Hi,
Have a huge favor to ask.
If any student has ever completed an EECS degree (i.e. at Berkeley, MIT, etc.) or completed something similar (i.e. Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, etc.), could you possibly post your 4-year course load/plan?
Also, if possible, the AP courses you took and the college courses you tested out of with it.
Thanks!
You know, the colleges’ web sites have sample schedules.
Berkeley:
http://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate-guide/academic-departments-programs/electrical-engineering-computer-sciences
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/Notes/section4.shtml
MIT: (these do not include general education requirements)
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/docs/ug/6-1roadmap.pdf
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/docs/ug/6-2roadmap.pdf
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/docs/ug/6-3roadmap.pdf
A typical frosh year schedule at MIT is described here: (including some of the general education requirements)
http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/advisors/academics/typical.html
@ucbalumnus I had no idea this existed. Thanks!
UIUC has a nice flowchart for ECE requirements and prerequisites.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM
http://www.ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/curriculum/ee-curriculum-06.asp
COMPUTER ENGINEERING CURRICULUM
http://www.ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/curriculum/ce-curriculum-07.asp
For the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
(Suggested Sequence semester by semester at the end of the page)
http://provost.illinois.edu/ProgramsOfStudy/2014/fall/programs/undergrad/engin/elec_engin.html
@IlliniDad18 this is amazing - thanks!
Many schools with engineering have similar roadmaps for engineering and engineering-based CS majors.
If you just Google University (insert name here) and major (what ever one you care about) and Curriculum Flowchart, you’ll find everything you need.
@ucbalumnus @eyemgh thank you!
Just wondering from those who graduated EECS/Computer engineering. What APs did you use to get college credit (or what AP scores did you end up sending)? I heard that even if an AP score (some APs only) doesn’t let you skip a GE course/other required course, it will still get you credits, which will boost your class standing and let you sign up for courses ahead of time…is this true?
The strategy of advanced placement be it AP, IB or(and) dual enrollment varies from institution to institution.
Let’s say schools in the UC system (like Berkeley or SD)?
I’m not really asking for any one school in particular, but rather in general, what APs were used across the board.
UCs have standardized credit units for AP scores. Note that if you also take a college course that covers the same material, your credit units will be adjusted to eliminate double credit.
Each campus, division, and sometimes major determines subject credit and advanced placement for AP scores. If you intend to take a more advanced course, then it would be a good idea to try the old final exam for the course you can skip using AP credit.
@ucbalumnus what AP courses did you use to get credit at Berkeley?
As far as usability in an engineering curriculum, the most common ones are Calculus AB, sometimes BC also, Physics C, Chemistry and English.
http://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate-guide/exams-ap-ib-level-and-transfer-credit-information is the list of AP credit for UCB engineering majors (differs for other divisions).
I looked at this when I was applying for schools. It seems that almost every college, from the Ivies to local commuter schools, have a nearly identical track for EE.
Intro to analog circuits
Intro to digital circuits
Probability
Semiconductors
Microcontrollers
EM theory
Fourier analysis
Senior year is a capstone design project and some electives that go more in depth into the topics above.
That starts after you’ve knocked out intro physics, the calc series, linear algebra, and differential equations your first two years. When you stack that on top of your breadth requirements, you’re looking at a busy four years.
Most schools will want you to take 16 or 17 hours a semester to keep up this workload, and 16 hours of engineering just sucks. Accept all the AP credits you can. That can allow you to only take 4 classes some semesters, which will really be helpful with upper level courses. And despite what advisors may tell you, I don’t see a lot of value to retaking intro classes - I retook physics E&M and Calc 2 and felt like I got pretty much nothing out of them.
I tested out of calculus 1, physics - mechanics, chemistry, and some social studies classes like English. Don’t regret any of them, and I would have loved to get out of those calc and physics classes I retook. In particular, I can’t tell you how glad I am to be done with chemistry - I have zero talent for that subject.
Best high school classes I took were Physics C and Calc BC, because they prepared me for the expectations of what an engineering class would really be like. I am so glad I got that initial shock out of the way in the low-pressure environment of high school, rather than staring back at a 40% on a exam with a college GPA and scholarships on the line.
If a program is ABET accredited, then ABET does mandate certain classes in the curriculum. Therefore, you will see many similarities between ABET accredited EECS programs. You will find that being asked to take roughly 16 semester hours per term is very normal.
Many of the sample schedules universities post are not as inflexible as you may feel they are, and are designed with the assumption that you came in with no credits (e.g., AP or transfer). How soon you will be able to have the requirements checked off will be dependent on many factors, including how many technical classes you are willing and able to juggle per semester, how many and what credits you came in with, whether or not you take spring/summer classes, whether or not you are doing multiple majors, etc.
Personally have had great luck with “College” “Major” 4 year plan as google search.
Not all schools have flowcharts, but I wish they did, they help track prerequisites.
Retaking classes also in no way means you will get an easy “A” … but is necessary if you honestly don’t understand the topic …
With any engineering field of study, upper level courses will all have long chains of prerequisites. That is why failure to decide what you want to do early in your college career is almost guaranteed to delay completion of your degree.
And yes, retaking classes is not necessarily an easy A. However, if you do retake a class, anything less than an A for the second attempt will look disappointing to employers and graduate/professional schools. At umich, the policy is you can only retake classes for which you received a C- or below, unless an advisor gives you permission to do so otherwise. If you passed, an advisor is unlikely to give you permission just because there were topics you didn’t fully understand.