Laugh if you will Options

[hypnotique]

Ive been trashing my head over what I should go to school for since culinary and nursing didn't work out too well for me and I'm considering doing something in computers since ive had a fascination with learning how computer viruses work and how they are created and basically computer security in general.

so uh...
what courses should I take and any tips on schools and other general things i should know about before becoming a computer major?

[mipadi]

Computer Engineering mainly but I would like to also dabble in Computer Science , Information Technology and possibly computer programming.

Basically i like to learn a bit of everything possible in a subject.

A study of one will typically touch upon topics in the others. Think of them like a Venn diagram. I'd draw one for you but Venn diagrams of 6 elements are kind of a pain to draw.

If you're interested in computer engineering, some other questions to think about are:

1. Do you want to go back to college for a full 4-year program? A computer engineering program usually takes around 4 years, maybe a semester or two shorter if you have some transfer credits.
2. Do you like math? I mean, really like math? Enough to marry it?

I studied computer science, and up through what I took in grad school, my courses touched on topics like...

1. programming in Java;
2. how microprocessors, memory, etc., work, at the physical level;
3. how graphics are handled by a computer;
4. programming language theory;
5. compiler optimization;
6. functional programming;
7. information theory, security, and cryptography;
8. how operating systems work, including kernels;
9. reasoning about algorithms and how to efficiently store data;
10. how to generate random numbers and simulate certain systems;
11. calculus, including multivariate calculus;
12. linear algebra;
13. discrete math and graph theory.

Some of those, such as graphics, programming language theory, and information security, may not be covered in a typical computer engineering curriculum. And as an engineer, you'd probably also take differential equations on the math side of things, as well as courses like physics and chemistry, which I wasn't required to take. But in a nutshell, that's what I'd expect a typical curriculum to contain.

Here's the summary of the computer engineering program at my (old) school, as an example. (N.B. I took computer science, not computer engineering; computer engineering wasn't offered until the year after I graduated.)

Here's the summary of the computer science major where I did (part of) undergrad. (W&M doesn't have computer engineering.)

[hypnotique]

A study of one will typically touch upon topics in the others. Think of them like a Venn diagram. I'd draw one for you but Venn diagrams of 6 elements are kind of a pain to draw.

If you're interested in computer engineering, some other questions to think about are:

1. Do you want to go back to college for a full 4-year program? A computer engineering program usually takes around 4 years, maybe a semester or two shorter if you have some transfer credits.
2. Do you like math? I mean, really like math? Enough to marry it?

I studied computer science, and up through what I took in grad school, my courses touched on topics like...

1. programming in Java;
2. how microprocessors, memory, etc., work, at the physical level;
3. how graphics are handled by a computer;
4. programming language theory;
5. compiler optimization;
6. functional programming;
7. information theory, security, and cryptography;
8. how operating systems work, including kernels;
9. reasoning about algorithms and how to efficiently store data;
10. how to generate random numbers and simulate certain systems;
11. calculus, including multivariate calculus;
12. linear algebra;
13. discrete math and graph theory.

Some of those, such as graphics, programming language theory, and information security, may not be covered in a typical computer engineering curriculum. And as an engineer, you'd probably also take differential equations on the math side of things, as well as courses like physics and chemistry, which I wasn't required to take. But in a nutshell, that's what I'd expect a typical curriculum to contain.

Here's the summary of the computer engineering program at my (old) school, as an example. (N.B. I took computer science, not computer engineering; computer engineering wasn't offered until the year after I graduated.)

Here's the summary of the computer science major where I did (part of) undergrad. (W&M doesn't have computer engineering.)

Im open to 4 years of school (i like being in school to be honest)
As for the math thing. I'm really really really freaking bad at math like i can manage basic algebra sort of....and thats about it.