<p>I'm new to this topic so I hope I am posting in the right place.</p>
<p>My son is interested in both computer science and engineering (not computer engineering tho). We are starting to research colleges and see that some have Comp Sci as part of the Engineering school, while at others, CS falls under Arts & Sciences.</p>
<p>My question is: Is it foolish for an undecided student to apply to a school that doesn't have CS in the Engineering school? A couple of schools high on his (current) list fall under that category. But I worry he will be "stuck" if he changes his mind about a major--wanting to change from Engin. to CS or vice versa. </p>
<p>Any insights gratefully accepted as we start down this intimidating road. I come from a very liberal-artsy background and family so I feel extremely clueless.</p>
<p>Some schools offer a BA in comp sci vs a BS. if the school offers a bs then switching to.engineering would.not be as difficult because many of the maths and sciences will be the same. if they offer a ba your son will have to take more math and sciences if he decides to switch.</p>
<p>Each university has its own policies on changing major, especially if the destination major is impacted. If the destination major is impacted, there is likely to be a competitive admission process to change into it. There may be additional hurdles if the majors are in different divisions (e.g. arts/science versus engineering divisions).</p>
<p>In cases where one major is impacted but the other is not, applying as a freshman to the impacted major reduces the chance of admission, but allows easier change of major later. Doing it the other way around makes it easier to get into the school, but changing major later would be more difficult.</p>
<p>Also, he should check on commonality of course work to see if he can construct a freshman year schedule that will allow progress in both/all majors so that he will not be delayed in graduating for whichever major he chooses.</p>
<p>The KEY is to get the right coursework, whether or not the CS degree is in the engineering college or not. Even if the CS major is in the college of Arts & Sciences, those CS majors will still have priority over non-CS majors in getting the desired coursework.</p>
<p>As for CS in the engineering college vs arts/sciences, it will not matter as far as employment.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the input. I think it’s going to be a question of which “school” within a college does he apply to, if engineering and CS are not in the same “school.” Will probably have to decide this on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>I’m sure most schools will be very helpful. Try to maintain a schedule that fits both to avoid doing a fifth year. Good luck in sure it will work out for the best.</p>
<p>You may want to make the ability to easily switch from eng. to CS to be a required feature as you search for colleges. As some colleges such as CMU, we were told that “it is not impossible” to switch from the engineering school to the CS school (they are separate, and have separate admissions). At other schools it is expected that a good percentage of entering engineering/science students are unsure of their major and have programs in place to help students sort through it. We were asking these questions because our son’s interests were migrating over time 
WPI and Tufts come to mind as examples of flexible schools.</p>
<p>How about if your son pursues his Bachelor in the engineering field that he likes with a minor in CS? Your son will get exposure to both fields at the same time. If it turns out that he wants to pursue a career in CS, the minor will give him the option and preparation to obtain a Master in CS. Perhaps this path will make him even more maketable down the road, especially if that engineering field is related to CS, like Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>All good points – thank you.</p>