Torn between UW Seattle and UW Tacoma because of the major

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
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<p>Hi everyone, I'm torn between attending UW Seattle (prefer that campus!) and UW Tacoma. At Tacoma I was offered admission into their Computer Engineering major, which is the one I would like to study but UW Seattle offered me admission into the Electrical Engineering major... similar but not exactly what I was hoping. Any advice from engineering majors? Are UW Seattle's reputation and program the way to go?</p>

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<p>I’m an EE major here at UW Seattle. Just to preface, I don’t have much interest in the computer side of things (more of an applied physics guy), so my perspective is a little limited on this subject. I can tell you that the EE department does offer courses in computer design and embedded systems, which might be of interest to you. There are three digital concentrations - Digital VLSI Circuits, Embedded Computing Systems, and Digital Signal and Image Processing. Here are their descriptions from the EE Website:</p>

<p>"Digital VLSI Circuits: This area emphasizes the technology of designing digital microelectronic circuits which could be implemented as a single integrated circuit with millions of transistors. Example applications include computer memory, logic gates, digital ASIC (application specific IC) and various programmable gate array systems:</p>

<p>EE 271 (5 cr.)
EE 331 (5 cr.)
EE 332 (5 cr.)
EE 476 (5 cr.)
EE 477 (*5 cr.)
suggested electives: EE 341 (5 cr.), EE 361 (5 cr.), EE 471 (5 cr.)</p>

<p>Embedded Computing Systems: This area emphasizes the design of digital circuits at a somewhat higher level. The design of logic circuits is partially abstracted into various logic families, with considerations of speed, power, and other performance measures. Example applications include digital cameras, portable music players (such as an iPod), electronics in automobiles, home appliances, etc.</p>

<p>EE 271 (5 cr.)
EE 331 (5 cr.)
EE 332 (5 cr.)
EE 471 (5 cr.)
EE 472 (5 cr.)
EE 478 (*5 cr.)
suggested electives: EE 341 (5 cr.), CSE 373 (3 cr.), CSE 374 (3 cr.)</p>

<p>Digital Signal and Image Processing: In this area, we develop powerful methods to process both continuous and discrete signals using mathematical techniques to perform transformations and/or extract information. We deal with a variety of signal forms such as music, video, speech, language, images, sonar, seismic vibrations, medical, and biological. It is a vital technology with applications in many areas: communications, information processing, consumer electronics, control systems, radar and sonar, medical imaging, seismology, and scientific instrumentation. Examples of signal processing tasks include removing noise from voice signals, automatic recognition of human speech for voice activated devices, enabling satellite imaging systems to resolve tiny objects on the ground, enhancing internal organs in CAT scans, compressing music signals for portable music players (such as iPods), and compressing video for DVD and videoconferencing.</p>

<p>EE 341 (5 cr.)
EE 416 (4 cr.)
EE 440 (4 cr.)
EE 442 (3 cr.)
EE 443 (*5 cr.)
CSE 373 (3 cr.)
suggested electives: EE 271 (5 cr.), EE 461 (4 cr.), CSE 374 (3)"</p>

<p><a href=“BSEE Major Concentration Areas”>http://www.ee.washington.edu/academics/undergrad/MajorConcentrationAreas.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The EE department is also doing a “Digital Overhaul” with the CSE department starting this fall that may be of interest to you. Here is a link to some info on that:
<a href=“http://www.ee.washington.edu/academics/undergrad/DigitalOverhaul.pdf”>http://www.ee.washington.edu/academics/undergrad/DigitalOverhaul.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My personal opinion (with obvious bias) is to go with the EE program here at the Seattle campus. It seems that EE majors with more of an interest in hardware and software have done very well in those fields. Plus, there’s always the possibility that you can still apply to CE at UW Seattle in a later quarter, get accepted, and graduate with a CE/EE double major on time.</p>

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<p>CE and EE majors tend to end up with very overlapping career options in this area. With a EE degree from UW Seattle and a handful of programming electives you should have no issues getting the same jobs as a CE from UW Tacoma.</p>

<p>Pick your favorite school IMO. You only get to undergrad once. </p>

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I’d say go to UW Seattle because it’s a more impressive school overall. Your major doesn’t determine your career path. As long as you make sure to hit those requirements in other ways, you should be good!