My son is a Senior in High School with a 4.2 GPA. He wants to go to college for computer programing, specifically software engineering. Anyone have any ideas on what is the best road to take to get where he wants to be? He is now a wiz on computers and wants to go as far as he can get.

 

Carnegie Melon and Harvey Mudd are both really good computer science schools, but really he can take the computer science program at any "good" university or college and end up just fine.

 

Hopefully by the time he's done with school the job market will be better. It's tough to find a job now.

 

I don't think the university matters, though getting an internship or some computer related job during school will work wonders.

Yes, the job market is rough, I'm about to get laid off from a hospital doing software development.

 

I am a programer in NY and am VERY lucky I have a job. I worked at an internship during my last semester in college and was hired right after graduation. About 4 weeks after graduation I was laid off and was out of work for about 6 months.
I am at my current company for over a year now. Recently my company had an opening which we received OVER 200 resumes, I am not kidding....in fact my boss told me that it was over 300...I do think that he was exaggerating just a little.

Most of my close friends are in the software/It industry and based on their experiences the job market is very poor right now.

I would highly recommend the medical field. My wife is a Nurse and is currently studying to become a Nurse Practitioner. Her earnings / earning potential is MUCH greater than mine and she actually makes a difference in the world.

 

Carnegie Melon is ranked the best computer science school in the country. I would guess that in the four years it takes him to get his degree that the economy will improve.

 

At my company experience counts far more then education but obviously this varies from company to company. There are a whole lot of people that have degrees or certifications but no experience so make sure that he gets some experience to go with the education and then he will have more doors opening for him. Boy, speaking of no education that sure seemed like a run on sentence to me.

 

Go to DigiPen if he wants to make video games... there was an article in Rolling Stone on it, veyer interesting. Only go if you want to make games though.

 

Firstly my background:
School:

small, private Jesuit university. Masters in Physical Therapy, BS in Human Biology and Computer Science.

Job Experience:

6 years in the IT field (I went straight to IT rather than take a Phys. Therapy career path). I graduated during the upswing of the boom. As a IT professional, at first I was a heads down programmer...the consulting company I worked for was more than an IT consulting firm; they were a enterprise/business engineering consulting firm. They wanted more than just a programmer, they wanted a critical thinker, a flexible worker, and a quick-witted sales person. Obviously I didn't know how to do all that, but I picked it up really quickly....and it's what has kept me employed and praised even through an economic down-turn.

Here's my advice (and it's what I've given my sister, who is about this enter the work force after this Spring semester):

Get the computer science/software engineering degree. Any good university will have a fine program (he doesn't necessarily need to go to Carnegie). In fact, I'd advise to go to a school that has a good comp. sci./soft. eng. program and an excellent business school. Advise him to maintain his grades in his curriculum, but have him take a few basic business courses. Also, have him get involved in different activities/groups, maybe even join a fraternity.

Conclusion:

I am now a project manager for a corporate "evil" entity that I used to consult for. From where I stand now, I see the process of how and why people get laid off during an economic downturn. Keeping your technology skills up to tune isn't good enough these days. There's always someone that knows more and works more efficiently, and works more submissively. Soft skills are essential! Business knowledge, time management skills, and expectation management skills in addition to the previous is what is keeping many employed.

 

XLER8R -

Don't place too much emphasis on the school itself. Just go to a school with a decent program, get a relevant degree, and he'll be fine. School is only for learning the basic concepts, and the real learning comes in self-study and industry experience.

What is very important is that your son do work on the side, on his own. 90% of the stuff they'll teach him in college doesn't even scratch the surface of industry programming. He should figure out what kind of software engineering he wants to get into, what languages he'd like to be proficient in (most folks know a little of everything but only have expertise in a few areas), and then get some books to read on his own. Most software folks are self-starters, and their skill and success level isn't very dependent on school. In other words, lots of folks have CS degrees and still suck at programming, and lots of folks don't have any degrees but are really good at programming.

As others have said, getting an internship really helps. After a year or two of college, your son would be wise to start looking for one...it provides absolutely invaluable experience, usually pays fairly well, and gets his foot in the door.

Don't worry too much about the job market. Your son most likely won't be in it until a few years from now, and even right now, it's not *that* bad. It's bad all right, but not nearly as bad as folks make it out to be. He'll be fine, especially if he's got a real interest in the field.

As for specifics, does your son have any interest in business at all? Something like MIS (Manage Information Systems) probably wouldn't be a bad major - it'll provide some business background, which is always good in the computer industry, as well as a decent amount of technical knowledge. Granted, the technical knowledge won't be nearly as much as he'd get through a CS degree, but that's not as big of a concern as you might think, because trust me, most of the stuff they teach you in school will not prepare you for the industry at all. It's very different. You can only hope to learn good foundations in school, and when you get into the industry, it's a whole new world. A degree that incorporates a bit of business will allow for greater growth possibilities, and will make you a moving target should the job market go sour.

Whatever he chooses, good luck!