My school isn't preparing me for a career in Web Design

I came into college as an Electrical Engineering major realized within a month that it wasn’t for me. I switched to computer science because I have scholarships in the engineering college and need to have a major in that college to be able to afford the University. I have now finished my sophomore year and know better what I want to do than I did when I looked into schools. Basically, I hate computer science. I don’t like learning about the theory behind computers and all the algorithms and I find the courses really dry. I have added a minor in graphic design because I find the classes both fun and interesting. The Graphic Design/Advertising classes are really the only ones that I’ve enjoyed in the last two years.

I’ve looked into web design and done a little work on my own and I love it! I realized while I like technology, my passion really is more in design and web design combines the two. My school teaches only one class in web design which I took last semester. The class is in the engineering school but they focused more on the design side because that is what most engineering students struggle with. I was really taking it to get a good base in html and css, but unfortunately it didn’t go over that a whole lot.

At this point I’m trying to figure out if I’m making a mistake continuing to pursue a degree at my university. Most of what I’ve read online says that getting a bachelors degree is not necessary for a career in web design. However, this really isn’t an option for me. It is an expectation in my family to get a degree if nothing else just to be a safety net if anything happened to my career in the future. So I guess my options are to continue the degrees at my current school or to go to another university and get a degree that I enjoy more, such as design or advertising, which would probably put me behind a year in graduation. Does anyone have any recommendation on where to go from here?

There’s some places, some very good schools, that offer web design. I’m not too familiar with them personally but I did a quick search and noticed some schools like Santa Clara offer more web design focused majors / classes.

I don’t think pure design would be the right route, and the basic CS courses will serve you well in the job market. I would at least finish a minor there.

I would say finish the Computer Science degree. Your two years of upper division should have more flexibility and CS electives where you can take web design related classes like, web applications, graphics, and I guess the rest depends on the school. But having the CS degree will let you do a whole plethora of computer-related jobs and secure you a much higher-end web design career.

You don’t have to come away with a degree in computer science to make money, imo.

I have a b.s. in applied mathematics and statistics and I am a programmer. It’s not glorious, but I think jobs are pretty much guaranteed with programming skills. I wouldn’t turn my nose up at the degree and I’d do side projects with that minor to keep things interesting. Computer science is a good safety net.