Computer Science or Computer Engineer

<p>Hi all, I will be a high school senior next year but I still have trouble choosing my major between CS and CmpE. I made a list of pros and cons for the 2 majors. Can you help me decide the best major for me please? BTW, I will be going to Gatech.</p>

<p>Computer Science: </p>

<p>Pros:
_ I love programming
_ I want to make mobile app
_ A CS degree will open to more career options
_ A CS degree is required by more jobs, which make it easier to find job with a CS degree
_ I love software more than hardware</p>

<p>Cons:
_ CS Curricum @ Gatech requires some boring math and statistic courses and I don't like database
_ I want to study CS @ Gatech but can't choose 2 out of 8 threads to focus on
_ My transferable CHEM 1212 and Calculus III classes I took at Clayton State University would be wasted. I would have to take Cal III again - Calculus III for CS course</p>

<p>Computer Engineer:</p>

<p>Pros:
_ I want to do hand-on project and love to build things too
_ Hardware projects are more awesome
_ Better curriculum, I like calculating/number math like Calculus, Differential Equation than language math like Linear Algebra and Statistic</p>

<p>Cons:
_ I am afraid CmpE would be harder for me since I'm not very good at hardware
_ It won't have much programming, right?
_ CmpE degree will open to less career options and have less job</p>

<p>Either major will give you good job opportunities, don’t worry about that. It really depends on what you like to do most and which curriculum appeal to you at GATech. You will have a significant amount of programming in CompE but it won’t include so much of the Software Engineering courses that are a part of CS. Personally, I think that CompE is a more flexible starting point for a career. My second son got his CompE degree and is a doing a mostly software related job at this moment but he has the skills to move back into a more hardware oriented career should he wish to.</p>

<p>To provide some insight, my brother got a CS degree 12-15ish years ago and he’s been in mostly programming / computer support jobs. He’s well off though, that’s for sure.</p>

<p>I think CompE would actually have a better job potential than CSC in my opinion. I’m a EE but I have CompE friends doing internships/jobs in software and hardware. CompE will still have a lot of programming in it, but instead of languages like Java, Perl, Ruby and etc. you’ll probably be more focused in C/C++ and Python for embedded systems (though as a Computer engineer you will still learn object oriendted programming through a language like Java probably). If you really want to do software, I’d say do CSC. If you really want to do hardware, do EE. If you want to integrate the two in embedded systems, do CompE. Both are great degrees to study.</p>