<p>I am planning to major in Computer Science and in later years if I stick with it decide whether to become a programmer or an animator (any advice on this? Or any other branches I can do?). I'm worried that in the future my degree wouldn't be worth anything at all because it was from UCR compared to schools like UCLA, USC, UCI, CalPoly, etc in terms of the Computer Science field for a career/job.</p>
<p>Is computer science a good major money wise? My friend says he is doing CIS major and not CS b/c of the way the economy is going and how jobs are going off shore for computers. Would I really even be able to find money coming out of college? I understand that in the future what would really matter is the work experience and references, but what about in the beginning after college when you look for a job so you can actually get experience?</p>
<p>Computer science is a great major, much better than CIS imo. </p>
<p>There are jobs going overseas but there are still tons of programming jobs in the U.S. that go unfilled. </p>
<p>Pay is good as well.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a good major moneywise. In my first job out of college, I started with a salary that put my household income (as a single wage earner) in the top 30% of household incomes nationwide. And the outsourcing problem is highly overstated.</p>
<p>WOW really Jessie? Dang haha. How well would you say you did in college? Any work experience, top of the class, internships? Basically, what did you do that you believe attributed to getting that first job out of college or what did you do to get that job?</p>
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How well would you say you did in college?
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<p><em>snerk</em> GPA-wise, I am not going to put it here, but let's just say it wasn't very high. I didn't put it on my resume and didn't give it out unless asked for it. I was also coming out of a top school, so perception of GPA is a little different, but some GPAs aren't balanced by a big name alone.</p>
<p>Of course, as you noted, success in college isn't just about grades. I was actually a neural & cog sci major who took a whole bunch of CS and math classes on the side. I did a research internship in Switzerland writing software and developing algorithms for neural signal processing. I had other research experience in neuroscience. I TAed a robotics class. I survived the 30 hour/week software engineering lab and could answer questions competently in interviews. I had a couple of academics-related awards (that research internship was supported by a competitive fellowship, for instance). And for any company that cared about leadership experience, I had gobs of that. And there was the MIT name in the first place. So I had plenty going for me. The place that hired me does AI stuff, and liked the idea of someone who knew both cog sci and CS and had a solid math background.</p>
<p>A lot of it comes down to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Having an impressive enough resume to merit further consideration.</p></li>
<li><p>Being able to answer interview questions (both technical and non, but mostly technical) competently.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Ask your college what their placement rate is for CS grads. One of the local colleges has a placement rate of 100% after three months and that employers keep asking for more. This is a third-tier school (known for aviation) in New Hampshire.</p>
<p>My school's software engineering and computer engineering programs both place 100% of the graduates shortly after graduation and it's a small engineering school.</p>
<p>Well I'm going to UCR so is that much for a job?</p>
<p>id like to know that too, for both UCR and UCI</p>
<p>UCR and UCI should both do decently. The thing with engineering, unlike law or business, is that the quality of your school doesn't really affect the job you're going to get. Not too much anyway. If you're concerned about that, however, you can always try and work extra hard to get a stellar GPA and also involve yourself in activities that will give you a lot of experience. In either case, you're graduating from a decent university, and you're in California so getting a job shouldn't be a big problem.
I'm speaking simply from the impression that I've had about engineering jobs in general. I don't know any UCR or UCI grads, so don't take my word for it.</p>