I worked my ass off at UC Davis for a computer engineering degree. Students who were in majors would complain about _a_ weeder class that was hard. Well, for CE the entire major was a bunch of extremely difficult "weeder" classes. I suffered from what the article describes in regards to low grades for high amount of effort. I graduated in 2003 with a 3.2 cum GPA.
The reason this sucks is because now I am applying for an MBA where your undergraduate GPA matters. Even though I scored a 710 on my GMAT (93 percentile), my relatively low GPA has resulted in refusal letters from schools where my GMAT score was above the average of the incoming class.
I got my degree in Computer Engineering from UC Davis. Looking at the course curriculum, my CE degree covered all of the CS classes and then some. With my degree I have had the following experience:
My first job was as a software engineer. At first it was great, and I loved the intellectual side of the job. However, I am a bit on the ADHD side of things, and cannot sit still for hours on end EVERY DAY. After about 6 months of being a "hardcore coder," I got over it. The whole, sitting in one spot for 8-10 hours a day, thing was too much for me to bear.
My second and current job is in the medical IT industry. I started as an IT grunt, fixing printers and recovering people from their "keyboard-chair" interface issues.:) I worked my way up, and I am now the project manager, and I deal with a lot of systems and wear a lot of hats --> network engineer, intranet / internet developer, VOIP, RIS, PACS, etc. In IT, you can apply your knowledge of computer science without having to code all day every day. I am really happy with the medical IT industry and intend to stick with it.
What I can say with my current perspective is that I am really glad that I got my Computer Engineering degree even though I am an "IT guy." Having the knowledge that ranges from how a transistor works, to high level programming is a huge asset. Even though I don't necessarily apply that knowledge on a daily basis, it gives me the perspective and insight to how all this crap works. Having a CE degree commands a lot of respect in the workplace. I am also loving the fact that I deal with a huge breadth of systems. My day in IT is never the same, where as my day as a code monkey was consistently monotonous (IMO).
Addressing the topic of college degree, the difficulty from hardest to easiest would be:
Computer Engineering -> Computer Science -> IT
When you get a degree, you can easily get a job in the field that is "easier." Like how I got my CE degree and got an IT job. However, you can't really go the opposite way as easy: IT degree -> CS job. My recommendation would be to get the most difficult degree you can, and decide on your career later when you have a better perspective on what suites you the best.
I work in healthcare IT, and this industry is exploding! I get hands on experience will all kinds of different systems and new technologies. The most intersting of which is known as PACS (basically it is digital radiology). Not only do I get to play with a wide variety of technology to keep me interested, but I get paid very very well.
On top of that, it is nice to know that my work has indirectly helped people and society.
For those of you aging nerds out there, know this: colonoscopies are no longer necessary due to advances in healthcare technology. Do not be tricked into letting a doctor shove a camera up your a$$! A virtual colonoscopy is available at your local high-tech hospital. A simple MRI can reconstruct your colon in 3D for analysis. Yay for nerdy doctors, keeping cameras out of your "special areas."
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I worked my ass off at UC Davis for a computer engineering degree. Students who were in majors would complain about _a_ weeder class that was hard. Well, for CE the entire major was a bunch of extremely difficult "weeder" classes. I suffered from what the article describes in regards to low grades for high amount of effort. I graduated in 2003 with a 3.2 cum GPA. The reason this sucks is because now I am applying for an MBA where your undergraduate GPA matters. Even though I scored a 710 on my GMAT (93 percentile), my relatively low GPA has resulted in refusal letters from schools where my GMAT score was above the average of the incoming class.
I got my degree in Computer Engineering from UC Davis. Looking at the course curriculum, my CE degree covered all of the CS classes and then some. With my degree I have had the following experience:
:) I worked my way up, and I am now the project manager, and I deal with a lot of systems and wear a lot of hats --> network engineer, intranet / internet developer, VOIP, RIS, PACS, etc. In IT, you can apply your knowledge of computer science without having to code all day every day. I am really happy with the medical IT industry and intend to stick with it.
My first job was as a software engineer. At first it was great, and I loved the intellectual side of the job. However, I am a bit on the ADHD side of things, and cannot sit still for hours on end EVERY DAY. After about 6 months of being a "hardcore coder," I got over it. The whole, sitting in one spot for 8-10 hours a day, thing was too much for me to bear.
My second and current job is in the medical IT industry. I started as an IT grunt, fixing printers and recovering people from their "keyboard-chair" interface issues.
What I can say with my current perspective is that I am really glad that I got my Computer Engineering degree even though I am an "IT guy." Having the knowledge that ranges from how a transistor works, to high level programming is a huge asset. Even though I don't necessarily apply that knowledge on a daily basis, it gives me the perspective and insight to how all this crap works. Having a CE degree commands a lot of respect in the workplace. I am also loving the fact that I deal with a huge breadth of systems. My day in IT is never the same, where as my day as a code monkey was consistently monotonous (IMO).
Addressing the topic of college degree, the difficulty from hardest to easiest would be:
Computer Engineering -> Computer Science -> IT
When you get a degree, you can easily get a job in the field that is "easier." Like how I got my CE degree and got an IT job. However, you can't really go the opposite way as easy: IT degree -> CS job. My recommendation would be to get the most difficult degree you can, and decide on your career later when you have a better perspective on what suites you the best.
I work in healthcare IT, and this industry is exploding! I get hands on experience will all kinds of different systems and new technologies. The most intersting of which is known as PACS (basically it is digital radiology). Not only do I get to play with a wide variety of technology to keep me interested, but I get paid very very well. On top of that, it is nice to know that my work has indirectly helped people and society. For those of you aging nerds out there, know this: colonoscopies are no longer necessary due to advances in healthcare technology. Do not be tricked into letting a doctor shove a camera up your a$$! A virtual colonoscopy is available at your local high-tech hospital. A simple MRI can reconstruct your colon in 3D for analysis. Yay for nerdy doctors, keeping cameras out of your "special areas."