Berkeley regents, CMU, or Barnard
Hello,
I am a senior wanting to major in economics and computer science. I am equally as passionate about economics and about computer science so I'll be happy to pursue a career in either one (however, I would love to major in them both since they can be complementary in terms of skill sets).
Berkeley is a financially attractive option since I'm a California resident and I got the regents scholarship. However, when I applied to Berkeley, I applied as a psychology major and I do not believe that I can change my major to computer science because it's under a different college (college of engineering). But I believe can still switch my major from psychology to economics.
For Carnegie Mellon, I was admitted into their Dietrich college of humanities and social sciences, which means that I cannot major in computer science (it's really hard to transfer into their computer science program because of how competitive it is).
I really like Barnard because it's in New York and because of how small the school is (more resources and attention from professors). When I applied, I applied as a pre-engineering major. Since we don't have to declare major until later, I can basically major in whatever I want. This means that Barnard is the only college out of the three where I can double major in economics and computer science. I thought because Barnard is located in New York, it'll be easier to find internships both during school and breaks which would set me up for a career in finance and economics. Barnard also has a 4+1 program where you can get a graduate degree from Columbia University in 1 year after receiving your bachelor's from Barnard.
I am having a hard time choosing between the three schools. Although I REALLY like Barnard since it'll allow me to also major in computer science (something that I'm passionate about). However, comparing to the two other schools, Barnard seems to not be as well known or highly ranked. Since Barnard is a small women's liberal arts college, I also don't know how good the hiring opportunities are for econ/comp sci majors. I believe I will get a decent GPA at either one of the three colleges so course rigor isn't something that I'm worried about.
I am really struggling to choose a college. Do you guys have any inputs on the job opportunities for econ/comp sci major at Barnard? Since Barnard is right across the street from Columbia, I am worried that most employers would want to hire out of Columbia just because of its prestige instead of Barnard. Do you guys know if the bulge bracket firms hire from Barnard? Or will my chance of landing an internship in NY be better if I go to Berkeley/CMU?
Go with Barnard and do the Columbia program. Majoring in Comp Sci will be huge if you want to pursue a SWE, PM, or any other technical role. I would say its worth it to do the Columbia program to get another year or internships + the Columbia clout.... I don't think people will question it if you actually do get a degree from Columbia. Also, internally transferring to comp sci at UCB and CMU will be nearly impossible so why take the chance? Then you will have absolutely have no shot at any technical roles and will basically be a 2nd class citizen (in recruiting) for those schools. TLDR: Go to Barnard and major in what you want and do the Columbia route for the clout if you are really worried about that
At Berkeley assuming you were admitted to Letters and Sciences, you actually can major in CS. There is a cs major in letters and sciences and then there is eecs in engineering, but the letters major will have the exact same CS classes as the school of engineering, so that shouldn't inhibit you from doing cs. First hand I can say that the cs department at Berkeley really is top notch and has amazing recruiting as well, and Regents defintely is nice financially but also for things like priority registration and other perks.
Hey, I'm a Berkeley student. In my opinion, this choice leans heavily towards Berkeley. Like the other comment said, since you're in the college of letters and science at Berkeley, you're actually coming in as undeclared so you can still major in CS. The major in the college of engineering is electrical engineering and cs which doesn't differ that much aside from some extra EE courses required. As long as you meet the gpa cutoff for both majors, it will be easy for you to double major in economics and CS. Now granted, I don't know much about Barnard or Columbia, but what I can say is that Berkeley has both a highly ranked CS and a highly ranked Economics programs which will give you the option to pursue both of your interests. Regents scholarship is also very nice.
Current Berkeley student who went through this same dilemma with the exact same schools LOL. Picked Berkeley and have had absolutely zero regrets. Haas recruiting is very solid for west coast IB + the business school and econ program are both top 3 in the nation.
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As a woman majoring in econ and CS you'd be very marketable for finance employers.
The question of whether Barnard is a target school for employers is pretty big and worth getting an answer to. Columbia obviously a target, less sure how Barnard is treated. A recruiter at a bank will know for sure. Someone on WSO might know as well, but make sure they're specific to this point that recruiting treats Barnard as part of Columbia. May also want to ask Barnard's career office how IB recruiting there works, is it just part of Columbia for that etc.
I know that Barnard’s recruiting is separate from Columbia’s recruiting. I like Barnard because I can get internships and interviews in the field of finance more readily than at Berkeley/cmu due to its proximity to nyc. At this point it’s really between Barnard and Berkeley. I know Berkeley is really good at cs and Econ but it’s also a large public university (I prefer small universities). I’ve also heard that although Berkeley gets a lot of recruitment opportunities, there are so many people going after the same position that it’s hard to actually land a job. Does anyone know if Barnard college is a target for recruitment at BB firms? I would really like to know how strong Barnard is in the recruiting part.
I went to another seven sister, so have a bit of background on this. It's not great, but you can easily hustle into it if you really want it. The diversity programs these days are extremely popular channel for recruitment and if you want to stay east, getting into them from Barnard will be a cakewalk. If you want to be on the west coast - go to Cal.
In my opinion, for you the big point would be affordability and campus culture. Cal and Barnard will most likely be extremely different in college experience. I was a west coaster who wanted to go to a small LAC, move east, stay on the east coast post college. Perhaps you have to self-reflect and flesh out possible paths beyond just career a bit more? Also, anecdotally a lot of my friends still in banking wish they did tech, even if it was more of a business analyst role from the get-go.
I’ve had some experience with programming and I think it’s a great skill to have but I would prefer a job in finance over tech. I know Barnard is really weak in computer science and a lot of people major in economics at both Barnard and Columbia so I would imagine that the job competition is pretty stern ;) for anything related to econ/finance.
The thing is, I love the vibe of New York and want a different scenery for college. So solely for the purpose of personal preference, it’s definitely Barnard. On the financial side, Berkeley will cost me $15,000 a year (I’m California resident) while Barnard will be around $70,000. I want to live in New York after graduating and go into finance in New York City. I’ve visited both colleges and find myself liking Barnard a lot more. I’m just worried about job prospects. If Berkeley and Barnard give me the same chances of being hired by a firm in NY, then I will go with Berkeley and perhaps try to get into a good grad school to get my MBA.
I'd say go Cal and spend money studying abroad and on other things later (e.g., funding MBA, etc.) then. Since you're regents, you'll probably be fine there grade-wise and recruit for the east coast. Join one of the big biz frats/consulting groups at Cal from your first semester and it should make it easy. Heard they're clicky, so wouldn't be my vibe, but tbh that's the the Asian sterotype in banking / management consulting though (most of these clubs/frats are all Asian at Cal).
Really second this, spending an extra 55k a year for the New York experience at a school that isn’t necessarily better is pretty hard to justify. OCR at Cal is definitely mostly west coast, but that is mostly because of proximity. Networking and showing you want to be in the east coast with good grades etc won’t be a problem from cal and you can spend summers/analyst years in NYC. if cost isn’t an issue then maybe go the other way but Cal has a leg up recruiting overall plus with academics and going debt free is definitely the way to go.
Congrats on some great choices!
The three schools are fairly different, if you want a career in finance, Barnard will get you there. If you do well there, you will have absolutely no problem getting a great internship/career. The relation between Columbia and Barnard is fairly unique. I wouldn't worry about rankings/job opportunities at Barnard or Columbia students getting hired vs Barnard students, Barnard has its own super strong alumni network and many view Barnard and Columbia as very similar (no offense to any Barnard alums out there:). If anything, one can argue that Barnard students benefit from their own robust alumni network and the Columbia alumni network relationship. The 4 + 1 program is another great benefit.
I'm a Barnard alum and an Econ major, though I never studied CS so can't comment on how strong the program is at Barnard. I know that the college is actively investing in its CS dept, but for CS majors, a lot of the courses will still be taken at Columbia. What I do know is that many Barnard students take good advantage of the academic/career/networking resources at Columbia, so it will come down to what you make of it. I know a few Barnard alum who recruited at top finance and consulting firms. However I personally wouldn't spend the extra 55k - or more considering living expenses - just to attend Barnard. I loved the NYC lifestyle but a bit unsure what it will be like after the pandemic.
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