Computer Science vs Electrical Engineering (Undergrad to Grad/Phd)

[Sabcore]

Hey everyone,

 

I know it's a graduate forum and my question may be irrelevant to the whole forum but I will take my chance since you people have a broader experience and I look to get some information from you.

 

I'm planning to take an undergraduate degree in Computer science and have the following options:

 

1. UK degree (in a Malaysian Campus)

 

2. US degree (2 Years Malaysia + 2 years USA as transfer)

 

3. University of Cape Town, South Africa

 

I'm more inclined towards the second choice but it's the most expecsive one (since it's an Undergrad).

 

My problem here is that I'm planning for my future, I did A-levels and my results were crap in Chemistry (E) compared to As in Math ans Physics, that's why I didn't bother applying to top US unis, expecting for scholarships, etc.

 

So this left me with the 3 choices above, and I am aiming for MIT or Uc Berkeley for my Graduate studies in the future. I checked MIT EECS graduate page and saw that they require strong background in math, physics , engineering or computer science and I see that most students accepted for the Graduate are those with Engineering degrees (EE).

My question is, which one is considered as a better undergrad degree to be considered for MIT Grad. in EECS?

Personally I want to do Computer science and later on Grad. in AI but I see EEs have a higher rate of acceptance in the program.

 

Last question is about the Undergraduate university. Does it really matter where I get it?  I live in Mauritius(Google it  if you don't know) and all the 3 routes would cost me money, but the 3rd route would be cheaper. Will a US degree be better? If I transfer from Malaysia to US will that be considered by MIT when I apply in the future? Will it affect the application in any ways and what would be the disadvantage of trasferring to the US compared to doing the full degree in only 1 university?

 

And recommendation letters, how do you get these? I seriously don't have an idea.

 

I have loads of plans but I want to make it as successful as possible. I messed up once, I don't plan on repeating the mistakes again.

 

Thanks for your help ^^

Cheers!

Edited April 18, 2013 by Sabcore

[dat_nerd]

EE majors may have a higher acceptance rate in the overall EECS joint program, but for a CS-specific graduate program, I'd recommend a CS undergraduate. You'll be much better prepared for a CS graduate program with a CS undergraduate degree. If you go with a EE degree, you may have to somehow prove your CS knowledge via research experience or work experience in order to get into a place like MIT or UCB.