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* Majoring in Comp Sci is sort of like majoring in art--it does not guarantee you are an artist. Most programming studs I know were not CS majors.
* While I think applied math is awesome, the market does not seem to understand it. Pure math majors see you as a cheap knock off. You cannot ascend the queue on the major.
Stats is applied math of one sort. It is flexible. You can add CS and AM courses. Also, there have been loads more interesting innovations in stats. Consider numerical methods as a second major.
Good luck! Beef up you regular math as much as possible. Also consider Stats and Math for a double major.
Statistics is the most common major of actuaries. Being that there are so few of them, they are paid extremely well, and companies pay for you to get your ASA or FSA designations, including continuing education and seminars after that. If you really are into it, it is a ticket for professional and financial success.
I mean, why would someone want to take all the extra courses required for something like NeuroBio when he/she can just take Stat to contribute to Neuro research/development?
Don't get me wrong, but the Stat major will have to study a LOT of NeuroSci in order to provide any useful research, but the thing is I highly doubt he will have to sit through 4 years of schooling and classes to understand the very specific (or even a slightly broader scope) topic he is working on. I'm sure not even NeuroBio majors have memorize or remember every aspect of the brain, and highly doubt they need to know everything in order to provide useful work. So why not have a solid background in Stat if you're not sure whether you want to do NeuroBio, Electrical Engineering, Social Science, etc, and when you can always study aspects of that specific topic later in your career?
First of all, I enjoy all of these, and was wondering which you would pick based on other factors...
Which one will have the most job opportunities in the near future (10 years approx)?
Which one will have the most chances for lucrative careers?
Which is the most marketable degree (meaning, which one pretty much encompasses the skills of the other in an employer's eyes)?
Which is the most stressful? least?
Which is the hardest/most time consuming/GPA killer in college?
Anything else is appreciated
What do you enjoy about CS and Applied Math? You like tweaking operating systems or developing optimal algorithms? Are you interested in system or software design? How do you feel about building mathematical models? What applications are you interested in? Communications? Data security? Game programming? Database Admin? AI? Scientific? What do you like about Stats? Where would you like to be in 10 years? What do you see yourself doing? Where are you considering attending school?
Last edited by LexusNexus; 04-12-2009 at 11:52 PM..
* Majoring in Comp Sci is sort of like majoring in art--it does not guarantee you are an artist. Most programming studs I know were not CS majors.
Computer Science is not trying to teach you to be a programmer. Most programs don't even require a simple software engineering course. As a result, its not analogous to an Art program at all.
There is being a code monkey and then there is being a Computer Scientist. Two rather different things.
Although, even the purely coding jobs usually want you to have a degree in CS or at least something related.
Anyhow, to the OP. All the things you mentioned are related and you can conceivably study similar things regardless of of which major you pick. For example, focus on Machine Learning in Computer Science and you'll be doing a lot of statistics work.
Personally, I think the Computer Science degree will be the most useful in terms of getting jobs. Second would be statistics.
Do you think a finance major can become an actuary as well?
No, not on it's own. You need to know financial theory and math. Tons of math. If you want to get a B.A. in finance and become an actuary you would need to take as much math as you can during undergrad and then, at the very least, go for an MS in math.
You also need to be a member of an American actuary society for like three years before you will be accepted for employment. And, to top it all off, actuary students study, on their own time mind you, around 400 hours for every four hour exam that they are required to take.
I'm sure not even NeuroBio majors have memorize or remember every aspect of the brain
Well, maybe the ones who flunk or drop out.
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