Choosing Between Economics and CS: A Personal Dilemma for Future Career Goals

[reshma_queen]

Hi all, I am a new member here, firstly I want to thank the whole community for rendering this service, its priceless.

So, the thing is, I have an undergraduate degree in Business, but I realized I am interested in Economics/ Finance (I don't know if I want to do research, so I'm just looking for doing masters before a PhD), so I want to join a 2nd undergraduate degree in Math in order to apply to better Economics Masters and eventually PhD (if it happens).

On the other hand, I also appeared for masters in CS entrance test and got selected (in one of the best unis).

So, my question is which way should i go? I know no one else but me can answer this question, but tell me as a mate, what would you suggest me to do if I am your best friend?

I certainly like economics, but as you can see its a very long road, 2nd UG-->masters-->PhD, and no one knows if I can end up in good schools.

A CS career looks good ONLY because I can earn well, not that I hate computers, but it just don't bother me at all, I mean I like to use IPhone but I'm not REALLY interested in building apps for it.

I'm really really confused, I know its not easy to give sincere advices, but any advice might come in handy, so please help me! thanks a ton.

 

[irNewton]

I would say go with the CS Masters. A math second undergrad is risky and you might end up enjoying CS =)

 

[chiro]

Hey reshma_queen and welcome to the forums.

I would like to say up front to advise you, that if you want to get into software development, you will have to work on some kind of project(s) that is considerably complex and that involves using whatever you need to use to get things done in the time frame you are given (i.e. short).

Usually, this involves working with a multidisciplinary platform that may involve multiple languages including a procedural language (like C++) as well as some scripting language and might even include an external platform like MATLAB or some numerical library executed in a scripting environment like Python.

If you want to get into development, my advice would be to find a project of some sort that is moderately complex in how I have outlined above.

If you are doing a CS masters you should hopefully get something along these lines, but chances are you will have to do some extra stuff to fill this void. Also if you can work on a project with other people that is a definite plus and I would not hesitate to do so, especially if you can find reliable people.

Also think about a domain. You can't be an expert in everything, but if you pick a domain and get some kind of experience, then that will serve you well for an interview when they ask specific questions.

Also when I say project it doesn't have to be huge: it should simply prepare you for the kind of environment that you face in common software development, which usually is composed of working on large repositories, often with many different platforms integrated in wonderful ways, as well as code that is written by a number of different people that you will have to add to, debug, learn, and otherwise make use of.

If you want to do something like theoretical CS then that is another matter, but if you want to get into dev work, then hopefully I have given you some advice that you can use (I used to do dev work myself).

 

[reshma_queen]

thanks for your reply guys!

chiro, thank you for your time. to be honest, i don't know anything about what you said (i may sound naive, but I'm being honest!), but thanks!

irNewton, i completely agree with you! but could you elaborate a bit for me? why is it risky? i did some preparation...i bought olympiad books, i am pretty good at solving olympiad type of problems and i self-learned so many things in math, not that i am a superstar student, but i am just curious to know how risky it is? i mean the top students in UG are olympiad-caliber types, right? so, if i can solve the same problems as they do, then why wouldn't you just suggest me to do math?

thanks again for your time!

 

[chiro]

The long story short reshma_queen, is that if you want to develop for a living (i.e. write code for money), then you need to get some experience working on a project: that's the short version.

 

[reshma_queen]

Oh ok! Actually there will be an internship type of thing for 6 months where the students have to do a project in any area they want in a company.

 

[R.Raymond]

If you are so sure about it, then I would advice you to pursue what your heart desires. Seems like you have put sometime for preparation and thought about what you are going to study for the next 3-4 years, if you are REALLY confident, then my advice is JUST GO FOR IT!