My S21 has his college choices down to two (I hope). The one school has the comp sci department in the College of Engineering. The second school has comp sci in College of Science and Technology. At the first school, he could take computer engineering as a minor, but not at the second school. Is there any more prestige or plus to employers if the comp sci degree says College of Engineering? Thank you!
Generally not, in the case of universities which offer CS in both the engineering division and some other division (this is with the university and CS department the same).
Of course, at different universities, the actual CS department offerings and requirements for the CS major and general education can make one or the other a better academic fit for the student intending to major in CS. Also consider whether the student will have to go through secondary admission to the CS major after enrolling. Employer recruiting may differ, often by location (i.e. what companies with jobs for CS majors are near the university).
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Thank you so much for your reply. To be more specific, the school where comp sci is in the College of Engineering (University of De) only has the major in COE and some of the general ed requirements are dictated by COE - the degree will say College of Engineering. The other school is Temple. He was direct admitted into his major at both schools. He had considered U of Maryland but was not direct admitted into his major and was put in “letters & science” (so he’d have to go through secondary admission) and I think he’s eliminated that. Temple puts him in Philly market, but UD also puts him close to Philly and also Wilmington (a tech city?) We are in Philly burbs, so I’d love him to find job close! UMD puts him more in Washington DC job market. Thank you again!!
It’s really not relevant. Whatever school houses the CS department is more a matter of history of the college and the department than a matter of prestige.
At Illinois, an outstanding school for engineering AND for CS, the CS department is in the College of Engineering, but the Chemical Engineering department is not. Carnegie Mellon has a stand-alone CS school apart from engineering and apart from Sciences, and Purdue has CS as it’s most competitive major within the School of Science and outside of their outstanding School of Engineering.
Most colleges – and likely this applies to the two fine schools you mention – will publish outcomes and curriculum for their CS department apart from the outcomes of others in the same school.
Great choices for him! Good luck.
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As long as it’s a true CS degree (not a computer Engineering) with a CS curriculum comparable to others, I don’t think where it’s housed matters.
CS and a Computer Engineering are different.
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The difference may be in the course requirements, especially if your son won’t be directly admitted to a major. You should look into that.
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There isn’t a difference. In fact, most CS/CE graduates get corporate IT jobs and spend an entire career never looking at a math problem. Coding is the most valuable skill to learn. You’ll be surprised how much overlap there is.
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Two of my kids are CS majors at different universities.
Both schools allow the CS major to be accessed by either the engineering school, or the arts & science side of the university.
My older went the engineering (BS) route and did so largely to avoid the foreign language requirement for the BA.
His brother went the arts & science (BA) route to avoid too much/unnecessary STEM courses required for the BS.
Interestingly, when I spoke to a CS professor over parents weekend at one of the schools and asked which path to the CS degree was “better”, the head of the department said they usually don’t know which side of the school their undergraduates are enrolled in, and that “CS is CS”.
I liked that answer.
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A student shouldn’t generalize the differences, or the lack thereof, between CS in engineering and CS in A&S (or between BS and BA) for schools that offer these options. For some schools, the differences are only in the distribution/general requirements but are minimal in the CS curricula. For some other schools, those differences are more profound. Prospective CS students should carefully look into the differences before deciding on their paths.
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The University of Maryland, College Park is much better for computer science or computer engineering than either University of Delaware or Temple; whose rankings in a report published by csrankings.org are 10, 77, 86, respectively. If it were my son, I would strongly encourage him to go with Maryland. At Maryland, “Due to the similarity in curriculum, students within the Computer Engineering major are not allowed to earn a second major or degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science. Likewise, Computer Engineering majors are not eligible for the Computer Science and Computer Engineering minor programs.”
I understand that there is another step to get into Clark School of Engineering at Maryland, but it does not sound improbable: average of 3.0 with an allowance of : minimum B- in math 141; physics 161; completion of either CHEM 135 or CHEM 271 or CHEM 134 with a minimum grade of C- or better.
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Please see a recent post that might be of interest to you and your son:
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Thank you for your help! He ended up committing to Temple recently. I realize it is not top for CS as UMD. He had a scholarship with University of Delaware and Temple. The Temple campus clicked with him and he was happy and excited (love at first sight) even though he was aware of the CS standing compared to UD and UMD. He was just not into the large sprawling classic campus of UD (even though that’s my alma matter and love the campus). He probably would not dig UMD either if that’s not his thing. So we are going with what clicks. Temple is also closer to us. I hope he’s made a good decision!
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I am sure your son has made a good decision. He will succeed, AND be happy and excited!
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Absolutely nothing wrong with picking Temple.
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Excellent! The advice always boils down to choosing the college that fits. For a traditional college student right out of high school, 4 years of college is 20% of his life. He’s got to face each day glad to be where he is.
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Our is at UMD under Letters Science with CS major currently a sophmore. It is a tough school. They have a 2-year-old new dedicated CS building. Our son plans to do a minor in math (needs additional credits). If your child has any specific questions or concerns I will be happy to connect with our son.