<p>What would be the better choice for me - applying as a freshman to UCB or transferring after 2 years?</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 on the UC scale, but I'm sure that's not good enough for UCB. I could get into the other UCs, but I'd honestly rather just go to CC and then transfer to UCB to save money. </p>
<p>I want to major in computer science, so I was wondering if it's harder for a freshman or a transfer to succeed in CS. </p>
<p>If you’d rather go to CC to save money, do that. Many people have taken that route in gaining admission to Berkeley.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’ll be much of a difference in regards to difficulty in majoring in computer science if you transferred as opposed to gaining admission to Berkeley straight out of high school, other than possibly having difficulty finding some of the necessary pre-req courses to complete to better prepare yourself after transferring. Many community colleges don’t have some of the comp-sci courses Berkeley wants its comp sci applicants to complete, which can be problematic because you’ll have to take those courses at Berkeley if you gain admission to the school; those courses will be more expensive than CC classes and may be taught by professors who care more about research than teaching.</p>
<p>Still, I think community college is a viable option for you and one worth considering. </p>
<p>If you go to a CC, beware. Stem majors generally take 3-4 years to transfer. Due to fewer classes caused by budget cuts. This results in class conflicts and unable to take some courses. So you may have to stay longer than you wanted. Additionally, not all courses are articulated so you would have to take the class at UCB. Consider this because fin aid runs out after 6 years as an undergrad. </p>
<p>The sense I’m getting is of the 7 prerequisites two are almost always missing, via this UCB two-year plan graph. My daughter’s CC is missing 4, which I think means to be competitive at least those other two should try and get done, although the graph shows paths for many missing, so they are sympathetic.</p>
<p><a href=“Computer Science Bachelor of Arts | EECS at UC Berkeley”>Computer Science Bachelor of Arts | EECS at UC Berkeley;
<p>My question to @ninjex and @cayton, I’m just wondering - I noticed several other related majors with similar prerequisites. Would it be possible to pick one where OP can get more requirements completed, then get into UCB and do the other CS courses and petition in? You do have a year to get requisites completed after you arrive at UCB. The potential prob I might see is it may be hard to get into some of those requisites if you’re not a declared CS major. What do you think?</p>
<p>OP def seems capable of doing the work.</p>
<p>Berkeley admissions are unpredictable. If you’re really set on Cal, you might want to apply as a freshman, and keep the CC route in mind if that doesn’t work out. You may also want to apply to a couple of schools incase a year from now you realize you really do want that freshman dorm experience and such.</p>
<p>CC route is definitely cheaper, but it’s also more stressful. CS is still pretty impacted, it’s hard to get in. Again, no guarantee that you’ll be accepted, regardless of your grades. And most CS classes will not articulate at Cal, so you’ll end up retaking a bunch of classes after transfer. There’s a time crunch here as well, since you’re expected to graduate in 4 (you can petition for 5) semesters… which is a bit tricky if you’re missing the 3 class CS61 series.</p>
<p>You’ll also limit how many upper div classes you get to take. There’s a lot of different choices, but you can only take so many at a time. Transfers tend to take upper div classes only in their last 3 semesters, but those who enter as freshman often start taking them second semester of their sophomore year, or at the very least the start of junior year.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about ninjex’s “3-4 years” comment… I transferred in 2, and I know many others who did as well. Part of that will depend on how much you can handle at a time and how far along you are with math/science/whatever series.</p>
<p>Anyways, what it boils down to is this: There’s a chance you’ll end up at a different UC with either route. CC is definitely cheaper, but you’ll get a bit more out of it if you go the 4-year route right out of high school.</p>
<p>@lindyk8 </p>
<p>It seems feasible, but I’m not sure. It’s not difficult to switch into most majors at Berkeley, but computer science may be an exception.</p>
<p>@failure622
I read this article <a href=“Many California community college students need 4 years to graduate”>http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-college-study-20140701-story.html</a> from another thread on the forum, “CCC Students Averaging 4 years to Graduate - Report”</p>
<p>From personal experience ( I was also a CC kid) a lot of points were accurate even for full time students. Combined with the fact Stem majors typically have more lower divisional classes to take, it can be a lengthy road. This isn’t to say 2 years isn’t possible. Like you said, placement is a large factor, but with continual budget cuts the longer times to transfer is becoming more of a trend. </p>
<p>@lindyk8 </p>
<p>Like Cayton said, it’s possible, I think it would depend how impacted CS is there. I don’t know for CS, but engineering is a set of majors that’s hard to transition into. Additionally, like you said, it might be difficult for op to get courses since they don’t have priority. On the other hand, Since op would be a junior, they would have more priority over a freshman so it could work. </p>