The receptions can help get an idea of the type of students attending the schools and the academics. For the actual feel of the campus, there is really no substitute for visiting, walking around the campus and the exploring the surrounding area.
UC Davis is surrounded by rural farmland with Sacramento 20 minutes away. UCD is the quintessential small town where both campus and town are highly integrated. Downtown Davis is dominated by biking students, many restaurants and cafes. The campus is large but flat, a wonderful arboretum with walking paths and the prominent biking culture mixed in with the agricultural areas of cows, horses etc… It can get pretty hot in the Summer, Fall/Spring is beautiful and cold/rainy in the winter.
Socially UCD is known to have down to earth, friendly students whom work hard but are collaborative.
UCSD is surrounded by the City of La Jolla, along a beautiful coast. You get the coastal weather with fog/low clouds many times during the year. The campus came be hilly and some say sterile but who could resist access to the coast and the beach. Socially it is known as the University of the Socially Dead since many feel there is a lack of school spirit and everyone is focused on academics and nothing else. I know several people whom have attended and they state your social life is dependent upon you. Plenty of people to meet and do activities with as long as you put yourself out there. When I toured with my sons, I found the students friendly and willing to take time out to answer questions.
Again if you cannot visit, then all you can do is ask plenty of questions at the receptions to get an idea of how your student will fit into the campus. Most students will do fine at any school they attend.
Apologies if this has already been answered. There were comments on a couple of UC campus threads about AP credits toward GE courses. We can dive into each campus website, but is there a summary level comparison about which campuses allow more or less AP credit to be applied to GEs? Davis seems a no, Irvine a yes(?), San Diego varies by College(?), etc.
One of my kids (and consequently I) spent at least a couple of days at each campus (athlete thing) and @Gumbymom pretty much nails it on all counts - particularly the visiting part. For the kid, there was a huge difference in “feel” between the two campuses and definitely would have leaned heavily toward UCD if hadn’t been grabbed their fist choice (an LAC, if that gives you a sense of where their preferences lie).
This honestly makes my mama heart happy given my D’s #1 choice was UCSD but was waitlisted (along with 5 other schools). Davis is one of her only 2 choices and reading this it really seems to be a good fit - it was way down her list of 13 colleges but she has warmed up to it. We will visit on Aggie day and I hope that she totally falls in love with it. Wish us luck:)
With all UC admission result came out, as a parent of 2022 Fall, I want to say I learn a lot from here. Lots of Q&A here. Very helpful. My son got his 2nd choice, and waitlist on 1st choice. I say to him, as long as you work hard, all UC are good. I wish all 2022 Fall kids best of lucky.
Son got into:
o UC Davis - Comp Sci
o UC Santa Cruz - Comp Sci
o UC Santa Barbara - Applied Math
o UC Riverside - BS/MS Comp Sci, Honors
He cannot decide which school/program to select. We are a first time college parent and is unable to provide much help. Anyone here who is familiar with the schools/programs above, would appreciate your inputs. Much thanks!
Have you visited the campuses? Is there a preference to size and location?
Does he want to study computer science or applied Math? If it is CS, then eliminate UCSB.
UCD and UCR’s CS programs are ABET accredited which gives an assurance that a college or university program meets the quality standards of the profession for which that program prepares graduates. ABET accreditation is not necessarily required for CS majors.
Is their specific specialities that your son is interested in pursuing with CS such a AI, Cybersecurity, Game Design etc…? Check the CS programs for available electives in any specialty areas of interest.
All schools will give him a great academic education but what kind of college experience is he looking for in the 4 years when he attends?
Thank you for the quick response. Answers to your questions:
He has not visited the campus but has no preference to size and location. He just wants to go to the school that has the best program.
He prefers Comp Sci but is open to data science or applied math. He is very strong in math in HS took all the AP classes available and done by Junior year.
Is UCSB’s CS program also ABET accredited? He is leaning towards UCSB and will try to get into honors and their double degree program majoring in applied math and comp sci. There’s no assurance he can get into CS though and that’s why he’s looking at UCD and UCSD as possible option.
He’s considering AI I believe or a specialty that is math-heavy if that makes sense. He’s also very interested in research work which is what UCSB seems to also offer.
He plans to pursue a masters degree post graduate so he’s looking for a college that can prepare him best for post graduate school and eventually land him a solid job in the IT industry.
This is interesting. I hadn’t realized that ABET certification is a thing! (English major here.) It looks like UC Santa Cruz didn’t renew their accreditation back in 2015. Is this something you think limits graduates’ options?
UCSB’s CS program is ABET accredited also. All are very good CS programs and all will give him research opportunities.
Although UCSC is not accredited, for CS is is not as important than for some of the other Engineering specialties. Stanford and UCB’s CS programs are not ABET accredited and no one will argue that these programs are not top notch.
If he is looking for a Masters, the UCR program seems the best option since he is already admitted into the program and it will only take 5 years instead of 6 years to get the BS/MS.
All campuses will have some pro’s and con’s and all are in a vastly different geographic location. He will be spending 4 possibly 5 years at these schools so the program alone should not be the only consideration.
For the social aspect and the beach, UCSB.
For the guaranteed grad school, UCR.
For the collaborative and down to earth small town feel, UC Davis.
For the Redwood forest/hiking trails, UCSC.
I highly suggest at visit to at least his top 2 choices before the SIR date.
Also look over the CS curriculum’s to see how each school compares.
There is no wrong option but it is really up to the individual what program fits them best.
ABET accreditation is not vital for a good CS program. It is more important for other Engineering disciplines. As stated in by post to Rico_G, Stanford and UCB’s CS programs are not ABET accredited but they are outstanding in their own right.
UCSC CS appears not to have a GE requirement (except for 1 theme course of the college dorm) and course curriculum is very modern to current trends of Tech . Also appears to have corporate sponsored senior design project.
HS course rigor: 5 AP & 1 CC (AP Comp Sci A (4), AP Comp Sci Prin (5), AP Physics 1 (5), AP CALC A/B, & CALC B/C (pending), and a college Computer Programming class) A-G Reqs: A-2.5, B-4, C-6, D-4, E-3, F-1, G-3.5.
EC’s and major-related job:
– EPP Participation: none
– Work: 21+ hours/wk, related to major
– EC: 11-15 hours/wk (varsity tennis, officer in his school’s Cyber Patriot team, student rep to district’s CTE comp sci pathway, CSF, 120 hours of volunteer work)
RESULTS:
UCB - rejected
UCSB - accepted, but undeclared major to College of Letters and Science
UCSD - waitlisted
UCSC - waitlisted
UC Riverside - waitlisted
He did get into CP SLO and CPP w/ Kellogg Honors College. He’ll be attending SLO which was his #1 for CS. Though many many high stats kids seem to not be getting into SLO this year (rejections aren’t out as I write this), so we feel extremely lucky with that!
After reading above I asked S22, and he said his UCB engineering major isn’t accredited but his acceptances from other colleges are accredited. How do we find out which engineering disciplines should have ABET accreditation, and which don’t need the accreditation?
