As a rising senior in high school, I am considering CS at UPenn. I would like to get feedback on pros and cons of BSE or BAS CS degree especially as it relates to internship and job opportunities. Thanks.
You can see results from both on the career outcomes dashboard.
The CAS has a low response rate with the engineering school not much better. That’s always a concern - why aren’t they reporting? Are the true results not great or is there apathy toward the school ?
But that’s what you have - the data - that and the curriculums to see what fits you best. At other schools, like u Mich, grads from both seem to do well.
So I’d pick the curriculum that fits you best.
The reality is - at Ivy - and Cornell’s database shows this - finding a job / internship is more likely to happen from your efforts than the schools. And of course the economy plays a part -many CS grads are struggling now but of course new CS avenues are opening as well.
Best of luck.
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The BSE is an accredited engineering degree. It includes several Comp Engineering requirements, calculus, and even physics I believe. The BAS provides you greater flexibility to do cross-disciplinary studies (for example, by taking electives from finance, linguistics, etc).
It’s UPenn - so both degrees are well regarded. It’ll come down to what you want to do career wise. If you want to target a core tech (CS/CE) career, the BSE is much more rigorous and will position you well. If you are more likely to go to Wall Street, consulting, etc, a BAS might be a better option.
FWIW, I’ve hired students with both degrees (at large Wall Street firms) and they’ve done equally well. So I don’t think there’s one right answer.
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You can compare requirements here:
The differences:
| Course | BSE | BAS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIS 4480/5480 | Required | Operating Systems Design and Implementation | |
| CIS 4710/5710 | Required | Computer Organization and Design | |
| CIS Elective | 4 | 2 | |
| CIS Project Electives | 2 | ||
| Engineering Electives | 2 | ||
| CIS 4000/4100 | Required | Senior Project | |
| CIS 4010/4110 | Required | Senior Project | |
| CIS 4980 | Required | Senior Capstone Project | |
| CIS 2610 or ESE 3010 or STAT 4300 | Required | Probability | |
| MATH course | Required | Multivariable calculus or linear algebra | |
| PHYS 0150/0170 | Required | Mechanics and wave motion | |
| PHYS 0151/0171 | Required | Electromagnetism and radiation | |
| Natural science | 2 | Physics, chemistry, or biology | |
| Natural science electives | 1 | 3 | BSE allows math elective here |
| Technical electives | 6 | 8 |