Computer Science Major - Which MBP?

[pranavss11]

I am in my fourth year in the Software Engineering B.S. program and I am using the computer I have in my signature (It's more than enough honestly).

 

[DarthSnuggles]

Is a computer engineering/programing degree more favorable than a CS in the working feild?

Comp. Engineering usually ends up hardware oriented, but I know a fair amount of them that end up writing code. I switched from CE to CS and in the end I was happy for it. I'm not sure what you mean by 'programming degree'. Do you mean a certification of some sort?

 

[bojangles28]

I'm using a 15 MPB 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD. I chose this one because a 13 is too small and a 17 is too big, and I'm an avid Flash/PS/Dreamweaver user so it works out for me and my budget. Don't regret buying the mac.

On a side note:

I'm on my second year at UT-Austin as a Undergrad in Computer Engineering. So far so good, I like it, tough classes but I find them as a challenge. I choose C. Engineering because I'm more of a hardware person, I love handling, working, and using electrical components. I could have done E. Engineering but I want Computers as my main focus. I don't enjoy coding, neither the theories behind computer languages (but I don't mind it), I don't find them interesting unlike hardware, circuits, capacitors, etc: those I find them worthwhile

So it all comes down to what you like and what you want to do.


Good Luck!

 

[logimech]

I disagree with the statement above in bold. All I can say is that the investment bank I work at would be more than happy to hire, say, MIT grad with above majors if some other competitor is stupid enough to type-cast someone as a geek. This is not high school. Our competitive advantage stems from hiring people from top schools with these skills.

Sure. Obviously the caliber of the school should be considered, but if you were deciding between interviewing an MIT MBA vs MIT CS grad, you'd be joking me if you said you would choose the CS.

And to clarify, I'm referring to the IBD programs within the investment bank.

Also, if money is your prime motivator, then listen to logimech. But otherwise, he's being ridiculous. Don't choose your occupation based on pay. You will be rich, but unfulfilled. Remember that the majority of your waking hours will be spent doing your job. If you don't like it...like will suck. I have a friend making the big bucks on Wall Street, and he loves it, but I wouldn't trade with him.

I didn't give advice nor say one is superior, I was letting the numbers speak for themselves. I didn't mean for my post to come out that way, my post was done a bit hastily.

1. My first point is that some majors preclude you from certain jobs, where some majors don't. A CS major will have a harder time getting a "Business major job" than a Business major will have getting a "CS major job."

2. My second point was that a college major should be decided on after giving a lot more thought, because the ramifications could last you a lifetime.

Last thing: You're only type-cast as a geek if you come across as one. People usually get their first impression of you before they know what you do or your education is. For client facing roles, no one cares that you have a CS degree if you are a friendly, sociable person that communicates well.

I said type cast on paper. Oftentimes, you'll go through a resume screen before the chance of meeting someone at an interview. Of course, if you make it to the interview, you can break that image. And remember, we're talking about entry-level jobs coming out of school, where employers are primarily looking at GPA, major, and any small job-related experiences you've had.

A CS major applying to a investment banking/management consulting job will get second thoughts.

Any random other major with a section that simply says "Skills: C/C++" can get programming interviews. (At least from my experience.) Plus, with a section that details your programming projects you will be miles ahead of someone who just says "BS in Computer Science."

Being in the programming industry, you should know better than I that a major in CS doesn't make you a good programmer, but that a massive list of projects (especially ones done outside of the classroom) typically does.

To be completly honest I would be fully satisfied making 80-100k a year. I just want to be able to support a family without being a workaholic.
My parents combined income is a little over 115K and we're living perfectly happy upper middle class lives. We have a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood and they have no problem putting food on the table. That's honestly all I need in life.
Of course, if I'm making what they make on a single oncome (keep in mind they only have their associates) then my household income would be well over that depending on my wifes occupation.

So, in short, a programing job would be fine for me

Is a computer engineering/programing degree more favorable than a CS in the working feild?

For a programming job, the biggest thing is to show you have a passion for programming. So when you go to apply, make sure to detail on your resume that you've done a lot of [fairly complex] projects. At the interview, make sure you know your data structures and algorithms (Standard Book: CLRS), and be able to answer the common CS brainteasers (Standard Book: Programming Interviews Exposed).

A major in CS will help, but the above will get to your goal.

To answer your question, a computer science (computer programming) degree will help more than computer engineering. With computer engineering, you'd definitely want to have that list of projects available, where as a computer science major may be able to slip into the interview without one.

Good luck!

PS. Not to beat a dead horse, but another reason I chose not to go into programming was due to my fear of Carpal Tunnel and RSI. I know it's controversial, but I've known at least 2 programmers who basically had to quit their (well paying [400k+]) programming jobs due to work-related stress on their joints. It's not proven that there's a correlation, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Regardless of what my posts may seem like, I actually enjoy CS and programming. But my enjoyment stems out of creative/complex algorithms, working on projects I like/choose, and getting to building the whole system. I would die of boredom and dissatisfaction if I had to write unit tests, worry about all sorts of exception handling, maintain legacy or poorly written code, and only work on a small piece of a big pie. Unfortunately, the latter is often what programmers do. And that kills it for me.

 

[JoeG4]

Getting an MBA and making it into Wall Street investing and millions of dollars a year in income, is like getting into the NFL for a kid that played football in high school.

Wanna know what NFL stands for? Not ***** Likely.

If your MBA isn't from an Ivy League school or Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc, it'll be worth about as much as the paper it's printed on - which is great to get you a job as shift manager at McDonalds.

Fine with me, I'll be needing one of you someday. Getting a franchise business going on the side is my plan once I've saved up some from my EE Jobs

 

[logimech]

Getting an MBA and making it into Wall Street investing and millions of dollars a year in income, is like getting into the NFL for a kid that played football in high school.

I'm not talking about "Wall Street investing" whatever that means.

We're talking about going from [a decent] undergraduate into a typical investment banking analyst program, which is very do-able for those who wish to achieve it.

Yes it's hard, but I'd rather work my ass off to try to make "millions of dollars a year in income" than work my ass off (just as hard if not harder) to try to make 400k. Also, it's certainly a lot easier and more certain than trying to make it as an entrepreneur.

Also, something like 70% of people hope to eventually run their own business- meaning a lot of people are trying to do the same thing as you. You're mistaken if you think your EE job will get you there faster than a highly paid job on Wall Street. (Unless maybe if your business will leverage your EE skills.)

By the way, the NFL analogy is ridiculous. Building your own successful business is a lot less likely (and more risky) than trying to make it in the financial services industry. Granted you can make it into a top 7 MBA program (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, Columbia, Kellogg, MIT), making millions on Wall Street is more or less dependent on your willingness to pull through. You can probably do it too from the other Ivys or UC Berkeley, but I don't have much knowledge of those.

 

[GGJstudios]

...
Yes it's hard, but I'd rather work my ass off to try to make "millions of dollars a year in income" than work my ass off (just as hard if not harder) to try to make 400k. Also, it's certainly a lot easier than trying to make it as an entrepreneur.

Spoken like someone who has neither made 400k or millions nor been an entrepreneur.

 

[logimech]

Spoken like someone who has neither made 400k or millions nor been an entrepreneur.

No, but my mentors have. I was merely passing on some data points for consideration.

Sorry for trying to be helpful.

 

[JoeG4]

We're talking about going from [a decent] undergraduate into a typical investment banking analyst program, which is very do-able for those who wish to achieve it.

Please put down whatever it is you're smoking before you kill the rest of the brain cells in your head.

 

[logimech]

Please put down whatever it is you're smoking before you kill the rest of the brain cells in your head.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

http://www.careers-in-finance.com/ib_breakin.htm

Read the first paragraph: Analyst programs are for kids out of undergraduate. Associate programs are for MBA's.