Is CS "The Modern Liberal Arts Degree"?

Interesting thoughts on CS and Econ degrees on Marginal Revolution.

From the Comments:
I was a CS major at MIT and was heavily recruited by Wall Street firms. My friends who were studying economics did not do nearly as well right out of college. The CS major is a modern "liberal arts" degree; you can do almost anything with it. In my case, I am getting my PhD in economics. I think studying economics instead of CS as an undergrad just signals that you want a high-paying job without having to do any hard work.

Or maybe proving you can make it through one of the more challenging academic programs in the world means there is less risk in hiring you to do anything...Anyway, I don't have a CompSci degree, despite taking most of the 400 level courses, and I've never missed having one (that I know of).

I do really like the idea that CS is just a tool for getting involved in some other industry.

Another Comment:
This is all kind of funny to me. After graduating with a BBA Econ in 1999 I made a play at the CS world. Realizing I was not willing to learn any real programing I went to get my PhD in Econ. Now I sit all day... programing.

Funny world.



And you can now just follow along online...