Computer Science or Engineering

Edwards Finance > Computer Engineering

Q. I am interested in a career involving computers but am unsure of what exactly to major in. Should I major in computer science or computer engineering or does it make a difference? Which one would give me the most options and an opportunity for the most jobs after graduation? Before I decide to spend four years studying something, I want to be sure I can use the skills I get after I graduate.

A. -I'm not expert, but I get the impression that Computer Engineering tends to have more of a focus on hardware than Computer Science (in general). Many people regard Computer Science as math being done with computers. Both should teach you valuable problem solving skills. Here at Berkeley, there is not really any Computer Engineering degree: just Electrical Engineering/Computer Science which I suppose is a good way to describe the program here. - The original poster may be a little disappointed. If he views the purpose of a university as pure job training, then he's mistaken. While there are some elements of that in any college education (most any), the goal is often to teach various principles and skills that are needed in the field. More importantly, the aim is to learn to think in the field of choice. He may be one of those students who wonders why they don't teach this course and that course that could be used to get the good jobs, and why there is this silly requirement or that. Anyway, most universities do not have a distinct computer engineering dept. It's often a subdiscipline of electrical engineering, or a multi-discipline between EE and computer science. Computer engineering students will probably take half EE like courses (circuits, circuit design, in analog and digital) as well as programming courses. Computer engineering is more hardware related. If you go to a university with a strong computer engineering program AND you get good grades and know how to design well, then there are jobs available that pay well. However, if you are in computer science, currently, there is a large number of jobs in the field, with a large demand for programmers. This means you are more likely to get a job doing programming than doing computer engineering. Right now, one needs to be more skilled in computer engineering than programming to get a job. I don't know about comparative salaries or how the market will look a few years from now.

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