Torn between Computer Science and Aerospace Engineering
Hi everybody, I've recently been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do when the time comes for uni (not too long now!), and I am torn between Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science, both courses I find especially interesting and adore, but don't feel comfortable just commiting myself to one and missing out on the other, so must heavily evaluate first. So I have a few questions.
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
If you're interested in both, you may want to consider Electronic and/or Electrical/Information Engineering - these have signifcant overlap with both subjects, as they underpin the fundamental elements of computer architecture and hence function, as well as broader forms of e.g. systems and control engineering, communications engineering and so on that are very relevant to aerospace engineering (also in various guises many other areas of engineering and indeed computer science).
It depends on what areas of each interest you I suppose. You will inevitable gain some programming experience, and some electronics and control systems background in an aerospace course, and possibly some aspects of communications engineering or avionics. Computer Science wouldn't necessarily include this beyond programming and possibly electronics - communications would focus mainly on networking if present, and a large element would be the more formal and mathematical basis for computing and applications of that (e.g. databases). You would also do other areas such as cybersecurity/crytopgraphy, graphics, AI/computer learning and so on, which are less relevant to aerospace.
It depends on what areas of each interest you I suppose. You will inevitable gain some programming experience, and some electronics and control systems background in an aerospace course, and possibly some aspects of communications engineering or avionics. Computer Science wouldn't necessarily include this beyond programming and possibly electronics - communications would focus mainly on networking if present, and a large element would be the more formal and mathematical basis for computing and applications of that (e.g. databases). You would also do other areas such as cybersecurity/crytopgraphy, graphics, AI/computer learning and so on, which are less relevant to aerospace.
Reply 2
19
Original post by artful_lounger
If you're interested in both, you may want to consider Electronic and/or Electrical/Information Engineering - these have signifcant overlap with both subjects, as they underpin the fundamental elements of computer architecture and hence function, as well as broader forms of e.g. systems and control engineering, communications engineering and so on that are very relevant to aerospace engineering (also in various guises many other areas of engineering and indeed computer science).
It depends on what areas of each interest you I suppose. You will inevitable gain some programming experience, and some electronics and control systems background in an aerospace course, and possibly some aspects of communications engineering or avionics. Computer Science wouldn't necessarily include this beyond programming and possibly electronics - communications would focus mainly on networking if present, and a large element would be the more formal and mathematical basis for computing and applications of that (e.g. databases). You would also do other areas such as cybersecurity/crytopgraphy, graphics, AI/computer learning and so on, which are less relevant to aerospace.
It depends on what areas of each interest you I suppose. You will inevitable gain some programming experience, and some electronics and control systems background in an aerospace course, and possibly some aspects of communications engineering or avionics. Computer Science wouldn't necessarily include this beyond programming and possibly electronics - communications would focus mainly on networking if present, and a large element would be the more formal and mathematical basis for computing and applications of that (e.g. databases). You would also do other areas such as cybersecurity/crytopgraphy, graphics, AI/computer learning and so on, which are less relevant to aerospace.
Thank You so Much! I did a little bit of digging and found that Electronics does kind of branch my areas of interest into one subject in a sense, which is quite cool! I suppose no matter which area I pick it will still require the plain ol' Maths n' Physics A*/A I suppose lol.
Reply 3
Original post by AryanGh
Hi everybody, I've recently been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do when the time comes for uni (not too long now!), and I am torn between Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science, both courses I find especially interesting and adore, but don't feel comfortable just commiting myself to one and missing out on the other, so must heavily evaluate first. So I have a few questions.
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
There are a lot of "conversion" masters in CS for people who didn't do it at undergrad, including a course offered by Imperial.
Bear in mind CS is a subset of Engineering (Electrical Engineering). Its much easier IMO to move from a branch of engineering into CS than it is to move from CS in to engineering.
Original post by AryanGh
Thank You so Much! I did a little bit of digging and found that Electronics does kind of branch my areas of interest into one subject in a sense, which is quite cool! I suppose no matter which area I pick it will still require the plain ol' Maths n' Physics A*/A I suppose lol.
That is true. Physics is less essential for CS, although pretty common. Further Maths would be a huge help for any of those.
Aerospace itself does cover a lot of areas as noted so you don't really limit yourself pursuing that in the first instance - but it's a bit less common than EEE (or CS) so it's not uncommon for aerospace engineers to have undergrad backgrounds in various other areas of engineering - almost any branch of engineering is relevant in some way, due to the multidisciplinary nature of the field.
Reply 5
19
Original post by jestersnow
There are a lot of "conversion" masters in CS for people who didn't do it at undergrad, including a course offered by Imperial.
Bear in mind CS is a subset of Engineering (Electrical Engineering). Its much easier IMO to move from a branch of engineering into CS than it is to move from CS in to engineering.
Bear in mind CS is a subset of Engineering (Electrical Engineering). Its much easier IMO to move from a branch of engineering into CS than it is to move from CS in to engineering.
You do have a good point, i suppose you already do learn how to operate it in some modules in engineering, as well as engineering.
Reply 6
Original post by AryanGh
You do have a good point, i suppose you already do learn how to operate it in some modules in engineering, as well as engineering.
If I were you I'd check for a course in Aerospace engineering that allows you to do some Electrical Engineering or coding modules, then do a Masters in CS. You'll find CS a lot easier after an engineering degree.
Reply 7
Agree with above. If you don't know which career choice at this stage, go for the option that keeps both open to you and consider specialising with a Masters degree.
That is exactly what I did by first gaining a degree in Electronics and then a Masters in Advanced Systems Engineering with an Aerospace bias.
Yes, electronics as a subject, is probably one of the most maths heavy engineering disciplines. You will cover everything from analogue and digital circuit design, to semiconductor design, to control systems, programming, project management, production, and applications as diverse as medical electronics, automotive, computer systems, aerospace, telecommunications, internet, AI, robotics, GPS.....the field opens up a huge number of potential careers.
That is exactly what I did by first gaining a degree in Electronics and then a Masters in Advanced Systems Engineering with an Aerospace bias.
Yes, electronics as a subject, is probably one of the most maths heavy engineering disciplines. You will cover everything from analogue and digital circuit design, to semiconductor design, to control systems, programming, project management, production, and applications as diverse as medical electronics, automotive, computer systems, aerospace, telecommunications, internet, AI, robotics, GPS.....the field opens up a huge number of potential careers.
Reply 8
On my course the standard response to the question of which engineering degree had the most maths content was:
use Einstein's equation E=mc2
that is
Electrical and Electronics = mechanical x civil2
use Einstein's equation E=mc2
that is
Electrical and Electronics = mechanical x civil2
Reply 9
21
Original post by AryanGh
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
1) 5 - yes but it's not a good idea. You will need to decide between courses at some stage and that stage should be before you apply. 2 different courses would require a personal statement that is unfocussed on either course.
2) depends on how relevant your undergrad is for the MSc, but generally yes you can do a different but related MSc.
Reply 10
Original post by uberteknik
On my course the standard response to the question of which engineering degree had the most maths content was:
use Einstein's equation E=mc2
that is
Electrical and Electronics = mechanical x civil2
use Einstein's equation E=mc2
that is
Electrical and Electronics = mechanical x civil2
prsom
I think the worst offenders were materials at my uni, since they didn't bother with anything tensorial on that course (at least before an optional MEng module) and so we joked all they learned were fancy names for weird phases of iron that only exist for like 8 femtoseconds during cooling...
-
Anyway OP, as noted generally applying to multiple courses at the same uni is inadvisable. I think perhaps if you applied to medicine at one university, and they also offered a biomedical science course that might be acceptable. But you're really gambling a bit there so...In your case you would be best off picking one course and focusing on that - it's usually straightforward to change to similar/related programmes if for example you decide in first year you hate aerodynamics but love circuit analysis.
Some universities also offer courses which are wholly or partly "general" engineering. In such courses you may defer a choice of area of specialisation till later in the course, or never need make a specific choice (although the latter is unlikely to be accredited, usually you get "streamed" into a pathway after deciding). Examples include Exeter, where all engineering courses share the same first year (although they have no aerospace course or even aerospace research unless they started some up in the last two years), or Oxbridge where the courses are fairly flexible for the first two years.
Reply 11
I wanted to do computer science in year 12/13, but I thought everybody else is doing it so wanted to do something special or "hard" like aerospace engineering, although I defo had interest in aerospace (thats when spacex begun lunching falcons etc). However I still did a lot of programming in my spare time, like the summer before uni started I spent 3 months in my room coding everyday making games etc. And now I've interned at Google twice doing software engineering, in fact im typing this from my desktop from google office in mountain view. Do I wish I studied computer science instead of aerospace? sometimes, but I think doing aero made me better at maths, like the level of maths we do is way above what you'll be doing in a comp sci course. so topics like machine learning, neural networks etc are actually easy to understand if you're an engineer than a comp sci cos its just applications of multivariable calculus and statistics. To add on though, there defo arent as many aerospace specific jobs than software, also software pays WAYYYY more than almost any engineering discipline. I can almost guarantee Im making more from my internship than most people who have graduated with engineering degrees and have full time jobs. Electrical engineering is an ok course but the amount of programming in there is almost the same as you'll do in any other course so I dont see any difference. Either you go balls deep or you dont, dont expect the electrical engineering course to bring you up to the level of people who study computer science. If you're interested in software, do comp sci. Or you can do aerospace but spend your free time learning to code. But most importantly its up to you, I've never taken any computer science course in school/uni but here I am, if you try hard you can certainly make it.
Reply 12
19
Original post by bigboateng_
I wanted to do computer science in year 12/13, but I thought everybody else is doing it so wanted to do something special or "hard" like aerospace engineering, although I defo had interest in aerospace (thats when spacex begun lunching falcons etc). However I still did a lot of programming in my spare time, like the summer before uni started I spent 3 months in my room coding everyday making games etc. And now I've interned at Google twice doing software engineering, in fact im typing this from my desktop from google office in mountain view. Do I wish I studied computer science instead of aerospace? sometimes, but I think doing aero made me better at maths, like the level of maths we do is way above what you'll be doing in a comp sci course. so topics like machine learning, neural networks etc are actually easy to understand if you're an engineer than a comp sci cos its just applications of multivariable calculus and statistics. To add on though, there defo arent as many aerospace specific jobs than software, also software pays WAYYYY more than almost any engineering discipline. I can almost guarantee Im making more from my internship than most people who have graduated with engineering degrees and have full time jobs. Electrical engineering is an ok course but the amount of programming in there is almost the same as you'll do in any other course so I dont see any difference. Either you go balls deep or you dont, dont expect the electrical engineering course to bring you up to the level of people who study computer science. If you're interested in software, do comp sci. Or you can do aerospace but spend your free time learning to code. But most importantly its up to you, I've never taken any computer science course in school/uni but here I am, if you try hard you can certainly make it.
Thanks!
I've always been in an Engineering family and was kind of nudged into that route, however I love programming, and do it mainly in my freetime that I have, I excelled at GCSE and hope to work hard and make it for the CompSci A Level, however I am frequently put off by the Careers Advisor who tells me that a career in Software Engineering is 'heavily oversaturated and underpaying'. But it's great to see someone who did the same kind of ordeal as me but excelled.
Reply 13
What about in terms of salary and employabilit rate?
Reply 14
Original post by xxxtentacion..
What about in terms of salary and employabilit rate?
Way more jobs in comp sci, also pays way higher.
Reply 15
Original post by bigboateng_
Way more jobs in comp sci, also pays way higher.
Very, very untrue. Computer science has one of the highest uneployment rates for all degrees and engineering earns more on average.
Reply 16
1
Original post by thotproduct
Hi everybody, I've recently been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do when the time comes for uni (not too long now!), and I am torn between Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science, both courses I find especially interesting and adore, but don't feel comfortable just commiting myself to one and missing out on the other, so must heavily evaluate first. So I have a few questions.
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
1) During the actual process of applying, how many universities can you apply maximum in UCAS, and is it possible to apply for the same university but for a different course.
2) Once chosen degree is complete, how is it possible to potentially do a Masters or do the other?
Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated
Hey, what did you end up picking? Do you think you made the right choice?
6 years later, I'm asking myself the exact same question as you. It'd be great to hear an update.
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