What is the difference between computer science engineering Vs computer science Vs computer information system? Is one more popular than the other ?
Computer science is more theory focused. Understanding algorithms, order of complexity, data structures, designing programming languages and operating systems, etc.
Computer engineering focuses on the practical aspects of designing and implementing computers. Computer architecture, system design, hardware considerations, etc.
Perhaps this will help:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/computer-science-vs-computer-engineering
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my kid is computer engineering - his classes his first two years are very similar to electrical engineering students - physics, math, chem, electrical circuits, computer science. The computer science route - or even the software engineering route is different without as many science-based classes.
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When a college says Computer major is an impacted course do they mean all comp sci programs ?(Engineering, comp sci, comp information sys)
Depending on the college, computer engineering may be more hardware oriented than computer science. The extent that this is the case varies by college, so each college’s curricula for each needs to be checked.
Computer information systems is typically a less technical business based major aimed at managing computers and software rather than designing and developing them.
Computer engineering is basically electrical engineering with an emphasis on computing devices.
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Impaction can be one, two or all these majors. The colleges usually specify which majors are impacted. Do you have any specific college examples?
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UNC Charlotte is an example. Where can I find what are the impacted majors for a college?
NC State is another example. Are some engineering programs at NC State considered impacted and not all?
Hopefully someone familiar with these schools can chime in on impacted majors. I unfortunately have no experience or knowledge. Ask me about the California schools especially the UC’s and Cal states, then I am your person. You might want to post your questions in the specific school discussions:
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I am not familiar with Computer Science Engineering. Computer Engineering is (usually) and ABET course that is part of the Engineering faculty. It is, as noted above, essentially Electrical Engineering with more focus on computers, and a bit less on bigger power systems.
Computer Science is not an ABET major, so it has more freedom in what it teaches. It sometimes is part of the Engineering faculty, but often is a separate entity, or part of a math department.
AFAIK, Computer Information Systems is not a widely used phrase to describe a major. It sounds like an IT(Information Technology) or CS(Computer Science) concentration within a major.
It can be confusing at first, but keep in mind that the main difference is between Computer Science and Computer Engineering… there is also Software engineering at some schools, which inhabits a middle ground.
S2 started out wanting to go into CS(he has been coding since he was 12 yo), but decided in the last year or so that he wanted to do CompE, so we have looked at quite a few programs. Once you choose CompE, it really narrows down the choices, which for us, was a good thing.
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Computer Engineering is usually part of a school’s college of engineering. has an engineering focus compared to computer science.
Computer Information Systems is also often called Management Information Systems (MIS). You’d find that major most often in a school’s college of business. Doesn’t require as much math (usually 1 semester of non-engineering calculus compared to usually 1 yr of engineering-based calculus + Linear Algebra required for Computer Science).
CIS/MIS majors usually require you to take a lot of business classes, whereas in Computer Engineering or Comp Sci, there’s none of that.
All 3 fields are pretty easy to find lucrative employment in.
Between the 3, comp sci & MIS are probably more popular than computer engineering. Not all schools offer computer engineering. An emerging field which is also very popular now in the job market is Data Science. Sometimes that major shows up as a sub-specialty or “area of concentration” within Computer Science and/or MIS.
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At any college, you can tell if the major is impacted if you have to be a “pre-major” first. Colleges will do that because there’s more students who want to major in a particular subject than they have class space for.
So if they don’t do “direct admits” to, let’s say, Computer Science or MIS, and instead tell you that you can be admitted as a freshman as a “pre-Comp Sci” or “pre-MIS” major, then that’s a big clue right there.
Go directly to the department’s website at each school you’re considering and see what you can find. Or call the department directly or email them and ask. Or contact the Admissions Department and ask.
When you’re a “pre-major,” it usually means that you have to take certain lower division classes for that major AND get above a certain GPA in those classes…THEN you fill out a form and submit it to the department applying to get into the major. Once you’re finally declared as a “major” and not “pre-major,” then you’re allowed to take all the other classes needed in order to graduate with a BS/BA degree in that subject.
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UNC Charlotte info about the Comp Sci major:
https://cci.charlotte.edu/academics/undergraduate-studies
UNC Charlotte info about the MIS major:
It does appear that the MIS major is impacted because you have to be a “pre-Business” major first.
UNC Charlotte info about Computer Engineering:
By the end of freshman year in that major, you have to have a cumulative GPA of 2.50 in order to be allowed to continue as a sophomore in the Computer Engineering major.
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This is not necessarily the case.
For example, no majors at UCSD require going in as a pre-major, but several are capacity limited.
In contrast, the UCLA public affairs major requires students declare the pre-major first before declaring the major. However, neither step requires grades or GPA higher than C or 2.0.
Agreed. There are many colleges where CS is impacted but there’s no pre-major requirement
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I was a computer engineering major back in the day (mid-80s) so I looked at the NCST and UNCC websites for CE and CS and things have changed, and for the better I think for Computer Engineering. There’s a lot less what I call general engineering (Mechanics e.g.) and even courses like Electromagnetic Theory required, which is all good for computer engineers! I also found the CS curriculum not to require any hardware courses, unless maybe as an elective. One other difference which I was surprised was that CE had more math than CS, typically that’s not the case. There is some overlap wrt the CS courses, things like Data Structures, but other than that, they seem pretty distinct, which I was not expecting.
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