Hey everyone!
I visited this site often in 2014 when I transferred into UCSD, and loved when previous students had a thread like this. Just hoping to pay back and help answer any questions people may have for a current student.
Computer Engineering
Muir College
@stevoleeto Thank you for your kindness. I wonder what the differences are between CS in BA and BS.
And I want to ask if you like going UCSD for now! haha it might be a silly question though.
@stevoleeto hi! thank you for offering us help 
just want to know if transfer students are all required to live at The Village? Or are they allowed to live in the college dorms together with the freshmen too?
Thanks for doing this @stevoleeto what were your transfering stats? How are you liking ucsd’s engineering department? My husband’s interested in mechanical.
Along the lines of @stevoleeto 's post, I wanted to know if transfer students can choose to stay in the apartments of the college they’re accepted into instead of the Village.
I applied(cc transfer) in 2015 and I am enrolling in Fall 2016(hopefully). Currently, my GPA is 3.61. Before fall, my GPA was 4.0. I got a C on calculus and a GE class. Otherwise, I got almost all A’s and few pass. My major is economics. Few extra curricular, pretty good personal statement. Igetc will be done by end of the spring. Chance me please!
1
Chance me please.
Major: CS in BS
GPA: 3.95 (one B in physics: mech)
Requirements: missing CSE 15L(Software Tools), CSE 21( Mathematics for Algorithm), and CSE 30 (Computer Organization)
CSE 15L and CSE 21 -> no course articulated in my cc
CSE 30 -> no reason.
EC: hackathon participation, club, volunteer
Essay: did my best.
I am worrying about those three missing requirements.
Would they jeopardize admission?
Really wanna go UCSD!!
I’m also interested in learning about how much the engineering department measures up. It’s hard to visit because we’re at the opposite end of California. I know ucb has a bunch of cool machines and devices, such as a wind turbines, 3-d printers, etc. So I’m curious about ucsd’s too. I’m sure they also have a bunch, but could you share?
@sbrapunzel @Yuanqii i don’t think transfers can live in dorms, although i’m not sure about this. why would you not want to live in the Village?
@sugarbabies3 there are a lot of cool facilities and resources for engineers at ucsd. ofc there are 3d printers (and 3d printed rocket engines) and machine shops all over campus, which your husband’s probably gonna use if he’s studying MAE. there are also lots of cutting-edge research facilities, like the san diego supercomputer center and calit2, as well as stuff like the world’s largest outdoor shake table, some b a d a s s labs, two oceanic research piers, and all kinds of other stuff that i definitely don’t get to see yet. probably the coolest thing i have seen was a lab in SDSC that I got to tour when they were developing this system ( http://www.medicaldaily.com/monitoring-human-brain-real-life-new-neuroimaging-system-allows-scientists-study-369348 ), a room covered in cameras and screens—it’s either that or the StarCAVE in the calit2 building. the engineering campus is also pretty sick, you can google “fallen star ucsd” “bear ucsd” and “vices and virtues ucsd” to see some of the art installations. there are a ton of resources for entrepreneurship and startup incubation, and i’ve also heard that there’s an ocean simulation tank somewhere, though i haven’t found it yet
tl;dr engineering department has cool stuff, 7th best in nation according to us news global rankings
source: bioengineering major, revelle
@groverrohan Not in the dorms, in the apartments. Each college has their own apartments and res halls. It’s a little cheaper not to live at the Village and the Village has less room and doesn’t look all that nice.
@sbrapunzel I think the rules would be the same, but I don’t actually know what the policy is for transfers living in non-Village housing. The only apartments I’ve seen that are nicer than the Village ones are in Revelle and Muir, though that’s personal preference.
Thanks. Muir is my first choice and Marshall is second.
How necessary would you say having a car is? UCSD reps encourage students not to bring one but I’ve heard other students say it’s a lot more difficult to do anything fun.
@sbrapunzel Like around 50% of students, I don’t have a car and still manage. If you bring your car, be ready for
Wow, I guess my email notifications are turned off… this sucks. Anyways I’ll be replying now, sorry!
Looks like another student came in and answered questions so far. Anymore?
I skimmed through, if anyone still has any questions please ask again.
But transfers living on campus MUST live in the Village… haven’t heard of anyone else doing otherwise. I am absolutely in LOVE with the engineering department here on campus. The connections I have made with Post-Docs and Professors have changed my life, even my RA in the village haha.
The campus is loaded with opportunities, if you’re serious about doing big things it’s just a matter of bugging the right person.
I was very lucky as I get with a University Link application (Local area community college student). I had to maintain a 3.0 to get in (came in with a 3.5).
@stevoleeto Thanks for your help. What is the average GPA for CS transfers? Is it hard to transition to UCSD’s computer science courses coming from a CC?
How are the internship opportunities for CSE majors at UCSD? Is it hard to find internships?
Last question, if I got into UCSD undeclared, I understand that to be declared as CS, you have to get high GPAs in those courses (CSE 11, CSE 12, CSE 15L, CSE 20). If I took like 3 of them at my CC, will it be factored in the GPA for transferring to the impacted major? Or only courses taken at UCSD will be counted in the GPA?
@cyan96 The only difficulty I had during the transition was learning the Linux / UNIX command line tools. I went from programming in Visual Studios for everything at my CC, whereas at UCSD the terminal life is everything. I’m now a SSH / VIM programming machine. It seemed like the average CC GPA of my friends were like ~3.6 or 3.7
Internships really depends on the type of person. I was a very moderate go-getter… But I was able to secure a part-time internship on campus with a Post-Doc students startup company.
I don’t know the specifics about trying to get into CS from undeclared. I will say this though… From my perspective it looks like a LOT of people are trying to do this, and the fact that it is so difficult to do would be very alarming to me. If I personally got in for in undeclared and not into CS, I would not choose UCSD. Not worth the stress. If CS is your top choice, go to a school where you got accepted into the program. Now that’s just my opinion and your mileage may vary.
@stevoleeto Thank you for the prompt reply. Appreciate it.