Please read all of this. Sorry it’s long but it won’t make sense if you skim
I applied to all my colleges for Computer Science but I was bouncing back between CS and Computer Engineering a lot. (And possibly electrical engineering). I didn’t decide for sure but I just applied to all my colleges under CS and thought if I didn’t like it I could switch to CE or EE. I applied to a mix of schools in my area that I want to go to and got accepted to most of them.
Now I am torn because I don’t know if I should go to the engineering schools or the non-engineering schools to get my Computer Science degree. Also, two of my colleges I applied to don’t even have the other programs. They have JUST Computer Science and Information Technology. (and cyber security technically). I’m not sure if it’s going to be the same Computer Science degree as say in the engineering school.
I’m sure this isn’t clear so I’ll go more in depth. I applied to all my schools for CS knowing I could switch to CE or EE in the school, and knowing I had other engineering/tech options. I got into most of my colleges I applied to, but 2 of my top choice schools are private catholic schools (DePaul and Loyola). Loyola has CS, and CE, no EE. Ideally I would like more engineering options/tech options but CS and CE are fine. DePaul has only CS, IT, and Cybersecurity, No other engineering.
My question is, if I went to one of those two universities would my degree not mean as much as someone who say got their degree from UIC or another better engineering school? It seems as if the Computer science taught at the two smaller universities aren’t really good choices to study because there isn’t any other engineering options. I love engineering/tech/computers and am worried if I go to a school with limited options in that field. UIC has tons of engineering and while I know for a fact I won’t go into bioengineering, it just seems better to get an engineering degree from a school that has more engineering choices. Am I right here?
My first choice was UIC which ironically is a lot easier to get into than DePaul and Loyola but I got into both DePaul and Loyola and received scholarships. I didn’t get denied from UIC but they said they wanted more time to review my application and to send my senior semester 1 transcript. I’m planning for being denied and if that happens, I want to know ahead of time before I commit to a school what I am getting with my computer science degree. T HANKS
It is relatively common for schools to ask for semester 1 transcripts. I have seen several cases where students were asked for semester 1 senior year transcripts and then were admitted after sending them in.
How is your semester 1 transcript likely to look? Are you doing well right now in high school? Also, do you have a time limit regarding when you need to either accept or reject the offers from DePaul and Loyola? Do you have enough time to see what happens at UIC before you decide?
I do have enough time to hear back from UIC. I don’t have to rush to confirm with depaul or loyola. @DadTwoGirls
I just don’t know. I have two options. 1. Go to depaul/loyola and do Computer Science with no option of switching to any engineering, or 2. go to UIC and be able to switch to whatever engineering/CS major I want. (that is if I get in). I don’t know if my degree in CS will mean anything if I get it from DePaul and Loyola.
@eyemgh I applied and got accepted to a lot more but I really want to go to school in Chicago.
I got accepted at Bradley, Valparaiso, Illinois Institute of Technology.
It doesn’t matter what department CS is in, but the content may vary between pure theory and hard practice. Be wary of programs that combine CS and IT, those are different fields that lead to different jobs. And NEVER assume you can just switch into engineering - that is always a difficult task and often outright impossible. It is usually far easier to switch OUT of engineering than it is to transfer into it.
You need to be aware that the Loyola program is an Engineering Science degree with a specialization in Computer Engineering. It is not an ABET accredited degree as far as I can tell. Loyola students who want an ABET accredited engineering degree have to participate in a 2+3 or 2+3 program with a university that has those degrees. A lot of Loyola students do this at Illinois Tech in fact.
It is certainly not necessary to actually have an ABET accredited degree, particularly in CS but there are some engineering firms which expect an ABET accredited degree. In Chicago, UIC and IIT are the schools which have ABET accredited engineering programs. For computer engineering in particular, the only programs which are ABET accredited in Illinois are Northwestern, UIUC, SIU-Carbondale, SIU-Edwardsville, UIC and IIT.
All that being said, the Loyola program may be precisely what you want.
You should consider the options in your university of choice if niether CS or EE or any engineering is feasible for you. Many students will drop out of eng or CS. Even the well prepared ones.
@cosmicfish Ok sounds good. Is computer science harder or easier a program than computer engineering or electrical engineering? I had planned to be able to switch to CE or EE if I went to UIC which is why it was my first decision. But knowing that it is harder to get into, I won’t rely on having the option to switch if I go there.
My top three for sure choices are either depaul, loyola, or UIC. I’ve been accepted to Depaul and loyola and got deferred at UIC so I will resubmit and hope for acceptance.
@Sybylla You are right I will probably switch and I plan on switching (not really) but I do have my other options planned. I know switching to any other engineering program is hard so I won’t really count on it or bother. The only other options I would switch to would be cybersecurity or Information technology with cyber security being the top choice of choices I would switch to.
@xraymancs How important is it that the program is ABET credited? I applied for CS to all my schools and got accepted for CS, so I doubt I would be able to switch to computer engineering.
ABET accreditation is not important for CS but it is for any engineering degree. So if you really want Computer Engineering, look for an ABET accredited program.
Harder vs easier is a matter of perspective. For some students Math comes to them easily. They “get it” rather than struggle at it. For them, engineering might be easier. For others, coding might come more naturally. They might “get” the logic of it. It is more about affinity than ease.
@eyemgh@xraymancs I am considering what my “other majors” would be if I don’t pursue CS. I’m thinking realistically here. I really like cybersecurity and think that would be a cool thing to major in so I’m making sure all the colleges I’m considering have Cybersecurity in case I change my mind. (they all do). Cybersecurity isn’t super hard compared to engineering because engineering requires lots of math and physics right? (For me they don’t come as easy).
I’m now thinking I should just look towards more Computer science/Cybersecurity rather than computer science/Computer engineering.
I think engineering would be very hard for me due to the math and physics. Is this true? Thanks
You are correct, engineering does require quite a bit of math. The advantage of struggling through it is that you have a broad range of career opportunities with an engineering degree that you might not have with cybersecurity. Computer science has excellent prospects as well and its mathematics requirements fall somewhere in the middle.
That is hard to answer because everyone has different strengths and interests, but I believe more people struggle in EE or CompE than in CS. But you should start in the field you most think you would want as a career, there is no point in starting in a harder field if you think you would prefer to be somewhere else.
Engineering always involves a lot of math and depending on the field almost always includes at least one or more of the hard sciences - often physics, sometimes chemistry, occasionally biology. Computer science involves a lot of mathematics as well, but because it is focused on the mathematics of computing systems (linear algebra, mostly) it requires less breadth in mathematics. Overall, I would say that the CS course of mathematics is generally considered easier.
So yes, if math and physics worry you, CS or cybersecurity would probably be better choices than EE or CompE.
Depending on what OP means by “cyber security”, it may actually be much more “mathy” than typical engineering degrees. Cryptography, for example, is extremely mathematical.
@cooledwhip Be careful with going the “cyber security” route. This is my background and I found that the most successful cyber security experts are those that started their career as a software developer, database developer or computer/network scientist/engineer and ended up in Cyber Security after getting plenty of battle scars in other tech fields. You might want to do some research to ensure that the the Cyber Security Program you sign up for is hard-core enough and doesn’t go too much into the policy/business side of things. My 2 cents.
@WilliamNYC Thanks. Exactly what I’ve been researching on.
I have researched a lot since my last post(s). While yes, an engineering degree is very beneficial, I just know that I won’t be able to get the degree because it is a very hard course, lots of hard material and physics and hard math aren’t for me. I have decided on Computer science or cyber security. I already got into my colleges for computer science and can switch to Cybersecurity if I want, but I’m happy with comp sci now. One serious thing that I will probably post about later, is what William brought up about cyber security. Lots of schools just take an Information tech major and slap cyber security on it. A few schools I got accepted to (Illinois Tech and DePaul) Both have cyber security programs that have been certified by the NSA… (NSA CAE) which I can’t believe. That’s crazy!!