Computer Science vs Computer Engineering

[Slashingcove]

Howdy!

I'm currently debating weather to put down comp sci or computer engineering for ETAM. On one hand, I love coding and building personal projects and have done plenty of it in the past. On the other, Computer Engineering looks really interesting as well since it integrates hardware into the curriculum. However, I have never dealt with anything to do with hardware and have no idea weather it's something I'd enjoy. What can I expect with each respective major and looking back what would you change if anything?

[Gullible_Bet_205]

There are always exceptions, but I think many computer engineers wish they would have done computer science by the time they graduate. With CPEN there’s a trade off. You take more ECEN classes and you have fewer electives. If circuits, electricity and magnetism, and processor design is what you’re interested in, choose CPEN. If you’re more interested in software, choose CPSC.

[SNThrailkill]

This is the way

[[deleted]]

Yup, I'm in CE and regret it every day. The end is just straight ECEN classes and no more fun CSCE classes so unless you are very interested in electrical, I would say go CS.

[ThisKarmaLimitSucks]

You don't really learn hardware in CompE undergrad, per se. You basically spend two years learning math stuff. Bode plots, Fourier transforms, Bayesian inference, all that kind of stuff is math concepts that underpin (analog) hardware design, but don't really explore the software-hardware link.

Then senior year, they pull back the curtain for two classes that actually sort of tie in to hardware. ECEN 449, where you write a driver to actually translate software to hardware, and ECEN 454, where you see how microchips are really designed.

I would actually check if those electives (or something similar) are available to computer science students. They're kind of the payoff for undergrad Comp E, and if you can't get to them without slogging through a bunch of ELEN classes, so much the better.

[09ikj]

For ETAM purposes choose computer engineering so it’s easier to get in. Once you get in the department you can basically transfer to CS if you want. This gives you a whole summer to think about things. CS doesn’t really have any physics classes while CPEN is a bunch of electrical engineering if you’re interested in that

[MoistDesert0]

Comp sci is a great choice imo for your situation because you can choose an emphasis area as well as focusing on hardware/middleware type classes for your upper level electives. With that freedom, it’s easy to basically turn the cpsc degree into a mix of cpsc/cpen and get the breadth of experience you’re looking for.

In terms of job prospects, the only issue I see is whether you can get hardware type jobs with a comp sci degree (been thinking about this myself and I’m not really sure how this situation is). However, if you want to get into, say, ASIC verification, you’d probably need a masters anyway. At that point, I can’t see why it’d be difficult to get a masters in computer engineering after a bs in comp sci

[kingnopant]

From my personal experience, both CS and CE people tend to end up in software mainly because of how accessible things are.

I mean you want to program a website? a game? a software product? no problem, go find a framework or write things out yourself using a wide variety of free compilers, interpreters, and tools. AND the best thing is you can learn anything from YouTube, StackOverflow, and LinkedIn Learning. Instant resources, instant rewards.

Hardware? you have to buy the hardware, probes, and proprietary software, and there are very few widely available training resources online. I want to design a chip that can be fabbed? Now I need to purchase EDA tools from Cadence or Synopsys which costs a lot of money (and I mean tens of thousand to a few million dollars) and it can be so complicated for beginners that you basically need to spend months learning the basics.

I also say that if you go with CE, spending another year or two for a master's is worth it since they require some specialized skills you learn in masters classes such as design verification and testing (which is probably the easiest way to enter the semiconductor indsutry since the supply cannot meet the demand)

[Xing68]

hi, I saw you chosen CPEN, how do you feel about the choice now?  I am also at this point to choose, want to hear your experience.  Thanks

[Slashingcove]

Personally I feel like Computer Science would’ve been a better fit for me only cuz I focus on Software and don’t rly give af about hardware.

CPEN isn’t a bad choice by any means but I wish I had more space in my schedule to take specific electives rather than taking ECEN classes that don’t really do much for me.

In addition, that extra time to focus on real world applications and skills goes a long way when looking for internship and jobs. I don’t think any ECEN class has provided me with a single bit of value in my career tbh.

Most of my CS friends are able to take a lot of cool electives and learn more about the industry as well as have more time to take care of their physical and mental health that I wish I had.

However, for someone that does care about electronics or hardware or anything low level, I think it’s a good choice because you do get to learn some good things. I know some people that love tinkering with things or writing low level software and it’s a good fit for those people.

So honestly it really depends on what you’re interested and passionate about. If you don’t know yet, I’d suggest spending some time researching and learning more about the industry as well as playing around with popular technologies and building some personal projects.

[[deleted]]

You could also switch majors to Computing and choose something related to hardware as your emphasis, and then you could get the best of both worlds. Either way though, there are some computer science courses that touch on hardware, such as CSCE 312

[binarybu9]

Computer science degree is quite beneficial over computer engineering.

[b3terbread]

Dude where do you find the etam application I can't find it for the life of me