If I do a bachelor and the minor, it will be a struggle to finish in 4 years but would require having a course load of 6 courses per semester.
If I do just the EE major, I can probably finish in 4 years while taking about 5 courses per semester. A CS master would probably take 1 year to complete.
Here are the courses I will cover in the minor:
Introduction to Software Systems
Introduction to Computer Science
Programming Languages and Paradigms
Introduction to Computer Engineering
Introduction to Numerical Methods in Electrical Engineering
Algorithms and Data Structures
Operating Systems
Parallel Computing
Essentially, the minor is 4 additional class due the to overlap in EE.
What is your ultimate goal? What job/niche are you seeking? Both are viable paths, but you’re getting ahead of yourself if you haven’t even begun the bachelor’s program and are already considering a masters degree. You may get to school and find you absolutely hate electrical engineering and switch purely to computer science (or vice versa). This all assumes that you get through the math, physics, and intro engineering/cs courses unscathed (no small feat). Then there is the matter of what you do between/during semesters (research, internship, coop, etc). Take some advice from Bruce Lee, “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless; like water.” basically keep an open mind and adapt to the situation, be water my friend.
That depends on the job. If you were looking for a job as an EE, then the minor would look better, since it would indicate that your main interest was in EE. If you were looking for a job in software, then the masters degree would look better.
Soooo… what do you want to be when you grow up? A hardware guy, or a software guy?
Depending on what kind of work you want to do, a masters in CS probably has more value than a CS minor. Still, no need to decide right now. Take some EE and CS classes and see how much you like them.
Keep in mind that your interests may evolve. DS is an ECE who thought he was more of a “hardware guy” until he had an exciting internship that involved a lot of software work.
I actually just want to diversified my options. I am not sure where I want to go but I am considering between working in the oil and gas industry, software engineer/developer, data analyst, consulting, trading, quant trading.
Those are very different paths with very different qualifications. I would recommend picking one as your “most likely” path and taking that as your major. Add in some extra programming and math courses - doesn’t need to be a full major or minor. If you change your mind while still in school you can either change your major or else prep for grad school in your other preferred area. But it is extremely hard to graduate from undergrad fully qualified for two different professional fields, even with a double major!
The thing is, I am going to be trying to break into any of these field. If I can get an internship, I will build onto it and work from there. My major is still a good background to have because my end goal would probably be entrepreneur.
The problem is that the only thing these fields have in common is math. Some require chemistry, some require programming, some require finance… and you can’t build a decent background in all of those simultaneously. Ever hear the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none”? That is what you are describing, and these industries (like almost ALL industries) have a ton of spots for masters and few for jacks.
How do you propose to get an internship without an academic preparation? Very few companies have internships that they are willing to give to people without significant coursework in an appropriate field. And if they are willing, you are going to have a hard time beating all those other applicants whose dedication to that particular field have left them much better prepared.
Remember that freshman internships are both rare and essentially useless - you have too few skills to do anything useful, and therefore are not usually worth taking on and do not get to experience much of the field even if accepted. Sophomore internships are often not much better - hopefully you have a few basic classes in the field, but you are still at a point where you are too limited to be of much use OR to take advantage of the opportunity. Junior internships are by far the most common, because at that point you have the foundational courses complete and are just looking to specialize - you can contribute in a lot of areas, and know enough to be able to learn on the job.
My point is that internships are not likely to help you make your decision - you probably won’t get a worthwhile internship until you have already committed to a path.
An EE major only helps with entrepreneurship if you plan on starting an EE company.
You can probably get a job in most of those fields with an EE degree anyway, depending on your internship experience. Start by taking your first year of an engineering curriculum and see what you think about continuing. You won’t be wasting time anyway even if you decide that CS is your best direction.
On the other point, get your B.S. degree in 4 years and find a job. Once you have been in the working world for a while, you will learn if a Masters degree is really necessary for you to achieve your goals. You don’t really have a clear idea of where you are going yet and it is unreasonable to plan out your studies in this detail right now.
software engineer/developer - EE with CS background gives me enough programming experience
data analyst - a statistic and math major might be better but EE is coming up close
consulting - engineer can break into this field given they have good GPA and is well rounded
trading - sales and trading although doesn’t require EE knowledge but being analytical helps
while I don’t have finance knowledge, I can supplement them by taking on unpaid internships during the summer.
quant trading - Math/Physics/CS/Statistics/EE are the undergrad background necessary to break into this field. A MFE might be necessary depending on the firm.
Of Course in order to fulfill most of the following, I will need a decent GPA and that is something I need to really work on right now. I would say the lowest barrier of entry would be between being a power engineer, software engineer, or data analyst.
At MIT and Berkeley, they have EECS program and I am trying to create that ay my school. We have computer engineering but I feel like its more focused on computer hardware and is a jack of all trade.
Oil and gas: Best not to make assumptions, but power engineering is one of the weaker fields in EE (both demand and salary) and the big money is with the petroleum engineers. In general, the primary discipline in the product line is who makes the best money, and the industry is “oil and gas”, not “electronics”.
Software: The barriers to entry into software are extremely low in terms of documented coursework… but extremely competitive. It’s a big money field right now, universities are graduating tons of CS majors, and getting in with an EE degree (even with a CS minor) will take so much work and talent that you are probably better off with a CS major.
Data analyst: Statistics and math majors are much more in demand. Unless you have something special (like an Ivy League degree or special contacts) this will be hard to break into.
Consulting: Yeah, definitely need a top-tier degree for this one. Consulting firms sell smarts and/or experience, and the way they show smarts to customers is with credentials. And Harvard and MIT graduate a ton of engineers.
Trading: Need an MBA or an Ivy League degree. Seriously, the financial industries are addicted to the Ivy League like my brother is addicted to cheeseburgers.
Quant trading: I have never heard of someone getting in without a masters degree. I do know of some EE’s who went this route, but they all had PhD’s.
I am not familiar with Berkeley’s program, but I know MIT’s. Don’t forget that top-tier schools and their students can get away with things that are risky for everybody else. This kind of generalized program works fine if your diploma says MIT, it doesn’t work as well when it says South Central Louisiana State (GO MUDDOGS!!).
I was originally planning to major in CS and Math. I took a CS courses and didn’t do so well which is why I opted for a minor. Plus I cannot compete with those who have been coding since high school. Also, I am actually from Canada and I feel like its a bit too risky. I go to a school comparable to Umich but it doesn’t do any good if I am not from the states. Honestly, I m not sure what is the best option for myself but I feel like I can’t go wrong with it.
Sounds like from you the prospect of EE is not that great. What would you major in if you could right now?
The Berkeley EECS major gives students wide latitude in choosing EE and CS courses, but there are a number of suggested concentrations. It would be rather difficult to cover all areas of EE and CS in a 120 credit unit bachelor’s degree program (even if one entered with AP or college credit for some frosh-level courses).
Prospects for EE are actually pretty darned good*. If it sounds like I am saying otherwise, it is for a few specific reasons:
You are only looking at one actual engineering job on that list, and that one is in an industry that is not necessarily going to be the best for EE’s. You really are not looking about general EE prospects, you are looking at the prospects for using an EE degree to break into an entirely different industry, and that is never going to be an easy prospect.
You are focused on career paths that primarily hire from a relative handful of schools. If you want to go into those fields then it is imperative that you go to one of those schools at either the undergraduate or graduate level, often in specific fields. As you have not mentioned doing so, you would be at a tremendous disadvantage in doing so, akin to going to the NFL without ever playing college football - not impossible, but hard.
You are talking about a path as an EE student that is designed, intentionally or not, to limit your job prospects in EE. Those actual EE jobs, the well-paying, relatively stable jobs that most EE’s want aren’t generally going to want the kind of skills and credentials you are focusing on. If you want a good job as an EE, it helps to actually train to be an EE, and not to be a consultant, or trader, or programmer.
EE! Not sure what gave you any indication that I was unhappy with my career choice, I would not have gone for three consecutive EE degrees if I wasn’t happy! But I am not a consultant, or a trader, or an analyst, or a programmer, I am an engineer. I went to school with the intent of being an engineer, positioned myself to get engineering jobs, applied to engineering jobs, and took an engineering job.
That having been said, I have a non-professional interest in economics, so if I could right now I would take some economics courses. But I would still major in EE.
*: Assuming that you are not limiting yourself to jobs associated with $250k+ salaries. EE is good, but it is that good for only a few, and some people can only seem to accept the idea of jobs that start at that level and go up.
What opportunity in EE would be them most lucrative?
Or better yet, which one offers the best exit opportunity?
“You are focused on career paths that primarily hire from a relative handful of schools. If you want to go into those fields then it is imperative that you go to one of those schools at either the undergraduate or graduate level, often in specific fields. As you have not mentioned doing so, you would be at a tremendous disadvantage in doing so, akin to going to the NFL without ever playing college football - not impossible, but hard.”
While I don’t go to HYPMS, it is still possible to break into those paths. It won’t be easy but if I am studying EE, I think my prospect are still pretty good even if I don’t make it. I think that is probably the best possible way to go at it.
Hard to say for sure - supply and demand vary in every field, and the “hot” specialities now could easily be oversaturated and underpaid by the time you graduate. Signal processing and E&M tend to do well, since they are more mathematically intensive and therefore turn off a lot of students. Regardless, few people are able to make decent money in a field or specialty they dislike - you will usually make more money in a “down” area which you like than you will in an “up” area which you hate.
Exit from what? School? The field of engineering? What?
It isn’t limited quite that much - MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley feed into those paths as well, and so do a few other schools. But the thing to understand is that breaking into things like consulting and finance is difficult even for people from those schools. It is extremely difficult for people from other schools - there is simply no recruiting, which makes breaking in a matter of knowing someone in the industry or doing something really outstanding that makes them notice. My point is, no one’s prospects are “pretty good” in those fields.
Now, if you are thinking of an engineering career as a backup to those paths, that’s fine… but I haven’t heard too many success stories along those lines. It seems like people who want consulting and finance but don’t get it tend to keep chasing that dream. They leave engineering, go to the business side (often with an MBA) and usually don’t see a net result better than if they had just stayed in engineering. But again, it is hard to do well in a field you don’t want, especially if you are resentful of not being in the field you really want.
Would you recommend the CS minor if it is going to be 4 additional classes? Although it will make every semester tough. Or should I just learn CS on my own?