Hello,
My future college allows a major of computer engineering/electrical engineering, I have always loved computers and math. I was wondering would it be valuable to double major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering/Electrical Engineering? Or should I switch one out for a major in Math? Any pros and cons will greatly be appreciated!!!
Answer this question: what do I want to do for a living?
Computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering all lead to different but overlapping career options. None of those careers expect you to have a double major and only a tiny fraction would significantly benefit from it. This means that the time and money you spend getting the second degree is almost certainly wasted.
Still, if you are insistent, I would advise math + something else, with the idea that the something else would be your career and that the math might just make you better at it.
I want to become a College Professor actually, I have always loved teaching people and researching. I have always been one of those people that want to know everything about a certain subject like the how’s and why’s. I equally enjoy Computer Science, Computer Engineering/Electrical Engineering and thought that if I got my Bachelor’s in both, I can easily decide what my Masters should be, then Doctorate.
You still won’t likely benefit from a double major, and that will likely just make the entire process take longer than it should. Consider that the typical route to becoming a professor is a BS, then an optional MS (some schools are fine with admitting students directly to the PhD program, might might save a semester or two), then the PhD, and then one or more postdoctoral positions. Most people don’t finish their PhD until they are in sight of (or beyond) 30 years old, and how many years you spend as a postdoc is highly variable. In other words, don’t needlessly tack extra time onto your training if you can help it.
If you do a double major, you’d better have a really good reason for supporting that you need both, beyond just, “I like both.” Sometimes you benefit from specialized knowledge in two related but distinct fields, usually they don’t really mix.
Also consider that if the fields are related then you can almost always gain whatever cross-pollination might be useful within the context of just one of the fields, for example by tailoring your electives or getting involved with projects covering the area(s) of interest.
At umich, computer engineering is basically a mix of electrical engineering and computer science. You will also find electrical engineering majors who do a significant amount of work with software, and computer science majors who do a significant amount of work with hardware. With computer engineering, many people obtain a solid background in both the hardware and software sides.
A double major is not worth it if it will take more time. Chances are you will be relying on only one of your majors for your career. Just figure out which area you are more interested in and choose that major. You can take coursework in the other area as electives. For programming jobs, a number of positions don’t care whether or not your degree is in computer science. You just need to be able to demonstrate competency through the technical interviews.
I have been doing engineering research and development in Computational Mechanics at a national laboratory since receiving my PhD over 25 years ago. I have always wished I had taken more math classes. I would say take as much math as you can, especially with a goal in research, whether or not you get a double major or even a minor.