Computer or Electrical Engineering Degree?

[Bazzcott]

Hi guys! I'm a pre-engineering student and am having trouble deciding what major I want to declare. I want to go into hardware design because it's interesting to me and my grandfather was in the field. Should I major in electrical engineering or computer engineering for this? Also, are job prospects good for this field? Thanks!

Also, if you have any advice for pre-engineering students I would be very grateful. My college counselors are kind of useless in that regard. Is there any specific type of experience I should get regarding extra-cirriculars or clubs? I'm currently learning python. Are there certifications required for electrical engineering or computer engineering beyond a degree and the exams?

 

[willsee]

I started as a computer engineer - basically failed C programming - switched to EE 

What was your grandfather since he was in the field?  I have a friend that does hardware design and he is an EE.  

 

[knight1fox3]

Similar experience for me as well when I first started my undergraduate degree. Started off in Software Engineering but quickly lost interest once I got to Object-Oriented Java programming (I actually enjoyed my C++ course, albeit fairly difficult). I then switched to EE and found that to be a much better fit. I have a 2nd degree in EE as well and really enjoy the career I've chosen. 

And if I might offer you some other advice, while you can (note, not required) declare a major when starting your undergraduate degree, you might find it more helpful to either not declare anything or go with something like general engineering early on to really figure out what you want to do. No one (i.e. guidance counselors, etc.) is going to know what you really enjoy except you. Each discipline is going to have it difficult/not fun courses, but that comes with the territory in engineering (in my humble opinion).

I'm not sure I understand your last question about certifications. Nothing is necessarily required but you can certainly pursue a professional engineering license in the discipline of engineering you decide to go with. If you'd like to learn more on that, reference this link. HTH.

 

[Bazzcott]

My grandfather worked at Unisys, even though it's not completely related to his computer engineering degree. Unfortunately he died a few years back so I can't ask him for advice. From what I understand he was actually a programmer. Thanks for the advice!

Right now I'm in my first semester of community college doing credits before transferring, doing multi-variable calculus and a few programming classes. If I end up liking programming I think I'll decide to go for computer science or software engineering, if not electrical engineering. Is that a good plan? I already know I like basic circuits because of my experience in high school.

I was also told that IT is possibly a good field, but I'm attracted to the prestige of computer science or electrical engineering right now.

 

[knight1fox3]

If I end up liking programming I think I'll decide to go for computer science or software engineering, if not electrical engineering. Is that a good plan? I already know I like basic circuits because of my experience in high school.

Only you will be able to answer that question with 100% certainty once you really become involved with a specific program. As mentioned above, the first few semesters of college are really about finding your niche if you didn't quite land on something initially. Good luck! :thumbs:

 

[ssethi]

Even I choose EE over Computer engineering. As the percentage of getting field engineering jobs is quite high, or else you may contact several service providers. If you are interested in Field Engineering jobs. Otherwise, computer engineering is also a better choice.

 

[Alex Marchena]

It depends on your field. If you want software development job or software engineering, better choice is Computer Engineering degree.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

I have a degree in electrical engineering, but I’ve always had an affinity/passion for software. My first job out of college was to design database-driven web applications, and I transitioned to doing control systems/electrical engineering duties on top of that after the first couple of months. Even after 5 ish years, I’m still doing a lot of software development and engineering. I guess my point is that just because you have a specific degree doesn’t necessarily lock you in to a specific line of work, so I’d encourage you not to base your decision on that.

With regards to EE vs CPE, it’s been my experience that a lot of these classes cross over. At my university, all electrical engineers had to learn some basic level of chip/microprocessor design and programming concepts; The biggest difference was that CPE was more programming/operating systems-heavy. Not all universities are like that, but I’m glad mine was, since I ended up taking the computer engineering PE years after. Most universities should offer electives in the other field if you decide to go one way or another.

As a pre-engineering student, I would suggest looking online for some basic concepts and seeing if they interest you. There’s a lot of resources out there for processor design, for example, and CPE will have a lot of that. If you’re really interested in the subject, I used a book by David Money Harris and Sarah Harris called “Digital Design and Computer Architecture” on my PE exam, which is inexpensive on amazon and does a great job of explaining pertinent computer engineering concepts. For electrical engineering, take a glance at transistor concepts and maybe some power systems design. These subjects are daunting but they make up the core of EE; maybe you’ll find the subject interesting!

One last thing: if you are considering a PE, you should be aware that most computer engineers do not feel the need to be licensed, whereas an increasing number of electrical engineers are seeing value in it.

Good luck to you!

 

[sritaa]

I am also a B.tech electrical student and did not have any prior knowledge of coding.I could not even write a simple program in C.Then one day  I decided to learn to code in any language then I google and found PYTHON is very much in demand and have huge scope. And the most important thing it is easy to learn. Then I google the best Institute in NCR and fortunately, I found the one based on its Google reviews I decided to took DEmo class and I am fully convinced by their  Teaching style.

Now I can say that I have a very good knowledge of coding and want to be a developer in python.It is the best Python training Institute in Noida which provide workings on a live project and globally recognized certifications.

 

[alien]

I'm a hardware engineer, and my major was in EE. Computer Engineering is a combination of hardware and software.

 

[akshay]

Its depend on you in which field you want to go. Well Computer Degree have much more options as you can go in any field like Java, .net, Php, Angular, SAP, Digital Marketing etc. So you can go for 6 weeks Training Course.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I have dual degree in EE & CPE.

I went to a really small school and a few years prior, they had split up CPE & EE into two paths but by my freshman year, they were recombining the program and my year was the last to be either EE or CPE or we could chose ECE. I picked ECE because it let me skip out of the Data Structures class (I think it was Java when I was there but it'd be a couple of different languages) but I did take a different computer course in its place (& the CompSci kids took it with us) - it was Computer Architecture & Operating Systems (IIRC, we called it CAOS or ArchNOps). 

Ramble ramble, you could always find a program that's dual and minor in CompSci.