concerning the duration of my CS bachelor

[albertlee]

Hi,

Due to research and study abroad (I've always wanted to go outside US and just experience a new culture), if I want to graduate my BS in 4 years, I can only get a BS in Mathematics, with considerably many CS courses under my belt, but still not even close enough to be awarded a BS in Computer Science.

So, at the moment, I am thinking of maybe just take one more year in order to graduate with a BS in CS and Math. I am perfectly fine with this financially, but I am wondering whether or not taking 5 years to graduate will work against me in grad school admission, since they probably want people to already own a master 5 years after completion of high school?

I think I have the capability of getting a master in this extra year, but my school is undergraduate-focussed so no master or PhD any way.

So, which path should I take?

1) graduate in 5 years with a BS in Math and CS and better research credential.

2) graduate in 4 years with a BS in Math and good research credential.

Please help!

thank you

Edited April 1, 2011 by albertlee

[SiraRaven]

I would definitely say go with Option 1, especially if you want to go into Computer Science. I'm in my fifth year of my bachelor's since I'm double majoring in Computer Science and Music, and if grad schools care, they've done a really good job at hiding it. 4 or 5 years is perfectly normal (from my experience) for a bachelor's, and especially if it will lead to the degrees you want and get you better research experience, as long as finances aren't a problem (and you said they aren't), I'd say Option 1.

[albertlee]

I would definitely say go with Option 1, especially if you want to go into Computer Science. I'm in my fifth year of my bachelor's since I'm double majoring in Computer Science and Music, and if grad schools care, they've done a really good job at hiding it. 4 or 5 years is perfectly normal (from my experience) for a bachelor's, and especially if it will lead to the degrees you want and get you better research experience, as long as finances aren't a problem (and you said they aren't), I'd say Option 1.

thank you so much for the reply, SiraRaven.

I initially wanted to become a researcher in pure math, but then as I progressed I felt I enjoyed computer science more. To me, I just felt I wanted to have more time to see what I really should pursue before I settle down on one.

Any way, if any one has any more input to my first post regarding how my duration of bachelor might affect CS PhD admission, please don't hesitate to comment.

Thank you

Edited April 1, 2011 by albertlee

[stopcallinmesqrlboy]

The only way this could hurt you is if you did poorly in the remainder of your CS classes. Given that you do well, however, would only make you look more desirable to a graduate admissions committee. I took an extra year to do this same thing, except I was a CS major looking to double major in math. It worked out well for me and has already gave me a head start because the area of research I'm interested in is math (mostly statistics) intensive. Not to mention, you're provided an extra year of undergrad to get research done and maybe boost your GPA if you need to. Without that extra year my application wouldn't have been nearly as competitive as it turned out to be.

[albertlee]

The only way this could hurt you is if you did poorly in the remainder of your CS classes. Given that you do well, however, would only make you look more desirable to a graduate admissions committee. I took an extra year to do this same thing, except I was a CS major looking to double major in math. It worked out well for me and has already gave me a head start because the area of research I'm interested in is math (mostly statistics) intensive. Not to mention, you're provided an extra year of undergrad to get research done and maybe boost your GPA if you need to. Without that extra year my application wouldn't have been nearly as competitive as it turned out to be.

thanks for the reply. So I am curious. You now study at a math instead of cs grad school?

[stopcallinmesqrlboy]

thanks for the reply. So I am curious. You now study at a math instead of cs grad school?

Sorry if that wasn't clear. No, I applied for CS grad programs but the area of research I'm interested in requires a solid understanding of probability and statistics.

Edited April 1, 2011 by stopcallinmesqrlboy

[queller]

I would say option 1 is better.

As the more research and experiance you have the better as far as applying to grad schools. Plus the extra year will give you the CS degree, which is probably something adcoms look at prior to seeing your transcript. Also doing 5 years rather common for various reasons so I doubt it will seem odd to adcoms.