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That Berkeley '03 chart looked good for CS guys. There is a dichotomy here. I wonder how big the class of 03 is for the CS dept </p>
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<p>There were 116 CS graduates, and 313 EECS graduates in 2003.</p>
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and how many double-majored (eg EE) in order to be at the work place.
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<p>I would say none, simply because it's extremely difficult to double in EE and CS at Berkeley. Berkeley offers two ways for you to get a CS degree. You can get a BA degree in Computer Science through the College of Letters and Science. Or you can get a BS degree in EECS through the College of Engineering, and choosing the CS specialization, which the majority of EECS students do. The coursework is basically the same - the major difference is that EECS students are admitted as freshman, whereas prospective CS students have to compete for admission into the major. Hence, all a EECS student has to do is pass his classes, and he will graduate with a degree in EECs. A prospective CS student has to do well in the lower-division classes, and even if he does, he still might not be allowed into the major. This also has the effect of boosting the average salaries of CS students relative to EECS students (despite the fact that the curricula is almost identical), because while there are many EECS grads with mediocre grades, there are comparatively few such CS grads, because if you have mediocre grades, then you probably wouldn't be allowed into the CS major in the first place. </p>
<p>The point is, if you're an EECS student, there's no point for you to 'double-up' in CS, because as an EECS student, you're already in CS, so doing so would just be redundant. As a CS student, it is extremely difficult for you to double-up in EECS, because it is extremely difficult to complete an intra-campus transfer switch into EECS, which is what you would need to do if you were a CS student who also wanted to major in EECS. Furthermore, I have never heard of anybody ever trying to double in CS and EECS. I don't even think you can, because I would imagine that the administration would disallow it because of redundancy. </p>
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The other side of the coin is many experienced softw eng are still out of work, esp in the valley.
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<p>Well, there are a lot of uemployed experienced people in Silicon Valley in LOTS of career fields, not just software engineers. </p>
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I have been suspecting what's going on is something unique in that business. Companies can hire just-out-of-school grads for a lot less and mold them, and they are already schooled in the newest technologies. So in this business, experience doesn't count. It is a crazy field. Someone just out of school is more valuable. That is like saying a 10-yr experience chem E is less valuable than new grads. It is a crazy field. Sure you could be that lucky few to become proj mgr, and you are the one who does the hiring for offshores. Still doesn't make me feel secure if I choose that as my major, or my sole major.
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<p>CS has always been that funny field in more ways than one. For example, CS has always been one of those fields that doesn't value formal education that much - it's all about what you know. Plenty of people have become extremely successful in CS while not having a degree in CS, or having no degree whatsoever. One of the best programmers that I have ever known doesn't have a degree in CS - he has a degree in English. Another very good one that I know, who was one of the early people to get into Google, has no degree at all. </p>
<p>Furthermore, there still are plenty of extremely highly paid positions in software out there. For example, take a gander at these software jobs that can easily pay over 200k a year, sometimes more. </p>
<p>Now, don't get me wrong. These are certainly NOT typical software jobs. You have to be extremely good and extremely lucky to get into these kinds of positions. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, you should know that there are some extremely high-paying software jobs are out there.</p>