If I study electrical engineering in college, would I have the skills for computer engineering as a career?

First off excellent decision to choose either electrical or computer. Simply put from my experiences as an EE, electrical engineers make for awesome computer engineers. However, the reverse it not always true. An electrical engineering degree is generally broader and will focus on both electrical and computer topics, while a computer engineering degree will tend to focus more on the software and algorithms side. I have colleagues who graduated as EE's and are now CE's and are extremely successful.

On another note, I would think about where you see yourself after college. Do you want to be a hardware or control systems at GE or Raytheon, or do you want to be a software developer at Bloomberg or Google? The safest bet is to choose a university that offers both, because usually your courses are identical for the first two years. After you have become acclimated, you can decide which path you would like to pursue.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Aaron

I was an engineering major in college and now I hire engineers and programmers for my businesses.

The best way to get started learning computer engineering is to start learning how to program using free languages like Python, Ruby, and Perl. That will give you a great basic understanding of computer engineering, and prepare you for getting ahead in college. Not all of computer engineering is taught in electrical engineering courses, so it’s important to take some computer science courses too.

Pick a school that has all the fields of study that you may want to graduate with. i recommend looking at course catalogs and graduation requirements. Find classes that you will find interesting.

Electrical Engineering is a more general degree which can focus on computers, signal processing, power, robotics, etc...

Computer Engineering is more specific which means that electives will be prescribed.

Computer Science is focused on the theory of programming, because today both the Electrical and Computer Engineer need to be able to program to some extent.

All of these degrees are challenging, and I recommend picking the one that inspires you. I had a deep desire to learn how to make computers, electrical circuits and radios work. This helped me to get through the difficult math classes, and some of the classes that I did not enjoy Mechanics.

I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering while focusing on electives such as C++ Programming, Data Structures, Algorithms, and VLSI Design (Microchip Design). Later, I followed up earning a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering. This has led to an interesting post military career in a chemical plant where I am responsible for the Programmable Logic Controllers and the Plant's Power Distribution System (138kV Sub-Station down to 480V Motors).

I hope that this helps.

Ryan