Well, I am a 5th year CS student at Georgia Tech. I have a slightly different opinion of the two majors.;) As someone who used to be a CmpE major, I also have a good perspective of each.
CmpE does equal all the things nullset mentioned, but it also mostly equals Electrical Engineer. There is not a School of Computer Engineering. There is a School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. There is a very strong relationship between the two and it shows in the course work.
CS majors can certainly become "dotcom whores", but I argue that almost anyone can become "dotcom whore". It takes a little time to read an HTML book and maybe a JavaScript book, but you're on your way. I keep hearing people complain that the College of Computing is not teaching anything useful, and they drop out and go to the local tech school to get their IT degree. These people didn't want to be Computer Scientists, they wanted to program.
There is a lot of theory involved in real CS. There is also a lot of Math. I was required to take 8 Math courses. Many people don't realize this when they enter a CS program. They think they are going to learn VB, and then get mad when they have to take so much math. Then on top of that, no one teaches them VB:)
An electrician is not an Electrical Engineer, in much the same way as a computer programmer is not a Computer Scientist. When choosing a degree you need to decide what you want to study. Look at the coursework, talk to students, and talk to advisors.
Slashdot Mirror
CmpE does equal all the things nullset mentioned, but it also mostly equals Electrical Engineer. There is not a School of Computer Engineering. There is a School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. There is a very strong relationship between the two and it shows in the course work.
CS majors can certainly become "dotcom whores", but I argue that almost anyone can become "dotcom whore". It takes a little time to read an HTML book and maybe a JavaScript book, but you're on your way. I keep hearing people complain that the College of Computing is not teaching anything useful, and they drop out and go to the local tech school to get their IT degree. These people didn't want to be Computer Scientists, they wanted to program.
There is a lot of theory involved in real CS. There is also a lot of Math. I was required to take 8 Math courses. Many people don't realize this when they enter a CS program. They think they are going to learn VB, and then get mad when they have to take so much math. Then on top of that, no one teaches them VB :)
An electrician is not an Electrical Engineer, in much the same way as a computer programmer is not a Computer Scientist. When choosing a degree you need to decide what you want to study. Look at the coursework, talk to students, and talk to advisors.
-CS101