<p>Would there be a huge difference if you chose one major over the other?
Also, should you even major in them if you're still a beginner at programming but you enjoy it?</p>
<p>At the few schools which offer both majors, the SE and CS majors are similar, but the SE major has more courses in software engineering methods, displacing a few CS topics courses. The CS major, perhaps with one overview SE course, is probably more desirable, though an SE major student could make the effort to take additional CS topics courses in his/her elective space.</p>
<p>If the school offers only an SE major but not a CS major, check carefully its course offerings, since it may not have enough CS topics courses to make a worthwhile CS major or give an SE major a strong background in various CS topics.</p>
<p>I’m taking a wild guess and saying you attended UC Berkeley. So is it true that CoE focuses more closely on the applicant’s GPA and SAT/ACT scores over extracurriculars?</p>
<p>If you really want to know about the Berkeley frosh admissions process, read this:
<a href=“http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/committees/aepe/hout_report_0.pdf[/url]”>http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/committees/aepe/hout_report_0.pdf</a></p>
<p>This has been rehashed over and over on this forum. I suggest searching this forum, especially my own posts, which are highly insightful and invaluable. :D</p>
<p>Haha I’ll make sure to check those out, thanks guys!</p>
<p>They’re really close to eachother (see the curricula), but I think there’s a difference in what the majors consider to be important in computing (and thus what you’ll be studying and why).</p>
<p>Software engineering is “more applied” and governs more industrial practices (the stuff that’s used right now or has been found to be useful in application), whereas computer science is the general study of computation (independent of what it’s applied to or what specific technologies or techniques are used).</p>
<p>You should major in any of the two, if it’s what interests you. You don’t need to know any of the stuff (e.g. basic programming) to begin, because everything will be taught. It’s highly beneficial though, if you’ve grasped the basic programming concepts prior to the classes, because it’ll make your life a bit easier (understanding programming when you begin to study it takes time and you have no prior understanding of it, which comparatively many people have in math or physics, because they’ve been studying them in HS).</p>