Choosing a school for computer science - UCLA, UCSD, Cal Poly, UCSB

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

I have been accepted into all of these programs (UCSB w/ regents), and am only waiting on a decision from UCB. But considering how difficult admission there is, I decided I should just start thinking about it sooner rather than later. Aside from UCLA, I haven’t visited any of these schools yet. For my goals, I am mostly just focused on getting a good job out of graduation, so help with career stuff and lots of internship opportunities are very important to me.

UCLA - good program, most grads get good jobs out of graduation, no problem with grad school either, good research opportunities, and seems like a nice place to live, the people here seem very outgoing, good environment to learn and live in, but has normal problems w/ big research university (big classes, little individual attention), visited

UCSB - regents which might help a lot with getting classes, as well as a pretty decent $6k / year, good program (though maybe not quite as good as the other schools on the list), the area is beautiful, of course it is a pretty fun school too

Cal Poly - students are really trained for jobs, have little problems obtaining great positions and internships, a bit smaller learning environment compared to the UC’s (smaller class sizes), more focus on undergrad education, the area really appeals to me (even though I have not visited yet), the biggest problems are the difficulties associated w/ changing majors, as well less generally more difficult acceptance into grad school

UCSD - great program (on par w/ UCLA’s), so same ease with finding jobs and grad school, beautiful and a nice place to live, but pretty scared of the idea that it isn’t such a social school, supposedly it is a commuter school for many people

I am not really considering finances (it is basically the same for each school), so given that, what should I consider about each of these schools when choosing one? Also, what should I be looking for on my visits?

2

I was torn between UCSD and UCSB personally. You listed four amazing schools, each with a respectable CS department. I would really try to visit each campus, and spend extra time checking out the CS department / labs. UCSD is far from being “antisocial”. Although it won’t be the “party-school” you’ve always dreamed of. I’ve had nothing but amazing professors, and awesome opportunities. I’ve been here for only a year and I’m already involved in research and an internship. Every company you can think of that would hire CS is always on campus. My room is full of random goodies from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and everyone else.

As someone who choose UCSD… I’d recommend it. Good luck deciding, I know it’s one hell of a choice to make.

3

There’s a commuter school, and there’s a commuter school. There’s a big difference between a school where most students live at home with their families, and where most students commute because they live off campus. I would argue that most students live either on campus or near campus. Yes, many students move off campus, but they usually live in the apartment complexes or townhouses near campus. Some students commute from further away, but still rent houses or apartments with friends (or live on their own). Some students do commute from home with their parents, but this is far from the norm.

Students who live in off-campus housing are much different than students who go home every night and live with their parents. It’s much more common to have parties in off campus housing near UCSD and in places on campus like I house. Many students also go to clubs and bars. There are definitely parties, but they won’t be the crazy covering the whole campus parties that you might have seen elsewhere. You can also do things besides drinking and partying. There are always things to do.

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@baktrax‌ Hi there!! So I am a super outdoorsy, adventurous, fun, easygoing, chill person, but I do like to learn and don’t really like to party. I am drawn to UCSB because of the liveliness, surrounding beauty, the outdoorsy vibe and excursions, along with the reputation of more opportunities for getting involved, and better learning experience. I am drawn to UCSD because it is less of a party school, it is near San Diego so I could easily go off campus and find something to do, and UCSD has a great science ranking (my major is physiology and neuroscience)… What’s your thoughts?

5

I was never a big outdoorsy person, but I know many people who did many outdoors activities throughout the year, if that is your cup of tea. There are many cool places to hike around the area, and there are lots of kayaking trips and beach activities (surfing, snorkeling, etc) that students participate in. You can look at https://recreation.ucsd.edu/outback-adventures.html to get an idea of some of the opportunities there are for outdoor activities through the school, but of course, there are many things you can do on your own. I knew a few students who went on the Wilderness Orientations for new students and they loved it.

In terms of the reputation for more opportunities to get involved and better learning experience, I can’t comment on that for UCSB because I don’t know what opportunities or reputation you’re talking about. What kinds of opportunities are you looking for? And what makes you say that UCSB has better learning experiences?

I think at the end of the day, any college is going to be what you make of it. Both schools probably have lots of opportunities, and it’s up to you to find and take advantage of them.

6

Perhaps looking at the outcome will help with the decision.

http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014/best-schools-by-major/computer-science

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@Yomama12‌ how accurate is that, though? I have looked at it many times, but it does not seem to tell the whole story. Their method of data collection isn’t that good, and also it doesn’t factor in things like differences in income due to location (it’s not a coincidence all the top schools are those heavily recruited by Silicon Valley companies).

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@biofio You are absolutely right that data from any one source may not be completely reliable or have biases (such as location) that need to be taken into consideration. But these graphs have interesting information and put enough of them together and you could make some assumptions about different schools and how industry views their programs.

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/alumni-network-2/