Software engineer

There are a lot of software jobs in the Chicago area, particularly in the financial markets but also in many other areas. For example, Walgreen’s corporate HQ is in the area and they need software engineers. There are a lot of other examples. You don’t need an MS degree to get these kinds of jobs and they are accessible from CS or Computer Engineering majors, or even applied mathematics and physics. Don’t obsess about the company you might eventually work for, after your first job, you have the experience and opportunity to change to other companies in other parts of the country. You could end up working for Google later in your career…

@xraymancs
That’s true I mean I was just worried that maybe I needed like a more higher education that a BS. Also, with that major of CS or CE I won’t be unemployed after graduation?

@IWannaHelp
So are you saying that NU would have a better program in Engineering/CS because it’s a lot smaller than UIUC?
I mean if I go to either one of those two, I’ll be good after graduation to get a good job wether it’s here in Chicago or any other part of the country/World?

@IWannaHelp

UIUC CS is notoriously known for it’s small size, making its admissions rate very low - on the level of CMU CS and the like. It’s popularity does not correlate with its size.

Here’s some stats from 2014: http://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/cs-statistics

They only granted 217 CS degrees that year. Despite the general schools large size, the same cannot be said for the CS department.

I couldn’t find numbers for Northwestern, but their sizes are close enough to compare 1 to 1 in all likelihood. In a vacuum, UIUC is the better option if you’re looking to work at Google, statistically speaking.


Again, as far as the OP is concerned, just start by getting into any of these schools first - you’re getting way ahead of yourself. CS is not about where you go to school for the most part. Heck, you don’t know if you will even like CS yet.

PengsPhils,

Do computer engineering majors also compete for jobs at Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, etc? If so, you would want to include those to the totals?

NU’s size is nowhere close to 1 to 1. The are about 400 graduating seniors for the entire engineering school and there are 8 departments (EE & CE is one of them), averaging only 50 per department. Traditionally, BME and industrial engg/management science have been the most popular.

OP,
I am not saying NU is better. I am just saying going to NU doesn’t necessarily doom you and going to UIUC doesn’t necessarily mean your chance would improve by a significant margin, It’s probably a crapshot no matter where you go for these brand name companies. UIUC computer sci is going to be very difficult to get in and the admit rate for transferring to NU is usually very low. So it’s too early to overthink when all you can do now is just to apply and honestly, the odd is against you.

For the year 2013, NU granted 31 BS degrees in CS.
http://www.registrar.northwestern.edu/academic_records/enroll-grad_statistics/degrees/2012_2013degrees.pdf

@IWannaHelp

Good to know - thanks for the numbers on NU CS. As far as CS goes, it looks like your 1 to 7 ratio is right on target, and the LinkedIn ratio is at about 1 to 5, so I guess Northwestern technically does have the edge for Google.

I fully agree with the sentiment of your post, though, which is much more important. It’s a crapshoot either way.

Just for comparison, Illinois Tech (IIT) awarded the following BS degrees in CS over the past 3 years
2015 50
2014 33
2013 45

Not surprising since Illinois Tech is predominantly a STEM school.

@PengsPhils
So what school would I be better off to get into those companies or to actually get a good job in a good company?

@steve0533

I really doesn’t matter much is the point…