Prospective Students

Computing as a profession.

Computer scientists and engineers apply the theories and principles of mathematics and science to design computers, software, networks, and processes. These professionals work in many settings in research, industry, government, business, and education to create advanced information technologies, computer systems, and computer applications. The field of computer science and engineering is constantly moving forward, providing intellectual challenges and developing new knowledge on an almost daily basis.
Graduates of our Computer Science and Engineering program can choose to focus their career in many different ways: entrepreneur, web applications, computer graphics, video games, enterprise computing, embedded systems, network administration, mobile applications, computer security, computer vision, computational biology, high performance (super) computing, scientific modeling, database systems, computer animations, wireless networks, artificial intelligence, and so on.

Career outlook.

The demand for professionals in computing fields is widespread; job opportunities for computer scientists and engineers exist in almost every industry. As computer applications continue to expand, occupations in computer science and engineering are projected to be among the the fastest growing in the United States through 2008. An overview of job opportunities in computer science and engineering is available from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CSE at USC.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering offers baccalaureate degrees with majors in computer engineering, computer information systems, and computer science. All three degrees provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to work as practitioners in all aspects of the computing and information processing industries. All majors include a common core of fundamental courses in computing. The major in computer engineering includes courses in electronics and computer hardware as well as software; the major in computer information systems includes courses in business and is designed for students who are primarily interested in business applications; the major in computer science allows students to focus primarily on the software aspects of computing and requires selection of an appropriate application area.

Many of our students are also part of the South Carolina Honor's college and they go on to win highly prestigious fellowships and continue their studies in top-10 graduate schools. You can read their stories in this brochure on computing in the Honor's College.

The Department also offers MS, ME, and PhD degrees in Computer Science and Engineering. A combined BS/MS program is available which facilitates completion of both degrees by allowing some senior courses to be applied to both degrees.

Departmental research.

Faculty in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering conduct research and development in a variety of fundamental areas, including agent-based computing, decision making and analysis, database mining and warehousing, multimedia system design and implementation, parallel computer architecture, and security. This research finds applications in bioinformatics, e-commerce, education, information systems, and computer forensics. Advanced elective courses in these areas are offered, and there are some opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in ongoing research projects (or to suggest their own!). See the faculty and departmental research web pages for further information on research activities.

Student organizations.

The ACM and IEEE student societies support a variety of activities, including local programs and field trips, participation in regional conferences, and software contests. There is also an active local chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The department provides support for undergraduate participation in many activities, including conferences and competitions.

Student Services in CEC.

All undergraduate programs in the College of Engineering and Information Technology are coordinated by the Office of Student Services. This office conducts advisement and orientation for new and transfer students, maintains student records, tracks student progress, and clears students for graduation. They can also provide information and contacts in nonacademic areas such as housing and financial aid although they are not the primary source of information about these nonacademic areas. Forms and requests requiring the permission of the Dean should be taken to this office; responsibilities related to the undergraduate program have been delegated to this office.

Below are a few common questions asked by prospective students.

What's the job market like? I hear that there aren't any jobs in computing any more. Why should I study computing?

The PowerPoint Presentation about why you should study computing can be found here.

We frankly don't understand why students are staying away from computing programs. The message that is being delivered by the national media is quite different from the reality of the job market. The employment predictions from the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2006-2016 have just been published (November 2007) and they predict almost unlimited opportunity for students of computing.

Of the nearly five million new "professional" jobs expected, one in six will be in computing.
Of the 825,000 new jobs in the "fastest growing" categories for which a bachelor's degree is the appropriate preparation, a total of 645,000 (nearly 80%) will be in computing.
In contrast, there are only 235,000 new jobs forecast in all of engineering, life sciences, and physical sciences.

The growth rate of 25.2% for computing employment is the largest of all the professional occupations, comparing against a national average of 10.4% and projections of 10.6% for engineering, 12.8% for life sciences, and 15.7% for physical sciences.

The prediction of 1,524,000 total openings in computing is more than twice as large as the total for engineering (505,000), life sciences (103,000), and physical sciences (109,000) combined, and is at least three times larger than the projected number of bachelor's degrees to be produced.
In every single year since 2000, the job market in computing has been better than the national average and better than the averages for the rest of science and engineering.

The actual projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are presented in the table below. Numbers are in thousands, and "computing" includes the job title "software engineering." The B. S. degree column (the last column) represents the projected number of B. S. holders to be graduated in the ten-year period who would be expected to fill the vacant positions in the "Total Openings" column.

What are the salaries like after I graduate?

The average yearly starting salary for a BS graduate in computer science is about $51,500. Overall, chemical engineering is usually highest (at about $53,500), and then computer science, computer engineering, finance, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are closely grouped. Salaries in computing for more senior people are generally among the best of all professional occupations. You can find current job postings on our Jobs Board.

What about internships or part time jobs?

About three-fourths of the undergraduates in our programs have part time jobs in computing during their time at USC. The work includes web design, network administration, systems administration, applications programming, and all other aspects of the computing profession. Some students work on campus, while others work at local businesses. The fact that Columbia is one of the population and business centers of the state is a benefit in this regard. You can find current job postings on our Jobs Board.

I'm interested in computing but I'm not sure whether to do Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Computer Information Systems. What's the difference?

There is actually relatively little difference in "the computer science major" among the three degree programs. Computer Engineering (CE) students take more computer science, including two more hardware courses, than do the Computer Science (CS) students, and Computer Information Systems (CIS) students take less than the CS students. The real difference, though, is in the courses outside the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The CIS students take a full minor in Business Information Management. The CE students take what amounts to a minor in electrical engineering. The CS students have an "applications area" that allows them to choose a second area of focus. There are a number of suggested applications areas that can be found on the departmental website.

The computer engineering program, like other engineering programs, is more "technical" than the other two in that it requires more mathematics and more physical science than the other two programs.

Which program would be right for me?

Computing should be viewed as a horizontal discipline. Relatively few people get jobs in which the computer itself is the object of study. Most people get jobs in computing that require them to use computing technology to solve problems. For the CIS majors, these will be problems of managing and controlling the flow of information in a business. Much of computer engineering, in contrast, involves the use of computers to interact in real time with devices in the real world. These could be sensors delivering data for analysis, or switches that control the electric power grid, or network hardware in the internet or a corporate computer network. CS majors, in choosing an application area, should consider some other area of study that interests them to which they can apply their knowledge of how to compute things.

What kind of a computer do I need at USC?

There is no formal computer requirement in the department or the college. Nearly every student (98% or more) arrives on campus with some computer, and increasingly these are laptops. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and we have no recommendation for one over the other.

We run seven instructional computer labs in the college. One good reason for doing this is that the college can guarantee that the software and hardware are appropriate for students in their classes (and thus also we don't have to try to negotiate the best possible price for the many different packages that students would have to buy).

On the other hand, most of the software that students need is free. In the first year course we use the free version of Java and use primarily the Eclipse IDE, although other IDEs are also free. This allows you to download what you need onto your local machine.

Our recommendation on hardware is that you buy an adequate CPU, but that you certainly do not need to pay the premium price to get the latest and greatest chip set. The currently best chip will only be about 10% faster than the next best and yet will cost you several hundred dollars extra. This just isn't worth the expense; the second or third best processor will be more than adequate.

The two places where you should consider spending more, if you can, is in memory and in the monitor. Most modern applications are memory hogs, and if you can afford to get 2G of RAM, this will make your computer work better. Microsoft Vista is unlikely to work very well without at least 2G of RAM.

Finally, if you are getting a desktop, get the largest monitor you can afford. This is the part of the computer that you, the user, will notice the most. You will be spending a lot of time staring at a screen, and the larger the screen the easier it will be for you.

We have no real recommendation regarding Windows, Linux, or Macintosh. Nearly all the packages we run will run on all platforms. By the time you finish your degree you will have worked on both Windows and on Linux machines, but it is not essential that your personal machine be either or both. Our first year is run on Wintel boxes, the second year switches to Linux, and then upper level courses are run on whatever is appropriate for that course.