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Re: CS or (e)Ce?

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4 comments, last by Dave Weinstein 7 years, 6 months ago
Here I go again, I asked this question last year and I thought I made up my mind but well...

So yeah I'm interested more in the software rather than the hardware. But if I'm gonna go practical, statistically CE pays more than CS. How do I decide? I'm 2 years far from college and I think I'm doomed, I'm gonna be in 11th grade next few months. So how should I decide this? Should I go practical? Or should I go with what I "think" will work better? Also what if I go with CE for the 1st-2nd year, will it be hard to shift to CS?
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I have some bad news for you. You're not going to get boosted into the 1% by getting an undergraduate degree and then working as an employee. The good news is that means the difference between expected incomes given either undergraduate degree you're considering is basically negligible in real life and you'll be comfortable and able to provide for any dependents, so choose what you learn based on what interests you most.

You are not a career, you are not an income. You are a fully rounded human being. Life is short, make it wide.

Stephen M. Webb
Professional Free Software Developer

I have some bad news for you. You're not going to get boosted into the 1% by getting an undergraduate degree and then working as an employee. The good news is that means the difference between expected incomes given either undergraduate degree you're considering is basically negligible in real life and you'll be comfortable and able to provide for any dependents, so choose what you learn based on what interests you most.

You are not a career, you are not an income. You are a fully rounded human being. Life is short, make it wide.


I think I made a confusion. I am getting a bachelor degree. What I meant by the last question was is it possible to change course after your first semester. I hear some people says that they shift courses so yeah.

Your new school should be able to tell you whether switching is possible.

I quite agree with Bregma, choose with your heart rather than your wallet. "Work" lasts for close to 50 years, so I would argue doing what you really enjoy is much more important than getting some higher pay.

Last but not least, it's likely less black/white than you think now. CS touches about any other discipline, so there are probably areas where you can be close to both CS and CE at the same time (where you do one of them "for real" and "are really interested / know some things" about the other side). Did you ask what your school thinks about this? Explain your dilemma, maybe they know more, or have a good suggestion for you.

Asking questions generally never hurts.

How do I decide?


I recommend you make a decision grid. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/m70.htm

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

You're not going to get boosted into the 1% by getting an undergraduate degree and then working as an employee.

Sure you can; not to say that you will, but the 1% is around $430k-520k (depending on which chart of "the 1%" you choose to look at), and those are numbers that are regularly hit in high tech employee jobs (i.e. not an early employee at a startup that goes huge).

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