why EECS, why not CS only?

<p>does MIT offer Computer Science only? because whenever i try to find CS, all the websites show me EECS. also, if i get into MIT, is there any way i can just take CS classes, and get CS degree; or i'd have to take EECS? thanks!</p>

<p>Course 6 is EECS. There is no "CS only" course. Look carefully into the Course 6 program and offerings, though, and see if it isn't what you're actually looking for.</p>

<p>6-3 is "CS-only" version of course 6.</p>

<p>Cool! Thanks for the correction, pebbles, my bad for misrepresenting!</p>

<p>it's aiight. we cool.</p>

<p>:D</p>

<p>Nope there is nothing like CS at MIT. Course 6-3 is CSE i.e. Computer Science and Engineering. There is still a lot of engineering stuff to be studied. At MIT they dont have a course which is like only CS i.e the pure Computer theory or programming and stuff.</p>

<p>The degree chart for course 6, which includes the programs for a bachelors in EE (6-1), a bachelors in EECS (6-2), and a bachelors in CS (6-3), is [here[/url</a>].</p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/primer.html#cs%5DThis"&gt;http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/primer.html#cs]This&lt;/a> site](<a href="http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/degre.engin.ch6.shtml%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/degre.engin.ch6.shtml) may also be helpful.</p>

<p>i still don't get it... so if i do get into MIT, can i just take CS courses and graduate as a CS major?</p>

<p>So there is a degree called 6-3, Computer Science. It's one of the tracks you can choose in the EECS department (the other two being straight EE and combined EECS).</p>

<p>But in order to graduate with this degree, you have to take the courses required of everyone in the EECS department, including Circuits and Electronics and Signals and Systems. Your electives, however, can all be from the CS section of the department if you wish them to be.</p>

<p>So your degree will say 6-3, Computer Science, but you will have taken several engineering-y classes along the way to get that degree. </p>

<p>(Does that make more sense? I feel bad, because MIT's websites can look like a thicket of numbers to anyone who doesn't understand why all those numbers are being flung around. I could draw a super-awesome picture in Paint, if it would help?)</p>

<p>Trust me. It's a lot more useful (and FUN!!) to know a bit of electrical engineering along with computer science. (Just think of everything you can BUILD !!) MIT does Computer Science well- the curriculum is pretty much top-notch.</p>

<p>my son is a EECS major only interested in CS, with no particular interest in engineering, and he loves MIT. He doesn't seem particularly put out by the small number of non-CS courses he'll be required to take. And hey, as pebbles points out, it's useful stuff that you might find interesting once you are exposed to it.</p>

<p>Ditto what Texas137 said. My son is a CS sophomore and didn't much care for the circuits course he took last semester (and it apparently didn't care much for him either), but he's enjoyed the other stuff. (Okay, maybe some of the math hasn't been ~fun~ but it's useful. </p>

<p>One of many reasons he chose MIT over the School of Computer Science at CMU is because of the engineering classes at MIT. He's lovin' it there.</p>

<p>ahh, that makes sense. thanks everyone, especially molliebatmit. :)</p>

<p>i did like EE, but at the univ. i'm right now, the teacher was horrible. i saw comments about her, and none of them were good, really NONE. she totally took my interest out of EE. :( well, that also explains why i want to go to MIT...</p>

<p>don't you guys think MIT should have only CS, though? i mean, of course EE is useful, but only CS would be for people like me who would just want to sit in front of a computer, and do programming.
again, thanks.</p>

<p>The closest approximate to a pure CS degree at MIT is the Mathematics with CS degree (the 18C option). </p>

<p><a href="http://math.mit.edu/undergraduate/degree-options.html#18c%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://math.mit.edu/undergraduate/degree-options.html#18c&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Almost all of the math requirements beyond basic differential equations and linear algebra are really cross-listed CS requirements. For example, the algorithms class, course 18.410J, has the "18" math designation but is cross-listed (and is therefore the same class as) 6.046, which has the "6" EECS designation. 18.062 is the same class as 6.042. 18.400 is the same as 6.045. </p>

<p>So basically you can fulfill your electives with math classes that are crosslisted with EECS classes, and you will basically have gotten a pure CS degree. It will be officially called a math degree, but it will basically be a pure CS degree. </p>

<p>Scroll down to the 18.400 math courses and you will see all the math courses that are basically CS courses. </p>

<p><a href="http://student.mit.edu/@0400695.285/catalog/m18a.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://student.mit.edu/@0400695.285/catalog/m18a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Oooh, good catch, sakky. 18C would be a good option.</p>

<p>About having an "only CS" major -- many of the departments at MIT are sort of dictated by historical vagaries rather than anyone sitting down and planning them rationally. I'm majoring in course 9, brain and cognitive sciences, for example -- I'll graduate having taken all neuroscience classes and the bare minimum for the cog sci requirement. Sure, I'd like it if the department split so I didn't have to take that one cog sci class (and I'm sure many of the cog sci people would rather not take neuroscience-intensive classes), but what's the point? That's just not how the department was set up when it was created a jillion years ago (fifty, actually, I think).</p>

<p>The registrar's [url=<a href="http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/stats/yreportfinal.html%5Ddata%5B/url"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/stats/yreportfinal.html]data[/url&lt;/a&gt;] reports that just about as many people do CS (6-3) as do EE (6-1), and about half the kids who major in course 6 do both EE and CS (6-2). Most people prefer to do a little EE and a little CS. Live and let live. Just the way things are.</p>

<p>I think the crux of is that once you get to low-level such as 16 and 32 bit (and possibly soon 64 bit) Assembly, you need a working knowledge of the hardware to deal with the programming.</p>

<p>to the OP "don't you guys think MIT should have only CS, though"</p>

<p>look basically if you want to do Computer Science there is no such thing as only CS you have to study a bit of math (actually lot of discrete math) and some Engineering,but Engg is optional.</p>

<p>If you are talking about a degree that basically qualifies you to write codes for a company then my dear such a degree will never be present at any research university.</p>

<p>hehe. i'll be fine with EE, as long as teachers are great! well, it's MIT, so i won't have to worry about that...</p>

<p>its MIT u wont have to worry about anything other than you. Just do your part coz you wont be getting just teachers most of them will have researched the theories they are teaching you themselves</p>

<p>This might be of interest to those looking at CS and EE.
<a href="http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N65/coursevi.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N65/coursevi.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>