University advice?

[HaakonKL]

I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to put this in, but I think this is the best place.

This thread is basically two things, a question about Uni level education, and a shameless way for me to introduce myself and get to know you people..
Basically, I'm applying for University now.
There are a few courses that's caught my eyes, but there are three that stand out from the rest.

There is Computer Science, which comes in three differing degrees of "hard scienceness". Basically you can study it as hardcore coding or as "how to implement and utilize this when confronted with the user" way as you want it too.

Then there is Computer Engineering, which is not really a University degree, but a college one. It is the build a system and get it to run properly thingie. More narrow than Computer Science, but also much deeper.

Then you have Cognitive Sciences, which greatly intrigues me.
It's the study of thought processes, the mathematics, philosophy and philology behind them. It's also a computer intensive course as you do a lot of coding to simulate different thought patterns, such as instincts, emotions and so on.

The three are all intriguing, in each their way, so I wondered about them.
So what do YOU think about them?

[Ace Pace]

Then there is Computer Engineering, which is not really a University degree, but a college one. It is the build a system and get it to run properly thingie. More narrow than Computer Science, but also much deeper.

I have no idea how it's setup where you want to apply, but Computer Engineering here is setup that it encompases not only most of computer science(ignoring some of the more abstract fields) but also large portions of electrical engineering.

[Prozac the Robert]

My advice would be to take the most general and academic option from a reasonably well known university.

Ideally said uni would offer a few of the different courses, and you would be able to change to one of them in say your second year if needs be.

But my advice is to stay as general as possible. While it is important to do something you will enjoy, it's also important to be able to get out of it later if you find out that you don't like it so much any more.

That said, I picked theoretical physics instead of straight physics and I'm happy with it. So that advice isn't always correct.

To offer a counter anecdote, a friend of mine wanted to do electrical engineering but ended up choosing for physics for some reason. He found that he didn't actually like the electric modules we did, so was glad he hadn't gone for his first choice. And he ended up switching to theory in he third year. I'm not entirely sure what that shows, except that you might not like what you think will e good now, and that at my uni it was possible to shift between similar physics courses.

Also, a piece of random advice: if you think you might plan to look for a job after you finish, while you are at uni it's worth being on the look out for things to do outside of your course which might show your initiative, communication skills, problem solving etc. Graduate recruiters seem to love that stuff. Internships in the summer after your second year are also worth considering.

[Spin Echo]

Out of curiousity, what country are you in?

[sketerpot]

There is Computer Science, which comes in three differing degrees of "hard scienceness". Basically you can study it as hardcore coding or as "how to implement and utilize this when confronted with the user" way as you want it too.

If you find discussions like this one to be as utterly exciting and fascinating as they actually are, then CS might suit you.

But I think you might be misunderstanding what a CS degree entails. There's a lot of theory, and it's actually possible for CS folks to suck with computers. Coding and making users happy are tools, but the core of CS is a type of mathematics that is immensely useful and quite different from what you've studied so far.

Then there is Computer Engineering, which is not really a University degree, but a college one. It is the build a system and get it to run properly thingie. More narrow than Computer Science, but also much deeper.

I'm an Electrical Engineering major with an emphasis on CprE topics, so I might as well be majoring in CprE. I'd say that makes me qualified to tell you that you should definitely reconsider your description.

Computer Engineering focuses on the engineering issues surrounding computers. It requires you to know some computer science, a bunch of electrical engineering, and how the hardware and the software come together. This is the one I would recommend; it lets you get all sorts of breadth and depth.

You can write operating system code, design microchips, program anything from 8-bit microcontrollers with 256 bytes of RAM on up to monster computers with hundreds of CPUs, or take a step in another direction and "program" custom hardware onto field-programmable gate arrays for use in applications like Telecommunications which need a lot of parallel data processing, really fast. Or do something completely different; who knows what will happen in ten years? Or even five?

And it's engineering, so you'll have good job prospects when you graduate.

Then you have Cognitive Sciences, which greatly intrigues me.
It's the study of thought processes, the mathematics, philosophy and philology behind them. It's also a computer intensive course as you do a lot of coding to simulate different thought patterns, such as instincts, emotions and so on.

If you learn how to think like a computer scientist (through either CS or CprE), you can probably take Cognitive Science courses as electives and have the best of both worlds.

[AniThyng]

Then there is Computer Engineering, which is not really a University degree, but a college one. It is the build a system and get it to run properly thingie. More narrow than Computer Science, but also much deeper.

Please tell me you're joking? Computer Engineers qualify for IEEE membership as much as any other EE engineer, sheesh. I mean honestly, you made it sound like what CE's do is pick OEM parts of a shelf and assemble a box

Anyway, in my opinion it is best described as the bastard child of CS and EE

[HaakonKL]

Out of curiousity, what country are you in?

I'm in Bergen, Norway

[HaakonKL]

There is Computer Science, which comes in three differing degrees of "hard scienceness". Basically you can study it as hardcore coding or as "how to implement and utilize this when confronted with the user" way as you want it too.

If you find discussions like this one to be as utterly exciting and fascinating as they actually are, then CS might suit you.

But I think you might be misunderstanding what a CS degree entails. There's a lot of theory, and it's actually possible for CS folks to suck with computers. Coding and making users happy are tools, but the core of CS is a type of mathematics that is immensely useful and quite different from what you've studied so far.

Yes, I did mess up the Comp.Eng. thingie, didn't I...

However, the thing is, that if I do what you adviced, then I would take Cog.Sci. and add on enough subjects to get Master of Comp.Sci afterwards, for instance. Which is what I'm leaning on so far.

Then there is Computer Engineering, which is not really a University degree, but a college one. It is the build a system and get it to run properly thingie. More narrow than Computer Science, but also much deeper.

I'm an Electrical Engineering major with an emphasis on CprE topics, so I might as well be majoring in CprE. I'd say that makes me qualified to tell you that you should definitely reconsider your description.

Computer Engineering focuses on the engineering issues surrounding computers. It requires you to know some computer science, a bunch of electrical engineering, and how the hardware and the software come together. This is the one I would recommend; it lets you get all sorts of breadth and depth.

You can write operating system code, design microchips, program anything from 8-bit microcontrollers with 256 bytes of RAM on up to monster computers with hundreds of CPUs, or take a step in another direction and "program" custom hardware onto field-programmable gate arrays for use in applications like Telecommunications which need a lot of parallel data processing, really fast. Or do something completely different; who knows what will happen in ten years? Or even five?

And it's engineering, so you'll have good job prospects when you graduate.

Then you have Cognitive Sciences, which greatly intrigues me.
It's the study of thought processes, the mathematics, philosophy and philology behind them. It's also a computer intensive course as you do a lot of coding to simulate different thought patterns, such as instincts, emotions and so on.

If you learn how to think like a computer scientist (through either CS or CprE), you can probably take Cognitive Science courses as electives and have the best of both worlds.

[Spin Echo]

Out of curiousity, what country are you in?

I'm in Bergen, Norway

Thought so. IIRC, the Norwegian system is a bit more restrictive in shifting between majors than in universities in the states. I imagine the suggestion to major in one and take electives in the other is also pretty moot. NTNU also seemed pretty restrictive about electives; I'm not sure if UiO, UiB, or UiT are similar.

With the introduction of the Bachelors and Masters program, as opposed to the Siv. Eng, you should have some more flexibility that way. You could take three years of one, and if it's not really for you, you could continue on in a different path for a masters. I'd heartily recommend going all the way to a masters.

If I'm interpreting your description of the Comp.Eng correctly, it's more of learning a trade (Or at least that's what people usually mean by college Norway. The term has caused all sorts of misunderstandings between myself and my partner) than a theory based type degree which Sketerpot is describing. Sort of like you have the aircraft mechanic who keeps puts the plane together and keeps it running and then your have the aerospace engineer who designs new ones.

In that case, what type of career would you want? If you'd be interested in research and development, I'd say go with the Comp.Sci or the Cog.Sci.