It’s hard to believe how fast our perspectives change. One year ago today, I was super excited to start my second year in my dream specialization, computer engineering. Now, I’m leaving the faculty of engineering and heading into science (with a major computer science), which I believe is more suitable for me.
To the unknowing person, this transition from computer engineering to computer science may seem natural and uncomplicated. But to me, it was like navigating a sloped hill in the darkness with a flashlight. I hope to share with you the whole-decision making process, from the logical aspects, to the “leap of faith” as part of the newly understood yet typical college route that perhaps isn’t so straightforward. And even though maybe the switch was not as drastic as from engineering to arts per se, it was still quite an undertaking.
Why’d I do it?
The logical reason is pretty simple. The biggest one of all being both degrees would get me to the same place in the end (a career in software engineering), but computer engineering was more arduous with its hardware courses and engineering requirements. And to a lesser extent, the faculty of computer science has better professors overall.
Even though computer engineering offers a more broad knowledge in computers by teaching hardware and electronics, the heavy course load didn’t justify the rewards it offered to me. I really enjoy having unscheduled time to spend either by myself—writing on this blog, painting—or with others. I also would like to understand more about everything through different courses such as psychology, philosophy, astronomy, etc. And a degree in computer science would support that flexibility to take elective classes, as well as more free time.
And that is totally a personal choice, which will be different for everyone. In fact, there is no “best” college specialization. It really comes down to personal preference. Although societally, each major may have a certain reputation, employability rating, etc, those are only part of the puzzle to consider. Perhaps someone who is interested in hardware may decide to switch from computer science to computer engineering. Maybe they find the computer science math courses to be arudous, or the arts electives to be unnecessary.
Why the “Leap of Faith”?
Having thought out the logic aspects, it became clear that computer science was the better option for me. But schools always like to make switching majors more complicated than it needs to be; they’re always building walls and fences around majors when it ideally should be a more fluid process, taking into account our ever-changing perspectives as a young person.
So to get to computer science, I’d have to switch faculties first, from engineering to sciences, and then apply to get into the major of computer science. Then the obvious question is: what happens if I don’t get into computer science?
For a while, I thought I would not be allowed back into computer engineering, and be forever stuck in the faculty of sciences, and forced to pick another specialization like math, or statistics. But even then, I still wanted to try, and decided to drop my computer engineering classes for the remainder of the term. Because I knew next year, when I take those 3rd year computer engineering courses, I would not be very happy, and would regret not having tried to switch out.
And of course, that wasn’t an easy conclusion to come to, but the decision after talking to friends and family, numerous calls with science advising, and an extensive search on Reddit.
Fortunately, things were better than I thought, and I could still have the choice to go back to computer engineering if I were not accepted into computer science. And even better, I was indeed accepted into computer science, which is where our story ends.
How do you feel about the upcoming term in computer science?
The story of how I transferred from computer engineering to computer science has ended, but it's not all just flowers and rainbows from here on out. I still see foggy shapes in the form of tall mountains looming in the distance. I still have my own reservations about computer science, but that will play out in time, and in another blog post. Through this experience, I learned that if I could have any superpower, it would be to see into the future. Because in this journey of life, we have to decide on which mountain trail to take, in the darkness with only a flashlight.
