@TomSrOfBoston the Computer Based Honors Program at the University of Alabama has Fortran as one of their programming languages for the first semester. My kid was like, what!?! I said look at it like it’s a history lesson (she was trying to decide whether or not to apply for the program and the FORTRAN stuff really threw her).
OP Congrats to your son! NEU is a terrific school-my D had a very hard time choosing between it and her eventual first choice (UA).
That sucks. I hope he’ll get accepted to another school that he likes. FWIW, one of D’s senior friend got rejected from her first choice CMU and she had 4.5 GPA and 1540 SAT, NMSF and several CS related ECs. College admission system is crazy.
^^Daily award for not reading the thread. /
LOL. Thanks! Just went back and found out OP’s happy ending. Congratulations!!
[quoteIT vs CS vs EE: So I am a bit clueless on the distinctions. My understanding is that the IT person fixes the computer and many of us have some ability to do IT on our own (have gotten rid of some viruses in the past for example). CS is the programming part - writing code, algorithms, creating apps, updates to software. And is EE the hardware side of things or does that also incorporate CS? What covers expertise in various programs (beyond things like Excel or Word into more complex programs used for data analytics or design for example).
[/quote]
EE and CE (Computer Engineering) are the hardware side of things. There’s some overlap with CS or the software side as hardware can have built-in code, or can be designed to run certain types of code faster. When I say “code” in this context I mean very low-level code, not what most people think of as computer code.
Expertise in analytics falls under statisticians and the like. Although you can be a “business analyst” with a psych degree and a good hand at Excel. The hardcore guys are the “data scientists” who have deep understanding of statistics and a degree in math or something similar, and swim in the R pool before breakfast. Data scientists are in very high demand these days and make very good money.
There are many levels of IT expertise. The most advanced IT people go far beyond fixing things. They are responsible for network planning, load balancing, system configuration and performance, security policy, and a host of other specializations. These are the people who make sure that impossibly complex and critical systems are well defended and stay running 24/7.
There are IT jobs that require a two year associates degree or certification but positions like what I described above require at least a 4 year degree and preferably a masters. I’m a programmer and have a good understanding network protocols and architecture but I don’t have the expertise needed to put it all together like an IT specialist.
(Talk about a thread going off topic!)
Congrats! Am happy for him and for you too!
Northeastern is a great school, and Boston is a great city (one of the best, IMHO) to go to college in.
@Bnovel Congrats! I-)
NEU - awesome!!
Just catching up now, great news!!! And hope he had a wonderful birthday!