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Which career is good? Which has bright future?

Which major would provide better career opportunities in the future: computer science or electrical engineering?

  • I am a rising college freshman who doesn't have his future career clearly planned, and is currently contemplating about the doors these two majors would open. Programming and simple software development is where I have the most experience, so working at a Silicon Valley tech company or a start-up in software engineering seems like a very promising option. However, I'm not completely sure if that's the way to go, and I'm wondering if the supposed compensation bubble at the valley is clouding my judgement. On the other hand, my math and physics skills are adequate for me to handle EE. I can also see myself going into something in the finance industry like investment banking or even management consulting, where I've heard that an EE degree is viewed as a bit more "rigorous" and therefore possibly more favorable.  Which of these concentrations will likely lead to a better career? I understand that both are as rewarding as they are rigorous, but I'd like to know which would be more versatile in terms of opportunities in the future.

  • Answer:

    HW is mostly SW these days, so SW is a fairly safe bet.  Most of my former EE HW colleagues are struggling to find satisfying work.  Both Computer Science and EE are respected at Stanford, my Alma Grad-Mater. I have mostly switched to SW work even though I have three EE degrees.

Raul I Lopez at Quora Visit the source

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Computer science skills can be developed without laboratory equipment unlike EE. If you want to have some background in hardware or at least understand how they work at the fundamental level, do EE. You can always learn CS topics by yourself if you are motivated. Not as easy the other way round. If you don't do the electronics lab in college, you are unlikely to get to do it yourself without an oscilloscope. Engineering program also trains you in project management.  I would recommend EE and take additional CS Data Structures and Algorithms classes. Those two will get you the fundamentals to learn more advanced CS concepts yourself. For elective math class, do Numerical Analysis. By senior year, if you find you don't like hardware as much you can always choose a more software oriented capstone project.

Siau-Way Liew

In my opinion, there is little difference between electrical engineering/computer science (EECS) and just computer science. Only certain companies will care and only if you apply to them. You won't likely graduate on EECS to work as a straight EE.  You can solve that by taking additional courses. 

Richard Hom

It's just a matter of your own choice, whether you want to choose Electrical Engineering or Computer Science. Talking about career opportunities, both of these majors have numerous. How much good opportunities come your way, will depend upon how good you are at your work in your major. Major doesn't matter. Something that matters is your work. Having said that, I would like to add that good work can be easily done in something that you like to do. Hence, your goal should be finding your interest, and plunging in.

Niranjan Daithankar

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Cyber!http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061722/quotesquotes.

Neal Miyake

Your first love is EE, but CS comes more naturally to you.  My advice is to major in EE, minor in CS, and go into the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_processing field.  Having worked on image processing, seismology, and time series analysis efforts, it seems like every other engineer I come into contact with has an EE background plus solid coding skills.  If you've got the knack for it (and you say you do), there's no shortage of job opportunities in signal processing.

Travis Addair

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