BA vs BS in CS

Applying to College
1

I know CS is often offered in both the Engineering/SEAS school, along with a major in the CAS school. The CAS school is obviously much easier to get into compared to Engineering and Applied Sciences. Why would someone apply to the engineering school as a CS major if it is harder to get into? Why not apply the easier path through CAS, and get a BA vs a BS.

I know UC Berkeley does this, along with Umich.

Thanks

2

For UCB, the EECS major in the College of Engineering is direct admission to the major, while the CS major in the College of Letters and Science (L&S CS) is not. I.e. admission to EECS, while more difficult, means that you are in the major, but admission to L&S means that you need to complete the prerequisites and apply to the major after enrolling (currently requires a 3.3 college GPA in the prerequisite courses).

For Michigan, the situation is somewhat similar in that students in engineering can declare CS with a 2.0 GPA, but students in LSA need a 2.5 GPA to declare CS.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19854939/#Comment_19854939

3

so for example, at Berkeley, if you have a 3.3 are you guaranteed admission to the CS major? Or is this simply a requirement to be considered/able to apply.

Thanks @ucbalumnus

4

https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/cs-ba says that “Students entering UC Berkeley in fall 2015 or later must complete CS 61A, CS 61B, and CS 70 with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 in those 3 courses in order to be guaranteed admission to the CS major.”

Of course, the threshold could be changed in the future. It was changed in the past depending on whether the number of students wanting to declare the major exceeded the major’s capacity and by how much.

5

From another perspective, BA and BS have different requirements depending on the school. I know Northwestern has a BA at their Arts and Sciences in CS as well as a BS at their Engineering school. BA students complete distribution requirements at Arts and Sciences…so more humanities courses (history, writing, english, foreign language maybe idk the exact reqs) and then BS students have the more rigid engineering core (lots of physics, high level math etc). It depends on what you want to do with the degree. Both will prepare you for most CS careers, but obviously if you want to apply your CS degree to engineering, physics, math then you should do a BS.

I’m not in college yet but I’m hoping to double major in CS and Biochem/Biology…and I want a BA in CS because I am favor the humanties, more liberal-arts core and flexibility to apply the CS degree to health, life science, foreign language etc. I ultimately don’t want to be a web developer or programmer, but a technologically proficient physician (possibly bringing new perspectives to the development of health apps and programs), so that’s why I personally would like a BA. But they really aren’t that different, especially in terms of the actual Computer Science stuff.

6

@kjake2000 A BS is a harder degree to get due to more credits needed. When an employer sees an individual with a A in CS and a BS in CS, they will most likely pick the BS. BAs are usually for people who want to do something interdisciplinary compared to the straight up math in a BS. If you want to be employed in the field of CS, choose the BS.
If you are thinking about being a lawyer or something other than CS, you could choose either or.

7

At my college a BS required more GE credits in math and science, a BA required more foreign language. Therefore I personally thought the BA was harder.

8

Generalizations like these may not be accurate for specific schools.

For example, at UCB, graduates from both BS (EECS) and BA (L&S CS) go to industry in computing jobs, with similar pay levels. Students who want to have a second major in math, statistics, or similar majors in L&S will find it easier to fit all of the courses in with the BA program in L&S.

UCB students interested in patent law may want to note that the BS (EECS) program is ABET-accredited, so it automatically satisfies the patent exam requirements, while those in the BA (L&S CS) program may need to add some non-CS science to fulfill the patent exam requirements.