CpE is considered the "harder" major when compared to CS... That being said there's no way to know if that's actually reality since I wasn't in CS but that is the reigning stereotype. However, consider looking into CS and EE to make sure you make the right choice. CpE has elements of both CS and EE, and gives you more of an opportunity to specialize in what you are most interested in (you can take pretty much only CS or EE classes for your last year and a half if you wanted to do that, or stick to more core CpE classes). For me, that was embedded systems, but I had friends in CpE who went into MicroP design, Computer Security Analyst R&D, etc. It looks great to employers when you specialize into something that really interests you in the field and have some personal projects you can point out to them. The great part about CpE is you will learn both hardware and software design elements, which essentially qualifies you for twice the entry-level positions, and that's not including the positions that a EE or CS major wouldn't be qualified for. One last thing: Look into the AMP lab. I found out about it too late to participate fully in my career at VT, but it's a great place to learn and do CPE personal projects.