Comp Sci or Computer engineering

[SuperMiguel]

So im on my 3rd year of EE but i find it a bit boring, to much theory and no doing at all.. and i want to change my major... but not sure if i should go for Comp Sci or Computer engineering

[SuperMiguel]

so i pulled the undergrad catalog (http://www.ugs.usf.edu/pdf/cat1112/15engin.pdf) and here are the differences between CS and CE:

CS:
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE theory elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)

CE:
Electronics Materials
Electrical Systems I
Computer System Design
Computer System Design Lab
CMOS-VLSI Design
CMOS-VLSI Design Lab
Computer Science Project
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE Hardware elective)

[AntiProtonBoy]

How many years more to go with EE? You might as well finish it, looks like you are close.

Also CE seems more practical - I'd go for that one.

[Hypernova]

CS:
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE theory elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)
Deparment upper-level Elective (CSE elective)

That's a little vague don't you think? 

Nice how they have chip class there, don't have any of that sort in New Zealand (For obvious reasons).

Personally I would go with CE as the courses sounds more general, you would probably come out with a more rounded set of skills and be more adaptable. If you end up doing embedded systems related work knowing even just principles of how the hardware you are controlling works helps a great deal on the firmware and let you communicate better with the hardware guys and not be lost. Going heavy software (java, .Net etc) is of very limited utility if you intend to work primarily with mcus. The fact that you on this forum suggest you are not the code monkey type.

[Mechatrommer]

Comp Sci = you wont learn any EE at all! you'll become code monkey!
Computer eng = you only can design computer! forget analog EE!
i bet those two even more boring.

[daedalus]

As you are in 3rd year now you are probably better off sticking it out, as one more year and you have your degree. Go do a masters in something more interesting afterwards, or just go do one in pure research and pick your own project.

If you are hell bent on changing subjects, does your uni do Cybernetics? that covers more on control theory, sensors, mechatronics, and goes pretty well with EE backgrounds. Also its usually taught with the option of CS and EE modules.

[SuperMiguel]

well im just staring 3rd year, so if i change now i would only loose one semester

[IanB]

Most engineering programs have theory at the beginning and more practical stuff at the end. Theory always comes before practice. Have you checked what is coming up in the next two years?

(And by the way "doing" is what you do in your own time. Don't you have access to extra-curricular clubs or groups and student lab/workshop facilities?)

[FenderBender]

Obviously we are going to try to persuade you to stick with EE, but yeah...as others have said. Computer Science means you're bound to your IDE all day pulling your hairs out and Computer Engineering, you're stuck with engineering only computer hardware. Nothing else. I don't think there would be too much variety there either. EE is a broad spectrum, and you can find a niche that you REALLY like. RF, Audio, Power, Logic, etc. More choice.

[slateraptor]

Computer eng = you only can design computer! forget analog EE!

  Absolute nonsense.

Engineering digital systems at sufficiently high frequency = analog engineering

[slateraptor]

So im on my 3rd year of EE but i find it a bit boring, to much theory and no doing at all...

Wait 'til your senior year and you'll have more "doing" than you know what to do with...or if you just can't wait that long, you might want to consider transferring to a proper university like UF now and start "doing" stuff right away.

P.S. the last part was a joke.

[SuperMiguel]

another thing is that i got few friends that graduated from USF with an EE degree and they dont even know how to turn an LED on/off with an arduino board... the program is really bad in my opinion with only one programming class (matlab) and 1 microcontrollers class.. Thats another reason i want to change...

[aard3]

I was in a similar situation when I was in school (graduated '05 from LSU).

I started in Comp Sci, and I quickly realized that computer science = database programming, desktop stuff, or web stuff... that's it. BORING!

I switched majors fast, my second semester. If your at all interested in embedded or working with hardware, don't go Comp Sci. I'm sure that there are exceptions, but the vast majority of guys I know with Comp Sci's degrees are either unemployed, or working from some large company programming backend server stuff.

At LSU, there was no difference in the curriculum between EE and CE until probably about the end of your junior year. Both took circuits, both took C programming, both took assembly, both took electronics design, etc. Guys that wanted to do power at that point took power classes electives, guys that wanted computer took computer eng classes, guys that wanted controls took that then.

I'll go ahead and let you in on something...something that most college professors won't tell you....most of your professors have no actual real-world experience. They got their PhD, then started teaching, so for the most part, they don't know what is used in industry, how products are designed, etc.

Once you know that dirty little secret, then you'll realize that they aren't supposed to teach you how to engineer a product...and they can't! They are just there to give you some building blocks, the rest is up to you.

If you want to do embedded type work, I'd say EE or CE... doesn't really matter IMHO. If you REALLY want to work in the power field, or you REALLY like analog, go EE and take the appropriate electives. As far was learning real applicable skills in college... don't worry about it. You'll learn those skills through your own experimentation, and on your first job (and every other job after that!)

I'm a CE, and I do everything from simple analog design, programming 8-bit to 32-bit, to iPhone and Android apps! With the exception of one or two "old-timers" that strictly do analog, everyone else at my work, regardless of if they are EE or CE pretty much does the same.

Aaron

[IanB]

another thing is that i got few friends that graduated from USF with an EE degree and they dont even know how to turn an LED on/off with an arduino board... the program is really bad in my opinion with only one programming class (matlab) and 1 microcontrollers class.. Thats another reason i want to change...

I don't think you get the concept of a university education. That's the kind of thing you learn on your own initiative to complement the theory. Building projects with Arduinos is something you might do as a high school science project before you even get to college, especially if you plan to be an engineer. Programming similarly. They show you a computer, you go off and learn programming by yourself. When I was doing my engineering degree an EE friend in his first or second year was writing a circuit simulator like SPICE just for fun. The dorm room of every EE student should be full of soldering irons, instruments and half finished projects.

You can't expect to be spoon-fed. You have to bring some of your own initiative and willingness to learn if you expect to get the most out of your education.

[SiBurning]

The real question is what do you want to do after school?

I'm coming at this from the other direction. Being an electronics hobbyist, I naturally wanted to get an EE degree, but got so fascinated by my first computer class, that I switched to computer science. Can't say I ever thought what they taught was useless, though I had to find applications to write to make the course work more relevant. Generally, I was way ahead, and had already learned half the stuff by the time I got to the class. That one hardware class was completely useless--an easy A for me without ever going to class or opening a book. Yes, I'm saying it's up to you, but more than that, I have to question... If you're so bored now, maybe you'll be bored with doing this for the rest of your life.

It's too bad the way they teach electronics engineering. The technician programs have a lab for every class, so you spend as much time in the lab as in the class. I took a few classes from that program. Even so, I walked out of one lab and never went back because my idiot lab partners insisted the lab manual said to set the oscilloscope's vertical to 10x even though the trace didn't cover a single box.

[SuperMiguel]

I think ima go for CE