Advice on Majoring for West Virginia Tech Seniors

[Shivam3013]

Well, it depends. Calculus (all three), Diff.eq'n, analysis is about it. I do say that other things such as abstract algebra, topology etc might be helpful. Linear algebra tol.

 

[NextElement]

But overall most upper level physics classes could be considered "math" to the commoner I'm assuming haha?

 

[Shivam3013]

Yes, there is quite bit of math involved. But, really, Calculus, analysis are Diff.eq'n aren't a lot. The other things are just optional.

 

[HayleySarg]

My advice is to take your pre-reqs which will likely be shared by the STEM majors (So Math, Physics, some flavor of intro Comp Sci). This should be done during your Freshman year. Most schools don't require you to declare your major until the end of your Freshman year. Don't wait too long, but don't be afraid to take an extra semester if you can financially afford it, if it means you end up doing what your most dedicated to.

The content is all challenging and engaging but you have the unique opportunity your freshman year to get a taste for everything. For some students, this helps. For others, it just makes us want to quadruple major.

There is quite a bit of math that is needed to be a physics major, and on top of math, a solid foundation of programming and computer science skills are always welcome. So if you have a light taste for comp sci, physics is always an option. You can cherry pick which individual languages and skill sets are most valuable to you and your future employ-ability, without taking the Comp Sci major.

EE is similar, except they do have you take quite a few comp sci classes where as most physics programs only have a few mandatory ones and whatever else you know is on your own time.

Look at interning/shadowing in various places in order to really get a feel for what you want. You could study all the things in the world but if the application doesn't suit you, you'll still regret it.

 

[donpacino]

I know I am jumping on this thread a bit late but here goes...
in computer engineering you will learn about the digital hardware that makes computers and embedded systems work. You will also learn how to design firmware, which is software and/or hardware that allows the hardware devices to function as intended.

electrical engineering is a completely broad field. there are many overlaps between electrical and computer engineering. on embedded systems, electrical engineers would design digital or analog hardware that interfaces with the digital hardware.

comp sci deals with the application layer (see OSI model). comp sci would do the hi level work such as implementing algorithms and writing user interfaces.

example : design a micoprocessor based servo system. computer engineering designs the microcontroller system. That includes the digital hardware and the assembly/C code to control how the digital logic moves around inside of the device. the electrical engineer designs the electronics that take the digital information and passes it through the power systems and filters to stimulate the servo. He also specifies what the algorithm output should be for the servo control. The comp sci major would design the algorithm and any interface to the outside world.

note that the ee/ce sometimes overlap into other realms. however comp sci rarely knows anything about the hardware (for pure comp sci).

My background is 1/2 EE 1/2 CE. the servo example is something that i got the opportunity to do in undergrad. I had to read the servo spec. determine how to control it. design the hardware to control it. design the microprocessor to control it. then write the code to run on the microprocessor.