I’ve just been accepted to Purdue, but instead of computer science as my major I put web development and design. I want to be a software engineer. What are the differences between the two majors and would majoring in web development and design leave me not knowing vital things to become a software engineer?
What does your acceptance letter say? Does it say that you have been accepted to the CS undergrad program or to another program?
It says I’ve been accepted into the web development and design in the polytechnic institute
Web development and design is more practical and application-focused, while computer science is more theoretical and wide-ranging. With either degree, you’ll end up having to do a lot of self-study to fill in gaps in your knowledge. That’s the nature of working in tech.
I don’t see a problem with the web development degree if that’s the kind of work you want to do coming right out of college.
There’s no requirement that you have to have a certain kind of degree to be a software engineer. You can be a software engineer with a CS degree, a web development and design degree, a physics degree, a chemistry degree, a history degree, or no degree.
As someone who works as a software engineer currently, I am well aware of what is going on with the industry as I have just recently changed my place of employment. To be honest, not having a computer science degree can count against you when it comes to getting a job, but it depends on where you’re applying to.
I have a mathematics degree, but I started from the bottom and worked my way up to where I am today on all of the self-learning I’ve done over the years. I haven’t met anyone in person who was a self-taught programmer like I am, I’ve only ever connected with these people online. Although web development isn’t that far off from computer science, I’d suggest getting a traditional computer science degree. I am going to graduate school for a master’s in computer science to make sure that my qualifications aren’t ever in question. If you don’t have a degree in computer science, your skills must speak loudly to your ability. That’s how I got my latest job. A coworker recommended me at the time because they thought I was very smart and very good at what I did.
The difference between Web Development and Design through the Polytechnic Institute and Computer Science through the College of Science is essentially the same as the difference between a vocational program to become a machinist or mechanic and a Mechanical Engineering degree. In both cases, the former is essentially a vocational program to teach you a specific skill, and the latter is a degree in the theory of a fundamental academic discipline.
The web dev degree is probably fine if you want to work as a (frontend) web developer or a software developer working on web applications. It’s not fine if your goal is to work as a software engineer on things like embedded systems, high-performance computing, and roles that require heavy knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and math. Like @CalDud said, even a lot of web programming roles will probably not be available to you without a CS degree.
From experience:
A Computer Science degree will open all path including ALL of web development fields.
A Web Development and Design degree will only open SOME web development fields.
And if both get the same job, the Computer Science major will be paid more (even if the Web Development major knows more of that job).
In other words, if you want to be a web developer, be a computer science major.
Now, if you want to be a software engineer, then you really should be a computer science major.
Web Development and Design will probably be more focused on web development (more of a vocational degree) which sounds good on paper. But for some reason, the industry even for the same job roles would hire a Computer Science major over a Web Development and Design major.
(It’s probably because “Computer Science” is the common path in most schools so when recruiters see anything else, they just scratch it off thinking its a ‘lesser’ degree (for a field that prides itself as ‘merit based’, it has many questionable practices in hiring). Plus, a lot of resume filters simply use bots nowadays before the actual filtering so not having certain key words just leads to instant rejections)
I would strongly disagree with that statement. I have never seen people paid on the basis of what kind of degree they have. Your pay is determined by the type of work you’ll be doing rather than the type of degree you have.