolled up into the CoE. [Computer</a> Science - Two Ways | EECS at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/two_ways.html]Computer”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/two_ways.html)</p>
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The CS program requires a greater number of non-technical, or breadth courses, than the EECS program. <a href=“from%20the%20UC%20B%20%20website”>/quote</a></p>
<p>Exactly as I said…the BA programs are watered down versions of the BS ones. The whole point of studying a technical subject is to get a technical degree. By going for the BA option you’re defeating the point.</p>
<p>queen- drop it. No one cares that you think BS degrees are better than BA ones. It’s an old tired argument that has nothing to do with the original topic. You want to start a thread to debate this, be my guest. Keep beating that dead horse. But seriously people, drop it and get back to the original topic or close the thread.</p>
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Err…
Hmm.</p>
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You did not address my previous post whatsoever. :(</p>
<p>OP’s question has already been answered, so I vote we keep this going until it gets closed. ^_^</p>
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<p>“Liberal arts” includes math and science.</p>
<p>As far as “Bachelor of Arts” versus “Bachelor of Science”, a math major at Berkeley will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts, and a history major at MIT will graduate with a Bachelor of Science.</p>
<p>BA or BS is irrelevant; what matters most is the major, and to a lesser extent the school.</p>
<p>Filtering through all the typical liberal arts science etc debate garbage, thanks for the advise guys. Thanks for making me feel better about being lazy.</p>
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<p>Incorrect for the example of Berkeley EECS (BS degree) versus L&S CS (BA degree).</p>
<p>Both majors take the same lower division CS courses; they require approximately the same number of upper division technical courses (usually about 7 in both cases). L&S CS requires at least 6 of them to be CS courses; EECS allows the student to choose freely between EE and CS.</p>
<p>Both also require four lower division math courses and one electronics course.</p>
<p>EECS does require one additional lower division math course, two additional physics course, an additional science course, and an additional lower division EE course; these are prerequisites for some of the upper division EE courses.</p>
<p>Breadth requirements differ; Engineering requires two writing courses and four additional humanities and social studies courses (one writing and one other course may be covered by AP credit). L&S requires two writing courses and five additional humanities and social studies courses, plus two science courses (the writing courses may be covered by AP credit, but not the others) for breadth. L&S also has a foreign language requirement, although it is commonly fulfilled with sufficient high school work or AP credit.</p>
<p>From a technical CS course standpoint, there is no real difference between the two majors for a student who wants to focus on CS. A student who wants to focus on EE would find the EECS major better suited for his/her goals.</p>
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<p>Umm, who do you think writes fiction?</p>
<p>^I don’t wanna get caught up in all this but dude anyone can become a writer. The best 2 recent examples that come to mind are J.K. Rowling and Christopher Paolini. (Harry Potter and the Inheritance Cycle) Paolini started writing his books when he was like 16 and everyone knows the JK’s story.</p>
<p>^Rowling has a BA in French, studied in Paris, worked for Amnesty International, etc., clearly having different life experiences than the average person. Paolini was home schooled and graduated from high school at the age of fifteen which is when he started working on Eragon. Again, very different life experiences, all of which contribute to their writing in some way. Some people also have a strong aptitude for writing, some do not. The universal claim that “anyone can become a writer” is equatable to the claim that anyone can become a mathematician: it’s simply not true.</p>
<p>^^ Well anyone can be a writer…just not a very good one ;)</p>
<p>^^Yeah it would’ve been better for me to say what queenthethird said. Anyone can write. But my main point remains true. You don’t need a debree in creative writing to be a writer lol thats a ridiculous idea.</p>
<p>You don’t need a degree in music performance to be a classical musician either, but those without one are few and far between. That’s not to say that almost every writer has a degree in creative writing; rather, that having the foundation to effectively use any of the rhetorical strategies at one’s disposal is extremely beneficial to a writer. Instruction aids persons of every field.</p>
<p>^Of course, but as you yourself pointed out not every (I doubt even most) professional writer has a Creative Writing degree. In fact there are other degrees that can also prepare you if writing is truly what you want to do.</p>
<p>Of course not every professional writer has a degree in creative writing. This goes back to “not necessary, but helpful” as far as developing creative writing skills goes.</p>
<p>^Well that’s the original point I was arguing dude. -_-</p>
<p>It was implied that Creative Writing was a major where you didn’t have a set path. Warbrain responded by saying they obviously becamse fiction writers. And thats where you picked the debate up from my original response that there were a ton of people that became writers and few of them had degrees in Creative writing and that most people with the degree wouldn’t become writers.</p>
<p>Of course a degree in it would be helpful, but its definitely not needed.</p>
<p>Your original point was actually:
By become a writer, do you mean as a profession? Then certainly anyone can become a writer, but few can make a career out of writing, which is what I was saying. The two (very unique) examples you gave were from people who had both upbringings and educational experiences that differ greatly from the majority of the world. They also appear to have a strong aptitude for creative writing, a characteristic I will again say differs from the majority of the world. So no, not everyone can be a writer, and those who can will probably never make it to the same level of fame as Paolini and Rowling.</p>
<p>LOL, thats what i meant by my original point! You admitted the degree’s not needed but that it helps and that not every professional writer has the degree. And as I said, anyone can become a writer regardless of the degree. It just helps form a stronger foundation.</p>
<p>Anyone can become a writer. Can all people do it as a profession? Course not. Just like not everyone can be a music artist. I’ll admit it was bad word choice on my part to imply that EVERY single person in the world could do it. I basically meant the potential is there for people to do it and they don’t need the degree. Everyone has a different educational and life experience. That’s life. With those 2 author’s though the reason I used them is because they didn’t have a creative writing degree yet they became extremely succesful without it. </p>
<p>I also chose them because they represent 2 extreme opposites in a way. JK who had a lot of life experience was older and had seen a bit of the world and Paolini who was really young and had been a little sheltered due to his home schooling. People from any background and any major could become a writer. Are some more likely to become writers though? Of course. If I needed someone to help me with an essay would I go to an engineering major over a creative writing major? Not in this lifetime. However, either of those 2 could very well become a succesful writer one day.</p>
<p>The potential isn’t always there—by this I mean that in comparison to any successful writer, they are simply inadequate. But I do agree with what you are saying. 
Semantics are crazy.</p>