<p>I'm a senior, and its about time to start choosing colleges. I'm confused as to what I should major in, but I know I would be motivated to study Aerospace Engineering and Software Engineering. So far, my list consists of these colleges:</p>
<ul>
<li>UC Berkeley</li>
<li>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</li>
<li>Bucknell</li>
<li>SUNY Binghamton (SUNY just in case)</li>
<li>University of Georgia</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm really leaning to Rensselaer and Bucknell because I don't want to be in too much of a top-notch school. But, I don't think either of them offer computer software engineering courses - I so WISH that Rensselaer did, because that's sorta of where I really really want to go as of now.</p>
<p>But if you guys know good schools that offer both Aerospace and Software Engineering, I'd like to hear it :D I was thinking Carnegie Mellon too, but, ehh... Maybe I'll apply there actually too...</p>
<p>Auburn University has both Aerospace Engineering and Software Engineering. They also have a Wireless Engineering major. Auburn has a great alumni network that will help you land internships/employment. Huntsville is not too far away, where there are lots of aerospace companies. Of course, there is also the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Auburn also offers great scholarships, tiered based on your scores. Alabama is a great state, and the people that live there are the nicest you’ll ever meet. A good friend attends Auburn now for mechanical engineering, and he has friends from California, Ohio, Florida, all over. Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>Make sure you know exactly what software engineering is when you make the distinction between it and CS.</p>
<p>SE differs greatly from any other engineering degree there’s practically no math, and there’s no agreed-upon way to do things SE is basically trying to come up with the best methodology for completing a large software project, and as a field it is still struggling to do so. It’s an art, not a science.</p>
<p>I’m sure RPI has lots of course offerings in software engineering. I would suggest a CS major with a focus in software engineering. For instance, if you want to do aerospace software, you will need to be able to create solid, fault-tolerant code.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve taken a computer science course in high school and do some programming outside of school (my own volition). Stuff like Project Euler to fire me up and fill in time for being bored, etc.
I’ll look into Auburn and Avionics ~ thanks for the suggestions (and keep 'em coming! I’m interested~ lol).</p>
<p>I can also recommend you look into Auburn. I’m actually majoring in CS, and can attest to the fact that they place a rather heavy emphasis on SE within the department. You can check out the courses they offer, and if you want I can tell you about them.</p>
<p>Another to look into is Embry Riddle. It might be a little pricey, but that may not be an issue for you, one way or the other. Ummm… I imagine that Georgia Tech would have both as well, no?</p>
<p>I personally think CS is a better degree than SE. Companies would rather you had a strong CS background and then on top of that get a good SE background. This is a reason why SE has been moving so slowly.</p>
<p>FYI, I would consider RPI to be a pretty top-notch school. I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for when you say you DON’T want a top-notch school- you would be better off not thinking you’ll get off easy there. If that is where you want to go,though, I wouldn’t worry too much if they don’t have an SE major. As others have said, a CS degree is probably better for an undergrad. Take what courses are available in Software Engineering if you want, but I would also think that just time and experience in the working world could get you to the same place with a good CS degree.</p>
<p>Yeah, more like MIT and Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, stuff like that “top-notch”. Rensselaer is ranked 10? in US News Engineering rankings 2010 I think, which is pretty damn good ~ which is why I would really like to go there. I’m not sure if they have courses in SE though, and just in case I want to switch my major I don’t want to have to transfer and whatnot.</p>
<p>“Auburn has a great alumni network that will help you land internships/employment”</p>
<p>lol really? Having no representation on the street and being a complete non-target means there would be no chance in hell you get a sniff for elite finance and strat/management consulting jobs if you ever decide engineering isn’t for you…</p>
<p>I think Montegut was referring primarily to engineering positions… in which case I must agree about the role Huntsville plays. I know literally dozens of people who have gone to work there with starting salaries of over $70k/yr with a bachelor’s degree. That’s great money for a city like Huntsville… I don’t know the conversion factor, but $70k goes a lot farther in Huntsville than in Silicon Valley, I’m pretty sure…</p>
<p>In the South at least, Auburn’s CS/SE/Wireless program is respectable enough, as far as I know. It’s no Georgia Tech, but still.</p>
<p>I was just looking at the UIUC curriculum. They allow you to specialize in SE w/a few classes. What I liked seeing was that you could also specialize in a science like Astronomy, Geology, etc. with a few classes counting towards your degree.</p>
Yeah, personal kinds of stuff. They generally cost more and aren’t worth the money, the type of people that I expect to be there kind of bothers me (like in Yale, they have really smart people burying others in walls :O), etc.</p>