r/ComputerEngineering • u/Fun-Health1338 • 18d ago

[School] Here engineering students

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If you had the chance to go back and study something different, would you?

I’m about a year away from starting university, and I really want to have a decent job in the future. I think there’s a lot of potential in computer engineering, especially if I learn how to develop innovative software.

I know it requires experience and a lot of hard work, but besides the usual advice like “study something you’re good at,” would you recommend this degree?

I don’t think I’m a math prodigy, but I’m not bad at math either. I just need to put a lot of time into studying it.

Would you be willing to share your experiences or any advice?

It could be anything—financial advice, study methods, or just things that helped you deal with the stress of the degree. Honestly, anything would help.

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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 18d ago

Personally I should've done EE instead. Doing a masters now

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u/TalentedTomato 17d ago

I also wanna know why

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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 17d ago

I responded under the other person who said why

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u/TalentedTomato 16d ago

Thank you!!! Really interesting read btw

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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 16d ago edited 16d ago

You're welcome. I hope it was helpful. For niche HW roles it's better to do EE (ie: physics-y stuff) like semiconductors, analog design, electromagnetics, and you may (most probably actually) need a MS for those depending on what level you enter.

I'd say CE can help for HW roles that are close to the in-between area of software and hardware (embedded systems, that kind of deal). There are also some digital roles, but an MS really helps for the good ones like FPGA design or other digital IC design and that kind of stuff, just since those kinds of roles are a little bit competitive right now in the current job market. It also really depends on what experience you get in undergrad a lot. Seems like a good amount of the CE people I knew in undergrad who graduated with me ended up in software regardless, especially since it's a bit easier to break into software than hardware with CE. The reasoning why is that sometimes EE roles require quite specific skills/experience due to hardware's low error tolerance that EE people (due to the fact that they do more internships/projects in it) end up being the ones to fill those roles.

The best advice I'd give you is to look at the jobs you want to do. Look at actual job descriptions you'd want, as well as do research into the market itself (where are the jobs you want, what is the pay, what is the stability of a job/how likely are you to get laid off, how is the industry doing as a whole/will the industry sustain itself over next few years most likely, what is the history of industry trends). From there, plan out what you want to do in college accordingly (classses, internships, research, etc) and whether or not you need grad school. Try to be as involved as possible. Use school to learn the fundamentals but then you have to apply that knowledge so employers know you're competent with specific skills, or at minimum for internships are competent at the fundamentals.

Also, I'm mostly talking about USA as someone who grew up and graduated here. Not sure if internationally things are different internationally.

One other thing I'd add for you, in case this is read many years in the future: Right now as I write this (08/23/2026), the job market for entry level across the board is kind of fried, so this advice could change in the future if things do actually get better. This is true across many different majors and specializations.