<p>I was accepted to and will be attending UVA or USC (most likely UVA) in the fall, but I am have a really hard time deciding what set of majors to pursue. I am considering a double major in either computer engineering and mathematics, computer science and mathematics, or computer engineering and computer science. I've always loved computers, working on them, building them, etc., so I have a really hard time dropping computer engineering that focuses more on designing hardware, etc. Additionally, I'm not really a strong programmer yet (I've never taken anything formal), but I have taught myself some C and C++ and programmed for my robotics team, and I definitely enjoy it too. I'm considering the mathematics major just because I love math. I have always wanted to learn as much of mathematics as possible, and here it works well because it fits nicely with my other major choices. I just really can't see myself dropping any of these three without feeling like I'm really missing out on something. I've been researching myself to find the pros and cons, but I would appreciate any advice on this.</p>
<p>The great thing here is that your intended majors are pretty complementary. While I doubt that an actual triple major is doable, you could probably pull off a double major and then take several electives from the third major. It really just depends on which one you want prioritize less.</p>
<p>See here for some useful information on CE and double-majoring at UVa: <a href=“http://www.cpe.virginia.edu/ugrads/index.php[/url]”>http://www.cpe.virginia.edu/ugrads/index.php</a></p>
<p>A significant percentage of CS majors enter without any programming experience so that shouldn’t deter you from this major. If you were accepted at UVA engineering you may be able to take some of the CS and CE courses before you need to make your final decision. If you go CE then you could flesh out the major with technical electives in CS. But, I don’t think you’ll gain that much by double majoring in CS and CE (even if allowed at UVA). You could get a minor in Mathematics.</p>
<p>I think you could do very well with a CS major and a minor in Mathematics. If you were really interested in CE and robotics the best choice for an in-state student might have been to go to VT. JMHO.</p>
<p>FYI A lot of math classes are very proof based after Calc III, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra. I’m not trying to intimidate you into thinking you can’t do them, but they might not be the most interesting and a lot of them have no real world applications. I’m a math/comp sci major and I can’t wait to finish up my math requirements so I can just go back to programming!</p>
<p>If you actually know the difference between C and C++, I wouldn’t worry about your programming credentials at all. I’d second the CS major, math minor, or maybe CE major, math minor if you’re more a hardware person than a software person.</p>
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<p>I beg to disagree. </p>
<p>An “applied” or “computational” mathematics emphasis would have some proofs but are mostly applied courses. Once I was done with Diff Eq and Linear Algebra, my ONLY mostly proof-based course was Advanced Calculus, which at Michigan State was a one-semester “real analysis light” course. The remainder of my courses were:</p>
<p>Discrete Math I (Combinatorics)
Discrete Math II (Graph Theory)
Mathematical Programming (basically a Linear Programming/Optimization course)
Numerical Analysis I (Numerical Solutions of topics from Calculus and Diff Eq)
Numerical Analysis II (Numerical Linear Algebra mostly)
Applied Probability & Statistics</p>
<p>OK, I slightly lied. The last math course was called Computational Complexity which is pretty theoretical BUT I remember that we did many applications to computer science.</p>
<p>I AVOIDED theory when I could.</p>
<p>By the way, I was a Computational Math major who also took 90% of the CS curriculum (everything except digital circuits and computer architecture).</p>
<p>UVA specifically has a combined CE and CS double major, which is why I am considering it. Double majoring in CS and Math is nearly impossible at UVA because it is across colleges and will require coursework every summer. I want to enjoy the other aspects of college outside of pure academics. The CS major and math minor sounds alright, but I’m still not sure what to do.</p>