<p>Can someone tell me some good reasons for majoring in CS? And for those who have experience in CS, can you tell me about the rigor of the college work? Im not super interested in HARD work and want to make enough to not live paycheck to paycheck. I also would like to major in something that will be easy to start a business with. i figure you don't need much capital to start up programming. my goal in life is to have very flexible hours since i would like to travel a lot. please give me some info. thanks</p>
<p>According to ABET CS isn't engineering. So you shouldn't call it software engineering. It is like garbage men calling them self waste engineers.</p>
<p>who cares though. similar job outlook. similar salary ranges. at my school its grouped in the college of engineering. the BS is anyways. i dont care about the title "engineer". i just care about the salary and job openings.</p>
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According to ABET CS isn't engineering. So you shouldn't call it software engineering. It is like garbage men calling them self waste engineers.
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So everything ABET says is true? Can you explain why CS, which is mostly software engineering, is not considered engineering?</p>
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It is like garbage men calling them self waste engineers.
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Actually, it's not anything remotely like that analogy.</p>
<p>It seems somebody who doesn't/can't get into engineering is saying something stupid here which really shows he/she is inferior to engineering students(which might not be true otherwise).</p>
<p>Only reason ABET isn't calling it an engineering discipline is because there's no reason for them to accredit it. They don't classify it as engineering because they don't want to claim jurisdiction over it. It'd be a waste of their resources... Who's gonna get a PE in programming? That's more or less the only reason they're in existence, to be the academic watchdog for PE licensure purposes.</p>
<p>Doesn't mean it's <em>not</em> engineering, though. Don't be a goob.</p>
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Can someone tell me some good reasons for majoring in CS?
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- You like writing software
- You're a good analytical problem-solver
- You're good at breaking down a process into smaller, more-manageable components (just to name a few)</p>
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And for those who have experience in CS, can you tell me about the rigor of the college work?
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It depends. Seriously. I flew through my design courses because I really, really like those. Data structures and the low-level stuff was also pretty easy for me to understand. I suck at math, though, so the higher-level theory courses really ate my lunch. You might be the opposite or somewhere in-between.</p>
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Im not super interested in HARD work and want to make enough to not live paycheck to paycheck.
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So what you're saying is... you want an easy life without having to earn it? Sorry, dude.</p>
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I also would like to major in something that will be easy to start a business with. i figure you don't need much capital to start up programming.
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Technically, you don't even need a degree to do programming -- just talent. Getting a job, however, is another issue. If you're looking for investors, they'll probably want you to have a degree... and probably that degree should be related to how to run a business more than computer programming, from their perspective, anyway.</p>
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my goal in life is to have very flexible hours since i would like to travel a lot.
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My hours are very flexible... but I still have to put in 40 hrs/wk. And with the invention of this thing called the Internet, there are very few reasons why my company would send me to travel somewhere since what I do is all in the realm of bits and bytes (and nibbles). So, aside from my benefits package (which includes a handful of holidays, personal days, sick time, and two weeks of vacation) there's really not much time to do "a lot" of travel.</p>
<p>Methinks you have some misconceptions about CS and it might not be for you.</p>
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Can you explain why CS, which is mostly software engineering, is not considered engineering?
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Actually, [url=<a href="http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url">www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>] accredits programs in both Computer Science and Software Engineering. However, they are accredited separately: Software Engineering programs have the same type of accreditation as other traditional engineering disciplines (ABET/EAC accreditation), whereas Computer Science programs do not (they have ABET/CAC accreditation). This distinction probably makes little or no practical difference, unless you want to obtain a state engineering license, which few people in this field do. If you did pursue licensure, an ABET Software Engineering degree would legally count as a "real" engineering degree (just like a civil or mechanical degree), whereas an ABET Computer Science degree would not. </p>
<p>My guess is that an ABET-accredited Software Engineering programs -- like other ABET engineering programs -- would have to include traditional engineering coursework in physical sciences (e.g. physics and chemistry), whereas this would probably not be required for ABET-accredited Computer Science programs. But that's only a guess.</p>
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My guess is that an ABET-accredited Software Engineering programs -- like other ABET engineering programs -- would have to include traditional engineering coursework in physical sciences (e.g. physics and chemistry), whereas an ABET-accredited Computer Science program would not.
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</p>
<p>That lines up with what I was told from my department (G. R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University). They didn't offer a degree in "Software Engineering" because they thought it was unnecessary for CS majors to take chemistry. Students interested in a B.S.C.S., however, were required to take physics.</p>
<p>"So what you're saying is... you want an easy life without having to earn it? Sorry, dude."</p>
<p>No i just don't want to work 12 hours a day and be stressed out over difficult work and crazy deadlines.</p>
<p>Okay. As I said, I do 40hrs/wk minimum. When a deadline's approaching or a major issue is found that must be quickly resolved, that number goes up. I've done 10-, 11-, 12-hour days at the office, but they're rare.</p>
<p>Still, if you've got this idea about starting your own company, expect some long hours (x > 8) associated with that task.</p>
<p>im taking a programming class right now so hopefully ill ahve a better idea in a few months.</p>
<p>I don't think it matters, especally if you graduate from a Cal-Berkeley or MIT.</p>
<p>Here is something for ya...</p>
<p>Did you know that University of Maryland has an interdisciplinary B.S. Engineering degree with 2 options: An engineering option and an applied science option.</p>
<p>The "engineering option" is accredited by the ABET.
The "applied science" option it not.</p>
<p>If you have B.S. in Engineering from Univ of Maryland on your resume, who will know or care?</p>
<p>Oh yeah....about software engineering (and that is primarily what I do so I think I know a little about it).</p>
<p>I think it is a little of a rip-out to divide the various phases of software engineering into separate courses. You do NOT need 15 damn weeks to learn Software Requirements Engineering nor 15 damn weeks to learn Software Validation and Verification.</p>
<p>If I was a CS student advisor, I would tell students to NOT major in software engineering. That is way TOO specialized. Take a regular CS degree and add either an all-encompassing Software Engineering course or take a software engineering training course from an outside trainer.</p>
<p>If you want to start a business you might look into places where you can at least take some business courses. Not every college has them at the undergrad level.</p>
<p>CS E is different from other engineering majors</p>
<p>its like puerto rico, wheras the other E majors are the 50 states.</p>
<p>In my school the CS E students donot take science courses because its obviously not needed. its different alright.</p>
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Did you know that University of Maryland has an interdisciplinary B.S. Engineering degree with 2 options: An engineering option and an applied science option.</p>
<p>The "engineering option" is accredited by the ABET.
The "applied science" option it not.</p>
<p>If you have B.S. in Engineering from Univ of Maryland on your resume, who will know or care?
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If you applied for state licensure with such a degree, then the state engineering board would definitely care about its ABET accreditation status. However, only a minority of engineers pursue state licensure. Most private employers probably would not know or care.</p>