Computer Science vs Electrical/Computer Engineering

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

<p>I know this has probably been discussed a million times on here but bare with me. I'm going to try and make this as concise as possible and give you my personal feelings about my experiences thus far with both majors so that you may be better able to assist me in choosing a major.</p>

<p>First things first, I'm a first semester transfer student at Stony Brook University, and I was originally planning on changing my major from CS to EE because my CS professor at my old school recommended it due to my interests in signal processing and linking my interests in music and technology. I'll give you some lists about what I liked and didn't like about each major.</p>

<p>What I like about CS:
- The problem solving
- Programming culture/community
- Accessibility(anyone who has a computer can write code with no additional monetary cost)
- Encourages tidiness and precision</p>

<p>What I don't like about CS:
- Theory</p>

<p>What I like about EE:
- Very broad; can be applied almost anywhere.
- Would create a good link between my interests in music and technology.</p>

<p>What I don't like about EE:
- Boring
- I have a hard time conceptualizing even the basics
- Doesn't seem to be as accessible as CS in terms of actually starting projects. If you have an idea for something cool you want to create, how do you go about doing it? In CS you can just sit down at a computer and start writing code.
- Seems to be "messy", with a concentration on simply creating something that is just "good enough" for whatever specifications are given.</p>

<p>I'm sorry if my perceptions about EE are a little askew, as I am only taking my first course in it this semester, so I still don't really know much about it.</p>

<p>If this helps, I'm also interested in becoming a teacher some day, and I figure with all the math classes I'm taking already, it wouldn't be too hard to pull off a Math education major as well. Also, apparently the NYS department of education is working on education certification programs for computer science and other subjects. and teaching CS is also something I'd be very interested in. I've done very well in my classes in both subjects so far.</p>

<p>So does EE get better? Should I tough it out to get to stuff I'm more interested in? Or would a CS/ Math ed. combination be better for me?</p>

2

<p>Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering? There is some ambiguity in your post and they are quite different. If you are bored and have difficulty grasping the electrical engineering courses that form the basis of both EE and CE degrees, then it is going to be hard for you to get to the interesting stuff (if in fact it turns out to be interesting for you). In that case, perhaps you need to rethink things. You do not need to take a lot of theory in CS if you focus more on software engineering but it sounds like CS is more in line with what you like.</p>

3

<p>I understand they are different and I didn’t mean to make it seem ambiguous but at most schools they consist of a lot of the same courses. At my school in particular, it’s all EE classes with a few basic CS classes. The classes that are required for the CE major are still in the EE department and can work towards an EE degree as well, they’re just more specific to computer engineering and would ordinarily be electives rather than required courses… The stuff I’m learning in my EE class is slowly starting to make more sense but not in the way CS did for me. I’ll probably end up changing back to CS unless I really end up liking EE, as it is still very early in the semester.</p>

4

<p>CS is more creative.</p>