Cognitive Science @ UCSD vs. UCLA

College Majors
1

<p>I've long had an interest in this major...</p>

<p>I've been doing some research on the major and it seems that the undergraduate curriculum at UCSD is more broad/flexible w/ options (specializations), while the curriculum at UCLA seems to be more focused on traditional psychology courses. </p>

<p>I'm interested in User/Usability Experience (UX) for post-college plans: [Info[/url</a>]</p>

<p>I'm trying to decide which school would be the better choice for Cognitive Science if I decide that I want to try this career field. I know that UCSD has a specialization in Human Computer Interaction which appears to be very much relevant to the UX field and the Cognitive Science department also appears to be the largest among all of the UC campuses. The undergraduate course offerings also seem to incorporate a wider array of CogSci's interdisciplinary topics but seem to have more courses for the artificial intelligence aspect, which is my primary interest in the major. UCLA, on the other hand, offers only one course in Artificial Intelligence, CS 161, for its Cognitive Science major, and appears to be more psych centralized (which lies in my interest for the major as well). The UCLA program, however, does have two required fieldwork courses, which basically involves a research apprenticeship or internship at a private company. UCLA does not have it's own Cognitive Science department as instead the major is given by its reputable Psychology Department. </p>

<p>Links:
[url=<a href="http://www.psych.ucla.edu/undergraduate/advising/majors-minors/cogscitransfers%5DUCLA"&gt;http://www.psych.ucla.edu/undergraduate/advising/majors-minors/cogscitransfers]UCLA&lt;/a> Cognitive Science Requirements](<a href="http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2008/12/11/best-careers-2009-usability-experience-specialist.html?PageNr=1%5DInfo%5B/url"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2008/12/11/best-careers-2009-usability-experience-specialist.html?PageNr=1)
UCLA</a> Course Descriptions</p>

<pre><code> UCSD Cognitive Science Requirements
UCSD CogSci Course Descriptions
</code></pre>

<p>Department</a> Rankings</p>

<p>I've considered factors such as school reputation, department rankings, major cirriculum relevance (higher priority) and faculty. Which degree would appear better in the eyes of employers? Would they more likely prioritize curriculum relevance to the job over the school reputation or vice-versa? </p>

<p>Additionally, I haven't been officially accepted into the UCLA major, as I still need to finish some pre-requisites (3-4) to even hope to switch to pre-major status, whereas I was accepted to UCSD as a Cognitive Science major, although I may need to take additional GEs from ERC. </p>

<p>Basically, I'd like to hear any suggestions on which school I should choose for this major.</p>

<p>I would especially appreciate feedback from anyone who may have experience or knowledge in either the UX field or the Cognitive Science program at UCSD or UCLA. Any general comments on making this decision are also welcome. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>What I know about the program at UCLA that it is an interdisciplinary major, as there is not Cog Sci dept at ucla. So you will be taking courses from different depts in the Letters and Science school to complete your major. </p>

<p>I do not know how popular the CogSci major currently is at ucla, but at the time it was a very small group. </p>

<p>Looking at the course requirements, the ucla major seems a little bit on the weak side in terms of science requirements. For Physics they recommend Physics 10, colloquially known by students as “Physics for Poets”, which should tell you what type of physics class it is. You are optionally given the choice to take 1A (engineering/physic majors) or 6A (premed/life-sci). Although it’s only 1 physics class it probably doesn’t matter. Same thing for the Chem and Life Science requirements. </p>

<p>If you are interested in AI/game theory, ucla’s CS department is not strong in that area. CS 161 is the only AI course offered and depending on the professor you will be doing programming assignments in LISP or perhaps C++/Java. UCLA’s math department may offer a few more options in the game/AI area with a more practical approach to it and you may want to look into that. Basically the Program in Computing (PIC) is the Math department’s BA concentration in programming with a more practical/driven programming-based approach. </p>

<p>The Computer Science program is the Engineering School’s BS degree with a more theoretical approach. </p>

<p>Overall, I’ve always had the impression it’s sort of an a la carte major where you can pick and choose what you want to take. If you are mostly interested in AI, I believe UCSD may have more to offer. It also looks like UCSD offers the choice of a BA or BS in CogSci.</p>

3

<p>Yo,
I hope you’re still checking this thread. I’m a student at UCSD. I’m a CS major that is planning to switch to Cog Sci. UCSD’s Cog Sci department is one of the best in the world, seeing as it was the pioneer of the Cognitive Science program. It’s ranked rather highly in neurosciences. There’s a wide range of fields you can specialize in with the CogSci department as well, including, as you said, HCI. You have a lot of flexibility in terms of upper div HCI classes, because you can satisfy a lot of the requirements with CS courses. UCSD has a pretty strong CS program as well, so you’d be learning a good deal of technical problem solving skills.</p>

<p>Anyway, I recommend UCSD for Cog Sci.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

4

<p>I was a cognitive science major in the exact same dilemma: UCLA vs. UCSD. </p>

<p>UCLA undergrad cog sci is interdisciplinary in the truest sense of the word. You take biology courses, psychology courses, neuroscience courses, anthropology courses, philosophy courses, math courses, history courses, etc. It’s truly amazing, and as someone who wants to ultimately focus on philosophy of mind (I’m a phil. minor as well), UCLA was the easy choice for me. UCSD is very, very strong at the graduate level (UCLA doesn’t even have graduate cog sci), but while its undergrad is also very good, it’s not as diverse. In short: The only shortcoming UCLA has is a real lack of computer-based intelligent systems studies. The CS courses just don’t have it. UCSD is much more traditional (historically speaking) about their approach: lots of math, lots of computers, lots of computation and calculation. UCSD does not have an “interdisciplinary” approach (it’s a given these days that cognitive science involves computers and systems building). UCLA has the novel program in spreading this discipline to the biological and neurosciences sciences. UCSD is just not so much about humans as it about computers, and approaches the mind less biologically and more mathematically. This was not the approach I was ultimately interested in, although I’m very optimistic and interested about AI theories and systems. That’s certainly not to say UCSD is “poorer” or anything at all. The dilemma both schools present is actually not so bad, because if you know this is your major, you likely know to which side you lean. </p>

<p>Another reason I chose to do UCLA undergrad is because my biggest priority is getting into UCSD grad school to study with either of the Churchlands or Sejnowski. Trying to accomplish this, my ultimate goal, would be very difficult if I had done undergrad work at UCSD. Their cog sci department is not a place that likes to see the same students again in grad work.</p>

5

<p>Hi. I’m in this exact situation right now and I noticed this thread was started 3 years ago, and I just wanted to know what decision you ended up making and how it’s going for you?
Any regret?</p>