My community college offers an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Programing as well as an Associate of Science in Engineering with a computer science concentration which will transfer to a university. Which of these two degrees is more valuable and will be best for the long run? Do you think that the AAS degree in computer programing is good enough to get in the job force faster and holds its weight compared to going for the AS and then transferring to university for BS in Computer science? I am currently majoring in the AS in Engineering. My concern is if I should take the AAS in computer programing and jump in the work force to start gaining experience, or be patient and go for BS in computer science route, and then do some internships or co-op for experience. However my experience is in residential and commercial construction for the past 20 years and I have more than 8 years as a self employed general building contractor. I am currently majoring in Engineering and with my experience in construction, wanted to either become a Civil Engineer and minor in computer science or even get a second degree in computer science (just to have two good options and be more marketable), as I am not opposed to learning something new. I am interested in both and am trying to make up my mind. I'm starting my sophomore year this spring and need to decide quick. Another factor that I need to include is my age. I am already 35 years old. What is your opinion on which route would most likely suite me best. Something that will best suite me as a feel I have another good 30 or more years ahead of me to have a great career. Thank you for your input.
Replies to: Civil Enginereing, Computer Science, or both??
With your construction management experience, have you looked into Construction Management as a major?
Timoshenko was a mechanics person who laid the foundation for subjects like statics and mechanics of materials that you will see in Civil Engineering, not a CS person. I think the contrast between the two subject areas was @turbo93's point, and I fully agree. I also have a BSCE (worked in the consulting business many years ago) and advanced engineering degrees but I have been doing engineering software development for several years now,
I don't think the extra time to get a CS minor or CS degree really buys you anything for a career in CE. While some programming experience would be valuable, it would be the basic skills not the things that are taught in upper level CS classes. IMO, the most valuable programming experiences for BS level civil engineering would be in Matlab, excel, and/or python.
Also note that upper level CS classes are more math and theory intensive than the freshman/sophomore programming classes so while liking programming is important, it is not necessarily sufficient. CS is much more than just programming.
If you really are interested in pursuing a BS degree, you should talk to advisors in CE and/or CS at the university and find out exactly how many of the CC credits will actually count toward either degree. There may be a lot of elective credits that would transfer but not count toward the degree and thus extend the time more than you may think. The only way to be sure is to talk to someone whose job it is to know these things.
Civil Engineering, and engineering in general, by comparison, depends less on 'talent' and intangibles and more on experience and knowledge. I was a ho-hum CE student who, in the late 1970's, realized that life is too short to be doing structural calculations by hand. So I bought a programmable calculator and later a Pocket Basic computer and did some pretty interesting pieces of software for it. That's when we barely knew the difference between GOTO and GOSUB. Did surveying, structural analysis, concrete, foundations, and of course the bane of calculations, metal and wooden structures and plates & shells. Got involved with the college's minicomputer running real BASIC on a terminal. Didn't take me long to start selling software I wrote. The rest is history. That was 30+ years ago. Since then I've programmed IT, software tools, and embedded, from Linux to QNX to Windows to no OS.
I just finished a few components of a humongous HTML5/CSS/Javascript embedded system graphical user interface. Not the easiest, and not so obvious especially when the hardware is just as suspect as the software, but with a bit of talent and lots of coffee and donuts we got it to work.
My older daughter is graduating this May with an Architecture degree, and talking to her I find I still remember a lot from my CE college days and Timoshenko (took a bunch of studios too), probably more than I do of Dijkstra (I have been known to Google arguments in the C library). My younger one took AP Comp Science in HS and did not find it as easy as I told her (and she's a 4.0 UW junior). Some people get it, some don't. It's like teaching writing.