CS major, UVA Arts & scienses school or Engineering school?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, if this question has been asked before. DS is from a public HS, good stats (4.4+ GPA), not much ECs. Which school should he apply for cs major? Will the students from both cs programs have similar chances for internship and job opportunites? Thanks

[Anonymous]

E school needs two more core classes to take - operating systems and one other, the engineering foundational courses, and more electives to fulfill the requirement. It's a harder major than the college's. They take the same classes offered by the engineering school though. It just has more required classes. Both have to pass a 200 level weed-out class to move on.

I would think E school major will have a slight edge in the job market, but the college's CS degree is good enough for most of the jobs out there if you are not into kernel or systems development.

[Anonymous]

DC should assess strengths and goals.

If CS, but also solid reader/writer/communicator, A&S. Will develop tech skills but can use extra credits/time to develop some content expertise and academic research skills in a targeted area to apply the CS skills (e.g., CS and public health, CS and international relations etc.)

If loves the technical aspects of CS exclusively, Engineering. Somewhat more technically intensive, less credits/time to explore other content expertise.

Both will be well-regarded.

[Anonymous]

DD had the same choice at Cornell. She chose the one that she thought better suited her course interests. For her, the lack of foreign language requirement made her chose engineering. I do not think it matters long term.

[Anonymous]

Differences: BS vs. BA Degree

The Computer Science department offers two Computer Science degrees: the Interdisciplinary Major in Computer Science degree offered through the College of Arts & Sciences (BACS), and the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree offered through the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In addition to the two Computer Science degrees, we also offer a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (aka CpE) degree which is jointly administered with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department .

The main differences between the two Computer Science degrees are:

1. The BACS degree is in the College of Arts & Sciences; the BSCS is in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. This means the degrees have different general requirements. The general requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences are the competency requirements (see the Undergraduate Record for details). For example, the traditional option for these includes two writing requirements, a foreign language, and area requirements in natural science and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and historical studies. The general requirements for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences include mathematics, chemistry, physics, technical electives, humanities electives, and science, technology, and society courses. To enroll in the BACS major, students must be enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences. To enroll in the BSCS major, students must be enrolled in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

2. Students in the BACS degree first take the CS1110-CS2110. After completing the first two courses, students are prepared for the same courses, and both BACS and BSCS are required to take these courses: CS2102, CS2150, CS3330, and CS4102.

3. BSCS students (starting after Summer 2019) are required to take CS2330 (Digital Logic Design), CS3102 (Theory of Computation), CS3240 (Advanced Software Development Techniques), and CS4414 (Operating Systems). The BACS degree requires students to take one of these four courses: CS 3102 (Theory of Computation), CS 3240 (Advanced Software Development), CS 4414 (Operating Systems), or CS 4610 (Programming Languages).

4. Both degrees require additional courses be taken as CS electives, which are CS courses at the 3000-level or above that are in addition to a degree's required courses described above. The BACS degree requires 4 CS elective courses (12 credits), while the BSCS requires 5 courses (15 credits).

5. The BACS degree requires four integration electives, which are not part of the BSCS degree. The integration electives are courses in other departments that have strong connections with computing. Look under the BACS tab for a list of pre-approved integration electives.

6. The BSCS degree (like all Engineering School degrees) requires a fourth-year thesis. This involves taking STS 4010 (in which students write a thesis proposal) and STS 4020 (in which students complete a thesis report), and working with a technical advisor on a thesis project. BACS students are not required to complete a thesis, but may enter the distinguished majors program. To complete a distinguished major, a BACS student must complete a fourth year thesis project that is approved by two readers.

https://engineering.virginia.edu/departments/computer-science/cs-undergraduate-programs#accordion396965

[Anonymous]

Lots of people in tech are snobby about BS vs. BA.

Why handicap yourself? The BS is the stronger signaling device in the job market. If you want to show that you have soft skills, list some of your electives.

[Anonymous]

Thank you OP for asking this question. My DC is considering these options as well but would like to do a double major in mathematics and CS and therefore thinks the College of Arts and Sciences would be a better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you OP for asking this question. My DC is considering these options as well but would like to do a double major in mathematics and CS and therefore thinks the College of Arts and Sciences would be a better fit.

If you are in Engeering school, can you declare a minor from arts & scienses school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E school needs two more core classes to take - operating systems and one other, the engineering foundational courses, and more electives to fulfill the requirement. It's a harder major than the college's. They take the same classes offered by the engineering school though. It just has more required classes. Both have to pass a 200 level weed-out class to move on.

I would think E school major will have a slight edge in the job market, but the college's CS degree is good enough for most of the jobs out there if you are not into kernel or systems development.

Are you talking about 2150 with bloomfield as the weed out? 3330 and 4102 were A LOT harder back when I took them. Just so happens that the bums who failed 2150 never had to take the latter two courses.

[Anonymous]

Which would you pick for the DC area job market or for grad school acceptance:
UVA CS Eng
UVA CS A&S
VTech CS
Georgia Tech CS

If tuition is not a factor just pure choice between these 4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which would you pick for the DC area job market or for grad school acceptance:
UVA CS Eng
UVA CS A&S
VTech CS
Georgia Tech CS

If tuition is not a factor just pure choice between these 4?

UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which would you pick for the DC area job market or for grad school acceptance:
UVA CS Eng
UVA CS A&S
VTech CS
Georgia Tech CS

If tuition is not a factor just pure choice between these 4?

What job? What grad school degree? What long-term career goals? CS is a very big umbrella.

[Anonymous]

At UVA, CS in A and S, is a good deal cheaper than CS in engineering. If that matters.

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, good point, ty

[Anonymous]

Nobody cares if BA or BS especially after a few years of work.