I’m currently a high school senior with the option to attend either UCLA or Cal for Computer Science (not Computer Engineering or EECS). I know that Berkeley’s CS program is ranked much higher than UCLA’s, but I also know that choosing a more prestigious program won’t necessarily make or break the amount of success I have in my career. That being said, I would like to clear up some rumors I’ve heard about UCLA’s CS program:
Is it true that there is little flexibility course selection and language usage? Do you feel that this has had a negative impact on your learning experience?
Objectively, how difficult is CS at UCLA? Is there time for me to enjoy my life as a CS student?
Is it possible/feasible to balance greek life with pursuit of a CS degree?
I've heard that startup culture is lacking at UCLA. What options exist for those interested in entrepreneurship?
How is the job/internship market as a CS student at UCLA?
If you chose UCLA over Cal, would you make the same decision again?
Ignoring academics, I feel like I would enjoy UCLA more than I would Cal. While I certainly care about getting good grades (I’m a valedictorian of my class), having a strong social life is just as important to me. Based on what I’ve heard, UCLA is significantly more balanced in that regard. As far as location is concerned, I’m a valley native, but I don’t have that desire to leave my hometown that many people seem to have; I love Los Angeles and I could definitely see myself staying local.
As I’m sure you can see, this will be a very tough decision for me to make, but I would immensely appreciate any help in one way or another to help me inch closer to my final choice.
The CS department is kind of small and thus there isn't a huge variety of courses to take, but you learn all of the essential topics that you'll need in the real world. Since UCLA is a quarter system school, I think that you might actually be able to explore more areas of CS compared to Berkeley since you get to take more classes over here. Overall, I think you'll get an excellent education in CS at UCLA
CS is arguably one of the hardest things to major in at UCLA. However, different people perceive difficulty in CS differently. I like CS, and thus I don't have too much trouble with the projects and I like my classes. Some of my friends don't like it and have a lot of trouble with the projects and the classes. That being said, every single CS major I know (even the ones with exceptionally high GPAs) has a social life and has the time to socialize if they want to. Greek life is very time consuming especially when you're pledging, but it's definitely possible to be a CS major in a frat/sorority. It will probably take time away from classes though, so it's not recommended. CS will be a huge time commitment at both schools, and joining greek life will be possible at both schools, so I wouldn't worry about this too much.
The startup culture in LA isn't as big as it is near Berkeley, but there's still A LOT of startups in LA. Like a loooooot. There are plenty of ways to get involved with startups, and there's even things like startup fairs that UCLA organizations hold so you can network with startups. Do keep in mind though that the UCLA CS curriculum is very theory based so you'll need to learn web/app development on your own time
First year students have trouble getting internships, after that getting internships isn't that hard, and almost everyone gets a job after graduating. You will be prepared for the real world after graduating from UCLA.
Rejected from EECS so it doesn't apply to me, but quite a few of my Cal friends are sort of getting overwhelmed with CS there and would probably been happier here.
It's true, but they cover everything you need to be a good computer scientist. And it's really your own effort to be a good programmer/developer. So course selection isn't really a problem. Language should never be a concern to you. You can easily pickup any language. C++ taught here should give you a solid foundation if you don't know anything yet. Personally, I picked up R, Java and Python for data mining, which I'm not sure if it's offered as a class but I just want to do anyhow. Lots of CS people know Python and Java or maybe Objective C here for their own interests.
I would say EE is the most difficult program here and CS is also up there, not far behind. And I believe this is because being smart helps in CS more than in EE, where you just need to be more experienced. And a lot of CS students come in to UCLA with lots of programming experience already. This being said, if you are smart and most importantly, have good logic, you will definitely have a social life. In fact, many engineers have the craziest social life you will ever see. However, a certain portion of CS chose not to socialize because they enjoy something else. Some of them develop their android/iPhone apps, some of them contribute to some open source projects, or maybe play League of Legends semi-professionally, things like that. CS students here are very active, just not everyone is active socially. This is true for all engineering schools I believe.
I would say it has nothing with the school, but more about the locations. Los Angeles, especially the west side isn't really a nice place for startups since everything is so expensive. But lots of opportunities are out there. Lots of. Personally, I don't think you should think about startups at this stage. Just learn the skills you will need and be prepared. When opportunities come, you can then decide for yourself.
UCLA's CS program has a great name in the industry. Being a UCLA CS student will definitely get an opportunity to show what you got to the employers. After that, it's really up to how well you know the stuffs and how much you satisfy the job/internship's qualifications. Pretty much anyone who wants to do an internship gets one. The job market for CS is very hot and UCLA is a target for many top tech companies.
I was accepted to Berkeley's EECS and UCLA's EE. So my reasoning might not apply to you because one of the reason I chose UCLA was that I didn't want to do any CS. However, CS here at UCLA is so great that I decided to change my major. If you are in EECS at Cal, you will be pushed to the limit and it's extremely competitive. But the CS program isn't as difficult. (Not that CS at Cal is easy, it's just the EECS program is way too competitive. Also Cal's CS isn't in the school of engineering so...) The workload should be comparable at both school's CS program (definitely not for EECS). So I would recommend the campus that you find yourself most fit.
Also a side note:
My friends went to Cal’s CS, and keeps complaining to me about the lack of good food around the area.