Ask HN: Double Major CS/Math or Single CS Major? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Double Major CS/Math or Single CS Major?

5 pointscoreyja17 comments

I am going to be a Freshman in college next year attending Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. I figured out that if I just do a Single Major in Computer Science I can probably graduate in three years. To do a Double Major with Computer Science and Math it would take another year and almost $50,000. Either way I will also be getting a minor in Economics. Do people think the Double Major is worth it in terms of getting a good job out of college and differentiating myself from other people?

I want to work in the computer software industry. Not exactly sure on what, just yet.

Thanks!

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I'll share something with you that I've only recently come to understand: Unless you're really interested in both subjects then double majors aren't worth the time and sweat you put into them. The fact is that the double major MIGHT give you a slight advantage when it comes to getting an interview, but after you have a year or two of experience under your belt your double major won't matter much at all. Software companies want people who can get things done, not people who can take more technical courses than any human should.

I was considering a double major in Applied Math and Computer Science but I've recently decided to go a similar, but different route. Instead of taking all of the Applied Math courses that I don't foresee myself using, like Partial Differential Equations and Numerical Methods for Differential Equations, I will be picking up a few math courses that I actually WANT to take, like Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes.

Take courses you want to take. Take courses that will help you in the long run. If you don't get a double major, then so what? Just go build something awesome and you'll get a job no problem.

A large part of our industry is self-taught. You don't need a specific degree to get a good job - or even a degree at all. Some bigger companies are a bit more formal (e.g. Google, Microsoft) and prefer hiring graduates, but even they look at merit before academic background. There are some jobs that benefit from academic experience, e.g. being a quant on Wall Street, but math or physics is a lot more useful for that than CS. If want to work in a field like that (or want to keep your options open) I'd recommend doing the double major or alternatively just major in math, while polishing your CS skills by working on open source software and maybe a few CS courses.

Getting a job out of college or differentiating yourself shouldn't be the prime motivator for this decision (if considered at all). Whichever way you graduate, you will be fine. It isn't like you're trying to decide between majoring in pottery class at a community college and going to med school. Future employers will be a lot more impressed by the depth of your understanding of your field than how many classes you took and the extra curricular activities are even more important (e.g. open source, internships, personal projects).

Math is probably the hardest thing you can study. You should do it if you can do so without hurting your grades. It will broaden your intellectual horizons.

As a practical skill, however, math ain't all that much. Learning how to write and communicate well and how to make people like you (i.e. social skills) are far more important in just about any industry (software included).

If you have excellent academic credentials math or computer science you can get a good job out of college - having a double major might give you a slight edge in some settings if you have excellent credentials in both - but good credentials in both is not as good as excellent credentials in one or the other.

I will add that other than for personal interest a minor in the dismal science probably won't make your resume stand pop out of the stack in the way in which a minor in something like art, english or philosophy will - those are the one's which make people think, "at least the interview might be interesting."

Finally, the stronger your math skills the more options your education will provide over the course of a technical career.

Good luck.

I faced the opposite decision... a double major in math and CS or just the math major, and decided to do only the math major. It was the best decision of my college career. But I still took the upper level CS courses that interested me! So drop the math major, but learn Galois theory (or whatever) anyway.

That said, I don't recommend graduating in three unless for economic reasons you have to. If you can, take the fourth -- study abroad is awesome, as others suggested -- it is also a great chance to take advanced courses in other disciplines. I took an upper-level philosophy course, it was hard and I learned a ton.

I'm a junior in applied math, and I'm noticing that a whole lot of my fellow applied math majors are also computer science majors. I've also seen that lots of the professors who let undergraduates do research look for experience with C or R. I should be learning programming if I want to go to grad school, shouldn't I?

I would argue that social skills are more important than a double major. Consider doing a year abroad? Good luck, some of the people you meet will become lifelong friends.

Ya I had thought about doing a year abroad but realized I wouldn't be able to with doing a Double Major. I hadn't thought about how I could do a year abroad with the Single Major and not have to worry about which classes to take.

I had thought of going to Singapore as a really cool place to study abroad. Any other suggestions?

Don't pay 50 grand to spend a year abroad. Do whatever degree you decide to do as fast as humanly possible and then either start your working life, go to grad school, be a bum for a year, or volunteer someplace.

Also, all of those people talking to you about social skills and college, ignore them. Spending three or four years getting older, making mistakes and doing stuff will make your social skills better. Deliberately making your social skills better works much, much faster and can be done anytime, though I must admit college is an easy time to do it.

Agreed re: not paying 50K to spend a year abroad. Software developers are in high demand -- find a job abroad so you get paid to learn a new culture.

Singapore reminded me of a Tropical Vancouver. It's a great base to explore the rest of south east asia, a Beautiful Place.

If your already willing to pay $50k annually (and I complain about my $30k student debt), why don't you just go to college in Europe, Singapore, Australia or Canada? A Math PhD at Stanford that I talked to said that his University of Toronto engineering undergrad was pretty similar to the Stanford undergrad. It would probably be cheaper, and nicer.

I think I might do a year of study abroad and I am thinking that Singapore is my first choice. I don't necessarily want to do my entire education internationally but would definitely consider doing a year or a semester.

It's possible doing a study abroad in Europe may change your life. One in safe Singapore, not as likely.

My first thought was to recommend the double major because I believe that a stronger math background opens a lot of doors, specially in the software industry. Now, considering your last statement and the fact that you also have a minor in economics I'd say you're better off saving those 50K and extra year. Getting involve in open source projects it's a much better strategy to differentiate yourself that getting a minor/major, at least in the software industry.

Good luck!

I believe that I will have a strong enough background in math just with the CS curriculum that my school offers and the double major was really just to set me apart and in part because I enjoy math.

Do you think that your economics minor has benefited you? Are you in the software industry?

Not having a math degree will impact you later if you want to get into grad school in math/financial math. If you are pretty sure you are going into software, ditch the math degree.

I'd suggest a Comp. Sci. and Statistics combination.

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