Many community colleges offer a data structures course but a lot of them seem to also require CS 47b to be taken at berkeley. The colleges that I’ve found so far that don’t seem to require 47b in addition are West Valley College and Laney College. However, when I looked up the West Valley course that assist shows as an equivalent course it looks like an intro to C++ course so I am not sure if this is because only the 2016-2017 reqs for assist are available. Laney college is quite far from where I live so I would prefer if there was closer option.
2 questions:
Does anyone know if the course CIST 4A at West Valley truly satisfies CS 61b?
Are there any other colleges which I can find a full equivalent for, preferably online and near cupertino or san jose?
Almost all community colleges, Berkeley either asks you to take a Data Structures class plus a C++ class, or to take a Data Structures class plus take the bridge CS47B class at Berkeley, which is an independent study class consisting of 2 or 3 of the projects you would ordinarily would do in the normal CS61B class. I think Laney and DVC are the only ones where you take one class only.
Some unsolicited advice if you do make it into Berkeley as a CS major: Even if you do fulfill the CS61B requirements elsewhere, I highly suggest that you retake the full class at Berkeley. Do it after you get your 3.3+ qualification, if you must. The CS61B class is arguably the most important class you will take as a CS major, especially if you’re going into software. The class is way more advanced than any CC class you will take.
I see what you are talking about wrt to West Valley. Interesting. If that is the agreement between Berkeley and West Valley, then I’m 99.9999% sure that’s what would fully articulate. Though as mentioned above, you should plan on retaking the class at some point, for your own good.
Keep in mind it’s 2016-2017 articulation. You might want to search out some students up here who took
it in the last year and successfully transferred, and verify its match. No point wasting your time if it no longer matches.
Another point: if the course at Cal is a foundation as @ProfessorPlum168 says, and the most important course in CS, taking it at a CCC could actually work against you because you’re circumventing the Cal course. Media Studies 10, which is offered at a very few CCCs, starting next year will no longer articulate. They want EVERYONE to take the course at Berkeley. Obviously, they see the CCC versions as inferior. Just something to think about.
If I am able to transfer to berkeley I plan on taking CS61b but i want a course that transfers over so I can declare the major after taking CS70 in the summer since I will have CS61a completed at Laney.
https://datastructur.es/ is the UCB CS 61B course website. You can compare it to courses like WVC CIS 4A and others if you are unsure of the official articulation.
If your CC course is fully accepted for CS 61B, an option if you do not want to use up schedule space on retaking CS 61B or 47B would be to self study to follow the course on your own unofficially to ensure full topic coverage.
@jwallsucks you made a good point about being able to declare instantly, but double-verify. I wish they’d get that assist figured out with the correct years. Plus the UC TAG Matrix seems to have disappeared. ?
Do note that the link given is the 61B course as presented by Professor Josh Hug. The presentations between Professors Hug and Hilfinger are very different, just as an FYI. Hilfinger usually doesn’t have any of his course material or exams made public, while Hug hides nothing. You can also see from the grade distributions that the 2 are quite different as well, as well as the emphasis on what tests are worth as opposed to projects.