CMU ECE can be more CS heavy than some other schools but that said, it’s not the same as CMU CS. Engineering programs have to be accredited by ABET which requires a lot of general engineering be taught either as a separate class or included in some basic ECE or MechE class and there will also be ECE breadth requirements in non-CS like areas that have to be met again due to ABET requirements. There are a lot of posts on transferring from something else to CS at CMU. It can be done but is a process requiring taking about 6 CS classes and getting something like 3 or 4 As in them. The 6 classes are not easy and depending upon current major it can take most/all of the first 2 years to fit them in as you have to satisfy your current major first. In the event you don’t get in, you don’t want to be behind in the current major. ECE likely is the easiest to fit in those classes of the Engineering curriculums as some of those required CS classes will count towards ECE. My $.02 is that if a student really wants to be a CS major ( or thinks they may want to switch), they should enroll somewhere where that’s a guarantee. CMU only guarantees a CS major for those that are admitted initially to SCS.
However, CMU CS also has a reputation of being very theory-heavy. So the question is also WHAT does she want to get out of CS program? And WHAT does she want to do AFTER college.
ECE + a good number CS (read:coding/software engr) courses provides a very solid foundation for a multitude of jobs, and neither Software nor Hardware Tech companies will slight her.
(what would she rather do - try to prove nP-completeness or take signal processing? For sure she should learn about unit-testing 
)
agree that CMU CS is more theory-heavy than most programs.
First, CMU certainly offers a CS minor - Requirements | Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Department
Transferring to CS is extremely difficult to say the least, so don’t accept an ECE offer with that plan. But if ECE is what a student is interested in, CMUs program is about as highly respected in it’s field as CS. Plus the CS minor option.
Given the academic reputations, I suspect both CMU and Northeastern will be challenging. But a vast majority of students also graduate from both.
There’s also the HCI additional major. Not the same as CS but some overlap and with ECE it’d be two facets of the broadly defined “CS” field.
The CS minor is the pathway to a possible CS major, which is selective/competitive.
I wouldn’t use “impressive” but “employable”. Both are equally employable (highly).
But the focus would be on interest: is she equally interested in both?
Because it’ll get tough… so if the choice is just “prestige” over interest, it’ll be hard to sustain momentum when it gets tough week after week for 4 years.
- CMU CompE is ranked very highly(#1 US News) so prestige is not a problem
- CMU ECE software track you understand more about operating systems. Its more desirable to companies
Hi, I’m just wondering if you are a current student or graduate of CMU? My daughter was actually interested in finding a student she might speak with by phone. If not, no worries. Thanks!
CMU Computer Engineering is ranked no.1 according to US News and Electrical Engineering is around 8. Most people end up doing the software systems track which in my opinion is better for SWE than CS.
Theres no point in comparing degrees because of their rankings. Do what you’re interested in. And CMU robotics is the best in the world. With ECE and CS combined, your better prepared to work on projects than just knowing CS
If a student’s interest is in systems level or other low-level programming where very high efficiency is paramount, a Computer Engineering graduate may have some better understanding of the hardward to fully take advantage of it. However, CS is much more than that so it really depends on the student’s interest and goal.