Computer Science Major - State University

ucbalumnus
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:14:42 +0000

A decent CS degree from Soandso State University is likely more marketable than a social studies degree from Soandso State University.

If it is ABET-accredited, then it does meet a reasonably high minimum standard. If not, then check the course listing for junior/senior level courses in important areas like:

Algorithms
Operating Systems
Networks
Software Engineering
Security
Databases
Compilers
Computer Architecture

The first six are the ones with concepts most commonly seen in industry software jobs; the last two are a good idea to take if you want a broader coverage of CS or want to go to graduate school in CS. Additional math courses can be helpful as well. Economics, psychology, statistics, physics, and other subjects can be complementary, depending on the application of software that you write in industry.

Check your school’s career center to see what companies come recruiting. If your school is not that well known, it is likely to attract mainly local employers; you may have to be more aggressive in finding other employers to apply to. Probably everyone will be applying to Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft, but there are numerous other companies in the computer industry (you can do an industry search of companies with publicly traded stock on sites like http://finance.google.com , but there are also companies whose stock does not trade publicly, and government agencies), and numerous other companies in other industries that need people to write computer software.