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I majored in biology because I felt it was the field that would be the most difficult to learn on my own. It wasn't the best choice, and I initially regretted the decision after I graduated. Biology is not well-respected among HR departments -- the degree requirements for many technical jobs read something like "must have degree in math, statistics, computer-science, or one of the hard sciences." Compounding the problem, I went to a school that is very committed to the liberal-arts ideal, and as such I have a BA rather than a BS. Now that I have had several years of experience in 'real-world', I'm glad I chose the path that I did. Biology might not be a 'hard-science' as many people define one, but it is every bit as rigorous as chemistry or physics. I actually feel like biology gave me a leg up on people in a similar role, because experimental design and rigorous analysis is vital to getting good data in biology, since your area of study is affected by so many variables, many of which are stochastic. If there was one thing I would change, I would have taken many more electives outside of the sciences. I branched out my senior year after I capped the number of credits I could take in the biology department, and scheduling issues wouldn't let me complete my CS minor. I enrolled in classes in Russian Literature, Studio Art, Art History, Philosophy, and Film Theory. I've constantly been surprised by how often the limited exposure I had to those fields has been helpful, especially Art and Philosophy. It's important to remember that programming is only a method of solving a problem, you need to be able to understand the problem to put it to use. Low level courses often focus on teach the language you need to communicate in a given field, which is incredibly valuable as a developer. |