Discussion Shoul I pursue Computer Engineering or not?

[soracchi]

Hello, can I ask if I could survive in computer engineering even though I'm not that good in math? I'm graduating student in high school and I'm hesitant to take this course and it was my parents told me to take this and since I don't have particular course that I want. The problem is I'm not good in math (but I can learn) and I don't have a background about programming or anything. All i know is the parts of computer and the CPU and how to use computer. One more thing, can i also ask if which is better? Computer engineering or computer science?

 

[Rogue Leader]

There are some deeper questions you need to ask yourself. Computer Science and Computer Engineering are both generally very dry material. If you're not very interested and passionate about computers you're going to be bored to death. You don't need to be a math expert (I am not) to do either of them.

Computer Science is more of a programming and coding focus. Computer Engineering is a more generalized focus, with a combo of a lot of programming as well as hardware design.

If you are hesitant to do it, you need to decide if you WANT to do it. There may be another path for you to take that will fit with your future goals. If you do want to do it, it can be very rewarding and I would not worry about your lack of strength in Math.

 

[Eximo]

Computer Science is the more math and software driven curriculum. It is literally the Science of Computing, not necessarily anything to do with computers as a career. Sometimes it is just theory and figuring out if a problem is solvable by a computer in a reasonable amount of time (no point doing it if the results take 36 years to compute)

Computer Engineering is more about the internal workings of computer hardware. IE designing computer circuitry. But that isn't limited to "computers", practically everything has a computer in it these days. So sometimes you might sit down and design a computer and firmware/software for a washing machine.

Though in both there will be a heavy background in computer programming and mathematics as they are the underlying tools used in industry.

Keep in mind that at Universities you don't necessarily learn job skills, only detailed background knowledge and theory. I highly recommend avoiding subjects you don't have a personal or hobby interest in. Most jobs you get as a recent graduate aren't expecting you to know how to do a lot, essentially your early career is on the job training.

If you have an interest in computers themselves, then a branch of Information Technology is more reasonable. Networking, Databases, Software Development, Cyber Security (another one you should have a heavy interest in, honestly), are all in extremely high demand globally.

Also, getting any University degree is worthwhile. Your first two years are going to be a lot of general classes that can be used as credits in other fields of study. Meeting other people may spark some interest in a different career path altogether. I also know plenty of engineers who switched careers later on in life.

 

[Lafong]

If you are 17 or 18 and "not good in math", it isn't likely that you will become "good in math" at a later age.

Do you have to declare a major as a freshman? I'd guess a freshman CS student might take many of the same courses as a freshman CE student.

Programming is its own world. At some point, the light goes on and you "get it" and can self-teach yourself pretty well after that point. Maybe you get frustrated after a course or two because the light has not gone on. I'm quite good in math, but struggled with the few programming courses I took. I took them at an older age, so maybe I wouldn't have struggled at 18, although I detect no mental decline with age so far.

If you have a particular fairly narrow area field of interest within computing generally, I would probably try to pursue that specifically with input from people who are already working in that narrow area. Talk to them.

Maybe take some courses at a junior college in the summer to get your feet wet.

When you are 30 or 35, few people are going to much care about your degrees, if any. They will want to know what you can do.......your specific skill set.

Getting your foot in the door at age 22 may well require degrees X or Y, no matter what skills you may have. That's pathetic on its face, but you can't do a damn thing about it.

If you can do 1 thing very well, you will likely prosper. It's up to you to identify that one thing and go full bore at that.

I am painfully aware that identifying that one thing can be difficult or even impossible at age 18 or 48.

 

[Eximo]

If you are 17 or 18 and "not good in math", it isn't likely that you will become "good in math" at a later age.

Just takes practice, really. Find yourself a good study group or even seek out on-campus (or online these days) tutors and you can get through mathematics.

Understanding the underlying proofs (which, last I checked they hardly teach, at least in the US) is another matter. For a lot of things it comes down to memorization about when to use a particular formula. I've always thought that if I had had a decent math teacher in high school I would have had a better time with Algebra (I understood calculus, it was always the 'showing my work part' I struggled with) Never really pursued it though. I don't really use all that much math in my current career.

I completely agree. Most people care about what you can do once you have a little work experience.

 

[Lafong]

Yep. Best teacher I ever had was my high school math teacher (geometry, trig, proving theorems, set theory). Highly efficient, no-nonsense guy. Our small town math team usually won the annual state-wide competition.

But I've never used any of that detailed math knowledge in a career, computing or otherwise.

However...basic algebra, understanding ratios and percentages, and making quick approximations...I do that stuff most hours of most days.

I'm pretty sure I'm better off for not having spent even one minute in a K through 12 classroom since I graduated many decades ago. I'm afraid I'd be horrified by what I would encounter.

 

[Eximo]

I do data analytics. The most math I have to do is generally very simple calculations. Time and quantities for the most part. Software takes care of most complex calculations (and you find this in engineering as well) You still need to understand what is happening, but tools have been made for just about everything.

I took three years of electronics in high school
Studied EET for about 18 months, switched to IT since I had more interest in systems then designing/building/testing hardware.
Took some weird classes (Still consider myself a generalist) Advanced Chemistry for my science elective for example, CNC machining because I was interested (which is basically programming in G-Code, which had a prerequisite of drafting (not CAD, actual drafting) Ended up with a heap load of credit hours unrelated to my field. One of my professors thought I would be useful, put me in contact with a recruiter for a local company, and I ended up working there for ten years.
I used practically nothing I learned in college beyond my basic background in troubleshooting, logic, etc. Ended up in Software Asset Management (an administrative branch of IT) though I basically became their software testing lead, manager of the testing lab. That transitioned into a sys-admin role for the toolset they used to track things, but also ended up doing design and development work related to that tool, as well as full stack SQL to data analysis reporting.
Last year, took a new job as a data analyst where I do basically the same thing. Crawl through SQL databases, reverse engineer the backends, and build my own reporting tools.

So college for me was sort of a networking opportunity.

Also, never stop learning. Attending an online university right now.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Hello, can I ask if I could survive in computer engineering even though I'm not that good in math? I'm graduating student in high school and I'm hesitant to take this course and it was my parents told me to take this and since I don't have particular course that I want. The problem is I'm not good in math (but I can learn) and I don't have a background about programming or anything. All i know is the parts of computer and the CPU and how to use computer. One more thing, can i also ask if which is better? Computer engineering or computer science?

As long as you can learn, that's the important part. I went in with little programming experience and the math still kicked my butt, but I persisted on and graduated with a Computer Engineering degree.

As far as going between Computer Engineering or Computer Science, engineering will have you touch hardware more, while science will deal with more math as the field heavily leverages on it, after all it's merely the science of computing things.

 

[soracchi]

thank you so much for answering my question <3