Emily
What are the Pros and Cons of Switching to a Computer Science Major?
Hi my name is Emily and I am currently a Nursing major but I would like to switch to computer science. Before I would like to switch, I would like to know what I would be getting into and the pros and cons of a computer science degree. #science #computer #major
3 answers
Jerin Varughese
Jerin’s Answer
Pros:
You may be paid more if you are highly skilled.
You get to work outside an hospital
You can work with a team that comes from different parts of the world
You get to learn new things every week
You can occasionally work from home
Cons
You have to learn new things fast and adapt quickly .
You will have to work 5 days a week while if you are a nurse you can choose to work 3 days with a 12 hour shift.
Hope this helps
Thanks
Greg Roelofs
Greg’s Answer
The other respondents covered the pros and cons pretty well, but as for "what am I getting into," most schools will let you take courses outside your major track prior to committing. Assuming you have an advisor or guidance counsellor or equivalent, tell him/her what you're thinking about and ask for recommendations. They should know (or be able to find out for you) the required courses for a CS major, and even if the main first-year ones are normally closed to non-majors, the advisor should be able to get you approved. And if you don't have a formal advisor, or if he/she is specific to the Nursing department, you can go to the CS departmental office and ask for somebody who can advise you on trying things out before making the formal switch.
Note that, as an engineering field, there might be more stringent mathematics prerequisites than for nursing (e.g., "calculus for engineers"). Depending on how far along you are, you might be looking at an extra year or two due to the non-overlap between some of the requirements, but maybe not, too.
As a working software engineer, I can assure you there's plenty of "people stuff" in all forms of engineering, and even more so in engineering management.
Greg recommends the following next steps:
Nick Schatko
Nick’s Answer
There are tons of positive things! Take a look at USAtoday top 100 jobs and look at #8. You will never have a hard time looking for a great job and you will always have many options to pick from when you look into what type of work you would like to do. Cons might be that you do not always work directly with people, however, there is a good chance that you will work in a team. Good luck!