OT: Rutgers Honors College

[RUnTeX]

What’s the difference between SAS vs CE for comp sci?

College of Engineering offers a BS in Computer Engineering through the department of Electrical Engineering.
Through SAS, the degree is Computer Science.
Degree requirements for SAS Computer Science BS:
https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/undergraduate/requirements-bs-computer-science
BA:
https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/undergraduate/requirements-ba-computer-science

College Of Engineering Computer Engineering Degree has EE requirements such as digital signal processing:
http://catalogs.rutgers.edu/generated/nb-ug_0507/pg21464.html

Technically, they are two different majors under two different academic units/schools at Rutgers-NB as CS is only offered at SAS (Dept of CS) while CompE (Dept of ECE) is only at SOE. Pre-reqs and certain required courses for engineering majors can be quite a bit different than a CS major, and vice versa.

On an tangential note, having graduated engineering in the mid 90s, I didn't get the proverbial memo until several years later but technically it has been known as the School of Eng'g (SOE) since sometime in the late 90s or early 00s. Sometimes catch myself still calling it College of Eng'g (COE) as it was known when I was there as well as @Knight Shift even before me.

I believe the College of Pharmacy was also renamed to E.M. School of Pharmacy during same general timeframe as SOE. Those both predate Cook College being renamed SEBS and before SAS even existed. I guess Rutgers was starting to migrate toward calling them Schools rather than Colleges. Pretty much semantics, in my mind.

 

[retired711]

Technically, they are two different majors under two different academic units/schools at Rutgers-NB as CS is only offered at SAS (Dept of CS) while CompE (Dept of ECE) is only at SOE. Pre-reqs and certain required courses for engineering majors can be quite a bit different than a CS major, and vice versa.

On an tangential note, having graduated engineering in the mid 90s, I didn't get the proverbial memo until several years later but technically it has been known as the School of Eng'g (SOE) since sometime in the late 90s or early 00s. Sometimes catch myself still calling it College of Eng'g (COE) as it was known when I was there as well as @Knight Shift even before me.

I believe the College of Pharmacy was also renamed to E.M. School of Pharmacy during same general timeframe as SOE. Those both predate Cook College being renamed SEBS and before SAS even existed. I guess Rutgers was starting to migrate toward calling them Schools rather than Colleges. Pretty much semantics, in my mind.

Colleges no longer denote academic units. This is an attempt to move away from the old college system under which units thought of themselves as autonomous.

 

[RUnTeX]

Colleges no longer denote academic units. This is an attempt to move away from the old college system under which units thought of themselves as autonomous.

Good point....the only vestiges in NB of the semi-autonomous colleges, at this point have different functions including Douglass Residential College and University College. Separately, the recently established Honors College.

At Newark and Camden, however, their respective UCs as well as NCAS and CCAS remain as is.

 

[retired711]

At Newark and Camden, however, their respective UCs as well as NCAS and CCAS remain as is.

That's true, but these units don't have the history of autonomy that the colleges at NB did.

 

[Knight Shift]

Technically, they are two different majors under two different academic units/schools at Rutgers-NB as CS is only offered at SAS (Dept of CS) while CompE (Dept of ECE) is only at SOE. Pre-reqs and certain required courses for engineering majors can be quite a bit different than a CS major, and vice versa.

On an tangential note, having graduated engineering in the mid 90s, I didn't get the proverbial memo until several years later but technically it has been known as the School of Eng'g (SOE) since sometime in the late 90s or early 00s. Sometimes catch myself still calling it College of Eng'g (COE) as it was known when I was there as well as @Knight Shift even before me.

I believe the College of Pharmacy was also renamed to E.M. School of Pharmacy during same general timeframe as SOE. Those both predate Cook College being renamed SEBS and before SAS even existed. I guess Rutgers was starting to migrate toward calling them Schools rather than Colleges. Pretty much semantics, in my mind.

I certainly realize that they are two different majors in two different schools (they will always be colleges to me!!!:weary:).

Cal Berkeley explains it well on their website, but in a nutshell, some have said that computer engineering through EECS is more hardware oriented, while computer science through Letters and Science is more software oriented:

1. Technical requirements in EECS and CS are almost identical, however general education requirements and the admissions processes vary significantly. The main difference in the two majors is what other subjects you would like to explore.
   • If you prefer greater flexibility in your coursework, or have an interest double-majoring in a non-engineering field, then the CS major in L&S might be a good choice. There is greater opportunity to explore other departments, such as economics, statistics, cognitive science, and music.
   • If you have an interest in electrical engineering, or have an interest in double-majoring in another engineering major, the EECS major in COE may be better suited for you.
   https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/eecs-cs-comparison-chart

--
Here's an interesting thing about Cal Berkeley, which is a MUCH more prestigious school than Rutgers, particularly in Computer Science (Cal, MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon are considered the Big 4 of CS)--they have an Honors Program, but not an honors college. The benefits of the Honors Program do not seem all that special either. We will have to wait and see if my son gains admission to Berkeley and what he will do if he is lucky enough to be admitted at Cal. But he has already indicated he may lean to Rutgers and the Honors College.

 

[retired711]

I certainly realize that they are two different majors in two different schools (they will always be colleges to me!!!:weary:).

Cal Berkeley explains it well on their website, but in a nutshell, some have said that computer engineering through EECS is more hardware oriented, while computer science through Letters and Science is more software oriented:

1. Technical requirements in EECS and CS are almost identical, however general education requirements and the admissions processes vary significantly. The main difference in the two majors is what other subjects you would like to explore.
   • If you prefer greater flexibility in your coursework, or have an interest double-majoring in a non-engineering field, then the CS major in L&S might be a good choice. There is greater opportunity to explore other departments, such as economics, statistics, cognitive science, and music.
   • If you have an interest in electrical engineering, or have an interest in double-majoring in another engineering major, the EECS major in COE may be better suited for you.
   https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/eecs-cs-comparison-chart

--
Here's an interesting thing about Cal Berkeley, which is a MUCH more prestigious school than Rutgers, particularly in Computer Science (Cal, MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon are considered the Big 4 of CS)--they have an Honors Program, but not an honors college. The benefits of the Honors Program do not seem all that special either. We will have to wait and see if my son gains admission to Berkeley and what he will do if he is lucky enough to be admitted at Cal. But he has already indicated he may lean to Rutgers and the Honors College.

Because Cal is a better school than Rutgers, it does not need an honors college to attract excellent students.

 

[Knight Shift]

Because Cal is a better school than Rutgers, it does not need an honors college to attract excellent students.

The issue is not about attracting excellent students, but deciding which school/environment would be a better experience for the student. Will the overall college experience be positive in a large public (albeit prestigious) University versus being in Rutgers Honors College?
Read an interesting story in the NYT about many Universities not having enough professors/resources to teach the growing demand for computer science, and one of the comments from a current Cal student was interesting. Sounds like a far from ideal situation, even at prestigious Cal. Sounds worse than the RU Screw.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/...cience-courses-college.html#commentsContainer

"Current CS student at Berkeley. Can confirm that there has been an explosion in CS departments, at least the one here. But with limited resources and faculty, the department has resorted to a GPA cap for allowing students into the major, specifically a minimum of 3.3 across the first three courses. This past year, there were a record 2000 students in CS 61A (the first of the three courses). It’s amazing how fast it’s growing, but at the same time frustrating for many who simply can’t make the cut. Hopefully more can be done to accommodate the increasing demand among students, who deserve a fair shot at entering the industry. 3.3 is simply absurd."

 

[MidwestKnights]

You're never gonna make everyone happy, but for the most part everyone I graduated with had a great time and are doing very well.

The Wall Street pipeline is similar to most state schools - the brightest (and most aggressive) will get the front office jobs. But you have to stay on top of it early and keep a stellar GPA. As opposed to my Ivy League friends who d*cked around for 4 years and landed the same jobs with relative ease.

This is spot on. But you can also make a nice living and go pretty far with the back office jobs on Wall Street too.

 

[MidwestKnights]

So, if it was Rutgers honors college on a full scholarship versus an Ivy at $300,000-$350,000 out of pocket for 4 years of tuition, room, board fees, would you still advise your child to go to the Ivy? Let's say you scrimped and saved and had the money set aside to pay the Ivy tuition.

That's what people overlook and RU (even without the Honors College) has an excellent rack record of placing students in Ivy and other top law, MBA, and grad school programs. BA/BS Rutgers, Columbia Law School, Harvard MBA, etc. With significant less student debt is not uncommon for Rutgers students/alum.

 

[Knight Shift]

Congratulations my daughter just found out that she was accepted as well.

My daughter just found out she got into the Honors College for Pharmacy!

Seems merit awards are out. My son received more merit aid from SAS than SOE ($6K more).

On the College Confidential Boards, some are speculating that RU spending on Athletics since entering the B1G has something to do with decreased merit aid?
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rutgers/2127152-merit-aid-decline.html

 

[retired711]

On the College Confidential Boards, some are speculating that RU spending on Athletics since entering the B1G has something to do with decreased merit aid?
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rutgers/2127152-merit-aid-decline.html

Of course that's wildly untrue. Rutgers has been lowering the athletic deficit over the years, and the administration likes giving out merit money because it attracts the best students. Athletics has become the whipping boy for everything.

 

[Knight Shift]

Of course that's wildly untrue. Rutgers has been lowering the athletic deficit over the years, and the administration likes giving out merit money because it attracts the best students. Athletics has become the whipping boy for everything.

If you think some of the RU faculty hates the money spent on athletics, Berkeley has a similarly strong contingent of faculty that feels the same about money spent on football in particular.

 

[retired711]

If you think some of the RU faculty hates the money spent on athletics, Berkeley has a similarly strong contingent of faculty that feels the same about money spent on football in particular.

Yes, I'm aware of that. The financial situation at Berkeley is very tough; a large-scale project done about fifteen years ago has become a financial albatross. The Chancellor had to divert money to keep the project's financing from collapsing, and I'm not surprised a lot of faculty are upset. In other words, there are places where things are worse than here. The Cal teams in the "leadership" sports do well enough to hold off the pitchfork crowd. I wouldn't want them to have our records, though.

 

[Knight Shift]

Yes, I'm aware of that. The financial situation at Berkeley is very tough; a large-scale project done about fifteen years ago has become a financial albatross. The Chancellor had to divert money to keep the project's financing from collapsing, and I'm not surprised a lot of faculty are upset. In other words, there are places where things are worse than here. The Cal teams in the "leadership" sports do well enough to hold off the pitchfork crowd. I wouldn't want them to have our records, though.

Is men's basketball a "leadership" sport?
They are 5-20/0-13 this season. 8-24/2-16 last season.

The football team was 5-7/3-6 in 2016 and 5-7/2-7 in 2017. They turned it around a bit in 2018. Not as woeful as dear old RU, but maybe they have low expectations. This past summer, when my son and I did a prospective student tour of Cal, the student tour guide mocked how bad Cal was in football.

 

[famousbill19]

Congratulations my daughter just found out that she was accepted as well.

My daughter just found out she got into the Honors College for Pharmacy!

Seems merit awards are out. My son received more merit aid from SAS than SOE ($6K more).

On the College Confidential Boards, some are speculating that RU spending on Athletics since entering the B1G has something to do with decreased merit aid?
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rutgers/2127152-merit-aid-decline.html

My daughter's merit aid was the same for Pharmacy as SAS. It was definitely less than I was expecting.

 

[retired711]

Is men's basketball a "leadership" sport?
They are 5-20/0-13 this season. 8-24/2-16 last season.

The football team was 5-7/3-6 in 2016 and 5-7/2-7 in 2017. They turned it around a bit in 2018. Not as woeful as dear old RU, but maybe they have low expectations. This past summer, when my son and I did a prospective student tour of Cal, the student tour guide mocked how bad Cal was in football.

The football team got to a bowl game this year (where they played poorly). Yes, expectations are low at a school that has not been to a major bowl game since 1959.