<p>Hey guys, I am an incoming freshman to Michigan State and plan to major in Computer Science. I have heard that CS is a major that doesn't really rely on the schools prestige for job prospects. Also would transferring be a better idea (i.e. west coast school).</p>
<p>What are your opinions?</p>
<p>You will get all types of answers about prestige on this board. Being a fellow MSU alum who basically did a CS degree via a Math degree, I would say that in computer science, prestige doesn’t mean as much…especially in software engineering.</p>
<p>Once you are in the industry, it becomes all about having/knowing the latest skills that are in demand. Sure some grads of certain schools may start off with a higher salary INITIALLY but the CS grad from a so-called “lesser” school can make up those salary gaps is a couple of job hops. In the software industry, engineers probably jump employers more than other engineering areas and the software engineering industry is used to that.</p>
<p>I have been doing software engineering/development for 20 years with 14 in the private sector. After 14 years, I decided to want a little more “job security”, so I now contract for the federal INTEL agencies.</p>
<p>Have fun roaming Wells Hall.</p>
<p>Transferring to another school generally means losing certain amount of credits and you may have hard time adjusting your life there again.
If possible, avoid transfer at all cost.</p>
<p>I believe CS is a field where the school doesn’t really matter as long as you learn the right skills.</p>
<p>If you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what school you went to.</p>
<p>I heard CS majors who graduate from some ivy league schools don’t even know what a pointer is since all they learned was Java.</p>
<p>^ I kind of find that hard to believe since I learned what a pointer was in my first beginning java programming class.</p>
<p>^ I kind of find that hard to believe because Java is strictly pass-by-value</p>
<p>^ I kind of wish I knew what you guys were talking about.</p>
<p>^^^ Strictly speaking C is also passed by value. In Java, objects’ reference are passed by values, which is very different from that of C.
In Java, the concept of pointer is very different. Some argue it doesn’t exist, while some think it does (it is like arguing whether the 1st element of an array is actually a pointer (constant array) or not…). The C-style concept does not exist (that is, there a data type called “pointer”)</p>
<p>Correct me if I am wrong. I am willing to learn the right things.</p>
<p>I don’t know about prestige, but the field is hot right now. Most of the job openings I see in my field have a strong software component.</p>
<p>Well coming back to the question. I think location is critical for a CS major. If the school is in the middle of a nowhere (CORxxLL, just kidding)… there is fewer internship opportunity.</p>
<p>You might want to wait at least a little while to see if you actually want to major in CS. If your goal is a job right out of school, I think most schools will prepare you reasonably well. I would try to get some summer work to show employers if possible.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response guys. I will definitely make sure CS is what I want to do, over the summer I will try to become well versed in C++ and Java. Math requirements are the only things that make me think twice but I believe I can stomach it.</p>
<p>I agree gthopeful. I was looking at UT Austin’s internal job posting site for students and employers and it was getting pretty annoying sifting through the CS jobs/internships to find stuff for other disciplines. Just seeing the sheer number of CS jobs posted amazes me.</p>