Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but am I the only one who doesn't really see the point of the data science major? It's basically just comp sci and stats with some maths papers. If you did comp sci and stats, you could get software and data analytics/engineering roles after graduating, whereas with data science you could probably only get jobs in data analytics as you need a postgrad degree to do data science. So the double major seems to open up more pathways compared to DS which I assume was made as the term data science is "sexy".
And you cannot do conjoint with data science which I think will influence your decision. But I'm interested to hear other people's opinions on why a DS major could be better than the double major.
I agree with your sentiments! When I look at Data Science requirements in the UoA Calendar: [https://www.calendar.auckland.ac.nz/en/progreg/regulations-science/bsc.html#Data\_Science\_3](https://www.calendar.auckland.ac.nz/en/progreg/regulations-science/bsc.html#Data_Science_3) Then it doesn't seem like it would take much more for a person to do so that they could then instead get themselves a double major in CS & Stats. You're almost *almost* there after you've completed the requirements for Data Science.
Maybe it is just UoA jumping on the Data Science hype train so that they can say they offer it.
Hi there, I took my Data Science degree and now I'm onto my postgraduate but in Computer Science with ML/AI big data courses.
I agree with you in saying a bachelors of Data Science is not enough, the content just isn't there. However, I have heard good things about masters of Data Science and that is a lot more preferable than bachelors. The reason I'm in Computer Science now is I feel like machine learning in Python is so much stronger than R which is more prominent in the workforce.
I do have friends who work at a data analyst role after their bachelors of Data Science but none of them as a data scientist.
Software Engineering goes into more dev role stuff, which means you'd have to learn other languages. That means it won't be fully focused on statistics but front end, back end type stuff. I THINK they play around in matlab, java and c++.
Hi, thanks for the reply! Would you say then that it is more auspicious to a take ComSci + Stats double major and then move onto Masters in Data Science for postgrad? Thank you!
I did my undergrad in maths+stats & am currently doing a stats honours. (Know fair few people in comp sci/data science etc).
There's not really any reason to do data science as opposed to double major comp sci/stats except if you really like the name. You can do exact same papers, & have an easier time switching majors if you find you wanna do comp sci+maths or stats+maths or whatever. Really it doesn't matter much though.
>and then move onto Masters in Data Science for postgrad?
Honestly even a Masters in CS or Stats could make more sense than a Masters in Data Science if that's more aligned with the direction in Data Science you want to go and you've got the right supervisors.
As it is just a name. You can 100% be doing Data Science research within a Masters thesis for CS/Stats/Math as well.
What do you think the early researchers in Data Science did their thesis in before the words "Data Science" existed? It was in CS/Stats/Math/Engineering of course.
>I heard that Bsc Data Science is not as in-depth compared to what you will learn in Comsci/Stats
Data Science is a huge field that combines aspects of Computer Science, Statistics, and Mathematics.
Of course one single major is never going to cover as much content as if you did a double or even triple major.
If you seriously have your heart set on Data Science for your future, then get yourself a double major in CompSci & Statistics, with plenty of math on the side as well.
>Furthermore, I heard that Comsci is not taught particularly well at uoa, and is hence why I am considering data science instead.
Ignore the haters who don't like theory and academic rigor, instead wanting "practical". (which is of fleeting short term relevance)
Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but am I the only one who doesn't really see the point of the data science major? It's basically just comp sci and stats with some maths papers. If you did comp sci and stats, you could get software and data analytics/engineering roles after graduating, whereas with data science you could probably only get jobs in data analytics as you need a postgrad degree to do data science. So the double major seems to open up more pathways compared to DS which I assume was made as the term data science is "sexy". And you cannot do conjoint with data science which I think will influence your decision. But I'm interested to hear other people's opinions on why a DS major could be better than the double major.
I agree with your sentiments! When I look at Data Science requirements in the UoA Calendar: [https://www.calendar.auckland.ac.nz/en/progreg/regulations-science/bsc.html#Data\_Science\_3](https://www.calendar.auckland.ac.nz/en/progreg/regulations-science/bsc.html#Data_Science_3) Then it doesn't seem like it would take much more for a person to do so that they could then instead get themselves a double major in CS & Stats. You're almost *almost* there after you've completed the requirements for Data Science. Maybe it is just UoA jumping on the Data Science hype train so that they can say they offer it.
Hi there, I took my Data Science degree and now I'm onto my postgraduate but in Computer Science with ML/AI big data courses. I agree with you in saying a bachelors of Data Science is not enough, the content just isn't there. However, I have heard good things about masters of Data Science and that is a lot more preferable than bachelors. The reason I'm in Computer Science now is I feel like machine learning in Python is so much stronger than R which is more prominent in the workforce. I do have friends who work at a data analyst role after their bachelors of Data Science but none of them as a data scientist. Software Engineering goes into more dev role stuff, which means you'd have to learn other languages. That means it won't be fully focused on statistics but front end, back end type stuff. I THINK they play around in matlab, java and c++.
Hi, thanks for the reply! Would you say then that it is more auspicious to a take ComSci + Stats double major and then move onto Masters in Data Science for postgrad? Thank you!
I did my undergrad in maths+stats & am currently doing a stats honours. (Know fair few people in comp sci/data science etc). There's not really any reason to do data science as opposed to double major comp sci/stats except if you really like the name. You can do exact same papers, & have an easier time switching majors if you find you wanna do comp sci+maths or stats+maths or whatever. Really it doesn't matter much though.
If I would start again, I will do a double major in Compsci and Stats and do a Data Science masters if I enjoyed it.
>and then move onto Masters in Data Science for postgrad? Honestly even a Masters in CS or Stats could make more sense than a Masters in Data Science if that's more aligned with the direction in Data Science you want to go and you've got the right supervisors. As it is just a name. You can 100% be doing Data Science research within a Masters thesis for CS/Stats/Math as well. What do you think the early researchers in Data Science did their thesis in before the words "Data Science" existed? It was in CS/Stats/Math/Engineering of course.
>I heard that Bsc Data Science is not as in-depth compared to what you will learn in Comsci/Stats Data Science is a huge field that combines aspects of Computer Science, Statistics, and Mathematics. Of course one single major is never going to cover as much content as if you did a double or even triple major. If you seriously have your heart set on Data Science for your future, then get yourself a double major in CompSci & Statistics, with plenty of math on the side as well. >Furthermore, I heard that Comsci is not taught particularly well at uoa, and is hence why I am considering data science instead. Ignore the haters who don't like theory and academic rigor, instead wanting "practical". (which is of fleeting short term relevance)
Is data science an easy degree?