Computer Science/Computer Engineering/IT/Cyber Security

Hey all. 17 male and looking for a major. I for sure want to do something with computers or technology. I love it and I am working on projects all the time. I am looking at either computer engineering or IT or cyber security. What kind of things does cyber security cover?

Computer science is too math based for me but I for sure want to do either of the majors mentioned. I just don’t know what kind of jobs I would be doing after college with those majors.

Cyber security is offered at only one of the colleges I’m looking at

IT is not a major at one of the colleges I am looking at. It is a undergrad minor I think, and I was told that if I want to do that then I just major in engineering general. The college also has computer engineering (also interest for me) so I’m not sure which I should try for at that college.

I don’t have super high math scores or anything but I really do love the physical aspect of computers and hardware. I also love “hacking” (white hat of course. when I say I hack a lot of things I don’t mean I’m getting everyone’s personal info and stuff), it’s a lot of times just setting up virtual systems and cracking wifi networkds and cracking windows machines, etc.

Really not sure what I want to do but I am seriously looking at computer engineering, IT, or cyber security.

These are generalizations but hopefully act as a jumping off point:

Computer Science is the software side of technology. There are two ends - theoretical and practical. Theory requires the math much more than the practical side, which usually utilizes the advanced in the theoretical side to write software. Theoretical computer scientists often stay within academia or high-level research work for companies. The majority of computer science graduates go into software development, which actually doesn’t use all that much math in day to day work.

Cyber security is a branch of computer science - most colleges will not offer a specific major in it but offer a CS concentration in cyber security, or a combined major, etc. You will actually find pretty heavy math there when it comes to subjects like cryptography.

IT is the study of managing information/technology. IT varies much more from school to school, but would be less software development and more things like network management/design, devops, etc.

General engineering and IT are usually not synonymous. Engineering will usually be much more hardware-focused. Computer Engineering focuses on the electrical engineering that makes computers work as well as a mix of some basic software, operating systems, etc.

I think somewhere between CE and CS would be your best bet. Perhaps a major in CE with a CS minor (with some cyber security electives) would work. The CS minor with cyber security will get you enough to do anything an IT major would be able to do likely.

Don’t be too scared by the math in CS - you’ll find much more in Engineering usually.

@PengsPhils are you sure there is more math in CE? everyone says something different. half say more in CE half say more in CS. I also heard there’s more jobs and more money to be made with CS. what kind of stuff would you do?

I like building computers and electronics in general which is why I would rather do CE but then again I don’t know what kind of jobs I would be looking at.

Doing a job in any of these spaces will lead to good career prospects. Picking something you like less for a 10K difference in salary is simply not worth it.

I don’t know engineering quite as well, but I suspect CE probably has less than some other engineerings, but it still will have a decent deal of math.

Checking at my school, CE and CS require the same number of math classes, one being slightly more advanced for CE. Mechanical Engineering requires 1 Calculus course more than both CE and CS. My last comment was speaking to engineering generally. You should pick a random decent engineering school and compare the degree requirements to get an idea of what exactly each one is.

@PengsPhils yeah you are right I looked up the requirements for the classes. I’m just kinda nervous about the calculus and the physics. Are those classes hard for the computer engineering?

how long has computer engineering been around for? is it going to be the next hot job or is that ONLY comp sci? I know comp sci has been on the rise, IDK if computer engineering is on the rise or if it has been around for a while.

I don’t want to be working on old machines. I want to be working on electronics, technology, computers, it all seems fun. Computer science is just coding. What kind of jobs could I get with CE?

Computer engineering has been around for some time - it’s well established at this point. It’s not red hot like CS is, but you shouldn’t be caring about that anyways given how fast things change - focus on what you like. All three of the majors discussed here have job markets that are here to stay for the long term (pending some insane invention that would somehow make computers and information obsolete, which I do not see frankly even in this century), regardless of current trends.

The difficulty of physics/calculus varies by person - they aren’t the highest level of math/physics though, and I think most would characterize them as doable, but again, it’s about you.

The engineering forum will probably be more help when it comes to the fine details of CE. I’m CS myself.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/