CS Information Systems Degree or CS Math/Science Degree

Question

At my local university they offer two career paths for their Computer Science degree. One track is Information Systems and the other is Math & Science. If you take the Math & Science track you have the option of taking an extra 5 math classes and you receive a B.S. in Mathematics as well as your B.S. in CS.

My question is which would be a better choice?

I would like to some day run my own software business, so this makes me think that the IS track would benefit me in the long run. I also would like to pursue a graduate degree in CS, possibly Math as well. I feel that I can learn the business side of things by starting out small (freelancing) then growing my business from there so maybe not worrying about the IS track is the right answer.

I know that running a business is not easy and any education I have in business topics would help out tremendously, I just wonder if the Math/Science track is the better move.

What are your opinions? What are you suggestions? Any wisdom and guidance regarding this decision would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

If it takes 5 extra courses for a Math major, how many for a Math minor?

That's what I did. Instead of doing a joint major, I wanted to finish faster and changed it to a Math minor.

Answer 2

Can you major in CS and minor in business? If you want to run your own business you may want to look into taking business courses.

Answer 3

It seems to me that the program for you is the program you are most interested in.

I have a BS and an MS. NOBODY ever asks what they are in. We don't tend to even look at that on resumes. All we really care is if you are the right fit for the job.

You are going to school for yourself. Do what you think YOU will get the most out of.

Answer 4

Quickly, I'd say that the way you phrased the question answers it for you. The Math & Science track sounds like it's harder; and not to put too fine a point on it, that would mean that it would be better.

Just reading from your question, it sounds like the IS track is the "basic" track; the "Math & Science track simply provides something else. Therefore, you learn more with the Math & Science track; therefore, it's better training (simply because there's more of it!).

It's hard to evaluate your question since there's no idea about any comparative added value to the IS track; essentially, asking "which is more? A or A+B?" gives a trivial answer... (at least, so long as B is positive... :-)

Answer 5

In my opinion (and I may get voted down for this), business classes wont necessarily teach you how to run a business. When my brother was a consultant, he said when looking at applicants, they preferred those with a technical degree (the math/cs in this case) rather than an MIS/CIS degree because it's easier to teach a new employee the business end than the technical end.

My advice: get the more technical degree, throw yourself out into the business world and lean some 'real-time' business skills. Then bust out, and start your own business when you feel you have gained some adequate experience.

Just my two cents.

Answer 6

Get the Math/CS degree. Both of those will be the more analytical technical stuff, which will be of more value in the long run (in my never humble opinion). They prepare you for more of the things you will experience in programming. It seems it would be easier to get an MBA with a CS/math background than to get INTO a CS grad program with a CIS degree. Free advice worth every penny you paid for it.

Answer 7

If you take the Math & Science track, are there business electives you could take? When I went to university part of my degree requirement involved having 10 non-Math courses taken, which could be things like business, economics, languages like French, English, Russian, and they even had a section called Math Electives, usually called "Methyl" by most. Thus, whatever one wanted to minor in outside of Math, as Math was a faculty onto itself where I went to university, chances are they could take the dozen or so courses to get that and still meet the 10 electives part of the degree requirement.

I'd take a look at what courses are you not allowed to take depending on which track you take, e.g. does the Math & Science disallow you from taking a course in say IS Management or are all the courses still available on this track? That may also help shape which road to take. My final suggestion would be to investigate some of the research that university is doing and see if one area has the more interesting subject matter to you.

Answer 8

It completely depends where your interests lie. If your first love is business, IS will likely give you a much better background on Software Engineering and Project Management, as well as allow you to pick up some business classes.

A CS/Math degree will likely focus more on the theoretical side of CS. The Math option will take up many of your electives, so you won't have the chance to branch out and go for the accounting and business classes that are essential to running a business. If you love Math & Theory, Math/CS is the way to go. If you want the flexibility to combine business and CS/Software Engineering, IS is likely the way to go.

Answer 9

If I were to start over I would do a BA in CompSci and then a MCom in InfoSci ...

I found my InfoSci papers of far more practical benefit in programming, yet the CompSci foundation was invaluable.

The combination may look odd, but have a look into it, as the Arts papers such as English will help you convey what you are working on to Management, and the Business papers will let you become a team leader or a project manager relatively quickly. And just because you have one of these titles doesn't mean you can allow yourself to code, but in some respects you will be able to delegate boilerplate stuff out and be competent to assess others work very quickly.

Answer 10

Being a Computer Science student myself, I would definitely go for the Maths/Science route.

Prior to starting my CS degree I was enrolled on a course aimed at general Computing, involving a lot of Project Management and Systems Analysis. On top of that we were heavily involved in Information Systems.

You will find that a lot of course content in Information Systems is very specialised. However, you've clearly shown an interest in taking both sides, and in my honest opinion you would gain far more from the Maths/CS side in-class and through practical work. The Maths will cover a lot of theoretical aspects of CS; information that you'll find invaluable. Even though I am useless with Math I wish my CS course had more of it.

Information Systems is something you could pick up with little fuss alongside your studies and if you plan to work on a start-up of some sorts an IS degree is NOT needed. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that it could put you in a worse position.

Look through the IS course contents, get all the recommended reading and go through it in your own time. That's what I do with Mathematics and my skills are definitely improving. If you still want to learn more take a summer internship involving Information Systems. That experience will provide more for you than your IS course will.

Finally, Information Systems does not equal Business/Management. Learn your trade through the Maths/Science route, then pick up on the Business/IS aspects of it in your own time or through an internship.

Answer 11

Maybe as some encouragement into taking the Math and Sciences route, I took only two computer science courses in route to get my BS and MS in Mathematics. I have found that the problem solving I learned in that curriculum to be of the greatest help. Also, for me anyway, getting my Master's taught me more about how to learn than anything else I could have done. Because the material was often more esoteric and not intuitive, it caused me to learn things that were foreign to me. This has found it's way to learning the "softer side" of the business without formal training. Good luck with whatever you choose.