I'm currently a comp. sci. student, and I'm going to get my degree in it. However, I'm also interested in electrical engineering. I was toying with the idea of staying in school after I get my first degree and get the second one in EE. Anyone done this? Did you find the second degree valuable? Are you glad you got it? Am I nuts for even considering it?
Double-major in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering?
- Thread starter notfred
- Start date
I was an EE with a CS minor. I don't think it would have required that many more courses to get the CS degree.
I hope that you've taken some EE courses before thinking about it. A lot of people think that EE is all about computers and other things when it can be quite different. Maybe you're thinking about computer engineering.
I hope that you've taken some EE courses before thinking about it. A lot of people think that EE is all about computers and other things when it can be quite different. Maybe you're thinking about computer engineering.
Some of the comp sci and EE class overlaps, so it shouldn't be a problem getting a major in EE and Comp Sci.
--GiLtY
--GiLtY
OS
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
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I'm EE and a good friend of mine is CS. The thing about EE is that you have more flexibility in what you want to do for work because EE is a very diverse field. I can apply for jobs my friend can't and I can still do CS stuff. Obviously I don't have the same depth for any specialty, but the flexibility is pretty useful because you can still leverage your degree for lots of positions.
Of course, once you get settled in career wise, you're pretty much tied down to whatever you have experience in.
Of course, once you get settled in career wise, you're pretty much tied down to whatever you have experience in.
If you're planning on being in college for more than 4 years, then you could easily do it. You could still do it in four, too,.
i'm a CS major and my roommate is an EE. A handful of our classes overlap, but getting both degrees in 4 years will definitely be tough IMO. You'll need to stack up the units and take some summer sessions...I'd just go with one or the other depending on the field you plan on going in.
EE is a much broader field, in fact a lot of the people I work with have EE degrees and not CS degrees, yet they do more work writing software than doing other EE related tasks.
EE is a much broader field, in fact a lot of the people I work with have EE degrees and not CS degrees, yet they do more work writing software than doing other EE related tasks.
That's kinda like me. I'm more a software guy -- my job description is software engineer. My opinion is that an EE degree is more flexible. An EE can usually work as a software engineer but most CS guys probably wouldn't be able to work as an engineer.
hehe, that's very true. A lot of CS people I know bitch and moan about all the calculus and physics, which is probably only about half that what an EE studies. I work for NASA so most of the people I work with are engineers, and they are very willing to dabble into the software development.
LOL.
I'm thinking about going into EE or CE (I'm still in highschool, so I have a little time to decide). It seems that CE would have somewhat more flexibility than CS (hardware+software instead of mainly software, if I understand correctly), but I'm still somewhat unclear on what one learns in CE that one doesn't learn in EE.
Chaotic42
Lifer
- Jun 15, 2001
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You'll get all of the insane math and science you want. My college counselor told me that if I got a EE degree, I'd practically have a math degree. I'd only be a few credits short of one.
For me, I love math. The more the better. Pile it on and don't let it stop.
For me, I love math. The more the better. Pile it on and don't let it stop.
What about a double major in EE + math, if both are similar? Would that have any practical job applications?Originally posted by: Chaotic42
You'll get all of the insane math and science you want. My college counselor told me that if I got a EE degree, I'd practically have a math degree. I'd only be a few credits short of one.
For me, I love math. The more the better. Pile it on and don't let it stop.
math == not easy, but still great.
Edit for clarity and formatting.
Chaotic42
Lifer
- Jun 15, 2001
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Originally posted by: jliechty
What about a double major in EE + math, if both are similar? Would that have any practical job applications?
math == not easy, but still great.
Edit for clarity and formatting.
I don't know what the practical applications are for a 4 year mathematics degree other than going for a masters or maybe being a high-school math teacher. I don't know if 4 years is enough to do things like work on engineering problems.
I hope to get a doctorate in it, so I'll let you know what the point is when I get it.
As an EE, and as I owe notfred for helping me with various issues in the past, I am going to post a long-winded opinion of mine. No cliff-notes, just read it.
First of all, the differences between EE and CS vary greatly by the university. At UT Austin, CS is considered part of the natrual sciences school; EE is part of the engineering school. At both UC Boulder and (I believe) Rice, where I have friends at, CS is considered an engineering major. So the cirricula vary greatly based upon how your major is classified.
I took APCS in high school and have several friends that went the CS route. I joined a few CS campus groups (ACM, for a few weeks) freshman year, so I think I know the differences fairly well. The emphasis (at UT) for EE is bottom-up - start with simplified machine code and assembly, go to C, then assembly on embedded systems, then C++. Granted, our simplified ideal computer we studied is not a real computer, but it gives a good understanding of how the computer actually 'works.' At the end of your freshman first semester you are supposed to have a very basic idea of how computers conceptually work., including basic combinational and sequential logic (something that CS majors never touch, at least not to my knowledge).
In CS, the emphasis is not so much on bottom-up, but instead on top-down. Start with Java and don't worry what happens when you hit the 'play' button on the IDE (coming from a CS friend of mine, haha). Then take classes to figure out each step of the underlying process. This is a better approach for CS becuase it works your brain differently - your freshman tests require you to 'visualize' data structures more. I'm at a loss for words to describe it, but while the EE tests are hard, it's a different part of your brain they are testing. Our EE tests require us to analyze material given to us on a test, say, state diagrams or circuits. The material is already on the test and you are using your class knowledge to analyze it. I don't know how else to explain it.
There is class overlap to an extent. But the goals of each of the classes are different. A C class for EE emphasizes different things than a C class in CS. Just becuase the course descriptions sound the same doesn't mean that the material is at all the same. One of my professors told us that our C class taught us from 'an engineering perspective,' while a CS C class taught you how 'to actually write code.'
The questions you are asking don't have set answers. What part of EE do you want to do? If you are doing electromatgnetic engineering and power systems, then everything you learned in CS is going to be wasted. Are you going into microarchitecture? Part of your CS might actually be useful. Are you going into software engineering? There's a lot of carry-over. Everyone's answers are going to be different because everyone has a different idea of what EE and CS are like because everyone goes to different schools.
My opinion? Both EE and CS are difficult fields to be in. You have to find a job that won't be exported. With that in mind, I am choosing to study EM engineering and power systems. IMO, you might be better off going graduate-level with CS because then you have something that can't be exported. If you have 2 degrees you might not be as marketable as having a gradate degree of some kind.
And as for those that think EE == math, you are WRONG. Math majors take a lot more theoretical courses than EEs do. We only have one semester (16 hours) of actual courses from the math school - Calc I, II, III, linear algebra and differential equations. Math majors have a lot of number theory and logic courses too.
First of all, the differences between EE and CS vary greatly by the university. At UT Austin, CS is considered part of the natrual sciences school; EE is part of the engineering school. At both UC Boulder and (I believe) Rice, where I have friends at, CS is considered an engineering major. So the cirricula vary greatly based upon how your major is classified.
I took APCS in high school and have several friends that went the CS route. I joined a few CS campus groups (ACM, for a few weeks) freshman year, so I think I know the differences fairly well. The emphasis (at UT) for EE is bottom-up - start with simplified machine code and assembly, go to C, then assembly on embedded systems, then C++. Granted, our simplified ideal computer we studied is not a real computer, but it gives a good understanding of how the computer actually 'works.' At the end of your freshman first semester you are supposed to have a very basic idea of how computers conceptually work., including basic combinational and sequential logic (something that CS majors never touch, at least not to my knowledge).
In CS, the emphasis is not so much on bottom-up, but instead on top-down. Start with Java and don't worry what happens when you hit the 'play' button on the IDE (coming from a CS friend of mine, haha). Then take classes to figure out each step of the underlying process. This is a better approach for CS becuase it works your brain differently - your freshman tests require you to 'visualize' data structures more. I'm at a loss for words to describe it, but while the EE tests are hard, it's a different part of your brain they are testing. Our EE tests require us to analyze material given to us on a test, say, state diagrams or circuits. The material is already on the test and you are using your class knowledge to analyze it. I don't know how else to explain it.
There is class overlap to an extent. But the goals of each of the classes are different. A C class for EE emphasizes different things than a C class in CS. Just becuase the course descriptions sound the same doesn't mean that the material is at all the same. One of my professors told us that our C class taught us from 'an engineering perspective,' while a CS C class taught you how 'to actually write code.'
The questions you are asking don't have set answers. What part of EE do you want to do? If you are doing electromatgnetic engineering and power systems, then everything you learned in CS is going to be wasted. Are you going into microarchitecture? Part of your CS might actually be useful. Are you going into software engineering? There's a lot of carry-over. Everyone's answers are going to be different because everyone has a different idea of what EE and CS are like because everyone goes to different schools.
My opinion? Both EE and CS are difficult fields to be in. You have to find a job that won't be exported. With that in mind, I am choosing to study EM engineering and power systems. IMO, you might be better off going graduate-level with CS because then you have something that can't be exported. If you have 2 degrees you might not be as marketable as having a gradate degree of some kind.
And as for those that think EE == math, you are WRONG. Math majors take a lot more theoretical courses than EEs do. We only have one semester (16 hours) of actual courses from the math school - Calc I, II, III, linear algebra and differential equations. Math majors have a lot of number theory and logic courses too.
Originally posted by: jliechty
What about a double major in EE + math, if both are similar? Would that have any practical job applications?Originally posted by: Chaotic42
You'll get all of the insane math and science you want. My college counselor told me that if I got a EE degree, I'd practically have a math degree. I'd only be a few credits short of one.
For me, I love math. The more the better. Pile it on and don't let it stop.
math == not easy, but still great.
Edit for clarity and formatting.
EE and CS are very closely related and it will benefit you greatly to have both degrees. At the top engineering schools, EECS is 1 major
Originally posted by: jliechty
LOL.
I'm thinking about going into EE or CE (I'm still in highschool, so I have a little time to decide). It seems that CE would have somewhat more flexibility than CS (hardware+software instead of mainly software, if I understand correctly), but I'm still somewhat unclear on what one learns in CE that one doesn't learn in EE.
It depends on which field you decide to take courses in.
EE has fields like the following and more:
signal processing and communications (digital signal processing, image processing, wireless communications, etc.)
systems and control (automatic control systems)
solid state devices, circuits, and materials (VLSI, semiconductors)
electromagnetics
power systems
photonics
etc.
CompE has fields like:
hardware & architecture (computer architecture, maybe VLSI, microprocessors)
computer communications & networks
software
etc.
So you could be a CompE and specialize in software and you wouldn't really be able to work in most EE fields. A course on engineering parallel computation doesn't have much in common with a course on the physics of semiconductors. CompE's computer communications & networks might have some courses that overlap with the signal processing and control systems area of EE. So it really depends on which courses you take and what area you want to get into.
cchen:
University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign is one of the top engineering schools in the country, if not the world. They absolutely differentiate between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Two separate, although similiar im some aspects, majors.
While yes, other big engineering schools like MIT do run their program EECS, you cannot say that all the top engineering schools follow that structure.
University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign is one of the top engineering schools in the country, if not the world. They absolutely differentiate between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Two separate, although similiar im some aspects, majors.
While yes, other big engineering schools like MIT do run their program EECS, you cannot say that all the top engineering schools follow that structure.
I dont know how it compares to the US "grades", but heres what im studying;
BTEC National Diploma In Electronics, and Computer Maintainence. (ive studyed basic engineering as well). Its the equlivient of 3 A-Levels. 2 year course, done first year, second year starts in 2 weeks.
BTEC National Diploma In Electronics, and Computer Maintainence. (ive studyed basic engineering as well). Its the equlivient of 3 A-Levels. 2 year course, done first year, second year starts in 2 weeks.
I never said that ALL the schools do. Anyway, its pretty easy to see why EECS would be 1 major. They complement each other nicely
first, EE and CS is not even close to being similar. computer engineering and CS complement each other in the fact that computer engineering teaches you how the harware works (depending on your specialization), and this can help you optimize your coding solutions in the end. i would strongly recommend that you investigate what branches of electrical engineering your school offers and if in fact some of the courses between EE/CE and CS overlap and/or correspond to each other.
the only class that EE majors and CS majors take together at UT-Austin are a math class and a digital logic class.
elemental: you're in EM??? you're friggin nuts =P i'm in management and in robotics/controls right now.
chaotic: with a math degree, one practical application is being an actuary. the pay is excellent, but this will work only if you like crunching a LOT of numbers. other practical applications include anything involving cryptography.
the only class that EE majors and CS majors take together at UT-Austin are a math class and a digital logic class.
elemental: you're in EM??? you're friggin nuts =P i'm in management and in robotics/controls right now.
chaotic: with a math degree, one practical application is being an actuary. the pay is excellent, but this will work only if you like crunching a LOT of numbers. other practical applications include anything involving cryptography.
No, sorry, not in most cases. What does CS have to do with the vast majority of EE fields - signals, imaging, power systems, electromagnetics, etc?
In some EE cases, yes, but not most.
It depends of which branch of EE you are studying. Signals and Control Theory are branches which are very heavy in math. I took the "computers" branch in EE which was not that heavy in math.
CS is much different than EE (CS is easier in general I think, but both subjects are time consuming and require a lot of thought).
I never had to worry in CS about bad components or resistors that weren't exactly what they were labeled to be (ok so the beige ones are +-10% I think but sometimes I got bad ones). And if I wired up a breadboard badly, I didn't have any sort of concurent version software to save me - I'd have to pull everything out and be more careful the next time!
EEs have to deal with phyical constraints more that CS folks do. Operating systems that can do real time stuff and large amounts of RAM give CS people a lot of freedom to create. I have a lot of respect for EEs simply because they have to put up with a lot to get a product rolling.
I never had to worry in CS about bad components or resistors that weren't exactly what they were labeled to be (ok so the beige ones are +-10% I think but sometimes I got bad ones). And if I wired up a breadboard badly, I didn't have any sort of concurent version software to save me - I'd have to pull everything out and be more careful the next time!
EEs have to deal with phyical constraints more that CS folks do. Operating systems that can do real time stuff and large amounts of RAM give CS people a lot of freedom to create. I have a lot of respect for EEs simply because they have to put up with a lot to get a product rolling.
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