Computer related majors Options

[*icecreamisyummy*]

im planning on attending community college after high school and then transfering to a university. im interested in computer majors but idk exactly what. what are some good paying computers related jobs out there???

[*mipadi*]

Hello, I'm a third-year computer science student who is currently three semesters away from obtaining a bachelor's degree in computer science, so I might be able to help out here.

As far as studying something related to computers, you can run the gamut from a two-year computer and network administration program all the way up to computer science and engineering—and then, of course, there are similar jobs that utilize computers a lot, such as graphics design.

I don't know of specific pay scales, but I do know that the data provided by my school (Bucknell University) says that, on average, computer science students graduating from Bucknell start at around $42,000 a year, and computer science and engineering students generally start at around $46,000 a year.

It's important to get an idea of what you want to do before starting a program. If you just desire to be a computer programmer, there's no need to enter into a four-year comp sci program. You could probably get an associate's degree in programming in two years at a community college. Why? Well, there's a difference between a computer programmer and a software engineer. A computer programmer just writes software, whereas a software engineer not only writes software, but designs entire systems and heads up projects.

A four-year computer science (or computer science and engineering) program prepares you to do a lot more than "just program". For example, I've learned how to program, but most of my time has been spent learning about algorithms and data structures, concepts of engineering, making software more secure and stable—and that's just the software side. I've also spent a lot of time studying how a processor is actually implemented, how hardware devices like mice, keyboards, and disk drives interface with hardware, and how memory systems are implemented. And, of course, I've studied mathematics in great detail, including theoretical aspects of calculus and linear algebra.

So like I said, it's important to know what you want to do. A lot of people go into computer science because they like computers a bit, without knowing exactly what you do, and end up not liking it. Then again, some people end up liking it a lot. But I would definitely advise that you research your options and find something that fits best with your goals.