Hi! Davis is one of my top choice out of the UCs, I just like the atmosphere and it’s far enough from home. I’m most likely applying for CS. I know CS is impacted at pretty much every school lately but I just have a few questions. Just how competitive is it? Compared to other UCs? What’s the course load like? I’ve already looked at the info page for CS but I just want some personal opinions.
^^ yES same anyone that would like to chime in about this please do, it would be much appreciated
The top tier and second tier UCs all have nationally ranked (Top 40) CS programs depending on what ranking you are looking at.
Just have a backup plan and apply broadly to various schools, including CSU’s and or private colleges.
Davis is a really good school and has a great CS program but, it is also really selective for both freshmen and transfers. As @ucbuscalum notes above, you gotta have a viable plan B. There are lots of places to get a good CS education so, keep an open mind and keep several doors open.
I know of a kid for this coming Fall, was accepted by UCI for computers, but rejected by all UC’s, CPSLO, and SJSU. We are still trying to figure that one out. The bottom line is apply broadly and also apply to safety schools that you will surely get into…
OP and @UCBUScalum:
Cal PolySLO’s CS major acceptance rate is around 5-6%. SJSU’s CS major acceptance rate is around 25% for 2017, while UCI’s CS acceptance rate was 36% for 2017. I am sure the numbers will be even lower for 2018
@Gumbymom Thanks. Sometimes perception can be very deceiving. I just naturally and wrongfully thought that UCI, being a much higher ranked/regarded school than SJSU, UCI’s CS would be more difficult to get into than SJSU. I guess SJSU, being located in the middle of Silicone Valley, makes the SJSU program very competitive.
@UCBUSCalum: ^^^ Exactly this and since SJSU is a Cal State just like SLO, many parents and students discount the strength of their programs.
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I think of CS as my go-to major at the moment. But because I’m not a particularly strong applicant (good grades but that’s it) and CS is one of the most competitive majors out there, I am also exploring many other majors that I am equally interested in like pharmacy, biochemistry, data science, business, I’m in the process of making a solid plan B that I will still enjoy.
One thing to note about the UCs - each UC and perhaps some of the CSUs has their own set of holistic criteria that is different than the others. It might have been in the past that it was a transitive acceptance process ie if you got accepted to say UCB you would be accepted by everyone else, but clearly not the case anymore. In my kid’s case he got accepted by UCB, UCD and UCSB but waitlisted by UCI and UCSD, and took the L for UCLA. All for CS.
@Gumbymom wow, how did you get the info for CPSLO’s CS acceptance rate? I’ve been looking for “acceptances by major” for each UC and some CSUs but I’ve only been able to find UCI’s and UCSC’s.
SLO publishes their projected target enrollments each year:
https://ir.calpoly.edu/content/publications_reports/targets/index
I was accepted at UC Davis, but ended up accepting an offer from SLO after being taken off the waitlist. I had a 4.7 OA GPA with a 34 ACT and was my school’s salutatorian. Out of all of my friends, most were in the top 20 of the school, I was the only one to be accepted to SLO and one of two to be accepted to Davis. Both had very tough entry criteria.
There is my limited admissions insights, here’s my rationale behind my final decision: in reviewing both schools CS curricula, I preferred the more ‘hands-on’ learning experience that SLO offers as opposed to Davis’s, and the typical trend among UC’s, more theory based learning style. It also seems that SLO prefers students immediately jump into their majors, with most GE’s for CS students in Senior year, while Davis, like most UC’s, had students complete most GE’s before starting the majority of their degree classes.
Hope this helps.