Re:Debate over which is better for CS majors - liberal arts ...
by croby on Thursday April 17, 2008 @10:51AM
(#166352)
I was in the Liberal Arts CS program at my school and, with 20/20 hindsight, am absolutely sure I made the correct decision (for me).
Being in the LA college at my school (we had both Engineering and LA schools on the same campus -- you could take CS from either side) I was exposed to a much broader range of topics that the rigid and intense engineering curriculum wouldn't have allowed me the be exposed to. I took a lot of Human Factors/Design courses in my last 2 years which gave me a new perspective on the CS that I'd been learning.
The takeaway for me was this: being able to see your CS degree in context of a broad range of other seemingly disparate topics ensures that you aren't narrowly defining what the degree can do for you. You can apply the degree creatively to a broad range of problems that aren't necessarily even taught in the CS department (or, for that matter, the Engineering school).
Being in the LA college at my school (we had both Engineering and LA schools on the same campus -- you could take CS from either side) I was exposed to a much broader range of topics that the rigid and intense engineering curriculum wouldn't have allowed me the be exposed to. I took a lot of Human Factors/Design courses in my last 2 years which gave me a new perspective on the CS that I'd been learning.
The takeaway for me was this: being able to see your CS degree in context of a broad range of other seemingly disparate topics ensures that you aren't narrowly defining what the degree can do for you. You can apply the degree creatively to a broad range of problems that aren't necessarily even taught in the CS department (or, for that matter, the Engineering school).