<p>I'm considering applying to SCU, and my major is Computer Science. How good is SCU's computer science program compared to UC's like UC Berkeley, San Diego, Davis, and Santa Barbara?</p>
<p>Hey TheNexus,</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the quality of the programs at the other schools; I’m a math/computer science major here at SCU. The CS department is contained within Arts & Sciences, though the Computer Science & Engineering major is contained within, well, the Engineering department. I have ample experience within the CS dept and within the Engr school, so I could speak to both of those.</p>
<p>The Engineering School is pretty darn well organized, and the career placement (speaking from a personal point of view) is always good, though it will be for any engineering major. If you like projects and products, as opposed to math and algorithms, this will be the logical choice. Also ABET-accredited, if that means anything to you.</p>
<p>The CS department is a subset of the Mathematics department, which is (in my opinion) a gem. Course offerings are somewhat limited, but the faculty are great, and the math/computer science double is easily achieved even with the heavy core structure, simply because of overlapping course requirements. My plug is always for the CS department when it can be made – I feel I have coding ‘intuition’ a lot of my CS&E peers don’t, and that I chalk up to heavier focus on theory – but I won’t argue the pragmatism and job orientation of the engineering route. Not ABET-accredited.</p>
<p>Anything in particular you have questions about? Berkeley, San Diego, Davis, and Santa Barbara are all likely just as strong, if not stronger (to be frank). But your education is what you make of it anywhere, so don’t let that decide anything.</p>