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.

[mipadi]

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.

I don't want to crush anyone's dreams, because I think you can do anything if you put your mind to it; but if you study computer engineering, you either (a) have to be really adept at math, or (b) like it enough to put a lot of effort into learning it. Calculus, diff EQs, that sort of thing, are no picnic. I'm not that strong in math either, and it's probably what holds me back the most.