The Q: I'm a freshman at UC-San Diego. I am in the computer science department and I was wondering what the differance would be to me in the future from a B.S. and a B.A.

The A: Whether it's a B.S. (bachelor of sciences) or a B.A. (arts), an academic major in computer science will open doors with prospective employers. The degree itself is much less significant in the job market than the courses you've taken and the experience you've gathered along the way. That said, there are two possible impressions you need to plan for when choosing which degree to pursue.

Most people, when reading your resume, would assume that your B.A. required fewer core computer science courses than the B.S. This seems to be the case at UCSD. If you are pursuing a highly technical position with a software company or engineering firm, this could be perceived as a negative.

For other types of employers, students with B.A.s would have distinct advantages over their purely computer science classmates. With a lighter load of technical courses, perhaps you've picked up accounting or chemistry. What many undergraduates fail to realize at the time is that real world programming assignments will require intimate knowledge of not just programming, but also the business of their employer. The most attractive candidates will, therefore, offer more than just a computer science dimension, but demonstrate the capacity for solving other types of problems as well.

Hope this helps,

—Ian Richards, Compsci Advisor

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