<p>Does anyone know the difference between the two program, they're pretty much the same thing in my opinion. So my questions are:</p>
<p>-Why CS is so damn competitive?
-With more funding to uw engineering department, do you think CS program will admit more students into their program? if yes, what is the expected admission percentage for Upper-division?
-If you were given a choice, which program would you choose?</p>
<p><em>I'm currently a UW Seattle student with 3.9 GPA seriously considering CSS, because i'm afraid of getting rejected from CS; if you're got accepted to either one of the program can you post your stats while applying for the major, thank you</em></p>
<p>1) It’s the best CS program in Washington state at the biggest public university in Washington state
2) With increased funding, they made like 100 more slots within the program available or something. Only a fraction of them were undergraduate slots (30 or something). There was an article about it in the Daily last year.
3) I would probably choose CS because of the “name brand” associated with the department, plus it very likely has superior faculty. However, I’m seriously considering CSS if I exhaust my options and am still unable to be admitted to the major.</p>
<p>Agreed with everything Kuni said. The only reason you would choose CSS over CS is if Bothell gave you a full ride or for some reason you absolutely can’t attend the Seattle campus. UWS’ CS is recognized by the industry and the likes of Google and Microsoft. </p>
<p>I spent my freshman year at the Bothell campus and I didn’t like it very much. It felt too small and secluded for me. I prefer a large campus in the heart of a prominent urban city since you get to meet a greater variety of people and there’s much more opportunities available and things to experience. The teaching quality that I experienced at Bothell as a whole was subpar and less rigorous compared to my experiences at Seattle. </p>
<p>Their CSS 162 class (equivalent to CSE 143) was a joke. When I compared the lecture slides from both classes, CSE 143 was more comprehensive. Even though this was only one class, it made an impression on me. However, CSS is very similar to CS, and the major itself doesn’t appear to be bad as I know some people who are doing well for themselves. It may not be as good as Seattle’s CS, but I don’t think it’s terrible.</p>
<p>With a 3.68 cumulative GPA, CS rejected me while CSS accepted me. However I turned it down in favor of staying in Seattle and majoring in Informatics. If you’re deadset on programming and software engineering, then go with CSS. I’m not particularly in love with programming and I’m open to exploring/working on other aspects of the tech field, so I didn’t want to go to Bothell and be locked out of Seattle (it’s very difficult to transfer from a four year university to UW Seattle, even from a different campus) if my interests changed.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys. I also prefer bigger campus at Seattle and I still can’t believe how much I learn from CSE 142. I just found out that the acceptance rate was about 14% last year that matches my stats (without factor in the extra funding to the department). The best news I had all summer.</p>
<p>As far as file extensions go, CS = C# and CSS = Cascading Style Sheets. :P</p>
<p>More seriously, I don’t know too much about the Bothell CSS program but I am a member of the CS dept at UW Seattle, and overall it’s pretty damn awesome. It’s nationally recognized and there are a ton of opportunities available. I’m not saying you can’t go far with a CSS degree; it’s just that it’s probably easier with a CS degree.</p>
<p>So you should apply and see what happens. I should note that performing well in CSE 143 (top 10% well) puts you on the Accelerated Admission path. If you don’t get in through this, then you still have a good chance for the regular admissions cycle.</p>
<p>This is essentially what happened to me. I took CSE 143 once, didn’t do so well, and then retook it. The second time I took it I poured every ounce of effort I had into the class, and I was in the top 10%. They didn’t accept me through Accelerated Admissions because of the retake, but they told me I had a strong chance during regular admissions (at which point I was indeed accepted).</p>
<p>Edit: I tell my own admissions story mainly to illustrate that you don’t have to be a picture-perfect applicant. Past mistakes can be atoned for and all that jazz.</p>
<p>@sumzup Do the top 10% people usually get a 4.0 ? I will be taking CSE 143 and Math 126 this upcoming quarter which will start in a few days. Any tip to succeed in those classes? (everyone tell me that the two combination is a suicide mission)</p>
<p>Top 10% is the 3.8 to 4.0 range. So you can imagine how few 4.0s are awarded. To get into this range, you’re basically allowed one screwup, whether it be several points on an assignment or a major question on the final. 90% in the class guarantees a 3.5 (could be curved slightly higher depending on class performance, but never lower).</p>
<p>I took the equivalent of Math 126 through Running Start, so I don’t know what it’s like at UW. However, I can give you some general advice which will ensure that you win in both classes. If you do tons of practice questions, you will be forced to understand the material, which will ultimately make you do well on assignments and exams.</p>
<p>For Math 126, you might want to get the solutions manual so that you can practice on odd-numbered questions and see whether you’re right (or use cramster). </p>
<p>My standard routine to prepare for exams was to spam Practice-It and do as many questions as I could. I find that this is an effective technique for learning.</p>
<p>Office hours are helpful, too, although I’m sorry to say that I didn’t take as much advantage of them as I should have.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for shedding some light on this issue. @sumzup haha at the risk of sounding nerdy, i bought a solution book for Math 126 and been practicing some questions for the past few weeks. Anyway, i got 3.9 in CSE 142 but i study a ton for it. I hope i can keep up the good grades in autumn quarter.</p>