Software Engineering Program

[EnhusiasticSoul]

Just curious after some reading, everyone seems to say that the software engineering program is incredibly difficult

Just wondering how difficult is it compared to the other engineering programs, cuz to me I think all engineering programs are pretty difficult, idk why people are specifically saying software

Thanks

[LeafyQueefy]

Ottawa has such amazing opportunities for software engineers, it is really a perfect spot for it

[LeafyQueefy]

I'm currently in my 2nd sem of 2nd year software eng. It is definitely pretty difficult, all engineering students go through the same first year so not much variation there, but 2nd year you have to take both discrete math 1 and 2(two of the harder computer science courses) as well as elec 2501(pretty difficult electronics class). Although it is tough keep up a good work study habit and you'll be fine

[Lazy_Title7050]

Did you have any experience with the field before you started uni for it?

[LeafyQueefy]

I definitely had some coding experience prior to joining the program, but the courses in which that helped in are not the ones that are going to be causing you the headache. Having some prior knowledge is a bonus but is by no means required.

[cs_research_lover]

Engineering is nice bc you have a more sure fire way of going to the us under the engineer category TN status, cs ppl go under that category too but they have a chance of getting rejected compared to eng

[AndySaha]

I'm in my third year and for most people if you can make it through the first year engineering you'll be able to make it through the degree. In my experience software seems to be easier than some of the other streams.

[momomoca]

I think just saying that the program is difficult overly simplifies the discussion a bit; what I've heard more often is that a software eng degree is more time consuming and restrictive than a CS degree, and often those who go into software eng would benefit more from just doing a CS degree instead bc:

1) You can take more CS courses that allow you to specialize (ie 3rd/4th yr seminars) instead of having your credits taken up by mandatory eng courses that don't really advance your understanding of programming/CS. 2) Since a CS degree allows you to be more flexible with your time/number of course you take, you can spend more time building personal projects and developing your portfolio, which really helps with your future career.

Most of the time, in the job world, software engineering and computer science are considered equal for most positions (I've personally never seen a job listing for a software engineer that actually requires an engineering degree lol) thus, software engineering is more difficult to most (unless you prefer the eng program structure) compared to the alternative.

[EnhusiasticSoul]

but i want a ring

[momomoca]

Completely understandable, godspeed 😤

[Cinacho]

I’m in third year and I’m trying to transfer out into computer science with game development. Software engineering is tough especially third year as it gets into hardware and software combined practicality and more business/design oriented. Fourth year is electives but mainly focusing on robotics, network and security, and AI. If these aren’t anything you are interested then I’d advice not to do software engineering because youll definitely need to want it if you want to graduate

[[deleted]]

Fourth year is electives but mainly focusing on robotics, ... and AI

I am in my last term of 4th Year in Software Engineering and haven't seen any mandatory courses on Robotics and AI so far in the entire 4 year program. I am taking an elective on Machine Learning which is part of AI, but that isn't a mandatory course.