well CS and computer engineering are pretty similar majors. UMD certainly didn’t ask why. id be interested in doing either
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If you look at the curriculums and you think so, go for it. They don’t look similar to me but I’m not expert so I’ll leave it to you and others.
Everyone is entitled to what’s best for them. I, personally, am a believe in studying what you want over school. But you are not me.
Good luck.
Degree Requirements for CS Major | Undergraduate Computer Science at UMD
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CoE would definitely be more challenging but i think the electrical engineering choices are interesting. thanks for the links!
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In CE, this is the top employers from 2023. You might google the company, major, umd and linkedin and see what jobs people have.
Northrop Grumman
L3Harris
CapitalOne
Texas Instruments
Lockheed Martin
JPMorgan Chase
JHU Applied Physics Lab
Epic Systems
Booz Allen Hamilton
Amazon
CS doesn’t seem to have a similar page but you can google CS + UMD + Linkedin - see the jobs.
I may be wrong but I don’t believe there’s a ton of crossover here. More important than UMD is to get to the right place.
Also, I bet if you reach out to each department or to the school’s career center, you can see, by major, who is going where. Pay close attention to the job titles.
Whatever you decide, best of luck. But life is a marathon - don’t start off during the wrong path (for you) for short term fulfillment.
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JPMorgan and Amazon are both dream jobs for me. i will def keep that in mind tho! i am waiting to see what other results i get before i decide where im going 
thanks again
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Well, they have a zillion different types of jobs - and every other big company has the same and more.
And they are not jobs…they are companies.
If it were me, I’d look deeper. You can work at JP Morgan and Amazon from probably 200 colleges.
But if there’s a specific job at each that you want, you might want to look at the requirements - and see if the degree you want to swap into will meet them.
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There is absolutely a ton of crossover. Every company on that list also hires tons of comp Sci people. Pretty much every shop needs people who can engineer the system and also write application software. Where I work, there are people who’ve crossed back and forth. I write business software, but in order to run it and maintain it, I also need to know at least a decent amount about how the backbone is constructed, its physical/hardware configuration, vulnerabilities, requirements and so forth. Personally I see a ton of overlap.
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Many computer engineering students do very similar jobs as CS or software engineering students. I have a masters in computer engineering and have worked all my 20+ years as a software engineer. Many of my classmates also work as Software engineers.
The course work you do is different than CS but there is enough overlap and customization that can be done to have more CS courses.
Having said that if someone has an equivalent CS direct admission in a different college which they like they should go there.
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Ok. I acknowledge not an expert. Was looking at the curriculums.
That’s what I was thing. I believe major over school. And the I want to work at Amazon or JPM - is nice at 17 - but can be done from many many schools.
Appreciate the insight into the real world.
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So can you clarify what you mean by “equivalent CS direct admission”? From broad employability perspective (meaning good paying options throughout NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA etc), is it better to do Computer engineering (even though student is not really interested in the electrical engineering courses, which are almost 24 credits) at highly ranked UMD with no honors, no LLC offer? Or preferred CS major that he has more interest in at UDel where he has Honors College; or Rutgers NB where he didn’t apply for Honors College? Tuition not a factor but will be considered when merit (or no merit) rolls in.
I applied to Maryland early, but I still haven’t gotten a decision, are they sending out in waves? if yes by when can I expect a decision, it is already 31st jan
No there aren’t waves. You should contact the admissions office.
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This apparently happened to some people last year. They did not get their decisions on time. I’m not sure the reason.
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Delaware/Rutgers
Honors means little to nothing for getting a job. Many kids drop Honors at many schools - my kid used it for better class selection. People came on the other day for UMD and said their kid didn’t stick.
There is no where on a job application (and they all use the applications today vs. resume so their software can analyze who to interview) - there is no where to even list Honors.
Honors is for the student experience.
Why would a kid study something they’re not interested in?
You can only get one job and most pay the same regardless of where you went to school. Companies pay by location. My kid, from Alabama (in engineering) makes the same as the Michigan and Case Western kids and the same as the W Michigan and Akron kids - in his cohort.
Unless Rutgers or UDel, as examples, aren’t placing kids, that’s what I would recommend.
I think the “significance” of the name here should not impact what the student truly wants to study.
Thanks - I think he’s with you on this - he is definitely leaning towards the schools where he got CS. I just wanted confirmation as a parent. They all have some sort of placement information - and they do seem to be placing just fine but the samples are always so small, it’s hard to trust it.
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maybe run some linkedin searches too.
like computer science + delaware + linkedin just to see who pops.
I promise you - at all these schools will be kids who turned down UMD.
It doesn’t work like we all think.
There are kids at all these schools that turn down Ivy, etc.
Even if placement stinks on campus, today most kids, it seems are using Linkedin/indeed to find jobs.
Cornell has the best job board - they show how you found a job.
For CS,
91 from an Internet posting (like indeed or company) and 82 from linkedin.
Handshake - their online system - 28. Interview on campus - 24.
These schools aren’t getting all these jobs like people assume…some yes, but not the bulk.
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Good idea, thanks!
I added to the previous note - looking at Cornell (very highly ranked) - their career outcomes show how kids find jobs - no different than my kid’s school - online (indeed, company websites, linkedin) - far more than school provided websites.
It’s a new day and age…I believe.
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This ^^^ !!! UMD cut their CS spots in HALF this year (both freshman and transfer spots). It is their most expensive major and the staff turnover is through the roof. If you got in as a CS major at another school and that is what you truly want to study you should go.
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