• Computer Science or Electrical Engineering?
    41 replies, posted
I'm currently in my first year of Computer Science and it's not really what I expected so I'm looking to change into something else. I've been looking at Electrical Engineering but I need some more information before I make my decision. :v: Based on my current understanding, Computer Science is more Software and programming while Electrical Engineering is more hardware design with a side order of programming. Either way, I would probably be happy with either degree, but the last thing I want to do is sit at a desk all day. I would prefer a degree that allows more freedom and some hands-on work. Does anybody here have an Electrical Engineering degree or Computer Science degree? What type of work do you do? I could probably get a CS degree with ease, while a EE degree might be more challenging. But I've also read that you can get into an IT/programming job without proper education if you already know enough about programming, so If I got an EE degree I could possible switch career paths into that type of stuff. Would love to hear your thoughts on these degrees or your experience with the computer/electronics field.
See if your school has Computer Systems Engineering. It's a mixture of both basically. Of course it is more challenging but in the end you can see where you want to end up, Either programming or hardware, with little time being wasted.
The problem is that my school offers Electric engineering with a minor in computer engineering or a minor in Biomedical engineering. Biomedical is much more appealing to me if I did take the route of Electrical Engineering. Do you think I could get a job as a System Admin/IT tech with an Electrical Engineering degree? I think it would be easier to get into a CS related career with an EE degree than an EE related career with a CS degree.
I honestly think that this divides at hardware vs. software. Not all sys admin/it tech jobs are the same.>>some will require more software skill than hardware and vise versa. My advice would be if you know what you are getting to in the future career wise choose the most beneficial. If not choose what you can do best, have fun, and suck some corporate dick to get internships and position proposals.
Yeah I could get a CS degree fairly easily and be done in 3 years and I could probably make my way into a decent career, however electrical work seems more interesting and I may get a job I enjoy more. As I mentioned, I mainly just want a job where I'm not working at a desk all day and I'm travelling around either a building or a city with different things to do. I'll probably go talk to a career advisor at my school to see if they have anything to say. If anyone else has any input it would be much appreciated!
uh if you want to get into IT I think you're better off in neither, although you're going to want some understanding of programming I'm pretty sure out of the two, the CS is definitely more desirable what other options are there?
[QUOTE=Shadaez;34998902]uh if you want to get into IT I think you're better off in neither, although you're going to want some understanding of programming I'm pretty sure out of the two, the CS is definitely more desirable what other options are there?[/QUOTE] I don't necessarily want IT, I want do like system admin or network managing if I got a CS degree. I don't know if that is a sub category of IT (not sure what exactly falls under IT). But I do know a lot of programming which is why if I did an EE degree, I could possibly still go into IT/Sys Admin by showing my employer my programming skills, etc. The only other options my school really offers around my career path is Management Information Technology, which is a business/commerce degree. I want to be an Electrical Biomedical engineer because repairing and diagnosing electrical equipment would be fun since it's hands-on work.
Electrical engineering with a minor in Mechatronics if you want to get away from behind your desk. Mechatronics is Automation and a mix of Electronic and MEchanical engineering.
[url]http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3447793[/url] read that thread for a good overview. If you want to be like a sys admin, AAS + certs is more than enough
I'm in my third year mechatronics engineering, which has a good chunk of electrical engineering subjects. There are a good mix of software/programming related units and hardware related, but also units that deal with analogue electronics, signals, telecomms etc. They all tie together nicely so that you learn how to program specifically for hardware (using assembler and such) as well as learning general stuff like C. Though I don't know how much the courses would vary between unis.
I wanted a job in computer programming, but then I realized that it would be sitting at a desk all day and somewhat boring. I suggest you try for an IT support job as it would be more interesting or something else entirely.
I'd go for Electrical engineering, it sounds like its what you really want You can later learn to program on your own,, EE wiould make it easyer too to know wtf is going on
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;35019675][url]http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3447793[/url] read that thread for a good overview. If you want to be like a sys admin, AAS + certs is more than enough[/QUOTE] Thanks for the link. Bookmarked it and will definitely keep it in mind. It looks like an IT would be something I would enjoy and I could just finish up my CS degree and work on getting some certifications. On the other hand, I could get an EE degree and fall back to an IT job with just certifications if I ever choose to. [QUOTE]I'm in my third year mechatronics engineering, which has a good chunk of electrical engineering subjects. [/QUOTE] I was looking at a mechatronics program when I was initially choosing my school/program near the end of high school and it seemed very interesting. However the schools in my area only offer a diploma, and I would prefer a degree. [QUOTE]I wanted a job in computer programming, but then I realized that it would be sitting at a desk all day and somewhat boring. I suggest you try for an IT support job as it would be more interesting or something else entirely.[/QUOTE] I agree. I don't mind the occasional programming. In fact I would enjoy sitting down once and a while to code some things, but doing it every day would get very boring very quickly. I'm going to ask my Engineering Department about a double degree in Electrical Engineering an CS. But it looks like I would be able to land a decent job (not sitting behind a desk all day) with a CS degree and a few certifications.
[QUOTE=Aloveoftheworld;35024239]I'd go for Electrical engineering, it sounds like its what you really want You can later learn to program on your own,, EE wiould make it easyer too to know wtf is going on[/QUOTE] You get a shitton of programming in electronic* engineering. *Not electrical thanks Trumple. (Sorry english is not my native language)
Don't confuse electrical with electronic. Electrical is high voltage stuff. We call them sparks on our course. :v: Electronic, which is what I'm doing, involves smaller voltages and circuitry, like PCBs. It's a lot of work but it's very satisfying when it all works I often considered switching to CS, but I stuck it out with Electronic. I'm enjoying it, we do a lot of programming (just as much as we do hardware labs we do programming labs, too). You also get to learn about what really goes on inside the hardware, and how the hardware translates to changes in software. It's all really amazing stuff. You learn how systems from right from the programming down to the electrons. And, if you change your mind at the end of the degree, you can still go into a job with programming if you desire. I can't vouch much for CS, but I hear the people who do it enjoy it
I'm going into Electrical Engineering because after talking with tons of people they p much said that Comp Sci and Elec Engineering have a lot of the same prereqs yet there's a higher demand in EE than CS. Also, apparently going for engineering at a good school (I plan on going to Drexel, hopefully,) it teaches you to think a certain way. Just my two cents. [editline]7th March 2012[/editline] TBH I have no fucking clue what I want to do, I'm probably planning fucking horribly.
You're like every other college kid, relax, and enjoy it. You'll figure it out eventually.
Go into a Virtual/Cloud Engineer if you want some real fun
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;35034813]I'm going into Electrical Engineering because after talking with tons of people they p much said that Comp Sci and Elec Engineering have a lot of the same prereqs yet there's a higher demand in EE than CS. Also, apparently going for engineering at a good school (I plan on going to Drexel, hopefully,) it teaches you to think a certain way. Just my two cents. [editline]7th March 2012[/editline] TBH I have no fucking clue what I want to do, I'm probably planning fucking horribly.[/QUOTE] If you're planning poorly then see my above post about the difference between electrical and electronic. Sounds like you're thinking of electronic but you say electrical.
In some places the electrical and electronic are offered as parts of a single course on electrical engineering.
If you want to do IT/System admin stuff, Information Systems might be your best bet
[QUOTE=jeimizu;35046496]If you want to do IT/System admin stuff, Information Systems might be your best bet[/QUOTE] This is what I'm majoring in; an Associates of Arts in Information Technology with a focus on Networking. I'm also taking that free 6002x Circuits and Electronics course MITx is offering for free.
It seems to me that to really get a job in EE you have to go for a masters. Is that an accurate assumption?
[QUOTE=Colliseemoe;35055781]It seems to me that to really get a job in EE you have to go for a masters. Is that an accurate assumption?[/QUOTE] In most cases, yes. In a lot of cases you can circumvent these requirements by getting certified in everything related to your career and even going in for internships to get work experience. I'd suggest checking out websites like [url]www.careerbuilder.com[/url] and [url]www.monster.com[/url] to see what employers in your area are needing for that field.
It seems like every monday I have a decision made, and by the time friday rolls around back looking at other programs. Maybe I should just get a diploma (2 year program) if I'm so worried about not sitting at a fuckin desk all day as a career. oh and I don't know if I mentioned this in the thread earlier: I hate my family and I want to get out of this place as soon as possible, otherwise I would take all the time in the world. xD
The advice I get is to pick CS. The general impression I get is that CS gives you a lot of flexibility - the undergrad courses are at the right intersection of the "practical" theory and the more theoretical, higher-level stuff so it's a wide target; there's tons of scope for research - plenty of overlap into the liberal arts stuff if you've got the gonads to get into the Media Lab somehow, plenty of language communities doing their own thang, quite a bit in industry as well; and I hear it's decent enough paired with any engineering discipline with a slight theoretical bent. CS+EE is a standard combination, but so is CS + Physics (it sets you up well if you're going into the experimental physics, although it's a very good indicator of general ability) and CS + Math (that gets you quite a lot of horsepower to throw at the theory of CS). Spend your freshman years sampling, and you'll probably work it out - I'm sure you'll find *something* that clicks, even it it turns out to be the journalism course.
I actually started out trying for an Electrical Engineering degree. It dealt more with electrical circuitry than anything to do with computers (maybe at best specialty systems). Mostly learning about electrical components and how to build circuits with them. I did not stay in there too long (about a year) as all the formulas just gave me headaches. Though, the requirements to learn how to do architectural drawings has helped me to this day. Instead, I went for a Computer Technology degree, which i believe was a step down from a Computer Science degree. Specifically, I went for networking, so most of the classes dealt with such material. But it also covered computer hardware in software both in general and very detailed ways with touches of programming, multimedia, and security on top. So, least in my experience, your sticking with CS would be best if you want to go into the IT field.
[QUOTE=Ins4ne;34998133]See if your school has Computer Systems Engineering. It's a mixture of both basically. Of course it is more challenging but in the end you can see where you want to end up, Either programming or hardware, with little time being wasted.[/QUOTE] I'm in Systems Engineering and I agree with this message.
[QUOTE]I actually started out trying for an Electrical Engineering degree. It dealt more with electrical circuitry than anything to do with computers (maybe at best specialty systems). Mostly learning about electrical components and how to build circuits with them. I did not stay in there too long (about a year) as all the formulas just gave me headaches. [/QUOTE] I looked at some of the assignments my Engineering friend gets and all I saw was formulas and formulas and hardly any electrical symbols. Engineering looks more like Mathineering and math doesn't interest me so I would be better off doing something like Electrical Engineering Technology (implementation, maintenance, etc). It's only a 2 year program. As for IT... I was looking at a 2 year IT program, which seems to specialize a lot more in networking/management stuff which seems a lot more practical to the job I want. My school does offer classes on networking and databases, etc but is probably more theory related then practical. So I'm currently looking at Computer Science (3 years left for a degree) Electrical Engineering Technology (2 year program for a diploma) Information Technology (2 year program for diploma) But I think most employers would prefer a degree over a diploma, otherwise I would already have a decision made XD Currently thinking maybe I should just stay in my CS degree, but my school only offers a few programs related to networking/information systems and the rest seems to be algorithm and programming bullshit. EDIT: Also, how the fuck do you get your foot in the door? Every time I see a job posting it says 3/5 years+ experience is required.
[QUOTE=thisBrad;35069697]I looked at some of the assignments my Engineering friend gets and all I saw was formulas and formulas and hardly any electrical symbols. Engineering looks more like Mathineering and math doesn't interest me so I would be better off doing something like Electrical Engineering Technology (implementation, maintenance, etc). It's only a 2 year program. As for IT... I was looking at a 2 year IT program, which seems to specialize a lot more in networking/management stuff which seems a lot more practical to the job I want. My school does offer classes on networking and databases, etc but is probably more theory related then practical. So I'm currently looking at Computer Science (3 years left for a degree) Electrical Engineering Technology (2 year program for a diploma) Information Technology (2 year program for diploma) But I think most employers would prefer a degree over a diploma, otherwise I would already have a decision made XD Currently thinking maybe I should just stay in my CS degree, but my school only offers a few programs related to networking/information systems and the rest seems to be algorithm and programming bullshit. EDIT: Also, how the fuck do you get your foot in the door? Every time I see a job posting it says 3/5 years+ experience is required.[/QUOTE] sign up for your schools employment stuff. [editline]9th March 2012[/editline] I just got an email from my school for a help desk position, going to apply.
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