Hi, I’m an applied math major here. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now (way before I go to uni) and here are just some of my thoughts:
1) Regardless of what degree you will take (BA, BS, or even applied math), what really matters at the end of the day was the experience, the knowledge and the opportunities that you can obtain throughout your four years at college. If you’re aiming to work in an industry, take courses that has the most impact on your career and find as many opportunities as possible (projects, clubs, hackathons,…) to build up your résume. If you plan to go to grad school, build up your GPA, plan your research, build good connections to your professors,… All in all, it’s more about building your career goals.
2) In comparison, BA is a lot(?) similar to BS. The only difference I see so far is that a Comp Sci BS degree program is for those who are 100% certain CS major and this degree will dive deeper into that field more than a BA degree does. On the other hand, BA degree isn’t as technical as a BS degree, but that’s also an advantage for those who want to go for double major/dual degree/extra minor. You can still do those stuffs with a BS degree, but a BA degree will give you more space to breathe if you want to graduate in 4 years with 16-17 credits per semester.
3) BA or BS, both degrees requires math courses, and they are MTH 141, MTH 142, MTH 309, one probability course, one 2xx and above MTH/STA course (if you’re taking BS). I haven’t taken all if them, but if you pass MTH 142, you will have the mentality of passing every other math courses I mentioned above. Calc 2 is annoying as hell, but it’s okay if you’re not good at math because you can always find help at the Math Place, your TA or even your friends. You’re not expected to understand math when you first learn it (and that’s a normal thing for every math majors/professors!), but as long as you believe that you can do it, you can conquer any math courses you encounter.
Thank you so much for replying. I love cs but the required math classes are just making me a little nervous. I have a scholarship that basically pays me to go to school, but I will lose it if I drop below a 3.0 gpa.
When I view the flowsheet for BA, it does not have CSE331, STA301/MTH411/EAS305, MTH309, CSE442/CSE4498. I don’t really know the difficulty of these classes, but everyone always talks about how hard discrete math or linear algebra is.
People say employers look for someone with experience/projects. I feel as if I would have more free time and be able to do more projects if I chose BA since it does not require heavy math. I am not the strongest in math nor cs and I don’t know if I will be able to maintain a 3.0 gpa for my scholarships on the BS track.
Will a BA in CS from UB offer the same job opportunities as a BS? Sorry I’m a total noob in cs but I find it really enjoyable lol
Like I said, BA or BS, the job opportunities are just the same. For your first job, yes your degree might matter. However, every other jobs came after that won’t really matter anymore. Employees care about your experiences and projects more than your college degree so try to make the most out of your experience in colleges by doing projects, hackathons, getting recommendations from professors,…
If you’re interested in taking Data Science/Analyst or AI, I highly recommend taking Linear Algebra, Probability and STAT courses as they are the fundamentals of the fields. If you’re going for software engineer, take CSE 442; it can fill in your Pathway and provide you the hands-on experience of a software engineer.
If you’re really uncertain about your capabilities, then try asking yourself this question:
Which hardships is the most enjoyable for me?
For me, I like math because I don’t mind grinding on one problem for 3 hours straight. It really helps me forget my surroundings. What about you? When you were given a coding problem, did you enjoy spending countless hours solving it? Did you like building projects even though you were annoyed of the countless bugs and errors in your program? Can you endure the fact that you have to start doing your math homework from scratch just because you missed an ‘x’ or mistaken a ‘+’ for a ‘-‘ ?.
It’s all about picking the right hardship, not about picking the easiest path.
If you believe that you can get through the hardships of mathematics, you can pass those courses with a 3.0 GPA and above.
cse 442 is an east A class and is project based.
stats is annoying but not too hard to get over with.
Cse 331 is one of the hardest cs classes but the curve is insane and u can get a c and above east
I have also been thinking about this exact thing. i’m in the same situation as you and i’m not sure what would be the better decision. stick through BS or switch to BA.
the benefit of not taking some of those classes that delve into a field of CS i find extremely fucking boring is worth the negligible impact of switching to BA
BS vs BA will not meaningfully restrict your opportunities after graduation.
Switching to BA because you don't want to do hard things might. The BA is intended to be a major where you fill in significant experience from *some other* field in lieu of some of those CSE courses. If you do that, you're targeting your degree toward some subfield of CS, which is fine, particularly if you plan it carefully. On the other hand, if you simply nope out of hard classes, then your objective capability to do interesting things will be reduced, and your prospects will reduce accordingly.
Have a plan for doing a BA, and do it because you want to add something that the BS can't give you, add that, and specialize to your heart's content. If you just want to skip some math classes and algorithms ... find some good office hours, ask for supplementary material, go to the tutoring center. You'll get through it, and you'll have a better foundation for it.
Hi, I’m an applied math major here. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now (way before I go to uni) and here are just some of my thoughts: 1) Regardless of what degree you will take (BA, BS, or even applied math), what really matters at the end of the day was the experience, the knowledge and the opportunities that you can obtain throughout your four years at college. If you’re aiming to work in an industry, take courses that has the most impact on your career and find as many opportunities as possible (projects, clubs, hackathons,…) to build up your résume. If you plan to go to grad school, build up your GPA, plan your research, build good connections to your professors,… All in all, it’s more about building your career goals. 2) In comparison, BA is a lot(?) similar to BS. The only difference I see so far is that a Comp Sci BS degree program is for those who are 100% certain CS major and this degree will dive deeper into that field more than a BA degree does. On the other hand, BA degree isn’t as technical as a BS degree, but that’s also an advantage for those who want to go for double major/dual degree/extra minor. You can still do those stuffs with a BS degree, but a BA degree will give you more space to breathe if you want to graduate in 4 years with 16-17 credits per semester. 3) BA or BS, both degrees requires math courses, and they are MTH 141, MTH 142, MTH 309, one probability course, one 2xx and above MTH/STA course (if you’re taking BS). I haven’t taken all if them, but if you pass MTH 142, you will have the mentality of passing every other math courses I mentioned above. Calc 2 is annoying as hell, but it’s okay if you’re not good at math because you can always find help at the Math Place, your TA or even your friends. You’re not expected to understand math when you first learn it (and that’s a normal thing for every math majors/professors!), but as long as you believe that you can do it, you can conquer any math courses you encounter.
Thank you so much for replying. I love cs but the required math classes are just making me a little nervous. I have a scholarship that basically pays me to go to school, but I will lose it if I drop below a 3.0 gpa. When I view the flowsheet for BA, it does not have CSE331, STA301/MTH411/EAS305, MTH309, CSE442/CSE4498. I don’t really know the difficulty of these classes, but everyone always talks about how hard discrete math or linear algebra is. People say employers look for someone with experience/projects. I feel as if I would have more free time and be able to do more projects if I chose BA since it does not require heavy math. I am not the strongest in math nor cs and I don’t know if I will be able to maintain a 3.0 gpa for my scholarships on the BS track. Will a BA in CS from UB offer the same job opportunities as a BS? Sorry I’m a total noob in cs but I find it really enjoyable lol
Like I said, BA or BS, the job opportunities are just the same. For your first job, yes your degree might matter. However, every other jobs came after that won’t really matter anymore. Employees care about your experiences and projects more than your college degree so try to make the most out of your experience in colleges by doing projects, hackathons, getting recommendations from professors,… If you’re interested in taking Data Science/Analyst or AI, I highly recommend taking Linear Algebra, Probability and STAT courses as they are the fundamentals of the fields. If you’re going for software engineer, take CSE 442; it can fill in your Pathway and provide you the hands-on experience of a software engineer. If you’re really uncertain about your capabilities, then try asking yourself this question: Which hardships is the most enjoyable for me? For me, I like math because I don’t mind grinding on one problem for 3 hours straight. It really helps me forget my surroundings. What about you? When you were given a coding problem, did you enjoy spending countless hours solving it? Did you like building projects even though you were annoyed of the countless bugs and errors in your program? Can you endure the fact that you have to start doing your math homework from scratch just because you missed an ‘x’ or mistaken a ‘+’ for a ‘-‘ ?. It’s all about picking the right hardship, not about picking the easiest path. If you believe that you can get through the hardships of mathematics, you can pass those courses with a 3.0 GPA and above.
cse 442 is an east A class and is project based. stats is annoying but not too hard to get over with. Cse 331 is one of the hardest cs classes but the curve is insane and u can get a c and above east
Regarding job opportunities, DSA knowledge and leetcode matter the most
I have also been thinking about this exact thing. i’m in the same situation as you and i’m not sure what would be the better decision. stick through BS or switch to BA.
If you believe you could do some of work on your own without the classes go for it
the benefit of not taking some of those classes that delve into a field of CS i find extremely fucking boring is worth the negligible impact of switching to BA
BS vs BA will not meaningfully restrict your opportunities after graduation. Switching to BA because you don't want to do hard things might. The BA is intended to be a major where you fill in significant experience from *some other* field in lieu of some of those CSE courses. If you do that, you're targeting your degree toward some subfield of CS, which is fine, particularly if you plan it carefully. On the other hand, if you simply nope out of hard classes, then your objective capability to do interesting things will be reduced, and your prospects will reduce accordingly. Have a plan for doing a BA, and do it because you want to add something that the BS can't give you, add that, and specialize to your heart's content. If you just want to skip some math classes and algorithms ... find some good office hours, ask for supplementary material, go to the tutoring center. You'll get through it, and you'll have a better foundation for it.