CS vs. Computer Engineering: Which Major is Easier to Get Into?

CS and CSE are sisters. They overlap a lot. But they attract different kids, different applicant pools, and very different admissions dynamics.

First: Where they live matters.

Computer Science, the classic CS degree, is offered almost everywhere. It’s usually in the College of Arts and Sciences. Sometimes it’s a B.A., sometimes a B.S. It leans theoretical. Algorithms. Data structures. Proofs. Abstraction. You’re living in math and software.

Computer Science & Engineering, CSE, usually lives in the College of Engineering. That means physics. Circuits. Sometimes chemistry. Sometimes thermodynamics. Yes, electrons. Not just apps.

At schools like MIT, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, University of Michigan, and University of Washington, CSE or EECS lives inside Engineering. It is not just coding. It is coding plus hardware reality.

Some schools, like UC Davis, offer both. They are basically siblings. Eighty percent overlap. The CSE version just makes you prove you can survive physics and circuits.

CS is currently the hottest major in the country.

It is the default path to high-paying software jobs. So everyone applies. 

The kid who built three apps. The kid who took AP CS A. The kid who did a Python bootcamp. The kid who watched YouTube tutorials and made a calculator.

Because of that, at schools like Berkeley or Carnegie Mellon University, the CS admit rate can be two to three times lower than the university’s overall admit rate. At CMU, the School of Computer Science hovers around single digits, while Engineering is meaningfully higher. Not easy. Just less crowded.

At Berkeley specifically, pure CS now sits in the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. EECS sits in Engineering. Same intellectual power. Different bottleneck. The pure CS track has become a statistical choke point because it avoids the engineering core. Translation: more kids apply there to dodge physics.

CSE often ends up slightly less insane, not because it’s easier, but because the pool is self-selecting. The engineering core scares off the “I just want to build apps” crowd. If you are willing to take calculus-based physics and circuit theory, you shrink your competition pool.

Now, who should pick what?

Choose CS if you love abstraction. If proofs feel satisfying. If you enjoy pure logic. If you want to build AI models, platforms, products, and live almost entirely in software. If you want flexibility to double major in economics, design, psychology, or philosophy without engineering lab requirements swallowing your life.

Choose CSE if you’re the kid who asks, “But how does the CPU actually execute this?” If you like knowing how code hits hardware. If robotics, embedded systems, self-driving cars, or smart devices excite you. If you enjoy physics as much as Python. If you want that engineering designation for certain defense, hardware, or government pathways.

The strategic layer most people miss

If your transcript screams “software kid” and you have zero physics rigor, applying CSE to dodge CS competition will backfire. Engineering colleges expect real math. Real physics. Not vibes.

If you do have the grades in calculus and physics, and you are genuinely comfortable in that space, CSE can be a smart positioning move. You are signaling durability. Admissions officers notice who is willing to take Electricity and Magnetism instead of just React.

At Ivies like Harvard University or Princeton University, you are not admitted by major in the same rigid way as the UCs. But make no mistake: everyone and their mother is “interested in CS.” If you show up with the exact same software profile as 10,000 other kids, you are not differentiated.

How to Choose

Do not choose your major based on what sounds cooler.

Do not choose based on what you think is easier to get into.

Choose based on what classes you are actually willing to suffer through for four years.

If you hate physics, do not sign up for an engineering curriculum because TikTok told you it improves odds.

If you love hardware and systems, do not default to pure CS because it is trendy.

CS is the hottest major. It is crowded. It is competitive. It is a victim of its own success.

CSE is sturdier. Heavier. More physically grounded. Slightly less applicant density, but only advantageous if you can back it up with real STEM strength.

Your job is not to pick the “less scary” option.

Your job is to pick the one that matches your brain, your transcript, and your long-term goals, and then build a profile that actually proves you belong there.

If you’re not sure which bucket you’re in, that’s exactly the kind of thing we strategize early, before you accidentally become another “default CS applicant” in a pile of 20,000.