Computer Science Major
Campus life? Things to do on and off campus?
Strength of CS programs?
I had a similar dilemma for a similar major. I asked around a lot, and here is what I got as a general consensus:
UCI pros
-Very strong CS Program, only UC with an entire department dedicated solely to CS
-LA and SD are no more than two hours away, good for weekend trips
- Weather and location are great
- very very safe campus
- good food in the area
- great eSports and hip hop dancing community, if you’re into that
- closer to the beach than cal poly
- Nice new dorms
UCI Cons
- reputation as a commuter school leads to many going home on weekends
- considered the most socially dead out of the UC system by many, even worse than UCSD
- A lot of people say most of the professors are terrible
- Irvine itself is a very boring city
- The fact that the campus is built in a circle around a park makes classes very far sometimes
- lots of asians, this might not be a problem for most though
- when asking around on other forums, there was about 50/50 people who said they loved it and who said they absolutely hated it.
Cal Poly pros:
- Very strong CS program, learn by doing gives a more practical approach
- highly recruited from, most people get a job without going to grad school
- The campus is very close to nature with lots of outdoors stuff to do
- SLO is a nice small college town with decent food
- Considered laid back, but isn’t socially dead at all
- SLO donut company- 24 hour donut shop with free wifi
- some very nice beaches not too far away
- Same quarter system as the UCs, lots of your friends will also be home when you are too
- Cheaper than the UCs
- When asking on forums, 100% of the people said they enjoyed being there
Cal Poly cons
- Actual Campus food lacks variety and isn’t the best health-wise
- campus architecture is mostly bland except for the gym and some engineering buildings
- No big cities around, so you if you’re a city person you may have trouble adjusting
- very impacted, hard to change your major (probably wont be the case for you because you’re already in engineering)
- Not the best school to go to if you really plan on going to grad school because lack of research focus
Overall, I chose Cal Poly even though I’m not the biggest fan of small towns and more rural life. The sheer amount of positive reviews I got when asking really pushed it over the edge for me. The threads I made can be found here, in case you’re looking for actual student pros and cons:
Cal Poly: https://www.reddit.com/r/CalPoly/comments/4d93g6/do_you_guys_enjoy_being_at_cal_poly/
UCI: https://www.reddit.com/r/UCI/comments/4d96hp/do_you_enjoy_being_at_uci/
Good luck choosing!
@aschwarzz22 nailed it on the head.
A bit of it depends on what you are looking for. If you’re trying to get to Grad School, UCI provides more resources to help you. If you’re trying to get a nice Silicon Valley job without needing to get a masters, Cal Poly all the way. You can still do one or the other, like I know more than a handful of SLO grads going on to do PhDs at Stanford and MIT, and I’ve also met a few Apple engineers from Irvine who I’ll be working with this summer. It’s just that both schools have different focuses.
If you’re thinking about location, then Irvine provides major city entertainment much moreso than SLO. Because of that though, SLO is much more social with itself since people don’t just leave the campus whenever they can, I find it much easier to make friends at SLO because they’re people you’ll run into all the time.
Thanks guys! This is a lot of good info. Cal Poly hands down has the type of education that I’m looking for. However, the only thing holding me back is that I’m not a big fan of college towns and prefer going to school surrounded by a larger city. From what I’ve seen online, their campus doesn’t quite have that wow factor for me, but I am planning to pay a visit very soon. I’m also Asian and am afraid that I might have trouble fitting in, but I have also heard that everyone at Cal Poly is super friendly.
As for Irvine, I am absolutely in love with their campus, and I feel that I would fit in very well with everyone. I am aware that they have a school dedicated to Computer Science, but I don’t really know how behind it is next to Cal Poly’s. Should I go to a school based on how well their CS program is, or how well I am able to fit in into their environnemt? I would have chosen Cal Poly for CS long ago, but I’m not sure how I’ll feel spending my next four years there.
Being comfortable and happy are important if you are attending a school for 4 years. A happy student = successful student. You will get an excellent education at both.
@ITMART, @NLinsanity is Asian and just about to graduate from the Cal Poly CENG. He can give you the scoop. As @Gumbymom said though, happy = successful. After you visit and chat with others in the same situation, go with your gut. You’ll be fine either way.