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Switching from Comp. Sci. to EE?
kedalion asks: "For the past five years, I've had a good job doing perl programming for the same company but I'm starting to worry. With the current trend in the marketplace to send programming jobs overseas, I'm beginning to wonder if my job will be 'exported' in the near future. With the glut of good programmers out of work, hiring salaries will be depressed as well. About a year ago, I started going back to school to finish my computer science degree. Now, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to abandon the CS path, and go into either computer or electrical engineering. As an older student, this choice is made even more difficult because I would need to drop to part-time to take an engineering track. Also, I'm concerned that I would only qualify for an entry-level position if I took an engineering job. Anyone have thoughts/suggestions?"
what would Indian companies pay ME for?
Syntax error: loose != lose, affect != effect, then!=than
Reuters has an interesting article today on the "popularity" of CS degrees.
High-Tech Degrees Don't Guarantee Jobs
Train yourself in the required courses for doing house wiring and also wiring in buildings... they can't outsource that yet... Either that or become a plumber... any skilled trade will do that's in demand...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
There are quite a few disadvantages to outsourcing - think management, documentation, specification, lack of feedback, etc.
I'm just suggesting that you do some real research before jumping to the conclusion that US programmers are up shit creek without a paddle.
The EE/Hardware market is in a lot worse shape then the CS/Development market. Hardware guys are out of work because everything is now being done is Korea, Taiwan, and the rest of the South East Asia countries.
I happen to know two EE people, one is changing careers and wants to become a dentist and the other is hopelessly looking for work.
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One is born into aristocracy, but mediocrity can only be achieved through hard work.
What's so different between what an EE does and what a Software Developer does from a business manager's perspective that they wouldn't offshore that as well.
From what I've seen, there might be more interest in offshoring EE's since they command larger salaries than CS or no major Software Developers. If you want something safe, go into Health Care, sales or politics. Everything that doesn't require your physical presence in the US can and will be offshored without some legislative fix.
Asia has a booming number of Engineers who are doing work that US Engineers used to.
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
just a thought.
What makes you think that EE's won't be outsourced just as fast? In fact, outsourcing EE's is more likely since the production has been completely outsourced as well.
I'm in almost the same boat as you. I'm a high school senior who is very interested in computer science, but i'm worried that all of the jobs will be exported by the time i'm out of college.
I have almost decided to completely switch to EE/CompE because of this. Lately i've been thinking about what will happen if bush's plans to go to the moon/mars actually happen. There will be a huge amount of job openings in those fields. I think it would be great for me to have a job relating to space. The only reason i can see to stay in CS currently is the fact that the united states will always have a need for computer security consultants. If this terrorist "red scare" continues for the next decade, security is, and will be a field in CS that people will not trust to offshore interests.
Anyway, that's just what i think about the subject.
Be honest, how good are you? I know a few programers who shouldn't be programers. I know a lot of programers that are really good with the first technology they learned, but get them off of C on a 68010(embedded) and they are lost. If you going to be that type, only useful in a small set of circumstances get your degree in something that won't go away or change. (I don't know what that would be though. Perhaps hebrew-english translation?)
Assuming you are flexable, what are you good at. All the EE people I knew in college were experts in FFT (fast fouire? transforms) I did one or two in math, bearly pasted the test, and left them behind. If you can't deal with difficult math don't bother. (I have a math minor, but I got it by studing other areas of math)
Truth is, there will always be churn, no matter what job you get into. You may or may not ever see it affect your directly, but you are best off being flexable enough to ride it out. CS is going down now, but I wouldn't bet on that continuting for ever. EE might be going up now (but ask an EE not me) but that won't continute forever.
The only field I know of that might get you security is heath care. At least in the US, there are not enough people willing to work in a nursing home for all the people who want (need) to get into one. I don't have the personality to deal with that job though. (I'd do it, but I wouldn't do well in it) With the baby boom population this doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. However I won't claim to be an expert who can tell you what will really happen in 40 years. Plenty of "experts" told me there wouldn't be enough programers to fill all the jobs for 20 years, 5 years latter I'm a computer programmer sitting out of work. I'll survive, I hope as a computer programer, but I can build houses if that is what it takes.`
My wife just finished here 4 year BS degree as an EE. She was one of the top students at a very respectable school (Valparaiso University) and hasn't found a EE job since she graduated in May. The school's placement assistance program can't find anything for her either. Honestly, I would recommend either ME, or nursing. Nursing sounds like a joke, but you can go from there to being a doctor. Plus, you'll always be able to find places in your area that needs someone with nursing experience.
... but, I'd go Mechanical
You talk better than you fool!
I'm a 4th year cs student. At my college, RIT, we have a co-op program. This requires me to work at 4 real world cs jobs prior to graduation. Because of this requirement I job hunt for CS jobs on a daily basis. Let me tell you what I have seen. If you don't have a CS degree you can't get a CS job worth crap. I can't tell you how many times I've seen job postings for which I meet and/or exceed the required knowledge, but don't meet the degree requirement.
.com boom ended, but companies still need programmers. But because there are so many out there, and because of cheap overseas labor, they are only going to hire the best. All the coders who lost their jobs at the end of the boom can't get rehired, because most of them didn't finish their degrees. I know too many people in that position, and now they can't afford to finish college.
What has happened is the
If you are willing to relocate to anywhere in the country CS jobs are not hard to find. But having a degree is an absolute must. Companies are just throwing away every resume that doesn't have a degree written on it. So, if you like CS more, finish it up. If you really like EE a whole lot more than CS, switch it up. Do what you like. There are jobs for people who finish college.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
have you thought about trying to be a SA? A good SA has coding skills, which you do, and if you use unix at all at home, and know how to troubleshoot and do basic maintance like patching and installs, the move over to Sys Admining should be fairly easy. Still going to be a need for SA's.
... and write code.
... there will always be something new that can be done. thats the beauty of them.
...
computer programming isn't about -persistent maintenance- and blagging.
its about creating new applications for the processor and its peripherals.
learn a new language, stay on top of interesting hardware developments, always work outside your steady job to improve your skills (i.e. don't just rely on it for -work- and $$$), and stay motivated.
there is a glut of programmers in certain markets, but an ocean of markets that have yet to even be -explored- for the talents of computer science, so quit worrying about it like some just-in-"IT"-for-the-money-man weenie, and do something fun.
computers are infinity machines. there is an endless productive use for them, and they can be endlessly productive in the right circumstances. so, as a programmer, a master of your trade, use those skills and make the computer -do- something cool.
perl is one thing. its needed, and yeah, duct-tape is a staple of modern business.
but don't ever, ever, ever think that there will ever be 'nothing left to do' with computers
what matters is you converting that fact into food, i know, and to that i have this to say: the sky is the limit. computer skills can be sold -anywhere-
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Yes, there is outsourcing going on. Yes, there is a completely real, entirely serious issue here. But the panic that's set in over the last 6 months that every high-tech job in the US is about to be packed off to India is insane. It's completely counterproductive and has a nasty undertone of racism, to boot.
People need to grasp the fact that 1998 isn't coming back, and that you're not going to get paid a fortune to reboot servers or do Flash animations. That doesn't mean that no one will ever write code again east of Calcutta.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Please switch to EE, so I then have better odds of getting a nice Perl job.
Learn to dig ditches.
Seriously, I keep thinking about learning to be a bricklayer. More fun than digging ditches, and more money. It's like working with giant LEGOs - how cool is _that_?!
a friend of mine graduated with a masters in ee last spring and hasnt been able to find a job yet. from what he tells me, switching to ee might make you even worse off.
Gyrate Dot Org - "Where high-tech meets low-life"
I have been in the work force for 30 years and I have observed that a degree in engineering is about the most valuable B.S. you can have. It is assumed if you can do engineering you can probably do just about anything (i.e., management, sales, teaching, etc.).
On the other hand, a B.S. in CompSci is a good degree but graduates are pigeon-holed as computer people.
Disclaimer: I have an engineering degree.
My EE teachers always said that 90% of us EE's would end up doing software. Well, in my case at least, they were right. It is just different software - more machine level or hardware oriented. So, I would think you could get your experience to help you land more than an entry level position if you got an EE degree.
The other comments about EE's being outsourced can be true as well. I know we have setup design centers in China, Japan, and Europe. However we are still hiring EE's at my company... but we are being very selective. (Better have a good gpa and some good experience to go along with it.) As the economy gets rolling again the big companies will all start hiring again - that should be a bigger worry than outsourcing.
It seems as if you are motivated by greed. In the current economic situation this will get you nowhere. On the other hand if your true passion is CS, I say stick with it. I have found that the ones who truly enjoy CS are employable as they truly devote themselves to the subject. Those who do not enjoy CS faulted in the job market because they simply cannot see past the dollar signs, although the situation has improved post-bubble. If it is greed, then I will say switch to EE, as a rule of thumb, an engineering BS is the "best" BS you can get (aside from a few others, and they depend mostly on who you know) as far as pay goes.
Is there any reason other than potential job opportunites that is making you think about switching? There will be many, many jobs in the foreseeable future for both CS and EE types. Decide which you find more interesting: your enthusiasm for the work will drive you to become better at it and that makes you more marketable.
At the same time, there are no guarantees...
With your EE degree and CS experience a whole new set of fields open up for you. I've noticed even for programming work, my EE degree opens doors. Clued-in employers prefer developers who understand the low level aspects of computers and programming. And since my work is always embedded design, I get to do hardware integration as well. And that's a big part of it -- the type of work you want to do. The database/web/Enterprise workflow type stuff seems to be streaming overseas at warp speeds in large part because it's very easy to find people with that expertise.
At the same time, I work with very bright people who have no idea what a 74LS00 is, but I'm amazed at the software constructs they come up with -- when you enjoy your work, you tend to be very good at it.
Look, I'm an EE who moved into software (BE EE -> MS SE) because I found that I really liked it. At the same time, I realized that fewer people were doing the kind of electrical engineering I had been doing (small-signal analog/mixed signal interfacing to microcontrollers and PCs) so finding a job doing that didn't seem like it would be too difficult, but it was getting boring. And who wants to do boring work for 40 years?
I work in the medical device industry and will probably stay there for a while because it's fun, I get to work with really smart people, and all those FDA requirements mean I get to work in a common-sense, ordered development environment. AND because medical device companies prefer to hire people with medical device backgrounds, there isn't as much of the HR nonsense I read about here. These companies are picky about who they hire; the domain knowledge is really important to them, so this kind of work is not likely to be sent overseas just yet.
What I'm getting at is that your question is a bit too broad: you really need to find a type of work you like to do within those fields of CS/EE and see if it's the kind of work that will be around 10 years from now.
Yes the days of sneezing on a piece of paper - calling it a business plan, and getting rich are over. Now the tech industry requires hard work. If you are only in it for the money - go find something else. If this is what you like to do there are jobs around, there always will be, and you can make a nice living doing it (don't expect a garage full of 100K cars though, but a couple nice cars for you and your spouse are in order)
Degree doesn't matter, but experience and actually HAVING a piece of paper that you can wave around does matter.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
My fiance is finishing her BSEE this year and it's obvious that she may have to add some more CS courses (She switched to CS becuase she thought EE would be more interesting) now she wonders if it was worth the hassle it has been.
I advised her since we live close to a good gaming college that she should persue game programming which will be near impossible to export to other countries. This is due to the fact that many of those places software jobs are being sent to are culturally incompatible with the games we play.
Ive a similar position for different reasons. I'm an underpaid Network Admin working towards my CCIE, after which I aim for the CISSP and other bunch of certificates. I'm in Canada and will also begin working towards learning french, something I always wanted but now have a major reason for (too many IT jobs in Canada absolutely require being fluent in both French and Eng).
But Ive kept a very close eye on microcontroller markets, their costs and abilities, the dev kits, software kits including running Linux / NetBSD on them etc, and I feel for the past 3 years, I've been more interested here than admining IP networks.
I know EE is more easily outsourced than Network administration (someone in India cant diagnose switch port problems between two ATM switches here), and that most EE jobs are kaput especially in Canada, except for the few major ones: ATI, Blackberry, Nortel. But I feel with a small group we could build something here thats sustainable, and we could outsource manufactuing, yet keep us designers employed here.
I'll keep my interest in ASICs and EE, and will work for possibly the safest IT position: network/system administration until the market changes if it ever does. Boy do I envy those developers in China churning out those megapixel cameras for cheap. Things are booming there and they have so many opportunities to do interesting things.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
I agree that people often overreact to a change, and this is no exception.
But for you to set up the strawman that "*every* high-tech job in the US is about to be packed off to India" and knock it down with the assurance that it won't actually be every single one isn't much of an argument.
Yes, of course, there are still going to be programmers in the US. There are still steel workers and, for that matter, farmers and coal miners, but I wouldn't want to be one of them.
People are right to view this as a genuine structural change that has implications for career-related decisions such as a college major. They can do so without being guilty of "panicking".
I think the question is quite sensible, and "get a grip" and "stop panicking" aren't very useful answers.
And I think your "nasty undertone of racism" remark is bunk. You can always find an example of name-calling when people get frustrated and label an entire argument "racism, racism!", but that's mostly a red herring used to shut people up. If the jobs were going to Moscow instead of Bangalore, people would be just as upset and making the same arguments ("we're better than they are", "their quality isn't good", "they can't communicate", "our bosses are greedy and short-sighted", etc.) The issues would be the same.
And many of the most upset are Asian Americans (both East Asian and South Asian) who are having their previously elite status seriously eroded by large numbers of those they thought they left behind in the Old Country.
I don't see anyone doing anything wrong here. It's just the natural balancing of supply and demand at work, but it's a whopper of a change that people need to factor into their personal plans.
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
Arbitrage is cool!
I know it's your sig, but does it have something to do with outsourcing, anyway?
I've a theory about the outsourcing wave, before 9/11 a lot of indians already worked on the software business in US, and they were well there.
But then 9/11, anthrax, terrorism fear, came and they became full of fear, US weren't so nice anymore and they came back to their home country.
Almost all people i knew that was living in US came back fearing terrorism, you probably didn't fell that effect but in the 3rd world we felt very well, every one that was working in the US suddelly showed up.
So, with all those people caming back to India, a lot were very good professionals (the tops on their companies) and had a lot of money in the pocket for working all those years in US, and we all know that in the 3rd world money worths at least 3 times more than in US (that's why we earn 3U$/hour)
They also had very good professionals avaible, those that also came back and others that India traditionally has. So they opened their software companies in India, exactly like if they where in the US.
I don't know exactly how the connection was finally done:
- If it was the former employer that asked him to come back an he proposed outsourcing (because couldn't come back to US)
- If it was a fellow indian that remained in the US and happened to already have a Software House and proposed partnership
- Or if it was a regreted indian, eager for the same money that was earning before, but couldn't return to the US because of the new immigration laws, made contact himself with a Software House in the US
So that's how it starts, after that it's mouth-to-mouth marketing, companies copying other companies success, need to reduce costs and remain competitive.
People say that outsourcing is another bubble that will explode, but unlike the internet bubble I don't see many reasons for that. Those that work on a company that is outsourcing are usually the bests around, and are very happy with their sallaries.
It may happen that companies abroad will receive more demand than they actually can qualitly handle, and start to hire low qualified people reducing quality of their products, but there is a lot of qualified people around able to work, and I don't belive that it will happen soon. It may happen someday but if it happens it will not be a bubble explosion, but an adjustment.
PS: I'm not from India, I'm from Brazil, but we are togheter with Russia in the outsourcing market and the situation here is very similar to India.
Sure, if you like CS and continue at it, you may find some things difficult. But at least you'll be happy some of the time. Doing something you dislike just for the salary is a good way to be unhappy all of the time.
The skills you need to obtain and keep a job in the USA are not the technical skills you learn in a CS or EE or CE or whatever program. The skills you need are
1) The ability to network
2) The ability to detect and understand business trends within your company and within your industry
3) The ability to put forth convincing proposals for your solution, whether that solution is buying particular hardware, settling on a platform, or selling yourself
4) The skill of shopping yourself around constantly, even if you are satisfied with your current position
5) etc.
The key here is not that companies are shipping your jobs to other countries, it is that they are making a product for the lowest cost possible, which is what they must do to sell it to consumers or other businesses. If you can present yourself as a low cost/return ratio, then you will always have a job if you are constantly and consistantly involved in looking for one.
Don't buy into all this nonsense about your ideal work being shipped out. Understand that it will be, and then become the person that the company must hire in order to manage that outsorcing. You can spin this is many ways, but there's always a job for a good worker, or at least a good communicator.
-Adam
Maybe not even skilled trades will help you, depending. For instance, Austin TX was chock-full of "undocumented" day-laborers a few years back, and anyone who expected to be paid over the table, be eligible for workman's comp, Social Security credits etc. was SOL. Just because something can't be exported to cheap labor doesn't mean that the cheap labor can't be imported.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
I used to be a CE major until I realized it was preparing me to become a Dilbert clone -- that is if I could get a job at all. My peers in the major were largely a bunch of dolts who were in it only because US News & World Report said that was where the good jobs were -- and not because of any passion for technology. I was the opposite. So what do people with a lot of passion who don't want to become corporate slaves in an unethical industry do? They start their own businesses. Sure, it's a risk, but the other option is a boring life if you're the type that likes to make decisions, do your own thing, change the rules, etc. My current passion is Open Source software and my profession is consulting. (Which is a great combination with virtually no overhead, btw. Yes, you too can be paid to write free software.) If I decide to do something else later on, there's nothing stopping me. I'm quite skilled in many fields and have enough business sense to not do anything stupid while trying. If I was ever to go back to school, it'd probably be in some cheesy business major just to get the degree. Yes, I say cheesy because compared to the rigorous hell that is an engineering / medical / science major, anything else is a piece of cake.
I am majoring in double majoring CS and EE. By the time I get out, I should have those two degrees, a Math minor, a Physics minor, and a CE minor(by virtue of how I chose my EE electives).
The opinion of the professional societies (IEEE, IEE and others) is that yes, outsourcing is causing higher unemployment, however outsourcing is happening all around the place in other industries as well. However, it opens opportunities: because there's always a need for the top end in the chain: the high level design, negotiating requirements with customers, project management, research and development and feasibility, etc. So while a lot of the low end work is moving out, professionals should seek to work at the higher end of the scale, and be remunerated appropriately. What this means is that whether you get a CS or EE degree doesn't matter. What matters is what work you start in, and how you apply that degree. Either degree can take you many places.
>"RMS and FSF are seeking power, not freedom."
I'm curious... I've always learnerd that with power comes money and vice versa. Now I guess I would agree that RMS&FSF are about power, but could you please point out to me where the money comes in for them? IMHO, the only reason why the free software foundation appears to be after power is to protect its ideals, which are more or less about freedom.
Care to comment on this?
Also, I'm concerned that I would only qualify for an entry-level position if I took an engineering job. Anyone have thoughts/suggestions?
My thoughts are that a fresh graduate is by definition only qualified for an entry-level position in their particular discipline. Gone are the days of 23-year-olds with ridiculous titles like "senior engineer". In the real world, you gotta pay your dues.
I graduated with an EE and later returned for a CS 5 years later. Hardware is boring without software. The combination is great as there are few people who can provide end-to-end solutions. Its also a great lead-in to robotics. After 16 years, I'm thinking of becoming a tree surgeon. Seriously, if you can handle either of these two fields (and are mechanically adept), there are few occupations you couldn't handle. Try automotive electronics and repair, radiology, small business. Look at all the successful small businesses out there. These people aint rocket scientists.
Here's the short of it. You will never realize the value of your work by working for someone else, _ESPECIALLY_ in a field where management cannot begin to comprehend what is required to do your job.
The upside is an expected shortage of engineering professionals in the near future. Downside... well, i needn't explain
Consider other professions. HVAC - nobody bitches about the cost when they're too hot or cold. Teaching... You don't need to learn anything new over a 30 year career. Plus state employee benefits in some cases and a 9 month work year and people think you need a raise because their kids are idiots. Computing... complete framework change every 3 to 5 years... Think HTML standards NOT.
I go now - Geccie
I have a EE degree from MIT's prestigious "Course Six", and I am employed as a software engineer for a small, somewhat elite contract R&D firm. Posting as AC so my employer never, ever sees this.
There are only two reasons that I still have a job:
I don't recommend the defense contractor route, mostly because it's frustrating to watch those international E-Savers go by, but that's about the only viable option for someone who wants to stay in tech at this point. Check out the Web pages of places like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, etc., and see who they're hiring. Better yet, try to get a summer internship at a defense contractor.
Defense work has to stay in the USA for security reasons; everything else is heading to India. My company gets basically no commercial business anymore, and a lot of my MIT classmates have been out of work for a long time.
If you have a qualitative bent and don't want to go into finance, then I recommend pharmacy. Pharmacists sometimes make $80K right out of college, they have stable hours and don't have to take work home with them, and they can work anywhere in the country rather than having to migrate to some tech mecca-- believe it or not, Silicon Valley gets old after a while. In order to buy my own place, I'd have to move far enough away to waste an unbelievable amount of my life commuting.
But best of all, it's hard to imagine pharmacy getting outsourced overseas, and there are licensing requirements to keep GWB's "guest workers" from undercutting your salary too easily.
Someday I will get a little older, be more expensive, have a family, and start to work fewer hours with slightly-rustier skills than I do now, and my employer will replace me with two bright-eyed single guys right out of college who will work twelve-hour days for $45K. When that day comes, it's off to pharmacy school for me-- heck, maybe I can even do it in Vegas.
I should be sitting pretty in the tech industry; the fact that I need a "Plan B" should tell you something.
Save yourself the trouble and go for your own "Plan B", whatever it might be, right now.
I have a unique perspective on this since I have degrees in both CS and EE. Based upon overall job prospects, if I had to choose one or the other, I would definitely choose the Electrical Engineering degree.
The reason why isn't because I think there will be more EE jobs than CS jobs. I don't have a crystal ball, so it is hard to guess what is going to happen. However, I have noticed that an EE degree (or an engineering degree, in general) opens a lot of doors in a lot of industries, compared to a CS degree. It seems like people have a lot more respect for someone with an engineering background. It could be the perception that an engineering grad has gone through a rigorous course load, so they have the brains and logical thinking that it takes to get the job done.
I know when I graduated in 1993 with my EE degree, the country was still in the throes of a recession. That coupled with the fact that the defense sector was being hit hard, meant that jobs for entry-level engineers were few and far between. After months of looking, I ended up landing a job at an insurance company in their actuarial department (the department that does all of the statistical studies for the company). I was hired even though I didn't have any formal training in insurance or statistics. The company's reasoning was anyone who could handle the math and science coursework that I typical EE grad has to take could easily handle the workload. That gave me a greater appreciation of what I had accomplished by earning my degree. In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense that engineering grads are prized even outside of the traditional engineering mold.
I have heard of similar stories from many of my fellow EE classmates. The engineering background has helped people land spots in lawschool, jobs on Wall Street, and even accepatances to medical school. Engineering grads are viewed as having a solid logic and quantitative background - sort of the liberal arts equivalent for the math and sciences.
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www.moneybythenumbers.com
If there is sufficient overlap with your undergraduate program and that of a CE or EE, consider starting out with the Master's program as it is helpful in today's job market. You may have to take some undergrad classes in order to pick up necessary prerequisites. Many universities offer night courses or courses which can be viewed on the internet. Electrical & Computer engineering are broad. If you choose an area within these disciplines which is less popular (analog circuit design versus digital circuit design), it may be easier to find a job.
Because of the miserable failure of the current administration, any kind of high tech job is destined to be shipped overseas. Switch to health-care or genetics. These industries seem to be hiring local. The EE & CS industries are being slowly killed by this administration. They are rewarding their base, and the only thing their base is interested in is in lowering their costs. Currently, their biggest expense is labor, and so, have targeted all cost-cutting efforts towards labor. This administration has gutted all labor protections. They are even reclassing overtime. This administration believes in only 2 classes for America - the rich who rule the poor. This president has caused the largest transition of the middle class towards the poverty line since the crash of 1929. This is the first generation that will not be better off than the previous one. Don't underestimate the effect of this transition will have on the American people for generations to come.
Even if a new president is chosen in the 2004 elections, it will take at least another 2-3 years to reverse this trend.
Quit playing Monopoly with Bill.
Linux - of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Believe it or not, the US is emerging as one of the preferred education destinations for the world - check the rise in the number of Third World undergraduate and graduate students making it here. A PhD opens your doors to teaching in college, and you only have to see the number of ads in the IEEE magazine to understand the need for good teachers in American education today.
At Penn State, where I got a BS in CompSci, the computer science and computer engineering departments were one and the same. The difference between a CompSci degree and a CompEng degree was basically 3 electical engineering courses.
At Drexel, where I attended grad school for a year and was a teaching assistant, the EE and CompEng departments were one and the same. I found from teaching my undergraduate courses (a VHDL lab), this gave the students a much lower quality of education. They couldn't program worth shit (real-time programming is likely important if you're going to do comp eng stuff), many didn't even conceptually understand the basic data types and loops that are used in VHDL modelling.
I found the transition from CS to CompEng to be smooth in lots of parts (architecture, my first networks course), but difficult beacuse I lacked education in signal processing or stochastics (used in my second Networks course).
So, my advice is that if you want to go into hardware design, most of the necessary knowledge you'll need you will get as part of a CompSci cirriculum, or from a university where the programs of study are very similar. You could consider getting the CompSci degree and parlaying that into an assistantship in CompEng. I'm getting a little off-topic here, but a 3.6 GPA and whatever a 2100 GRE score (on the older version of the test will get you an assiatantship (free tuition and a monthyl stipend in exchange for being a teaching or research assistant) at a decent university.
"Here, now, I used to be an EE, so rather than give you a shot for that root canal, we'll just hook up these jumper cables here, and HERE..."