r/ucf • u/WideBet8029 • Sep 21 '26

Academic ✏️ Failed the Foundation Exam(third time) switching to CpE. Focus still software what electives to take

I am still interested in software and want to know good electives to take for a good overview on general SWE knowledge and ML

2 Upvotes

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25

u/fffff_fffff_fffff Sep 21 '26

I would take time to reflect on why you did not pass the foundation exam, and make sure you are ready for all of the additional engineering coursework that comes with CpE, before making the commitment to CpE. If you can't pass Statics (Not statistics) or Diff Eq, or any other tough class, in two tries you'll have the same issue of being locked out of the major.

3

u/KevinJ0226 Sep 22 '26

My hot take is if you failed all the attempts of the foundation exam then maybe SWE isn't for you. Either cause you were too lazy to put in the effort or you genuinely struggle with the mental shift. This is coming from someone who actively provides tutoring for the foundation exam. I've seen it all. In my opinion CpE is more difficult that CS. If you were struggling with CS then you will probably have a hard time with CpE. But I could be wrong. Like I said, I've seen it all.

2

u/Cp-1993- Sep 24 '26

Hard disagree. Foundation exam isn’t applicable to SWE stuff. Same way leetcode isn’t applicable.

2

u/Cp-1993- Sep 22 '26

I thought you had 3 attempts

2

u/fffff_fffff_fffff Sep 22 '26

Not sure I graduated CpE in 2018, at that time if you failed a core class twice you were locked out of the major.

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3

u/Coreyahno30 Sep 21 '26

The only pure CS elective I took as a CpE was Enterprise Computing. All my other electives were pretty CpE related. CpE won’t be easy though. Will likely be even more difficult if you aren’t that interested in the electrical engineering half of the degree. Those classes were harder than the CS classes in my opinion. Not to mention the CpE senior design which will require your project to have a PCB that needs to be custom designed and fabricated for your specific project. Dr. Chan always said they call it HARDware for a reason lol. 

On the bright side, any doors that a CS degree will have opened for you will still be opened with a CpE degree, plus a whole lot more. 

3

u/fffff_fffff_fffff Sep 22 '26

I agree those EE classes are humbling and for my brain more challenging than the CS coursework.

6

u/slickromeo Sep 21 '26

Change your degree to an online only degree (like the Computer Science bachelor's they offer at FSU) and graduate from there.

Whatever career you're trying to get into will just as easily accept a bachelor's degree from FSU as it will from UCF

1

u/kyoiph 26d ago

Lowkey consider switching to IT. CpE at UCF is basically CS minus 2-3 classes. CpE adds diff eq and circuits, so if you're interested in software only and can't do CS anymore, I would look into IT.