Question about college major

[davidthefat]

I can't wait till I go to college.
Oh, and BTW, what do you guys think of me Double Majoring in EE and CS?

[dandymcgee]

I can't wait till I go to college.
Oh, and BTW, what do you guys think of me Double Majoring in EE and CS?

I think it's going to INCREDIBLY difficult, but don't let me stop ya. People have done it before, but goddamn you had better have a shit ton (4-5 years worth) of motivation.

Edit: I split this because it had NOTHING to do with arcade machines. Please try not to derail topics like that.

[Trask]

Perhaps majoring in one and minoring in the other would be simpler and help you reach your own end goal? Realistically, I think, as long as you have a 4 year degree that can be applied to other areas, then you shouldn't worry about having multiple degrees. A CS major, typically may work away from the hardware end of game development, doesn't mean that they're incapable. College isn't just about what your classes teach you, but what you try to accomplish during that time. Falco is going to graduate with X amount of people in his class, say half of them, for example, want to get a game dev job... the same as the one Falco wants. They each have the same degree, same classes, hell let's say they all have high marks... but how many of them have been deving their asses off for all these years? How many of them have something to show for their efforts that demonstrate all that they have learned and in this case, above and beyond? Chances are, very few.

So if you use this time to learn what the school teaches and take that knowledge and spread it to whatever areas you care to use them in and grow with it, in my opinion, that will do you much better than killing yourself getting two degrees like that.

[pritam]

choleg i sa waist of time

Edit: No, sorry, seriously tho, carry on.

[dandymcgee]

ROFL Pritam.

[Falco Girgis]

I firmly believe that a double major is a complete waste of time and money... You aren't exactly going to be getting a job that is BOTH EE and CS. And guess what, once you DO get a job, you have officially negated that second major. Once you spend 3 years working as a CS major, you aren't going to want to be back at square one when you apply for an EE job (because you have no experience).

No offense, but I'm always convinced that the whole double major thing (especially like this, since neither CS or EE overlap) is just for overzealous undergrads. When you get to your junior and senior years, you'll lose all interest most likely (for a good reason). I certainly did. You haven't even been to college yet, "double majoring" is the last thing that should be on your mind.

Why don't you get a graduate degree that is actually useful, will better your resume, and directly result in a pay increase? There is absolutely no benefit from two undergrads, while there is an insane benefit from graduate school... think about that for just a few seconds.

Regardless, for somebody who has never even attended college, it's far too early to even consider either.

[EccentricDuck]

I've got to agree with Gyro, unless you have a burning desire to do cross-disciplinary research at the undergrad level. Perhaps you have some strong desire to do undergrad research and a thesis relating to something like "Balancing additional electrical load through the use of dynamic languages in microcontroller programming". If that is not your desire, and you are instead just striving for a more challenging and more encompassing program then you'd be better off taking a regular/honours route and getting involved in research, projects, etc. My main point is that, unless you have some way to unite the two, the topics will seem at odds with one another and you'll have a hard time really getting into any one mindset that you can willfully pour your heart and soul into. The feeling of being internally torn as to what to give your limited attention to is NOT something you want to experience continuously through out your entire undergraduate career.

Another option, and Gyro might be able to speak more to this, would be to do a program like Computer Engineering. It's closer to being in between the two while, I think, still retaining a more coherent sense of purpose/focus. There's a program a friend of mine is doing here in Vancouver at SFU called Systems Engineering that is also interdisciplinary in nature (though it's a 5-year intensive program). If taking that kind of route is something you'd be interested in, are there any programs at your prospective college/university that fit that?

Personally, I'd say to trust your gut instinct. Don't try to go for the most-challenging, most-prestigious program (or double major) just because it is the most-challenging, most-prestigious program. If you are genuinely drawn to a particular field of study then go for it. There will be plenty of opportunities to take on additional projects/get involved with research so do what you're most excited about and don't be afraid to get into stuff like that as you go.

[davidthefat]

Well I am very interested in robotics research; which is heavily based in both CS and EE. As I mentioned before, I plan on being a research scientist. As a matter of fact, I would eventually be a professor. Now, I am the type of guy that gets "high" off of knowledge. In other words I am a nerd. I plan on staying in academia (or government agencies such as NASA) my whole life. I do not want to work for company's R&D department because I find that other people will be profiting off of my knowledge which would technically be their patented technology and not mine slightly disturbing.

So I plan on going to Grad school then doing my doctorate dissertation. Yes, I may seem idealistic, but that is how I am. All decisions I make in life go through the whole "Will it benefit me in 5 years, 10 years or 15+ years?". That was the reason why I even bought my HP 50G LOL

If it wasn't for programming, I would probably have picked theoretical physicist as my future career.

[Falco Girgis]

Well I am very interested in robotics research; which is heavily based in both CS and EE. As I mentioned before, I plan on being a research scientist. As a matter of fact, I would eventually be a professor. Now, I am the type of guy that gets "high" off of knowledge. In other words I am a nerd. I plan on staying in academia (or government agencies such as NASA) my whole life. I do not want to work for company's R&D department because I find that other people will be profiting off of my knowledge which would technically be their patented technology and not mine slightly disturbing.

So I plan on going to Grad school then doing my doctorate dissertation. Yes, I may seem idealistic, but that is how I am. All decisions I make in life go through the whole "Will it benefit me in 5 years, 10 years or 15+ years?". That was the reason why I even bought my HP 50G LOL

If it wasn't for programming, I would probably have picked theoretical physicist as my future career.

You do realize that there is already a degree in existence that is a combination of EE and CS? CPE. It's the degree I'm about to finish in a month.

Half of my classes are Electrical. Half of my classes are CS. (I'm technically part of the EE department, but lots of colleges put us with CS or put the three together). We specialize in low level programming (ASM, C, C++), hardware/software integration, driver development, and EMBEDDED SYSTEMS (robots and shit).

Now do you REALLY want to work on this area, or are you actually more of a programmer at heart who just likes to tinker with EE?

As I mentioned before, I plan on being a research scientist. As a matter of fact, I would eventually be a professor.

Over half of the professors (and all of the good ones) worked in the industry for awhile. Not only that, but many industry jobs will pay for you to get your master's so you can dabble in both. I would also love to be a part time professor, but I am well aware of the fact that 1) industry pays better 2) industry can pay for that degree and 3) the experience looks better on your resume

Now, I am the type of guy that gets "high" off of knowledge. In other words I am a nerd.

You're posting this on a forum full of people who watch a group of kids write software for a Sega Dreamcast. We all are.

I plan on staying in academia (or government agencies such as NASA) my whole life.

That's actually kind of funny. Academia is well known for stagnation. Once you get to college, you'll find that many of your professors have been teaching the same shit (literally haven't changed the lesson plan) for the last 5 years. Lots of those guys don't stay ahead of technology. There's no pressure to in a cushy research job. Yes, you'll get the occasional professor with that genuine passion, who knows what the fuck he's doing, but in my experience all of those guys were from the commercial industry. You'll soon learn that academia isn't necessarily this group of passionate, studious, driven, self-taught individuals you might be thinking.

AND NASA? I live in Huntsville, Alabama. We are a gigantic engineering-related city. All of our work comes as either direct government jobs for NASA or the ARMY or as contracts from the two. My dad is a materials engineer contractor to NASA. I have worked a coop job on the Redstone Arsenal for the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). And let me tell you, it was a TERRIBLE experience. ANYBODY working for the government or involved with government contracts can easily tell you that it is the most stagnant, anti learning work environment around.

Everything is a clusterfuck of paperwork and bullshit. It is a bureaucracy. The government wastes thousands of dollars on old technology, doesn't stay current with the trends, and breeds stagnation. Why? Because they can afford to. You (used to, before Obama) have insane job security in a government job. There was a guy in our division who was a complete dick, didn't do any of his work, and should have been fired. How did they get rid of him? THEY PROMOTED THE BASTARD UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND. There is no pressure to perform well, there is no pressure to innovate, and everybody does the bare minimum to get the job done in a government environment. This is the exact OPPOSITE of where you want to be. If you are looking for a cushy, decent-paying job, with GREAT security (not now, thanks to Obama), it's a dream come true...browsing Ebay all day, 2 hour lunches, sitting around talking, then doing some bullshit work in the last hour before you leave...but this is clearly not what you're looking for.

I notice you intentionally left commercial industry out of your list. Why? That's where you need to be. You need to work for a company who DOESN'T have the job security, who doesn't have the billions of tax dollars to waste, and whose sole existence literally does rely on their innovation in engineering. THIS is where you will learn the most, this is where your drive to succeed will matter. Government might have the job security, but private industry not only has the potential to pay far higher, but it has the highest potential for learning.

I do not want to work for company's R&D department because I find that other people will be profiting off of my knowledge which would technically be their patented technology and not mine slightly disturbing.

What? EVERYBODY profits from your work in a capitalistic society. That's what work is. You get paid because you do something that benefits somebody else. No matter who you work for, somebody is benefiting. You are going to be publishing papers for the "prestige" of a university if you are a professor, this is no different.

At least in a private sector, you have the OPPORTUNITY to engineer something new. If you do NASA/government, the chances are that you will be using 20 year-old technology. And guess what? You'll probably have a security clearance (I did), and there is no way in HELL your work for them will be owned by you either.

o I plan on going to Grad school then doing my doctorate dissertation. Yes, I may seem idealistic, but that is how I am. All decisions I make in life go through the whole "Will it benefit me in 5 years, 10 years or 15+ years?".

Mhmmmm.... Didn't you just say you wanted to double major too? Haven't you not even been to college yet?

Just wait until you get there. Wait until you spend 4 years of your life working towards a degree. Wait until you see academia. Try to get a coop job, so you also see the commercial side of things. Experience what there is to be experienced. I guarantee that you are going to drastically change your mind.

I thought the way you did. I used to think that my "degree" or "involvement with academia" was a badge of honor. I'm one month away from graduating, and I've gone through my fair share of hell. I know what it means to be an undergrad. I'm taking a graduate GPU architecture class where we're doing real masters-level research with our professor. I've been introduced to what graduate studies are like. I also had the opportunity to coop for a government contractor for over a year. That was the most eye-opening experience for me... I saw what it was like to be a real engineer, and I'm so glad that I was able to see what government work was REALLY like... so that I could stay the fuck away.

Then I had the opportunity (with Marcel) to work at a local startup game development studio. I got paid WAAAAY less, but learned way more. Not even really from my job (C# and Unity), but from talking to my boss/CEO, learning the business side of things, and seeing how the world actually worked. It was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life.

Once you've struggled your way through school, seen the market, seen academia, and honestly decided what fits you, you'll probably change your mind. I spend my free time fucking with circuits and writing code just like every other engineer...but there's not a chance in hell I'd consider a double major in math, ee, or cs along with the time I've already put into being CPE... It's already hard enough for me to decide whether I think graduate school is genuinely worth my while or not...

You don't need a degree to prove that you know your shit.

[EccentricDuck]

You know, in that case it may be a good fit. You're interested in robotics and it is interdisciplinary. My best recommendation would be to check out the best way to get involved in robotics at your chosen college/university. If there are good opportunities for a double major to apply their skills/knowledge from both areas then it may be an awesome fit. On the other hand, robotics may be primarily segregated into either comp sci or engineering. It depends on the school. Some schools have comp sci in the science department, and some have it in the applied science/engineering department.

The other thing to keep in mind is that one of the best things to get involved in is extra research/projects (on top of a decent GPA). This definitely trumps extra classes. If you can pull off both then great (and from the sound of it, you have strong academic interests and you know what they are) - I'd just recommend not turning down cool opportunities because of a hefty course load. A big part of it comes down to what you can manage.

Whatever you choose, best of luck!

[dandymcgee]

I just wanna say, I read Falco's post word-for-word and highly recommend you do the same. It's a bit lengthy, but please don't skim it. Read thoroughly until you comprehend every last thing he has said.

Honestly, great advice Falco.

[eatcomics]

I just wanna say, I read Falco's post word-for-word and highly recommend you do the same. It's a bit lengthy, but please don't skim it. Read thoroughly until you comprehend every last thing he has said.

Honestly, great advice Falco.

I gained a lot from Falco's post. I'm not going to lie I'm extremely glad he posted that. Kinda puts things into perspective. Makes me really think about what I'm going to do after college.

[DeltaFolee]

Wow, Falco, very informative. I always like hearing what it's actually like in college... I'll get there soon enough I suppose.

[Falco Girgis]

GOOD THING IN TWO WEEKS I'LL BE GRADUATED AND WILL NEVER RETURN, BITCHES!!!

...'cept I'm probably going to grad school...

[dandymcgee]

GOOD THING IN TWO WEEKS I'LL BE GRADUATED AND WILL NEVER RETURN, BITCHES!!!

...'cept I'm probably going to grad school...