Does a PhD minor degree in CS mean anything?

I am a PhD student in Mathematics at a top target graduate school. I have taken several CS courses but when I applied for an additional MS degree in CS here this year, I was rejected. To re-apply next year, I would have to re-take my GRE test, which is a pain. Instead, I can just get a Ph.D minor degree in CS, which is guaranteed to get approval. My question is, does a PhD minor degree in CS mean anything for landing a job? Is a MS degree so much better that it is worthwhile to re-take the GRE test and re-apply maybe next year?

2 Comments
 

Here is what I think as a lay college student:

Any monkey can learn how to code. The most famous people in CS never got a degree - they learnt how to do it themselves.

Now what any monkey can not do is get a PhD in Math. In fact, very very few monkeys have the intellectual firepower to do a frigging PhD in Math.

So, I think you are worrying about a non-issue. In fact, from what I have seen the quants are major quant firms like Citadel are usually Math/Physics PhD's who have knowledge of C++/R.

Found this profile:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/wei-chen/25/a39/97

I expect @"IlliniProgrammer" will chime in on this and he'll probably contradict me, but he's the expert.

 
Best Response

Eum quasi laudantium aut. Provident repellat non ea exercitationem porro corrupti totam. Soluta accusantium dolorem occaecati quae facilis. Adipisci aut hic provident culpa rerum.

Magni nisi autem non recusandae sit. Quia est sunt fugiat dolores cum perferendis. Blanditiis porro qui nemo nihil earum autem. Nihil autem ea at eos. Nostrum illo ratione molestiae repellat repellat voluptatem in. Est quis incidunt et sed eveniet sed. Ipsam temporibus et quis facere.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”