Would pursuing a software engineer degree is a good choice? Also, would it be best to get a masters in it as well? If not, what engineering degree is best to major for the future, I am going to transfer next fall of 2017 with a gpa of 3.5 and I need to see what is a good school to recommend to go to here in the Chicago area.
There is no “best engineering major”. The majority of engineering degrees will land you a well paid job after graduation if your GPA is good enough. Many people do say that majoring in computer science, or one of the more traditional engineering majors (ME, EE, ChemE) tends to be your best bet, but that is not to say that you will harder time finding a job for other engineering majors.
@umcoe16
But what do you think of the major software engineer, is it better to get that or computer science I want a masters degree.
You can’t want a master’s degree if you don’t even know what you want to study for your BS. One step at a time.
@boneh3ad
Yesterday I decided to go for software Engineer, I just wanted to know like what is the difference between a Software Engineer and a computer science. Also, I was looking into schools for Software Engineer but I couldn’t find any all of them say either computer engineer or computer science. Any advice on what university to go to?
There is no standardized terminology, but “software engineering” is generally focused on application while CS may be theoretical or practical or some combination thereof. If you want to work as a software engineer then either is fine. If you want to be a researcher, I would stick with CS.
And until you are most of the way through your BS, you won’t know if you should do grad school or for what.
Most schools don’t offer software engineering anyway. Most offer computer science since it is the more versatile degree.
My soon-to-be SIL just graduated from Drexel (Summa Cum Laude - Woop!) with a Computer Science degree, with a concentration in Game Design. While is sounds less rigorous to me than a computer engineering degree, it actually has all the same course work plus a few additional requirements (though I don’t know for sure what they are). He is currently employed as a computer engineer. While he was in school, he used the computer gaming technology to develop an application for scientific research on genetics. Very Cool.
Computer engineering is generally entirely different. The general rule is that computer science focuses on software and the theory of how computers compute. Computer engineering focuses on hardware and on how computers operate. Obviously the two are not inseparable, so there is some overlap, but the two degrees are different. Oftentimes, computer engineering is in the same department as electrical engineering, while computer science is separate.
@boneh3ad
So can I get a CS degree and work as a software engineer or do I Specially have to major in software engineer? I couldn’t find any schools with a software engineer program they all carry CS.
Major in CS. Very few schools offer software engineer as an undergrad degree.
@steve0533, why do you want SE over CS?
So would it be best to get a masters in CS? I would like to work for a company like Facebook, Google, Apple, Instagram or Snapchat.
1st just get a BS in CS. You don’t need a master to work at companies like Facebook. What college do you plan to attend?
@sensation723
Right now I’m at a community college at college of lake county, I want to transfer on fall 2017 but still undecided what school to go to after that, any recommendations? My GPA is 3.5 I’ll probably might end up with a 3.8 when transferring for next fall 2017. I live in the Chicago area, most of my instructors and counselor said either IIT( Illinois Institute of Technology), Northwestern University, UIC. What’s your opinion on that?
I would not look to go to a big name company tbh - while they have their benefits, you can often get just as well paid jobs if not better at other companies where applying isn’t mostly a crapshoot.
@PengsPhils
Do you think it’s a good idea to get a masters on CS?
Yeah, your best bet is to major in CS, as you can get a software engineering job with a CS degree, plus more options. However, from what I have heard, most programming jobs don’t really care whether or not your major was CS. They simply care that you are able to do the work. The interviews for those jobs typically have some technical component, so they focus more on how well you can perform in those rather than what your degree is in.
@umcoe16
What university do you recommend to go or it doesn’t matter where you graduate from? I wanted to get a masters on CS, would that give me a one more step to get a job in software engineer? I would like to work for example, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Amazon.