Thanks. Will explore.
Kind of decided on the computer field. Does not have to be exact CS, other relevant majors will work.
Great, it helps to be local for SJSU. You will want to calculate your impaction index according to the method on this page: Impaction | Admissions
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| A-G Grade Point Average (GPA) | 800 points x A-G Coursework GPA |
| Local Admission Area | 200 points |
| Eligible for Cal State Apply application fee waiver | 40 points |
| Military Status (Active Duty, Veteran, National Guard or Reserves) | 40 points |
| First Generation (Applicant is first generation of their family to earn a four-year college degree) | 40 points |
For programs in the College of Engineering, you also add 400 points x Math GPA.
Then look at the list of impacted majors here, to get a sense of whether your impaction index is in range for each major: Freshmen Impaction Results | Admissions
1 Like
Yes, that’s what I hear from parents whose kids are already in college.
Thanks for the insights. Is there a way to find typical student profiles for CS Majors at UC / CSU? I have heard that the current year’s data will be published by the end of September.
Thanks will look into it. Thoughts on Cyber Security?
Are you looking for schools with strong cybersecurity undergraduate programs?
For UC transfers, try this link but not updated till end of Jan or early Feb for 2022 admits.
Regarding alternate majors, be sure to look into the details as to how technical the major is, and how technical the student prefers it to be. Some of the computer-related majors are mostly business-based and less technical, although similarly named majors may have varying levels of technical versus business emphasis at different colleges. While computer science and the less common software engineering are almost always highly technical majors, other majors may vary significantly in this aspect.
Alternate majors in a different direction (i.e. more math or statistics emphasis) may include math, statistics, data science, operations research, industrial engineering, etc…
For CSU’s, check this link and play around with tabs. This is admission by source school for Freshman and Transfers.
Also CSU’s give priority to local in-service area transfers just like Freshman, so some campuses are very difficult admits due to the priority ie. Cal Poly SLO and SDSU come to mind.
1 Like
I would suggest you consider adding U. of Utah, which would be within budget if you apply by 12/1 to get the WUE rate. I would also suggest looking at Oregon State, though it’s a competitive process to get the WUE rate, rather than automatic as with Utah.
You may also want to consider:
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Iowa State
- Kansas State
- Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
- U. of Central Florida
- U. of Houston (TX)
- U. of Kansas
- U. of Nebraska – Lincoln
- U. of New Mexico
- U. of Texas – Arlington
- U. of Texas – Dallas
- U. of Tulsa (OK)
Seeking suggestions for majors close to Computer Science.
Haven’t read the whole thread, but I didn’t find Cog Sci as a CS-adjacent suggestion. Definitely less technical, but if there is interest in psychology or human behavior, Cog Sci programs combine Psych, Comp Sci, Math, Stats, Neuroscience, & Linguistics. Career options might include Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning or User Interface.
1 Like
Both Utah and Oregon are on the list. Will look at others. Thanks.
2 Likes
Thanks sounds interesting
@sera3 so…what exactly do you want to do? What doors do you hope to have open to you when you finish college? That will help tease out majors.
I’d recommend browsing the “programs” listing at College Navigator: College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics. Here are some possibilities I did from my own browsing session:
- Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects
- Biotechnology
- Computer & Information Sciences
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Game Programming
- Computer Graphics
- Computer Programming
- Computer Systems Analysis
- Computer Systems Networking & Telecommunications
- Cyber/Computer Forensics & Counterterrorism
- Cyber/Electronic Operations & Warfare
- Cybertechnology
- Data Analytics
- Data Science
- Data Visualization
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Geographic Information System & Cartography
- Informatics
- Information Technology
- Linguistics and Computer Science
- Management Information Systems
- Mathematics and Computer Science
- Nanotechnology
- Software Engineering
It isn’t clear WHAT you want out of the college degree.
The Bachelor’s degree to unlock jobs that require one?
The entry into the IT/CS world of jobs?
To achieve some personal project like creating robotic pizza makers?
…
A bachelor’s in cs/it generally gives you the entry into all things cs, from cloud to cyber to gaming to database to etc.
The ranking of the school and proximity to Silicon Valley influences your internships, offers, and such. (E.g. Not absurd to get job offers years early at Berkeley and Stanford because they’re so close.)
…
If you want to penny pinch, that’s not hard, too.
E.g. Go right into a good community college like Orange Coast College for the CS AA FREE!! because of CA’s 2-year free offer, then because it’s one of the best TRANSFER schools, absolutely work your ass off for 4.0s, then take advantage of the UC/etc transfers to get into a high ranked school like UCLA, etc EASIER than applying straight from high school.
This way, you STILL get the great internship and job offers at top schools, BUT only pay 2 years of $$$ top school tuition.
But keep in mind that cs/it can be all self-taught.
Nobody cares if you have the Top degrees if you can prove your skills in person. Tons of people in the industry don’t have one.
All the training for all the major careers/jobs in tech are out there free, online.
Just the first job door after that depends on the performance. CS or related fields seem to be a good choice as interested in programming.