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I'm currently in high school, and have strong interests in robotics engineering and programming. I'm on our school's robotics team, do my own spare projects, and basically do as much as possible to continue to learn more about the subject and programming in general. As I begin to look at colleges to go to, I'd like to know what degree program is the best to enter into a robotics programming career? I'm aware that many get an electrical engineering degree, although I'm not sure how applicable that would be in a programming profession. Also, I've heard, uh, bad things about some C.S. majors, and am not sure if that degree would be useful either (not to bash on C.S. grads, just not sure how great it is in this specific field).

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Not an answer, but you might to take a free on-line robotics class now: udacity.com/cs#373 – JonnyBoats Feb 7 '12 at 6:45
Hi Noah, welcome to Programmers! Unfortunately, career advice like this is off-topic here: we don't know you well enough to tell you what degree you should get. Consider consulting with your guidance counselor (if your school has one), your parents, or your friends, who would all know you well enough to help you make that decision. – user8 Feb 7 '12 at 9:31
You might find my answer to How useful is it to double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science? useful. Oh and real world robotics can be way cooler than anything you can do at home. *8') – Mark Booth Feb 7 '12 at 21:59

closed as off topic by Mark Trapp Feb 7 '12 at 9:30

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With such a specific interest, you want to concentrate less on the name of the degree (Computer Science vs Software Engineering vs CE vs EE vs ...) and more on the actual programs you are applying to. Find schools tha have good programs in robotics, and then find out what department/major is involved in those programs. At one school it chould very well be EE, while at another it could be joint programs between CS and Mech E, etc.

For example, I believe CS at Carnegie Melon is the department that does a lot of the interesting robotics research. At my school (JHU) we specialized in medical robotics, and almost any major project brought in at least 4 departments.

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Thank you! I definitely will consider these factors now (it would have been ignorant of me not to, anyways). I've definitely heard great things about CMU robotics, and I'll do my research on which other schools have good robotics programs, as well. – Noah Feb 7 '12 at 5:44

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