CS/Math Double Major Question

[Cabhan]

Howdy all. I've a question for the CS, Math, and related education people amongst you.

I'm currently a Freshman CS major. I've been enjoying Discrete Math and Calculus a great deal, and when Google came to talk to us, they talked a lot about Math in terms of algorithms. I've recently been looking into a double major with Math, and while it's only some 10-12 extra classes, I lose a lot of electives and may end up needing an extra semester of school.

Now, I feel that the benefits would be worth it and would make me a very attractive job candidate. I'm just curious if anyone who has pursued this path could chime in and give me their thoughts, or if anyone with attachments to this (educators, HR folks, etc.) could tell me what they think.

Thanks a bunch!

[Javasnob]

I had the same thought when I took Discrete Math. I found out later that majoring in CS and Math isn't for me, so I decided against it. But if you like it that much, more power to you. As for time in college, don't worry about it. You have the rest of your life to work, and I don't know about you, but I LOVE college. I'll probably be doing the 5-year plan to finish up my CS major and a major in Chinese.

Out of curiousity, where do you go to school?

[Thrillhouse]

I had the same exact problem, Cabhan. I was a CS major and I needed a certain amount of Math because I wanted to work for the government and the government requires you to take a lot of Math if you're looking at technical jobs. For me though, it was only one more class to get the minor and 8 more classes to get the major. So, I took the minor. I don't know about your school but where I went, Math was a very difficult major. CS was hard but the average GPA for Math majors when they graduated at my school was 2.6. I didn't want it to pull down my GPA too much so I ended up with a major in Computer Science and two minors: one in Math and one in Arabic. My advice to you is: do what you want to do. If the only reason you want to take Math is to set yourself up for this job, ditch it! If there are other non-Math courses that you're interested in taking but won't be able to take because you won't have room in your schedule, don't go for the major in Math. However, if you want to take Math because you are genuinely interested knowing every little detail about the algorithms, go ahead and do that but I feel like you can pick and choose the courses that focus on those aspects (Coding Theory, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, etc.) and not have to deal with the courses that you don't really want to take just to get the major. Good luck to you and let us know what you decide.

[techieMoe]

I'm currently a Freshman CS major. I've been enjoying Discrete Math and Calculus a great deal...

Phew. That wasn't me. I barely survived Discrete Math and was very glad to be out of it. More power to you. Just know that in the real programming world you'll likely never use any of the high-level theoretical math you're studying unless you decide to write software for a jet propulsion laboratory or design your own 3D physics engine.

I've recently been looking into a double major with Math, and while it's only some 10-12 extra classes, I lose a lot of electives and may end up needing an extra semester of school.

In my opinion it's not worth it, but if Math is what really gets you going and you enjoy it, by all means. I would personally recommend you take a few fun electives and graduate with a single major at your own pace. Your college years are unique in that you'll never again have that amount of freedom with so little responsibility. Enjoy them. Don't kill yourself trying to achieve some nebulous academic status that may or may not ever benefit you in your career.

Now, I feel that the benefits would be worth it and would make me a very attractive job candidate.

Just in my personal experience, the people that are looking to hire you for a CS-related job could give a damn whether you have a double major in math. I was a BA (Bachelor of Arts) with a major in Computer Science and minor in Spanish and it landed me a good programming job. Most places are more interested in what you can do, not a piece of paper.

[Cabhan]

Thanks a bunch, guys, for your advice. I've actually been looking into a Math Minor, and it's seeming more attractive to me. My school doesn't offer too much higher-level discrete math (Number Theory and Combinatorics only), and I can take those both with the Minor.

So at this point, I think I'm leaning more towards that minor. But we'll see.

And I realize the whole "What you can do over a piece of paper" thing, and I've always felt that. I dunno, it's just making me feel like a degree is more and more important . My school is co-op-based (when I graduate after 5 years, I have 18 months work experience), so landing good co-ops is considered a fantastic thing.

So thanks. I'll let you all know what I end up deciding.


@Javasnob

I'm at Northeastern University up in Boston.

[techieMoe]

And I realize the whole "What you can do over a piece of paper" thing, and I've always felt that. I dunno, it's just making me feel like a degree is more and more important .

Yes, don't get me wrong: you'll always be in better shape with a degree than without, regardless of what kind of work experience you have. When I was in college we had a guest speaker who was a techie entrepeneur with no college degree. Although he'd been quite successful due to his high level of technical knowledge and shrewd business sense, he'd lost many possible job opportunities because the people in charge of hiring preferred the "safe" feeling of hiring someone with a degree.