hello and welcome to this 365 data
science special where we'll discuss
which is the optimal choice for an
aspiring data scientist a data science
or a computer science degree before we
begin we want to say that throughout
this video we'll be using the
abbreviations DS and CS to indicate data
science and computer science
respectively additionally both DS and CS
are fantastic choices for a
concentration so please don't feel
discouraged if you've already chosen one
over the other
that being said we here at 365 have
conducted research to determine which
one is better for a successful career as
a data scientist we'll begin by weighing
the pros and cons of earning either
degree starting with DS then we'll do
some evaluation and head-to-head
comparison before picking a winner okay
the most obvious Pro of getting a data
science degree is that it's supposedly
the shortest route to becoming a data
scientist having the words data science
next to education in your resume is a
surefire way to get the express
treatment when applying for jobs in the
field thus the signalling aspect of such
a degree is extremely important of
course the main reason is that potential
employers believe you have a great
interest in the job they don't have to
worry about programming skills
analytical understanding of statistical
results or your data storytelling
abilities this is crucial because some
great statisticians lack the coding
pedigree while some programming wonder
kids lack the knowledge to extract
insights from a data set with the data
science degree you're sure to possess
all the necessary qualities without
needing outside validation like extra
certification however currently there is
one major con when it comes to a data
science degree availability now that's
an issue we've been trying to tackle for
several years now we've created the 365
data science program to help people
develop their skills and enter the field
of data science regardless of their
background we have trained more than
350,000 people around the world and are
committed to continue doing so if you
are interested to learn more you can
find a link in the description that will
also give you 20% off all plans if
you're looking to start learning from an
all around data science training since
the field is relatively new a data
science program can sometimes be hard to
come by regardless of whether we're
talking undergraduate
or graduate programs the scarcity has
resulted in many students having to pick
alternative concentrations and as a
result losing interest in the field
prior to graduating in one of our other
youtube specials we mentioned that
roughly 50% of all data scientists
graduated from some of the 200
top-ranked universities according to
Forbes still a very large portion of
those do not offer neither graduate nor
undergraduate programs in the field add
to that the fact that 20 point eight
percent of all current data scientists
possess a degree in the field and we
come to the conclusion that University
rank is a bigger signal than the
discipline itself therefore you might be
better off earning a different degree
from an elite school than a data science
one from a less prestigious institution
just remember that the degree has to be
quantitative as virtually all data
scientists come from such a background
however there's a downside that as it
seems you might have to acquire
additional credentials before you can
break into the field enter the
self-created data science degree now in
many places across the United States and
less so in Europe and Asia it is
possible to change your concentration to
an interdisciplinary major these are the
so called self-created majors which
incorporate various courses across
several departments since data science
is a nice mix of analysis coding and
data storytelling we can combine math or
statistics with computer science and
some social science like economics
courses across these three departments
should be enough to construct a great
data science degree without having to
learn what you won't need what we mean
is that by removing pure mathematics out
of math the developing aspects of CS and
the policy base aspects of economics
what you're left with are the top skills
you need to succeed in the field but
before you decide to try this out you
need to know that you can't just select
random courses to construct such a major
a much more realistic approach is to
find a decent university which offers
such a program then provide enough
evidence showing that some of the
available courses in your institution
are equivalent to those in their DS
program that way your degree has the
added credibility of the more renowned
institution which is a fantastic bonus
however even this option isn't available
everywhere so you might have to concede
and go a different route if that's the
case you shouldn't feel discouraged
since a DS degree is
bed of roses one reason for this is how
nice it is to go for a DS degree means
you have to be absolutely certain that
you wish to become a data scientist
other related fields like statistics or
computer science provide greater
flexibility in terms of professional
development with those you can alter
your trajectory if data science ends up
being different from what you imagined
without having to be specialized and
acquire new skills in comparison a
computer scientist can easily transition
into a data architect or a data engineer
job with the skillset they already have
we can say a change of heart is a
non-issue for them so computer science
is the preferred degree in that regard
however let's not get ahead of ourselves
and compare the two before we've had the
chance to examine the pros and cons of a
CS degree for starters a computer
science concentration is very reputable
and widespread employers have a general
understanding of what a CS degree
consists of and what to expect from
somebody holding one therefore
recruiters look favorably upon graduates
who majored in computer science the not
so obvious bonus here comes in terms of
landing internships the more popular and
accepted the discipline the higher the
chances that you'll manage to intern
while still at university since
employers tend to value experience and
skills over credentials having an
internship can go a long way in making
you a good candidate however the
downside of this is the overabundance of
CS degrees in the job market
this means that competition in the field
is vast and having a computer science
concentration is less of a signal today
than it was a few years ago computer
science brings great flexibility when it
comes to programming languages if you
know one you know them all because their
fundamentals work pretty much the same
way hence by knowing Java or C++
transitioning to Python should be a walk
in the park furthermore CS degrees also
include some discrete math so a computer
science major really hits a lot of the
data science buttons however just like D
s CS has its cons for one somebody who
has his heart set on becoming a data
scientist will also have to learn some
coding that aspect of computer science
is unavoidable since every CS program
makes sure to give its students the
fundamentals less code savvy students
might find some coding tasks too
difficult or completely outside the
scope of their interests
ever to finish the degree they'll have
to master that part of CS as well
additionally many CS students develop a
discrete way of thinking to elaborate
algorithms often work on the basis that
the result of one action always leads to
another what's important is not what
action follows but that we always know
what is next however that isn't always
the case in data science often times one
action means that we have say a 60%
chance of event a occurring and a 40%
chance of event B occurring thus not
developing a probabilistic mindset is a
challenge for CS graduates as they
really want everything to be 100%
certain all the time now that we've
discussed the pros and cons of each
degree let's compare and contrast we see
that CS is more widespread so the
limited availability isn't a concern
second since it is more well known your
chances of landing an internship are
bigger and that will surely enable you
to get some experience under your belts
in addition virtually all elite
institutions offer CS as a concentration
and 50% of all data scientists come from
schools ranked in the top 200 therefore
going for a CS degree in the high ranked
College will greatly increase the
probability of you becoming a data
scientist even a computer scientist
would be happy with these odds
what about DS availability aside DS
gives you all the right tools without
forcing you to devote time and effort to
acquire skills outside of your interests
like software development for example
that also means you don't need to earn
additional outside sources of
credibility such as certificates or
online courses however a des degree is
very much tailored towards future data
scientists so it's nitch nough slim
'it's your possibilities of a future
career change to summarize things we see
that computer science is the current
leader in the field in the demand of the
job market data science is a growing
degree but it takes time for the trend
to shift going by the data from the last
several years we can conclude the
following it's very likely that if at
all the pattern eventually shifts and DS
becomes the best option you'd already be
working as a data scientist thankfully
employers value experience and skills
more than academic credentials so it
shouldn't affect your progress in the
field so all things
considered we can confidently say that
despite its small drawbacks computer
science is the better degree choice for
a job as a data scientist right now we
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like this one thanks for watching