Berkeley CS (L&S vs. COE) vs CMU -- confused!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Soo, I got accepted to L&S... which is apparently easier than COE to get into originally. I'm out of state (I can't find the acceptance rate for out of state in L&S.. apparently it's not that bad cuz I saw a lot of people out of state also got into L&S). </p>

<p>I don't really like hardware and like...drives and all that sort of stuff, but I do like math and physics, so I went for L&S versus COE w/out really researching it. </p>

<p>But now, I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if it was a mistake or not to apply to L&S. Like I said, I don't like drives and wires and all that, but I REALLY dislike social studies and history and all that. Like, moreso than the wires and engineering, which I might just be able to get into (it's a love/hate feeling). Also, while I hate all these other things, I'm in love with CS, like, majorly. I would want to get a masters/Ph. D in it (which is the reason why I applied to Berkeley, it's graduate program -which I just found out is in EECS- is #1 along w/Carnegie, MIT, and Stanford). From the website which TOTALLY CONFUSES ME, I think it said you can only get a masters (not the 5 yr. one) if you have a BS?</p>

<p>Should I stick with L&S (and work really hard and attempt to be one of those 50% that end up w/CS) or try to petition for a switch to COE (which I found out you could do if you [possibly] f-ed up like I did).. or just go to Carnegie's SCS (I got rejected from MIT and waitlisted at Stanford).</p>

<p>If I could talk to any current CS student, whether in COE or L&S, it would reallyyyyyy be helpful. Like, a lot.</p>

2

<p>Personally, I would wait what happens on the Stanford waitlist and see if it opens up. If it does, I would take that.</p>

<p>If it doesn't, then I would see if you could switch into the CoE for EECS. If you still can't do that, then I would say that perhaps the better bet is to take Carnegie SCS. That way, you can assure yourself that you will actually be allowed to major in CS, whereas at Berkeley, because of the impactness of majors, it becomes a hit-or-miss thing. </p>

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From the website which TOTALLY CONFUSES ME, I think it said you can only get a masters (not the 5 yr. one) if you have a BS?

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<p>I don't know where you're reading this, but I don't think it is true. Plenty of students, either BA CS or EECS BS, go on to graduate school, either at Berkeley or elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Berkeley currently has a program that it unveiled this year allowing you to receive a Masters in EECS in only 5 years. I would have to go against sakky and advise you to go to Berkeley. While I may not be an actual CS student, and am biased towards Berkeley- I work in the CS department and know a good number of faculty personally and am familiar with the requirements. </p>

<p>Quite frankly, the funding and attention that Berkeley receives due to its proximity to the Silicon Valley makes Berkeley an ideal place to study CS. Both the faculty and job/research opportunities directly benefit from having the big technology firms so close to campus, something which I am sure Carnegie Mellon does not benefit from. Although it is true that there is a certain GPA minimum to enroll in the CS major, this may be misleadsing due to the fact that there aren't any concrete numbers indicating the actual acceptance rate of potential CS majors. Also, CS is the same in the CoE and L&S, the only difference between the elective classes that you take. You can still receive an excellent CS education in the College of Letters and Science while still benefitting from a liberal arts curriculum, something I doubt that Carnegie Mellon can offer you. Also, should you decide against majoring in CS for whatever reason, you have a myriad of excellent engineering majors you can transfer into, along with the #3 ranked (US News) undergraduate business department, and various other world class majors and departments. Whether your interests range from forestry to physics, chances are that Berkeley will provide you with a wide and world-class education in your chosen field of study.</p>

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<p>If you would like me to forward a question to any specific faculty member in the Berkeley CS Department, let me know!</p>

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<p>Nobody is saying that Berkeley isn't a good place to study CS or EECS, if you can get in. But that's a very big 'if', and that's the crux of my argument. He's got a guaranteed slot at CS at CMU. At Berkeley, you just don't know what's going to happen. You might get in, you might not. </p>

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Although it is true that there is a certain GPA minimum to enroll in the CS major, this may be misleadsing due to the fact that there aren't any concrete numbers indicating the actual acceptance rate of potential CS majors

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<p>I don't know, seems pretty concrete to me. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Peer/lowerdivision/admissionsstatistics.html&lt;/a> </p>

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Also, CS is the same in the CoE and L&S, the only difference between the elective classes that you take. You can still receive an excellent CS education in the College of Letters and Science while still benefitting from a liberal arts curriculum,

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<p>The major difference between the 2 is simple. If you get into EECS, then you're in. However, to get into L&S CS, you have to do all the prereqs and THEN try to get in, with no guarantees. Plenty of students complete the prereq work and then try to get into the major and are denied. Plenty of other students don't even try to get in because they do so poorly in the prereqs that they know they won't get in. Let's face it. If you get straight C's or worse in your lower division CS classes as some people do, you know you're not going to get into the major, so there's no point in embarrassing yourself by applying. </p>

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Also, should you decide against majoring in CS for whatever reason, you have a myriad of excellent engineering majors you can transfer into, along with the #3 ranked (US News) undergraduate business department, and various other world class majors and departments.

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<p>Ha! The problem with that is, once again, you don't know if you're going to be able to get into those majors. It doesn't matter if Berkeley has the Haas School if you can't get in. It doesn't matter if Berkeley has a wide bevy of top engineering departments if you can't get into them. </p>

<p>The key problem is that Berkeley does not allow people to freely switch majors. That's why a lot of Berkeley students end up majoring in something they don't really want. That's a problem. If Berkeley didn't have this issue, then I would clearly say that the OP should choose Berkeley over CMU. But it does. It's therefore quite a risk to come to Berkeley hoping to get into CS. You have to respect the risk that you won't get into the major.</p>