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I’m not sure what you meant by ‘engineering’ since there are many kinds but computer science is often in the School of Engineering at the U and considered an engineering discipline. </p>
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That’s typically not the case for engineering and CS in particular. There are so many courses to take that one typically starts taking the major courses day 1 and continues to throughout the UG timeframe. Some of the courses are more broadly applicable, i.e. math, physics, GEs, etc., but in CS for example, one usually would start taking the CS courses right away. This may vary depending on the college.</p>
<p>I ditto what ‘ucbalumnus’ posted on the different majors - it’s a good synopsis.</p>
<p>Have your S take a look at the majors offered by several colleges he’s interested in and then when he finds majors that on the surface sound interesting, have him drill down to see the typical courses one takes for that major. That’ll give him a better idea of what he’d actually be studying in college and by extension, an idea of some possible career areas that can result.</p>