<p>My son got into computer science major at penn state university park with $4000 scholarship, UCSC, UC riverside with $5000 scholarship, and Santa Clara university, prescience major at UW, We are CA resident, money is not an issue. He wants to go to UW, but i heard UW CS is very competitive. Please advise. Thanks.</p>
<p>“prescience”??? What is that?</p>
<p>He applied for computer science major, but got into pre sci major in the acceptance package.</p>
<p>I’ve heard many are shut out of the computer science major at UW. I think he needs to ask a lot of questions before he decides to attend UW. I have no idea what pre sci means.</p>
<p>interms of CS program. which one is better: penn state or UCSC or UCR?</p>
<p>All of the schools appear to be respectable for CS.</p>
<p>UCSC and SCU have the local advantage for finding jobs and internships at smaller Silicon Valley computer companies.</p>
<p>I would pick Santa Clara first choice and UCSC second choice</p>
<p>If it was my kid I would pick UCSC (I consider it underrated.) or maybe Santa Clara. I know nothing of Riverside and CS, sorry. UW would be best if money is not an issue excepting the problem of only 1 in 3 getting admitted later on, according to a poster here. Is he the sort that is going to be at the top gpa wise? Will he be happy with an alternate major?
<a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/admissions/not_admitted/”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/admissions/not_admitted/</a></p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions and links. I am grateful! He is smart, good SAT score 2170, but didn’t like to study, GPA is not high. He really wants to go to UW, and promises he will study hard in the college. So we might try one year, if he doesn’t do well, then he will take one year break from school, work for a year, it might wake him up with harsh reality, or go to community college, then transfer to UC computer science program. Can he take one year leave from school, then go back to UW again? Is it possible to transfer into UC computer science programm in Junior year since it is competitive to go in as freshman? </p>
<p>Yes, it is possible to transfer as a junior into CS at a UC (or CSU), but if his GPA is not that high, he may be limited realistically to less selective campuses. Note that even San Jose State transfer applicants to CS needed a 3.50 GPA: <a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html”>http://info.sjsu.edu/static/admission/impaction.html</a> .</p>
<p>Wow. So is it harder to get into CS as a transfer student than as a freshman?</p>
<p>The popularity of majoring in CS has increased tremendously in the last few years, so admission standards for CS majors at both the frosh and transfer levels (and internally within schools) have risen.</p>
<p>It is probably safest to choose a school where he is in the major, or can declare it without any internal admissions barriers.</p>
<p>I think that he should forget about UW and go to a school where he is accepted into the CS major. Turn it around: if he starts actually working and gets great grades there, perhaps he can transfer to UW as a CS major if he still wants to go there so desperately.</p>
<p>It sounds as if the great likelihood is that if he goes to UW with this “pre science” thing he will never get into the CS program. The odds and his personal pattern of behavior are against him.</p>
<p>I see nothing on the UW web site re “prescience.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/academics/related_majors”>http://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/academics/related_majors</a></p>
<p>I assume your son is in at Schreyers PSU. The perks from honors college are huge. There is also tons of research going on and would open up lots of opportunities. I would give it a long look.</p>
<p>He is not in the honor program at PSU. Yes, we don’t know what prescience major means neither… I’ll call school to find out . </p>
<p>I called. I was told prescience means nothing, he can go any major later, I guess it likes undeclared major.</p>