Computer Engineering at UT or Computer Science at TAMU

Hi everyone, I have received great insights from all of you on my previous queries. I hope you can help me with this one as well. I got admitted to Computer Engineering Computer Science Track in TAMU.I attended an information session last weekend at TAMU and found out that I can switch to Computer Science if I need to in the second year. However, in UT I got into Electrical Engg. at Cockrell. I am confused on which major will be the best choice for me. I researched a lot to understand the differences in the degrees. I like the fact that Computer Engineering is heavy on Math and fundamentals which might be difficult to learn at a later stage of life. At the same Computer Science is heavy on Software development and new technologies that are emerging so seems to be very exciting as well. The only thing I see as a Con to it is little lack of Math and foundational engineering concepts. I like math and like to challenge myself but at the same time find Computer Science as very new! I am very confused what is the right way to go. I would love to hear your insights on what possibly can be the best choice? Thanks for your help!

First off - any engineering degree is going to contain the same fundamentals in math, physics, chemistry. Standard at all schools. Since UT is in the EE dept - the emphasis will be on EE type classes and labs. If you love Physics you’ll love EE classes. Looks like lots of Labs too! So you need to look at all those technical core electives to see if they appeal to you and what direction you can take them. What would you do with the degree? Design chips, boards? Embedded systems? When you look at A&M you’ll see the Engineering emphasis plus the other end Computer Science which includes architecture/operating system classes, data structures, algorithms all necessary for getting any software engineering position. I think the only way you can get this at UT is to add a certificate/minor in Computer Science (I think it’s 5 classes). EE is a tough curriculum - you either love it or hate it.

You can start with ECE at UT, and if you don’t see yourself doing electronic/hardware design stuff, then you can switch to computer science in the second year. If you have very good grades, it shouldn’t be difficult to transfer to computer science from ECE.

I had no issues transferring from CS to EE and back to CS.

@CertifiedCC You didn’t say how long ago you transferred. I’ve heard from current students that it is very hard to transfer, talk of currently needing a 3.8-3.9 GPA (whether that is myth or not I can not say, but it is what a current student trying to transfer said to me). Also heard from one CS professor two months ago that one recent semester they took “almost no” transfers, internal or otherwise As for grades, also remember UT is not the way it used to be “back in the day” when an 89.5 in a class got you 4.0 grade points. Now, A- gets 3.67 grade points and a B+ 3.33 grade points, etc.

One factor to consider also is that often if you want to transfer out of a major that usually means you don’t like the major. If you don’t like the major, your grades may reflect this. I’ve have heard of current UT students caught in this catch-22. I love UT but warn people that if can be very difficult to transfer into the competitive/full majors at a later date, and CS would definitely fall into that category.

Of course the downside at A&M is you are going into general engineering as a freshman and your grades can impact your ability to get the particular field you want your sophomore year. As CS is so different from the rest of the engineering degrees you might not be happy with what you get (note, from what I hear, the standards at A&M for getting into your particular engineering major are much lower than what it takes to transfer to competitive majors at UT, but I have less info on A&M. I think A&M may post that a 3.5 guarantees your engineering choice no matter what major - probably need to look at the A&M website and boards for more info).

As far as UT, whatever major you choose, you either like it or learn to like it, because you probably won’t be going anywhere else. Not everyone likes EE because it tends to be very dry and technical.

As far as the major goes, there’s a lot of overlap in technology. Technology can be a a funny career sometimes. Half of the CS and CE majors end up getting jobs in IT and they spend their entire careers never looking at a math problem. CS and CE are really not that different from each other, and both degrees are employable. In fact, CS and CE majors share a lot of the same courses.

I recommend A&M, because if you’re not sure about EE, there’s a chance you might end up stuck hating it at UT-Austin.

No one can tell you what is best for you, and you will need to explore what you like and what you are good at.
I can tell you that if you have excellent grades (3.8 and above) especially in math and programming stuff, you will be able to transfer to CS at UT.