<p>I’m seriously considering attending the Cox School of Business at SMU to acquire a BBA, but I’m also intrigued about acquiring a B.S. in computer science from the university’s engineering school.</p>
<p>Although there may be little correlation between these two degrees. Are there fields that combine some computer science and business? How would a business degree benefit me in the practice of patent law? I ask because I’m also interested in acquiring a joint degree in law and computer science/engineering after completing my undergraduate studies.</p>
<p>Yes, acquiring the business degree would extend the time of my graduation at least two more semesters (an academic year), but I figure if the technology field dries up for me, then I can rely on the business degree.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Actually, I was thinking of doing exactly the same thing! Unfortunately, I know nothing about SMU. </p>
<p>However, one of the reasons I’m looking at the University of Southern California is because they really encourage this type of interdisciplinary study. Of particular interest to you and me, they have a computer science and business administration degree, as a combined program. Really cool, kills two birds with one stone as they say.</p>
<p>You could go to the link below for more information on this particular program. There may be more on the Viterbi engineering page. Perhaps it could give you some ideas on what to expect if you decide to double major. At the very least it tells you that the combination of the two majors is actually quite common and doable! Good luck, hope this helped :)</p>
<p>[USC</a> Catalogue: The Schools: USC Viterbi School of Engineering: Computer Science: Bachelor of Science](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/engineering/computer_science/undergraduate.html#csbs]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/engineering/computer_science/undergraduate.html#csbs)</p>
<p>The field that is a blend of computer science and business is Management Information Systems or Computer Information Systems. These majors focus less on mathemetics and theory and more on programming, applications and business courses.</p>
<p>yea going off what BCEagle91 said, what you might be looking for is a MICS major. That’s my major and it’s great. Why? You don’t get too technical when it comes to technology, but you learn how it all works and the practical uses of how things work. An analogy I used to describe the major to a friend who’s an English major was: Computer Science majors are the authors who write books, and I’m (MICS Major) the critic who reviews those books. It’s a great discipline.</p>
<p>Not too long ago I met with people in the field, and they were telling me, in IT if you can’t apply technology to a business and learn how to use it in a business setting, then you’re not going to get far and it limits your job opportunities. Computer Science people (and this is not meant to offend anyone in the major) can design and code all day, but often they are horrible communicators and have ideas that just aren’t practical. But then you have business people who just don’t understand the technology either. That’s where the MICS person comes in. Most of those technical jobs get outsourced as well so that field helps broaden the field of opportunities you have.</p>
<p>MICS is all about breadth, not depth, when it comes to technology. And yet the great thing is that you can get real technical if you want to.</p>
<p>Hopefully that helps you out.</p>
<p>^Good post, BP-Guy88. I actually thought about Management Science or CIS as a major, but it doesn’t give me a real deep competency in both computer science and business disciplines.</p>
<p>That’s why I thought about just acquiring both a CS and BBA degree. Because I also have an interest patent law, the accredited B.S. in Computer Science would allow me to take the patent bar exam after completing law school. I couldn’t do that with a MS or CIS degree, unfortunately. And yes, I met a computer science undergraduate that was not so good at communication, but he didn’t graduate from the school that I want to acquire my computer science degree from, which emphasizes communication skills.</p>
<p>Since Computer Science is going to be intensive (deeming my GPA is compromised a bit), acquiring my BBA as well will help strengthen my GPA, which is the second most important factor in getting into law school.</p>
<p>Do you really need the deep competency in Computer Science? There are courses in CIS that aren’t in the other two majors so it’s not necessarily the case that doing CS and Business covers all or most of what’s in an IS degree.</p>
<p>The best document that I’ve seen explaining the various computing-related majors is at <a href=“http://www.acm.org/education/education/curric_vols/CC2005-March06Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.acm.org/education/education/curric_vols/CC2005-March06Final.pdf</a></p>
<p>BTW, I have both IS and CS degrees and have extensive work experience in MIS and engineering.</p>
<p>^Actually I do need the competency of the CS degree so that I can practice patent law. An accredited B.S in CS degree will allow me to take the patent exam after competing law school. Unfortunately having a MIS/CIS degree will not permit such.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that the we get significant patent reform in CS and software. The problems of frivolous patent applications and patent ■■■■■ law firms is a scourge to the industry and reminds me of Wall Street where they push paper around and collect fees instead of adding something useful to society.</p>
<p>I saw a lecture by a Duke Engineering grad talking about grad school. He talked about various graduate options and implored students not to go into law because they are builders and creators of things.</p>