BA in Computer Science vs BS in Computer Science

GLOBALTRAVELER
Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:13:29 +0000

“Still, I think there are a few courses that you really should take if you want to call yourself a CS major… yeah, physics and calculus aren’t necessarily those kinds of courses, but I take issue with the idea that you can waltz into a department, take a few courses you like the look of, and declare yourself a major because the other stuff isn’t important. Most employers I have talked to seem to hold similar beliefs.”

I agree to an extent, but you have to be familiar with other programs at other schools (read: do curriculum research) before you can declare the major. For example, the declaration of yourself as a CS major compared to a Math/CS major will be interpreted differently in the industry. If you did a survey on the various Math/CS hybrid programs across the universities who actually offer that combo, you will see that most are missing computer architecture, compiler design and maybe automata theory. You might also notice that those Math/CS programs are missing real analysis and sometimes abstract algebra from the Math portion.

I said all of that to say this: Make sure you are taking the courses that are at least universally offered at most programs for the desired degree and/or hybrid degree. That will at least allow potential employers to consider you on an even-scale are far as credentials.

Note: I do know that some resumes can be thrown out because of the BA vs. BS lingo, but not that often because you have for account to good schools like Vanderbilt who only offers a BA in Math (but does offer a BS in CS).