<p>Would like to know from the current students or alumni, a few things about Computer Engineering at UCSB.</p>
<ul>
<li>How rigor is the major.</li>
<li>How big is the class size.</li>
<li>How is the undergrad teaching</li>
<li>Research opportunities at Undergrad level.</li>
<li>How hard is the grading.</li>
<li>Interdisciplinary activities (Joint research between Biology and computer Engg.)</li>
<li>Job propspects after graduation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Interested in this too… all of my friends who are going to UCSB are doing business.</p>
<p>
very much so. ucsb is usually considered a top 20 engineering school (it’s not, but it has a strong grad school reputation, hence the perception), and they make trying to educate you a top priority</p>
<p>
bigger than HS, smaller than other majors in LD, but in UD the classes are larger than average, but that’s because there arent too many EE/CS courses in the catalog either</p>
<p>
good. so far everyone has been nice and theyre generally available to talk to. the research profs get really ticked off if you bother than outside of email/office hours. in LD, you get a lot of lecturers, and they are all really good if they are SOE or PSOE (that is, employed by the university and not adjuncts) </p>
<p>
no experience, but people say it’s incredibly easy for CS/CE majors to ask for research positions, esp compared to other majors. you have first years doing research stuff lol. for some reason no one asks about it…</p>
<p>
easy in LD…heard UD was a ***** and everyone’s GPA goes down at least a point if they dont have the work ethic</p>
<p>
none. if youre interested in this, you can do a computational bio BA in L&S. CS majors can take a bioinformatics class in UD, but not sure if CEs can do that. </p>
<p>however if youre interested in a social science like soc or psych or geography, some of the CS research at UCSB is into that, so you can find a prof in the CS department that does that kind of research and ask him or her if you can work with him over the summer or something</p>
<p>
good if you go after software. kinda bad if you go after hardware. basically a reflection of the job market, not anything about the quality of the school. but do what you like.</p>
<p>siglio21: Thank you very much for your detailed response. It is very useful.
I am in fix as to whether join UCSB or University of Washington.
I am a California resident. From your response, Now I am leaning more towards
UCSB!</p>
<p>I am 2nd second year computer engineering student, so I can answer some of your questions and share some of my knowledge.</p>
<p>The major is pretty rigorous, as you will find with any engineering major at UCSB. Ou have to go in with an open mind and know that you will have less free time compared to most of your friends and will deal with larger more stressful homework loads. Oh and you will have a lower GPA than you would with a non-engineering major.</p>
<p>Just to give you an idea about half of all engineers switch out of engineering, most within the first two years. You are in the pre-major category first, it is kind of like saying you are really not accepted yet. You have to meet certain requirements. I think it is something like getting a B average (3.0) in 6 lower division courses, a very difficult task for many.</p>
<p>You will star with math classes, they are not too bad. You will also have the writing e series (easy A). As a CE you will take both CS courses and EE courses. CS are easier but do require more logic. If you haven’t programmed, programming you either instantly love it or hate it. Now physics, it is a lot more difficult, get ready to do calculus to derive formulas and spend anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour trying to figure out a problem. But physics 3 and 4 and EE courses our second year are a real beast. By your second year a lot of people will be out of the major or a year behind (if they fail math classes). The weaker individuals will be out so the “average” mark rises. Also all your classes are only for engineers as opposed to your first year. Yes even physics, the engineer’s series is said to be a lot denser and a lot tougher. In these classes everyone is trying to get an A and everyone is smart so getting the A is a real challenge. EE classes (circuits) are real time eaters, be ready to spend hours and hours in lab, and also get ready for the classic “it’s so easy”, from the professor while you are like ***. </p>
<p>Also the ECE 2 series, now those are real filters. It is a series of three classes each offered only once per year, so if you do not pass one you get behind a whole year. And they could have a fail rate as high as 1/3 of students each. Expect your GPA to drop on your second year; this is also when most people try to switch into the Full major. Your third and fourth year is when you really take Computer engineering courses not EE or CS courses</p>
<p>Classes start large from 100 to 300 people, but they narrow down every year, both because people drop off and because you get into your more specialized upper division courses. The teaching style of professors varies but I can make some generalizations. Many of the professors have accents, yes what a surprise, some write stuff so fast you don’t want to blink. A few are a bit arrogant and will make you feel like an idiot if you ask any questions. But most are extremely helpful if you go to office hours or ask questions after class. One thing is clear with all of them, they expect you to really try the problems first and try to teach yourself the more complex material, possibly even make productive study groups.</p>
<p>I have not done any research, but the opportunities are there. That is as much as I can say on that.</p>
<p>Grading, again like I’ve mentioned already, expect grades to be lower than those of people in the arts. The material is tough and many test averages will be 50 % or 60 % but many classes are curved. The average GPA of an engineering student on their firs year is between a 3.0 and a 3.5. that drops by .2 or .3 during the second year, and supposedly rises on the third and fourth year.</p>
<p>The objective of the first two years is to filter out people so you better want to really be an engineer if you don’t want to be one of the ones filtered out. At orientation, look to your right and then at your left, chances are one of them will not be there by the third year. A few of my friends have fallen behind and quite a few people I know dropped off already.</p>
<p>Job prospects, well I haven’t graduated yet, but they seem really good, GO to the career fairs, they only want engineers.</p>
<p>Koolboy: Thanks a lot for your valuable time. Excellent information!
I have programming backgrond (Java Programming) and I have done Calculus BC at HS.
Hope this would help a bit to start with.</p>
<p>what do you mean by “LD” and “UD”?</p>
<p>I think LD: lower division
HD: Higher division courses</p>
<p>Sorry, UD: Upper Division</p>