bossman27 said:
Just out of curiosity, what about theoretical CS with a Physics B.S. with Scientific Computation Certification (at a top 10-20 University)? I'm in the middle of that undergrad path and I doubt that I'll go to CS grad school, but it's something I might consider, if possible. My sci. comp. coursework is just 3-4 programming courses (C, C++, FORTRAN, advanced elective options, etc.), an application course (computational physics for me), and an independent research project. I also know Python, though I'm sure that's largely irrelevant. I guess my question is, how much of a CS background would someone with a physics degree need to have to be considered for a theoretical, or other, CS grad program?
bossman27 said:
Since you mentioned STEM fields I probably don't have to say this, but based on everything else you said, I would stay away from Econ. I actually started out as an Econ. major my freshman year because it seemed intriguing and I had (and still do have) some interest in philosophy/political theory. I soon realized my mistake when I took a couple of upper division econ. courses and realized that it's not just the intro courses, economics really is more or less a pseudoscience pretending to be something else. I'm sure there are some cool applications for CS/Econ. people, and decent job opportunities for them, but on the whole it's really not much like science. I'm infinitely more satisfied and fulfilled doing Physics and Scientific Comp. than I would have been if I stuck with Econ.
Edit: Also, as economics has at many schools become "business for kids who couldn't get into the business school," I found that the level of mathematics used in econ. classes is severely dumbed down and uninteresting.
Your question probably deserves a thread of its own, but I will try to address it in one post. I must first point out that I am an undergrad in EE, not in CS or in math, but have read some books on their theoretical aspects.
Just like in physics, there are many focuses of research in CS: artificial intelligence, computability, informatics and information theory, programming language theory, CG theory, HCI, theory of networks, database theory, complexity theory, cryptography, quantum computing, automata, computing on the nanoscale, software engineering, biocomputing, nanobiotechnology.
All of these can in some situations be considered graduate programs in CS. I don't know about your specific situation, but I must point out that CS graduate school isn't really about programming. It's either about explaining the fundamental limitations or abilities of computers, or it's about showing how computers can be applied to other fields, with the computers being the focus of the research (rather than the applications). Computational math for example is usually a math PhD not CS, if you use the computer to estimate some things, but if you happen to prove that a certain significant math problem cannot be solved with any computing means, it would turn into a CS PhD.
So if you are doing physics, do take some CS courses, not just intro programming, take cryptography, theory of computation, networks etc.
Programming is just a tool for scientists and engineers, it's not the equivalent of CS. Or read some books if you don't have the opportunity to take courses. CS is something that, unlike engineering, can be self-studied with proper time investment and guidance.
Much of what I say is not from experience, but from discussions with computer scientists whom I know personally.
Also, I am sad to hear about your rather disappointing ventures in economics. Perhaps the courses you took in econ were weak in mathematics, causing you to doubt the scientific value of the subject? Econometrics, operations research, game theory are all economics courses, fairly scientific and fairly math intensive so I would qualify them as a science. I don't see why not. Correct me if I misunderstood you.
BiP
