Seeking advice on changing major

lightnin
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 20:21:04 +0000

One of the surprising things I have noticed that when i talk about CS with anyone, they talk about outsourcing, off-shoring, H1b,CS shortage myth etc.
Also someone told me anyone can be a computer scientist and i dont need to go to school for that but nobody can be a ChemE without college.



Both of those points are wrong.

1) There is a lot of outsourcing. However, most big software jobs cannot be outsourced because they are too complex and need to be constantly modified and tested. It is not like you are going to make a complex game like you would do a simple cse 101 assignment. CS has more jobs than almost all other engineering disciplines combined!

2) You can be a programmer without going to school but not a computer scientist. The people who say that don’t know much about CS and I don’t think you do either. Ask any of the people who didn’t go to school to analyze a simple algorithm which is very very basic CS and they won’t be able to do it. You cannot be a good computer scientist without to school for it. CS != 100% programming

You are doing quite well with chemE, they also make more money than CS people or than any other undergraduate degree. CS has a lot more opportunity. Both degrees are hard, chemE is harder but CS is more time consuming. CS is mostly applied math and it can get intense at some schools. That’s why so many people can’t handle it. If I was you, I would stay with chemE and do a CS minor. Take a few more CS after graduating and then get an MS CS