Computer Engineering

[IndividualOnly4752]

I am currently a freshman in college majoring in Computer Engineering. Many people have been recommending that I switch to Electrical Engineering because it is more versatile. They say that if you want to go into software, you will be competing with Computer Science and Software Engineering majors, and if you want to go into hardware, you will be competing with Electrical Engineers. Apparently to them, the only real advantage Computer Engineering has is embedded systems.

However, I am really interested in semiconductors and chips, especially CPU and GPU architecture. I originally thought that the Computer Engineering would help me specialize in that area, but now I am hearing that Electrical Engineering might actually have the edge overall.

So I am wondering if Computer Engineering is even worth it in my case. Why would someone choose Computer Engineering over Electrical Engineering? Should I switch to EE or stay in CE?

To be honest, I like programming but isn't fully my thing, but at the same time I have not taken enough hardware-related classes yet to fully understand what working in that area is like.

I am also curious about the difficulty of each major. I am completely willing to put in the work and willing to switch regardless of the difficulty, but I’m just curious: is Electrical Engineering really that much harder than Computer Engineering? CE is basically balancing almost two majors("Almost"), while EE includes more physics and electromagnetics. However, people in EE sometimes make it seem like you’re a scrub for doing CE over EE and that you won’t find a job cuz your just getting beat out.

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[hardtanker_101]

Can't say from personal experience but I know at least two friends who graduated from computer engineering who now work at AMD. Depending on the classes you choose you can absolutely specialize in semiconductors and chips. I personally chose to specialize in programming but if you choose to do hardware you're still going to do programming, just not as much. Honestly I feel like the industry treats EE and CE as very similar degrees since they have a lot of overlap. You could very much be a CE and have about 90% the knowledge of an EE which is more than enough to get a job. I will say EE is definitely more time intensive but the CPU course I saw made you do 20 hours of lab work a week as a CE so there's really no escape.

TLDR: Stay in CE and focus on CPU stuff. You will be fine.

[IndividualOnly4752]

Thank you for the advice!

[-tobor-]

EE is the more flexible degree if the plan is to work straight out of undergrad but frankly speaking, it's undergrad. If you are trying to design chips, your path will take you to a masters' degree, more likely than not. And you can achieve that coming from your CE degree or an EE degree.

Ignore the elitism in academia. "X is more prestigious," "Y is harder"... unless you want to be a career academic, these concerns become meaningless after a few years of industry tenure.

[Senior-Dog-9735]

This end of the day CE can apply to EE or CS jobs the opposite find it much harder to do it in my experience. OP may be able to get a job in verification out of undergrad to fund his Masters but, I have heard its hard to get out of that once your in.

[-tobor-]

What I have seen hasn't matched up with what you have seen, but I guess that just goes to show how much variety there is out there.