When employers say they look for someone with a CS degree "or equivalent", is SE considered that one equivalent?
I actually majored in Computer Sci. for my first 3 years at uni., then for my 4th year switched to Software Engineering. (My BS was in SE.) The only change was a heavier emphasis on project- and requirements-based skills, including unit testing, requirements analysis, and various workplace productivity tools. (UML, Scrum, XP, etc.)
Computer Science generally tends to be more theoretical, and sometimes it felt to me like I wasn't developing enough practical "on the job" knowledge. There were parts of the coursework that involved projects, various programming languages and the like, but also courses involving low-level hardware design, (building a small CPU using AND/XOR gates), and on how math theory could be incorporated into proper database design (my least favorite).
In my very opinionated book, a degree in Software Engineering is more beneficial in the industry than a general Computer Science degree.
Are the courses between CS and SE very similar?