I started life as CS, then got a job doing it while in college, I hated it, changed to EE, WAY better, yeah, and I have a wagon...salary, I make 100K...pretty much every EE after 8 years does...at least that I know of...mgmt makes around 125 and directors start at 150...so it's worth it to get ANY MBA to increase your earning potential...if you want to be a corporate officer then you want an EXECUTIVE MBA from Stanford or the like, they have way better earning potential.

If you like working with your hands and want to be a specialist, as opposed to mgmt, then get a BS in Physics then an MS in EE...everyone I know that did this makes bucks, and still ends up in mgmt someday, hahah.

Good Luck.

 

Very misleading IMHO...Only true for PHD which is a moot point since they aren't offered in CSUs. I have an MSEE from San Diego State and I work (at a Biotech company),doing mostly analog circuit design mixed in with microprocessor and FPGA programming (you'll never escape programming, I learned the hard way lol), with others that have degrees from various UCs, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT. Graduating from a big school helps land that first big job, beyond that, after a couple years experience you are just as equal as everyone else and it all depends on your competencies and skills learned at previous jobs.

I didn't know what I wanted to major in, but I knew it would be some sort of engineering. I had a strong Math/Physics base, and hated chem/biology (kind of ironic considering who I work for). For me the choices were ME, Civil Engineering or EE. But as a kid I loved pulling (electronic/electrical) things apart, so I figured that it would be a good choice to do EE.

As others have said, all these majors have common courses, so you can decide at your second year which one fits you the best. With any of those majors you'll make a decent living but you'll cap out in the 120-150Ks unless you own your business, are a manager, and you'd probably have to have an MBA to earn further but you wont be involved in design work.

 

<--- old school CS'er...

if you want the $$$$?


BS in CS/CE/EE. then MBA in CIS. trust me on this.

 

yeah, I suggest going further than a BS because these days more people do Masters and PHDs. And if you are in it just for the money, then you are choosing the wrong fields because, while you'll get a handsome salary, you'll have to study and work your *** off.

 

for the record, that statement wasn't to knock CSUs. i hope it didn't come off that way. my personal observation is that my friends from SJSU and Cal Poly's programs hit the ground running and already knew how to do more stuff in application than any of us seemed to coming from my school (UCSD). i felt like we learned a lot of nebulous things but didn't always get our hands dirty. again, that's just my experience, my group of friends, and my bachelor's program. obviously CS is a different story. you can't not get your hands "dirty".

i'm with those above. get kickass grades and go get a masters.

 

I went the computer engineering route with a minor in CS. To this date I have not directly used my degree though I have tried. I graduated from a top 15th ranked school, but finished during the dot com bust so I was competing against experienced people and those with graduate degrees. Very few people I graduated with moved on to working in the field, most of us persued other career paths. I myself am currently in the military working with electronics and explosives (sounds fun eh?). I'm looking to move on to working for a defense contractor soon enough once my time is up. Hopefully I'll still get to play with electricity and possibly cause stuff to go boom.

Best advice is like what others have said. Decide what you really want to do and commit to it. If you want to go anywhere within the engineering world I suggest going to grad school and persuing internships the entire time paid or not. If you're after money then go for an MBA instead since management gets paid more for telling you how to to make your life harder.

 

...

 

I went to Cal Poly and I think CS is more theory based and CIS would hit the groud running.

There is a lot of Computer Math Structures type classes which covered all the math theory that you will have to deal with before they would introduce actual coding.

In CIS, you hit the ground running with coding right away. Need a method, function, class that requires a lot of math that you dont know, here is an Internet site to find it to plug it into your app. Whereas, a CS program would design projects to have you do everything from scratch....EVERYTHING!

In CS, lots of C++, Java, assembley, binary theory, etc...get into the lower levels. CIS, heck no...2 Java classes, HTML class, Database (SQL, normalization), Networking, Security, then a career course to help you decide where you want to specialize in, like Computer Security/Forensics, Telecom and Networking, App Development, or Database Admin (some track names maybe wrong).

CS requires all the Engineering prereqs whereas CIS requires all the Business prereqs. I got more than half way through CS, realized I needed *****, and switched over to the Business side.

 

Hehe... true true.

We're just too practical eh? The "efficiency of design" was just to tempting to pass up.... except the mpg though.

 

Thanks for all the info guys.
Heres the long story.
Well when I was young basically grew up being the only one in my family to know how to use the computer. I had a couple computers and use to take them apart and make one big better one haha. Once I got older I got enough money to make my own computer. It was the "top of the line" at the time. Haha I was really was into gaming and all that junk that wasted time. haha But then also I was reading up on C++ and C# and doing cool designs. I use to use that one website called like geocities or something with the html coding and always thought that was fun making cool designs and stuff with html. After that I usually help people on how to build a computers. I was also a fan of photoshop and after effects. I had my stage of trying to make movies and all this graphic art but struggled a bit but did like the way things turned out and had a bunch of enjoyment from it.

Maybe since I'm young and don't have a steady flow of income or anything like that, that I want to make the big bucks$$$$. But I am just trying to get the GE's done and what not. School just is boring LOLs.

 

If you can stomach it, work through the GE, good everywhere forever, and take calculus and physics to get them out of the way. Take differential equations and really pay attention, it's important while you are in school.

If you can code competently in C# and C, you know enough.

GET THE HP engineering calculator, the 50G, and learn how to program it, it'll save you tons of time in the long run. Get the programming guide, sold seperately, and lots of free programs you can download online.

The PE is worth it.

Once you get into physics you'll realize how easy math was, haha

Good Luck.

 

It seems to me you're more of a CIS/CS type of person, since you already have skills in programming and like computers...