Computer Enginerring vs Computer science towards IT??

skyinfire305skyinfire305 Member Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hi, im currently on my first college year and im doing computer engineering. I plan to stick to IT and study for my CCNP while i get my college degree (I did my CCNA while i was in high school). I have been searching the internet for the difference of CE and CS, but i wasnt able to find an answer that would help me. Now my question is this, what should i study, computer engineering or computer science if i want to stay in CISCO or IT, and most probably i will get my CCNP/CCDP or even a CCIE??.
Thank you in advance.

Comments

  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    I don't think either is going to be a perfect fit (unless you have a CSci program that does a lot of networking, most focus on programming).

    However, I think CSci would be much more applicable and closer to what you'll be doing. You'd want to go into engineering if you were interested in things like designing and developing routers, not just configuring them. A lot of places ask for CSci degrees, but you can usually get around that with certs and experience.
  • supertechCETmasupertechCETma Member Posts: 377
    According to the IEEE...Computer Engineering 2004: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Engineering...

    "Computer engineering has traditionally been viewed as a combination of both computer science (CS) and electrical engineering (EE)."

    Computer engineers are engineers who have training in the areas of software design and hardware-software integration.

    Computer Science degrees emphasize the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing. A bachelor of computer science degree is normally required in order to work in the field of software development.

    Computer engineering gets to play with gear. Computer Science gets to stare at a screen all day. icon_cool.gif
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  • bighornsheepbighornsheep Member Posts: 1,506
    Definition & comparsion as per ACM
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  • shednikshednik Member Posts: 2,005
    Hi, im currently on my first college year and im doing computer engineering. I plan to stick to IT and study for my CCNP while i get my college degree (I did my CCNA while i was in high school). I have been searching the internet for the difference of CE and CS, but i wasnt able to find an answer that would help me. Now my question is this, what should i study, computer engineering or computer science if i want to stay in CISCO or IT, and most probably i will get my CCNP/CCDP or even a CCIE??.
    Thank you in advance.

    Depending on the types of courses you might be taking in your CE program I may stay with that...I'm in the Telecommunications program right now and alot of the people in the program are CE or EE undergrads and it really helps them understand alot of the networking concepts...some were even able to skip the electronic communications course dealing with the EE side of networking that weren't an EE undergrad. What college are you enrolled in can you show a summary of each program that will help.
  • UnixGuyUnixGuy Mod Posts: 4,570 Mod
    depends on the curriculum and what do you want to do in IT
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  • skyinfire305skyinfire305 Member Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    shednik wrote:
    Hi, im currently on my first college year and im doing computer engineering. I plan to stick to IT and study for my CCNP while i get my college degree (I did my CCNA while i was in high school). I have been searching the internet for the difference of CE and CS, but i wasnt able to find an answer that would help me. Now my question is this, what should i study, computer engineering or computer science if i want to stay in CISCO or IT, and most probably i will get my CCNP/CCDP or even a CCIE??.
    Thank you in advance.

    Depending on the types of courses you might be taking in your CE program I may stay with that...I'm in the Telecommunications program right now and alot of the people in the program are CE or EE undergrads and it really helps them understand alot of the networking concepts...some were even able to skip the electronic communications course dealing with the EE side of networking that weren't an EE undergrad. What college are you enrolled in can you show a summary of each program that will help.

    Well first thanx you all guys for the help, i guess it depends more in the curriculum of the college. Well right now im in miami dade community college doing my A.A, but i plan to move to FIU (Florida International University) to get my bachelors. This is my first semester and i dont really know much about the programs offer or the curriculum, how can i find the curriculum for the CS or CE program? do i have to look for the classes the university offers in the bachelor degree program??
  • rfult001rfult001 Member Posts: 407
    When you come to FIU, go for the BS in Information Technology, it covers a wide array of areas including networking, programming, hardware maintenance, unix administration, etc...

    http://www.cis.fiu.edu/programs/undergrad/it/single.php

    or you can double major with MIS, which a lot of people do:

    http://www.cis.fiu.edu/programs/undergrad/it/double.php
    http://business.fiu.edu/landon/mis.cfm

    I finished my BS in IT in April 08, and have started my MS in Telecommunications.

    http://it2.fiu.edu

    These programs are under constant development and will be covering some of the latest technologies. Unfortunately, there are no Windows Sys Admin courses yet. Networking courses are heavy into Cisco and Juniper.

    PM me if you need more info.
  • skyinfire305skyinfire305 Member Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    rfult001 wrote:
    When you come to FIU, go for the BS in Information Technology, it covers a wide array of areas including networking, programming, hardware maintenance, unix administration, etc...

    http://www.cis.fiu.edu/programs/undergrad/it/single.php

    or you can double major with MIS, which a lot of people do:

    http://www.cis.fiu.edu/programs/undergrad/it/double.php
    http://business.fiu.edu/landon/mis.cfm

    I finished my BS in IT in April 08, and have started my MS in Telecommunications.

    http://it2.fiu.edu

    These programs are under constant development and will be covering some of the latest technologies. Unfortunately, there are no Windows Sys Admin courses yet. Networking courses are heavy into Cisco and Juniper.

    PM me if you need more info.

    Well thank you. i will have a look at the information technology program and decide. Well im between CS or IT, but is my first year and i still have some time to decide, thanks anyway and i will contact you if i need help because mostly likely i will be attending FIU.
  • wat08wat08 Member Posts: 128
    dynamik wrote:
    most focus on programming

    The programming aspect of a Computer Science degree is merely the application of theoretical foundations of computation, algorithms/data structures, computer architecture, etc. The focus is not on programming.

    "Introduction to Java" and "C/C++ Advanced Topics" are what community colleges are for.
  • wat08wat08 Member Posts: 128
    Computer Science degrees emphasize the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing. A bachelor of computer science degree is normally required in order to work in the field of software development.

    Yes!
    Computer engineering gets to play with gear. Computer Science gets to stare at a screen all day. icon_cool.gif

    Having degrees in both fields I'll tell you that you'll be spending a large amount of time in front of a screen regardless of the path you take :)


    To answer the original question, an engineering or comp sci degree will both give you ample opportunity to break into the IT industry. Check the degree requirements and find out which field interests you more and use that as the basis for your decision.
  • oo_snoopyoo_snoopy Member Posts: 124
    It really doesn't matter. No one employer is going to turn you down for the job you're looking for because you have one or the other. Personally I would go for the Computer Engineering because of the advanced math and hardware level programming.
    I used to run the internet.
  • nelnel Member Posts: 2,859 ■□□□□□□□□□
    dont matter really. do the best one for you and what you want to do.

    i do a Bsc and its heavily towards theoretical aspects and very biased towards programming even though its supposed to be networking. i find that if you want to do "real world stuff" then accompany your degree with certifications. Which networking path you choose is down to you though.

    i dont think most employers care what type of degree most do now aslong as its at a certain academic level unless its specific to the role of course.
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    Bsc (hons) Network Computing - 1st Class
    WIP: Msc advanced networking
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