the engineering vs computer science mindset

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>i have recently had an interest in computer science, but ive never taken a course in it and am pretty limited in my knowledge of the field (and im a high school senior so i cant take a class in it until i start college). i am going to be a chemical engineering major in the fall, and my school allows us one free major change with basically no penalty, so i may switch to computer science. </p>

<p>basically, while i was growing up, my parents brainwashed me into the whole "you must do something in engineering or computer science" thing, but i drifted away from compsci solely because my parents both did that. i regret that decision now and wish i had taken courses in it now.</p>

<p>a little bit about me academically- i am great at math (not winning national awards or anything, but i did get a 5 on ap calc and gotten high As in math). i was terrible in honors biology, did good in ap chem, and great in honors physics but average in ap physics. naturally, after junior year, because i had just completed calc and chem, i considered doing chemical engineering because i excelled at math and thought i was a chemistry beast (did great in the class because we had an easy teacher... i found out i was good, but not a beast when we got ap scores back). </p>

<p>i never really had much of a passion for chemical engineering or any type of engineering before, but i do have 2 passions- math problems (aka solving not proofs, i despise proofs) and video games (i loved them as a kid, took a break from them during high school and they've made a comeback this year). so i was starting to consider a career in computer science/ video game design. i have never taken a computer science class in my life, but heres the question- what is the mindset difference between computer science and engineering folk? i seem to feel that computer science is for mathy people who kinda like science but don't really care for it generally while engineering is for people who love math and science and such. am i wrong in this assumption?</p>

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<p>btw, i am sorry for the atrocious grammar and stuff… usually im a grammar nazi but its 2 am</p>

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<p>Well I will tell you up front that I can’t answer about the whole CS vs. ENG crowd culture but I can say something about something else you said in your post…</p>

<p>Nothing against your parents, but I absolutely HATE it when parents try to mold their children into what they think their children should do/be. Of course, I’m talking in a academic/career sense.</p>

<p>Just because your parents majored in CS doesn’t mean you have to. You are your own individual person with your own interests and mindset. </p>

<p>Just because your good at math/science doesn’t mean you have to major in something solely in the math/science/engineering field. Did you do anything else while in high school far as electives and extra-curriculum go?</p>

<p>You have no passion for ChemE or any other engineering discipline DO NOT waste your time, brain, energy, and financial aid on it. </p>

<p>If your passion is math problems, have you ever thought about going into statistics or economics? Analytical/logical minds work great in those fields.</p>

<p>You have a passion for video games? Uh, hello? Game design/development! That can be just as rigourous and hard and require advanced math. Especially with the development part. </p>

<p>You’ll be surprised how much game design/developement and math overlap with one another.</p>

<p>With that being said, some colleges CS programs have game design/developement concentrations.</p>

<p>Also, if you do not want to be bother with CS or any other advanced science field but still want to work with video games there are a lot of community colleges (Yes people, I said the dreaded double c word.) who have full blown game design/developement programs.</p>

<p>At the end of the day it’s all about what you want, care about, have interest in, makes you happy, and gives you what you expect in return. </p>

<p>Go to college and learn, grow, and experience for yourself.</p>

<p>Besides, it’s your time and money.</p>

<p>/SoapboxDone XD</p>

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<p>SisterVengeance, I agree, I hate it too, but the honest truth is that it is so ingrained in my head that a career outside of engineering/computer science is so unlikely in my mind right now :confused: Also, I somewhat enjoy economics, but I didn’t do so hot in it, barely making a B haha.</p>

<p>I think you misread my original post, I steered AWAY from compsci because both of my parents did it and now I regret that. haha, im sure plenty of kids do that too :)</p>

<p>The only extracurricular/electives i took during high school are music related. i have no interest in a major in music and honestly only am in it for the social scene (im a band nerd and proud :D)</p>

<p>Thats what I thought too and I addressed that to my father but he gave me a very cynical response and said “Oh passion doesn’t matter, no matter what you’re gonna hate your job anyway after 5 years at most.” :frowning: </p>

<p>I’m really starting to like the idea of me as a video game designer :)</p>

<p>my college that im going to in the fall has a concentration in computational media! :D</p>

<p>i think i would still stick through the full blown compsci program. i enjoy academic challenges if i have a passion for them (hopefully i will like compsci)</p>

<p>thank you for the long and detailed response, SisterVengeance!</p>

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<p>and just to clarify for future responses, the main reason I liked chemistry was because I was good at it and thought I was a beast. Looking back on it, everything that wasn’t math based in chemistry I kinda hated.</p>

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<p>maybe even an applied math major? how would an applied math major fair in getting into video game design?</p>

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<p>Sorry for flying off the panhandle! XD XD XD XD XD</p>

<p>I’m a real passionate and dramatic person so I have my moments that I do. :D</p>

<p>I’m sorry your father feels that way but not everybody feels that way about their job/career.</p>

<p>Hmmm, I think there could be something a little more deep seated with him but I’m not majoring in psyche so whatever.</p>

<p>If you feel game design/developement is your calling and where you want to be…</p>

<p>DO IT! :D</p>

<p>About the applied math, I really have no idea. But, I don’t see where it couldn’t. </p>

<p>But still, I really don’t know when it comes to applied math. </p>

<p>You’re welcome abcdegsds! :D</p>

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<p>well to be fair for my father, he was at his peak in his twenties (he was the head of the programming team of a fortune 500 company and made half a million per year) and has dwindled since (mostly because of his laziness…) and now hes just a programming manager. still making a ton but no where near how much he used to make, so i guess thats why he told me everyones job sucks after a little while (because his was so great in the beginning and i guess he refuses to admit that its his fault it dwindled… i feel bad saying things like that about my father but i fully believe it 100%). that said, im definitely going to take a computer programming class this summer in Java probably and will talk to my advisor in college next fall.</p>

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<p>at the end of the day, the only real way to know if you’re interested in something is to do it. with chemical engr its a little harder, but with comp sci just start programming something. there are plenty of “start programming C tomorrow!” type books in bookstores or floating around the internet for free, just try one.</p>

<p>in particular, the problem is you don’t know what a math major is until you start doing proofs. as a chem major, i can tell you gen chem is NOT representative of what life as a chemist is.</p>

<p>as for the engr mind set, i’ve found the few engr classes ive taken to be very straightforward. most problems in engr have been seen before, so its really just “recognize what the problem type is and read a book to find out what method is used to solve it”. btw this is harder then it sounds…
im not sure what a computer science mindset is though.</p>

<p>EDIT: an applied math major is still a math major. instead of taking normal electives in topology or geometry or number theory, you’ll take applied differential equations or numerical analysis. you still need to be firmly grounded in the math side (analysis and algebra). if you want to do math without doing proofs, try physics. the way we use math makes mathematicians cry.
and i tihnk there are some proofs in comp sci (at least the algorithm classes i’ve seen), although i dont know how widespread this is. (my guess = not)</p>

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<p>thanks flemmyd!</p>

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<p>You probably will change your mind again but heres my opinion.</p>

<p>You don’t need to have taken any CSCI course, your motivation and skills in math are good enough because it isn’t the syntax of a programming language that is important it is the logic.</p>

<p>Difference between CSCI and engineering is the degree obviously (can’t tell people your an engineer haha that was the hardest part for me when choosing between Comp science and comp engineering.) The whole thing about math or science really depends on the school your going to.</p>

<p>I hear game developing is a tough branch to get into but if you are interested in money managing at a major software company will do it.(of course you can go higher but I like to state the minimums so that you can’t go anywhere else but up.)</p>

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<p>Believe me…there are people who get an “A” in Calculus 1 who get the idea they can pull off Intro to Programming in C++ or Java and they still flake out. I’m not saying they are incompetent, but some people don’t want to go through the learning process…</p>

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<p>I’ve taken Intro to Programming in Java, and I guess I don’t see too much math used here. There’s plenty of logic, and I see how linear algebra can be useful, but at the moment I find my introductory physics class more satisfying, as a CSE major haha. Like the op, i’m stuck between engineering and cs, i do like bio, chem, physics, math, in general, but probably leaning towards math and then maybe physics.</p>