I called Purdue engineering 5-6 yrs ago and spoke to a professor, asking about the difference between the two. He was pretty dismissive of the program outside of engineering, being lite in comparison. It could be just bias but I found this to be true when I looked at CS in SLAS at another school. Many LA credit requirements and fewer required core courses. You had the option to pick up more through electives but it still wasn’t a 1:1 comparison with a CS program in the engineering dept. Having said that, job listings do not seem to differentiate between CS, CE, SE… In fact, even kids without college degrees but with programming experience are getting those jobs. My suggestion is have your child look over example curricula and see what is most appealing.
Agree with post # 20- especially that final sentence.
Computer science and computer are two different fields, just as chemistry and chemical engineering are. As above, which school/college houses a CS major depends on the history of the department. Think hardware for computer engineering and software for computer science.
Which aspect of dealing with computers most appeals will determine which degree to pursue. There are overlapping math and computer science courses- “crosslisted” in both departments. A good math background is useful in CS- thinking outside the box. Son was an honors math major at Wisconsin and added computer science as a second major. Recruited by a top player in the field. A relative of H’s on the other hand is a computer engineer- very different jobs. It is important to identify which aspects are desired. Btw- son points out the difference in research and development in the CS field. And there is a huge difference in the business oriented IT and programming fields compared to CS. At UW (WI one) traditional electrical engineering has added computer engineering as times have changed.
Do not look at which is more difficult or challenging, look at which seems most interesting to the student. Nor is prestige a factor. An engineer may consider their program more difficult but it is a matter of theory versus engineering skills. A lot more difficult to grasp mathematical concepts for some… Gifted son has been intellectually satisfied with his job- continues to teach himself new languages et al and surrounded by peers. He had a well rounded education which the liberal arts give more of over the engineering schools/colleges. People are multifaceted so each person makes choices based on the whole person and preferences.
It is important to look at required and available courses- both within the major and outside it.
“1) Computer Science vs Computer Engineering – what is a tougher course. are they equivalent degrees in terms of knowledge and jobs? Do students from both degrees go for similar jobs?”
In general the engineering is going to be tougher because of those pesky engineering requirements, but that is going to vary by school so you have to really check the curriculum and compare. When I was a computer engineer major I had to take Thermodynamics, Mechanics, Engineering modeling, Engineering lab, you get the idea. You also have to take hardware courses that you could probably avoid in CS, like circuits, electronics, architecture, design, electricity and magnetism. Now things have changed, when I last checked the core requirements, I think themo and mechanics are out, more courses in the major are in.
In terms of knowledge, they’re not equivalent all that much unless you tailor the electives to take courses in the other discipline. CS or CS in EECS would know more on data modeling, algorithms etc… I just perused the UM program guide and it does a good job of laying out the curriculum for Comp Engr, CS in EECS, and CS in their Arts and Science college.
I personally moved from CE to CS years ago, found software more fun than hardware/circuits. But that’s me.
Son just graduated from Cornell. CS is it’s own dept, and their courses are offered for a BS in engineering or arts & sciences. CS dept dictates your CS major requirements. ENG or CAS would dictate your non-major courses.
So the only issue here, do you want to take Physics, Chem, upper level math, or 4 semesters of a foreign language and more liberal arts/social science courses, less math/physical sciences OUTSIDE YOUR MAJOR. CS itself is exactly the same either way.
As an employer/hiring manager, few would care if your CS degree came one way or the other, as far as your programming skills go. What may matter is if you want to do scientific programming in an engineering org like a Boeing or such, they would better appreciate your ENG coursework. Programming in a bank, they would better appreciate any economics or business electives, something you can do either way but more if not in engineering.
Regarding that BS versus a BA. At Wisconsin a CS major could get either one- depending on the breadth requirements met. Same courses for the major. Getting my Honors Chemistry BA eons ago meant I not only took the same chemistry but added enough nonscience classes. I liked the white tassel better than the yellow. Engineering is for engineers. Some of us prefer the pure sciences. Theory can be just as, if not more, difficult than the practicalities of engineering courses. There is a reason most students do not take a lot of higher math classes- ability to comprehend the subject, not just plow through a ton of problems.
What is easy/hard depends on the individual- ability and interest.
Computer Science: Deal with more algorithm problems, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Computer Engineering: Deal with hardwares.
Difficulty: Computer Engineering > Computer Science
Job Opportunities: Computer Science: Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Apple
Computer Engineering: Cisco, Tesla
Computer Science has more opportunities.
ASU offers a BS in Computer Science in the School of Engineering. https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/roadmaps/ASU00/ESCSEBS/null/ALL/2018 There are also BS degrees within the School of Engineering offered in CS- Cybersecurity, CS-Software Engineering, and a BSE in Computer Systems Engineering.
Disagree with any comments about any engineering being “more difficult”. It all depends on the person. Could wonder if some do engineering because they can’t handle the theory… Or that only students who can go into some fields and make them look easier… Sometimes time spent thinking instead of working through problem sets or memorizing goes unnoticed.
Bottom line- it does not really matter whether any subject is more/less difficult; it matters which is most interesting to an individual.
Obviously I don’t put engineers on the top of the heap like some do.
“Disagree with any comments about any engineering being “more difficult”.”
the OP asked which was tougher, so that’s why most people said engineering. Of course it depends on the person, but that’s not really answering the question. In my college, the people that can’t handle computer engineering transfer to computer science, again because of the engineering courses, not the computer science or math courses.
My son is CS/Bioinformatics. A friend of hours was Computer Engineering and has been in the industry for 25 years. He wishes he had done CS and not Computer Engineering due to the opportunities etc. This area changes so rapidly. Most schools group CS with engineering to some degree just simply due to the classes you take the first two years but they are separate degrees.