<p>How competitive is it to get into the grad school at berkeley for CS? I am an MCB major thinking of minoring in CS and want to see what my options are after graduating. Being able to go to grad school for either MCB or CS would definitely be a plus just so I have the option. The counselors told me I'd be a "competitive" applicant for the CS grad program with a CS minor but I'm taking that advice with a grain of salt. It would be helpful to hear about some people who got into the CS graduate program at Berkeley and their credentials. Also does it help that my minor would be from Berkeley itself if I'm going to try and apply to the graduate program at Berkeley?</p>
<p>When they said that, they meant that you fulfill the necessary academic qualifications - hence you are competitive in the sense that you are “in the competition,” as opposed to being immediately thrown out. </p>
<p>However, this is a tough situation, because I’d actually argue that it would be very, very difficult to keep both MCB (med school?) and CS grad school options open, since doing extensive research is even more important than a high GPA, and it’s going to be quite difficult to have extensive experience in the type of research/extracurriculars that get people into med school, and the research that get people into CS grad school. The only exception I can think of is bioinformatics, but that won’t necessarily get you into med school - maybe bio grad school.</p>
<p>It really is in your best interest to focus on one of those areas…</p>
<p>EECS has a web page on the subject of your question:
[Prerequisites</a> for Applying to UC Berkeley | EECS at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Gradadm/Prerequisites.htm]Prerequisites”>Graduate Research Program Admissions | EECS at UC Berkeley)</p>
<p>You may want to check if other CS/EECS/ECE departments in other universities have similar web pages that you can read.</p>
<p>I’ve read the webpage many times. It’s pretty general. </p>
<p>Let me explain a bit more. I’m not actually not looking into med school but just a PHD program. Research experience for MCB is not as issue for me as I do have a lot of that (about 4 years now) so I’m confident that I won’t need any more to change my chances of getting into a grad school. Right now I’m just finishing up my MCB degree but I’m finding that I only have 3 more classes to take and the rest I can fill with whatever I want so I figure I pick up a minor. I’m currently taking cs61A and find it REALLY interesting so I’m highly considering the minor now since I have the time. </p>
<p>So that’s where I’m at right now. Sort of coasting at the end of my college days trying to figure out what I want to do after I graduate so I want to have as many option as I can. I was thinking of going for the cs minor and trying to find some CS experience next summer to see how it goes. I’m still interested in hearing about the competitiveness of getting into a CS grad school with just a minor. Perhaps bioinformatics would be a good stepping stone for me to crossover from bio experience into CS experience like you mentioned. I’ve thought about it before. Maybe I’ll give that a shot</p>
<p>I don’t have grad school experience, obviously, but I don’t think you would be able to get into any good CS PhD program with just a CS minor - even though you fulfill the academic qualifications. Not sure about Masters programs - but then again, you’ll have to pay tuition for that.</p>
<p>I know people who did their undergrad in non-STEM majors at Stanford who ended up doing a masters in CS at Stanford (which is a top CS school if I remember correctly). Yes you can go to grad school in a degree that wasn’t your undergrad degree. It might be harder but not impossible. In fact some colleges might encourage it since you bring a different way of thinking that may help you solve problems previously unsolved.</p>
<p>I agree it won’t be easy to get into a grad school program for cs with only a minor when compared to a person who has a bachelors. But I feel like since the CS major lets you choose a total of 4 electives out of the 6 upper div CS courses you need, someone with a minor can be just as well trained, if not more, in a specific field depending on what classes they took. For example if you are applying for a program in computer security, maybe someone with a CS major never chose to take the computer security course while someone with a CS minor did. But you do gain more skill from taking more CS classes I can’t ignore that either. </p>
<p>On a side note I know someone who majored in MCB at berkeley but went to grad school at Cornell for business so this idea isn’t impossible like the person above me mentioned. But what would I need to keep my option open for CS grad school then? Would I need some godly experience or just some experience would suffice?</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh yea actually I was referring to an MS for CS as opposed to a PHD. Sorry I didn’t make that clear. Essentially what I’d want to be doing by going to grad school for CS (if i chose to) is to give myself a degree of some sort to substitute for my lack of a bachelor degree in the field.</p>
<p>^Oh I never said it was impossible! In fact I was kinda saying the opposite lol.</p>
<p>Look at the EECS website and they give a list of some useful courses for CS grad school and make sure you take some of them?</p>
<p>Also there are some neat computational Bio and Bioinformatics classes in the BioE department that could help you if you decide to get a grad degree in CS and then you’ll have a focus within CS for your thesis and stuff?</p>
<p>^Oh I know you weren’t saying it was impossible. I guess I worded my sentence poorly but I was agreeing with you in response to the person who posted above you lol.</p>
<p>Thats actually a really good idea to have my thesis focus on bioinformatics. One of my current instructors for 61A is doing his EECS MS thesis in a bio related subject. I was just reading the requirements for an MS again and the part about a research project thesis made me uneasy since I’d have less experience in CS than most but your idea is great! It put me at ease because I’m really confortable with bio research. Incorporating it with CS would be awesome. </p>
<p>Yea I looked at the list of recommended classes. I would plan to take a few of those. Unfortunately the ones I really find interesting are not on that list =/ and also the minor only requires 3 upper divs (unfortunately I don’t have time to do anymore or I would) and the list is of 4 classes. I suppose I’ll ask the counselor and see what classes she recommends for my best shot at getting into grad school while also fulfilling my interest. It does also say to take courses that would be geared more towards your research.</p>
<p>Actually, an MS is quite doable. I was under the assumption that you wanted to get a PhD, which is obviously hard to get. But, for example, Stanford’s Masters program is notorious for being easier to get into than undergrad.</p>
<p>Really? Whys that? You give me hope…haha</p>
<p>
You remember correctly that Stanford is a top-CS school. However, only for their PhD program. Their Master’s program is relatively easy to get into, many people jokingly refer to it as the “you pay, you go” program. No financial aid whatsoever is offered, you’ll have to pay the 40k/year yourself. It has a not-so-great reputation in both the industry and grad school admission offices. Part of the reason is also the whole Honor’s Co-op thing they have going on, where people get exactly the same Stanford CS MS degree through distance learning, without even needing to be on campus for the exams.</p>
<p>I am not trying to bash Stanford here. Their CS PhD program is top, but their Master’s doesn’t have a good reputation. Note that Stanford also offers a Master’s with focus on research option, which, again, has a decent reputation.</p>
<p>A little on topic to the op, Berkeley doesn’t admit many Master’s student in CS. Most of the people are part of the 5-year Master’s program, I’m not sure if you are eligible for that if you are not an CS or EECS major. Both the PhD and the MS from Berkeley have a top reputation.</p>
<p>^I wouldn’t be eligible for the 5 year program. When you say Berkeley doesn’t admit many Masters students are you referring to the masters only program? ([Degree</a> Options Explained | EECS at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Gradadm/degreesexplained.htm]Degree”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Gradadm/degreesexplained.htm))</p>
<p>I guess where I stand it’ll be hard to keep options open for CS with only a minor. I was really hoping Berkeleys MS program was an option. Are there any other MS programs that are well known and a possibility?</p>
<p>Eh… Stanford’s Masters CS reputation is very high, as high as you can get (i.e. along with Berkeley, MIT, CMU). When I made the comment that Stanford Masters is easier than Stanford undergrad, I was speaking in relative terms.</p>
<p>If you told a layman you got your masters in EE or CS at Stanford, he/she will most likely be impressed by you. Obviously it may not be the same for some person in industry and/or academia, but event then I feel ANY person who saw two applicants with the same GPA and work experience and one did a MS from some random tier 2 or tier 3 university and the other from Stanford will still see the Stanford one in a more positive light.</p>
<p>That’s my opinion anyway.</p>
<p>@terenc I understood you were saying that. I was responding to what Thomas said.</p>
<p>But in any case, any masters would be better than a minor. So I guess I do have viable options. What is you guys advice on getting cs experience?</p>
<p>
Yes, I was referring to the research-oriented Master’s program. Berkeley is mainly looking for PhD students, that’s the reason they are not admitting many people to that program. Berkeley now (I think since this or last year), has another CS Master’s (Master of Engineering (M.Eng)) that’s significantly easier to get into.</p>
<p>
Sure, if you are talking to a random person on the street they will be impressed, but if you actually talk to people who matter (admission offices and big names in the industry) they will know that it’s mainly a cash cow for Stanford. Yes, in relative terms it’s still a good program, but doesn’t even come close to the “average Stanford-level” program in terms of reputation. And it doesn’t come close to Berkeley’s, MITs or CMU’s CS Masters programs either, all of which are research oriented (Stanford’s is not), offer financial aid (Stanford does not), and are much more difficult to get into. As a comparison, Berkeley’s MS acceptance rate is ~4%, Stanford’s is 20%! That’s why every third person in Silicon Valley with a bit of money is running around with a Stanford MSCS ;)</p>
<p>^ thanks for the info. I actually browsed over the Masters of Engineering description because I thought it was more geared towards EE. What have you heard/is your opinion the M.Eng program? The description of it seems like more of what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>I don’t think so. A Stanford MS is still looked favorably upon in the industry. Your statements are prone to exaggerating the facts, in my opinion. It is certainly less selective, but that does not tarnish the reputation. In fact, Berkeley and Stanford roughly admit the same # of MS CS students, but Stanford simply has less applicants.</p>
<p>At this point it is hard for us to back up our claims with anything other than anecdotes. It is up to outside observers to make up their own mind about the worth of Stanford’s MS.</p>
<p>^ I understand that. Forgive me if I sound as if I’m swaying towards one side or the other on this Stanford thing because I’m not. I simply have no information to go on so I can’t disagree with what either of you two say since I am just a ‘layman’ at the moment to CS schools. I’m just trying to gather peoples opinions so I can, as you said, make up my mind about some schools’ worth (not only Stanford). </p>
<p>So keep the opinions coming. I appreciate them all.</p>