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The title says it all. I have a son about to enter the major university in my state. I think he ought to pursue electrical engineering. He is leaning towards computer science, but is persuadeable to do otherwise. What would you tell him about job opportunities, salaries, and such upon his graduation?
Why not just pursue both? He could pretty easily get a BS in electrical engineering and minor (or if he is up to it double major) in computer science as many of the core electives, etc will be the same. Most jobs in computer science will look at applicants with electrical engineering degrees, where as electrical engineering jobs typically want electrical engineering grads.
But the fundamental question here is what does your son want to do? This is the first question that should be addressed, once its addressed he can think about the best way to achieve that goal.
Why not just pursue both? He could pretty easily get a BS in electrical engineering and minor (or if he is up to it double major) in computer science as many of the core electives, etc will be the same. Most jobs in computer science will look at applicants with electrical engineering degrees, where as electrical engineering jobs typically want electrical engineering grads.
But the fundamental question here is what does your son want to do? This is the first question that should be addressed, once its addressed he can think about the best way to achieve that goal.
This is key. If he doesn't know the answer to the above then he should opt for the more general degree that allows him to keep more options open upon graduation (obviously, this would then be the EE degree).
This is exactly the way the discussion went with my son.....
Sure seems like a whole bunch of folks failed to start at Step 1. and then get four years down the road realizing they have no clue what they are going to do w/their chosen degree. Starting at Step 1. seems more important today than it has beenin the last 25 years.
The title says it all. I have a son about to enter the major university in my state. I think he ought to pursue electrical engineering. He is leaning towards computer science, but is persuadeable to do otherwise. What would you tell him about job opportunities, salaries, and such upon his graduation?
Electrical Engineering 100 times over computer science. As an EE you can easily fill a CS role, but very few CS majors will get ANY engineering job without years of experience. I have been an EE for 8 years and have seen CS majors with experience get passed over for new grads simply because the new grads had engineering degrees. Right or wrong, it's how many companies operate.
I had a friend in college who majored in Software Engineering but took a CS degree job. He was a CS major at heart but knew that the Engineering degree would open many more doors for him. ANd he was right. You need as many possibilities as you can get in today's world.
I would really push your son for the Engineering degree. The pay is better and the options are much wider. There are fewer schools though and the course work is usually tougher, but I'm sure your son can hack it if he is serious about Comp Sci. Good luck!!
Electrical Engineering 100 times over computer science. As an EE you can easily fill a CS role, but very few CS majors will get ANY engineering job without years of experience. I have been an EE for 8 years and have seen CS majors with experience get passed over for new grads simply because the new grads had engineering degrees. Right or wrong, it's how many companies operate.
I had a friend in college who majored in Software Engineering but took a CS degree job. He was a CS major at heart but knew that the Engineering degree would open many more doors for him. ANd he was right. You need as many possibilities as you can get in today's world.
I would really push your son for the Engineering degree. The pay is better and the options are much wider. There are fewer schools though and the course work is usually tougher, but I'm sure your son can hack it if he is serious about Comp Sci. Good luck!!
Quick question for you:
I have some electrical engineering classes under my belt, but never finished. I was contemplating going back until I heard horror stories of unemployed engineers fighting over scraps while their jobs are sent overseas. Also, I am hearing that the schooling is grueling (especially in the junior and senior years) and while the starting pay is good, there is a ceiling that you hit and I am reading about many disgrunted engineers who whine that they topped out at $65,000 and will never earn anything more than that. They all seem to think they should have gotten a business degree instead. The thought of grinding it out 60 hours a week for $60,000 a year sounds like a pretty bleak existence to me.
Another thing...all of the people I know who work in IT (and make damn good money) just got really good at stuff and obtained certifications on their own. None of them have C.S. degrees (or any degrees for that matter).
I have some electrical engineering classes under my belt, but never finished. I was contemplating going back until I heard horror stories of unemployed engineers fighting over scraps while their jobs are sent overseas. Also, I am hearing that the schooling is grueling (especially in the junior and senior years) and while the starting pay is good, there is a ceiling that you hit and I am reading about many disgrunted engineers who whine that they topped out at $65,000 and will never earn anything more than that. They all seem to think they should have gotten a business degree instead. The thought of grinding it out 60 hours a week for $60,000 a year sounds like a pretty bleak existence to me.
What is your say on all of this stuff?
I would say if you can't top $60k on 60 hours then you either don't have an engineering degree or you are aweful at what you do. Go to Glassdoor.com and check out sallaries of electrical engineers at some larger companies. I work at Rockwell Collins. My salary is $63k and I rarely work more than 41 hours per week. Benefits value is about another $5k at least. 3 weeks vacation per year. I've been there 6 years. And Iowa is a very low COL state. Check out John Deere (I worked there too). Check out Northrop Grumman. Check out HP, Motorola, Boeing. Most of these bigger companies only hire people with BS engineering degrees. They won't hire a CS guy into an EE position. The average sallaries are in the high $70k range. A buddy of mine who graduated with me now makes $114k in Maryland working for Northrup Grumman. He's got 8 years experience.
Our group is hiring on average one new engineering grad per month. Most engineering grads don't wait for a job if they are willing to relocate. I had to relocate when I graduated in 2003 (recession), but eventually moved back home. If you can specialize and plan a little about where you want to be in 5 years there is no reason you can't end up in a location you want to be at or in a field you want to specialize in.
You might be able to find IT geeks with higher salaries, but their jobs are less stable than engineers because engineers usually hold product knowledge that is valuable to the company. IT can be outsourced.
If I were you I would definitley finish the engineering degree as soon as possible.
Assuming equally competent CS vs EE depts (eval accomplishments of alums of past 20yrs), would lean twds CS
Most of growth in tech (as in newly created, valuable cos.) is in software, less so in hardware
Quant/analytic/logic skills of CS are easily applied to both jobs as an engineer at a tech co. or as an investment analyst/trader at a hedge fund
Would develop relationships w/profs and other students and recent alums at college, leading to summer jobs and post-grad jobs at desirable employers: the end game from college
Much of brilliance of SiliconValley over other engineering hotbeds like Urbana or Berkeley or Cambridge that failed to spawn local jobs, companies, economies or wealth over past 20+yrs is SV's unique juxtaposition of lots of young, smart, entrepreneurial engineers and financiers in one dense area around Stanford and PaloAlto...those who attend college in backwaters, no matter one's major, need to figure out how to access such physical networks ASAP in collegiate career to maximize one's career economic opportunities
Most of growth in tech (as in newly created, valuable cos.) is in software, less so in hardware
To an extent. One small nit-pick. Software is also increasingly & heavily affected by open source. One can obtain open source equivalents of Microsoft/Adobe, etc. software products for a fraction of the price with open source.
My entire family, led my dad, a Ph. D'ed computer scientist for a well-known Fortune 500 energy firm, uses entirely Ubuntu/OpenOffice, etc. products. And all you pay for is the wait to download it off the Internet.
Last edited by Alphalogica; 06-22-2010 at 11:57 PM..
Electrical Engineering 100 times over computer science. As an EE you can easily fill a CS role, but very few CS majors will get ANY engineering job without years of experience.
An Electrical Engineer can't easily fill a CS role, the skills are rather different. But CS jobs tend to be more loose with degree requirements, they often just require any math-based discipline + experience. Without the experience an electrical engineering grad is not going to get a CS based job.
The pay between the two is very close, so one should not be picked on the basis of pay.
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