I am currently a community college student looking to transfer in Fall of 2017 majoring in computer science and I am not sure where I would like to transfer. I applied for a few UCs and a CSU to cover all my bases, but, financially, I am not sure if it would be wise to attend a UC over a CSU. I can afford going to a CSU, but with a UC I would have to get some student loans to afford it and stick myself into debt right out of college, which I would rather not do.
So, that brings me to my question, will attending a UC, and sticking myself into debt right out of school, open many more doors than attending a CSU, to the point where I can justify that debt? Will there be any significant differences considering I am a CS major, versus other majors?
Also, when/how will I know if I got accepted to a school?
I am looking into CSU Channel Islands or CSUN for the CSU side of things and whoever accepts me on the UC side. I applied to UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UCLA. In terms of loans I do not think that I will need any loans to attend a CSU, but for a UC I am estimating 30-40k (though I am not too sure on this).
With a CSU I will be able to live at home and continue working so I will be able to afford it. With something like UCB I will have to move away from home, costing more. Also, I would like to continue on to a masters program.
Would you be able to live with your parents at no charge to you if you attend CSUCI or CSUN, versus having to live on or near campus at some other school, and would you receive no financial aid at any of the schools? That seems to be the only way that the cost difference would be that large.
I will be able to live at home with my parents with no charge. And, I believe I will be eligible to receive financial aid regardless of where I go.
redpoodles:
I would really like to go to UCB. I do not have the required courses to enter in the engineering school so I will be doing CS at the L&S school, not sure if that makes a difference. Also, is there any idea on when/how I will be notified if I am accepted or not?
If you can live at home for CSUN or CSUCI, you could likely find a way to live at home for UCLA, as well (just avoid traffic and stay on campus all day). The spirit, the energy, and the opportunities afforded through a major research university (UC) are significantly greater than through a teaching university (CSU). Letting go of your current job to take advantage of opportunities that crop up during your schooling may zero out the cost difference.
If you go while tightly holding on to your current/past comfort level, a teaching college (i.e. CSU) may service you well enough. If you are willing to be open to what comes, UC may end up being a better value in the long run- especially for gaining acceptance to a top-flight graduate program (which you should be able to get paid for, especially if you are American). It will expose you to a different experience and a different mindset in the fellow students, grad students, and professors. Either way you will be satisfied with your education.
UCLA is an option, my only issue is that I will not be able to pursue computer science since I currently do not have all the required courses to get into the engineering school and would go into mathematics instead. Which I am alright with, but I would prefer go into computer science. Also, will the future job opportunities after attending a UC be all that much different than with a CSU background?
ucbalumnus:
I just did the financial aid calculator on UCB and UCD and it looks like it will be closer to 20k, not quite as much as I originally thought. This would be for two years. Will this be any different if I enter into a graduate program after those two years?
Everyone is looking for coders. It depends on your mindset. The architects and project definition gurus often have a research-university education and have worked with professors or companies on projects during their education. You will have a great job either way, and maybe not see a difference in starting salary. The mindset and trajectory may be biased towards more senior contributions from a UC five or ten years out. Or maybe not. Consider that UC professors pass a different gauntlet in hiring and promotion than do the CSU profs.
It also depends whether you throw yourself into college for 2 years, or whether you keep up your current life, and attend college to “check the boxes” over the next two years. I believe there are qualitative differences, but quantitatively, you will never be able to run this to ground.
Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately, but by exposure to enlightened teachers and experiences, leading to a later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things.
It is really up to you. Don’t let anyone talk you into either path!
So first of all, you can go to a top-notch graduate school from either a UC or a CSU. That won’t matter as much. I’m not saying that a UCLA or Berkeley degree can’t be more valuable in graduate admissions ever, but you could easily go to CSUN for undergrad and go to Berkeley or Stanford for grad school.
There’s also a compromise - going to a cheaper CSU, but one of the ones closer to the Valley or more prestigious - like Cal Poly SLO or SFSU. I also agree that if you can live at home and commute to Channel Islands or Northridge, you may be able to live at home and commute to UCLA, USB, UC-Irvine or UC-Riverside, depending on how far/in which direction you live from the other CSU campuses.
If the question is whether it will make a difference in the long run, the answer is there’s really no way to tell. The answer is somewhere between “no” and “maybe.” Some studies have shown that students who could’ve gotten into top-notch schools but went to cheaper, lower-ranked schools for financial reasons did just as well as their peers who went to top schools. On the other hand - as someone who went to a good school for undergrad and an Ivy for grad - there are pretty stark differences in the resources and services that a good, solid school can provide and those that a top, elite school can provide. It also depends on your aspirations. If you wanted to take that CS degree to Wall Street or a prestigious scholarship program or something, I’d say it absolutely matters.
In Silicon Valley top tech firms? I’d say it maybe matters…maybe. I work at a very large, household-name technology company. I’m not going to say that top schools are not overrepresented - I’m sure they are, relative to their representation in the general population. My orientation table was primarily fresh-out-of-college graduates and they primarily cited top schools as their alma maters. However, it’s also true that you’re probably as likely to find an alum from one of our state’s public universities - or, frankly, some other states too - here as you are to find an alum from Stanford or Caltech. (Actually, I think you are more likely to find a WSU or WWU - or Michigan! - alum here than a Caltech alum! So many Michigan alums. So many.) I’ve met people here who have all kinds of undergrad degrees, even when the BA/BS was their terminal degree. One of my friends here even went to a for-profit, although it’s one of the more reputable ones.
I can say with confidence that if you get a graduate degree, your undergrad degree doesn’t matter anymore other than something to chat about at cocktail parties.
But if you go to Berkeley, for instance, and no it doesn’t matter if you get the degree in l & s ( why aren’t you researching these things) you would have supurb recruiting and it would be smarter to work before deciding if you need a MS. You probably don’t unless you are really into research.
One thing to be aware of at Berkeley is that you can apply for EECS or L&S CS. If you are admitted to EECS, you are in the major. If you are admitted to L&S, you still need to complete CS 61A, 61B, 70 with a 3.30 GPA before you can declare the major: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning . Also, because most CCs do not have CS 61A, 61B, 61C, your post-transfer schedule in either EECS or L&S CS would be quite crowded with “catch up” courses, possibly requiring an extra semester.
Be sure to check your other schools to see if missing lower division course work at your local CCs could cause you to need lots of “catch up” courses after transfer to those schools.
There is no universal ordering, with all UC grads doing better than all CSU grads. More of your future, significantly more, depends on what you do in school rather than the name on the diploma. Getting a good gpa to show you learned the material, taking part in student projects and competitions, getting internships (a big key). Do these things and you will be fine. Now there is a bit of circularity here; Google probably recruits more heavily from Cal than from CSUN, but a kid with some relevant experience and a good gpa will at least get a look no matter from where.
Which brings up, to me, a red flag in your posts.
If you can see yourself as satisfied with a BA in Math then my guess is you aren’t doing the things today to build your CS skills. Theory is a part of learning CS, but so is simply spending the time so that you can quickly write small blocks of code, hook up to APIs, use gitHub, use a scripting language. I can almost guarantee you that on any interview you’ll be asked about side projects that you do just for fun, and it sounds like this may not be something you are doing.
Having to take an extra catch-up semester is one of the things that I worry about. I am already a year behind and would rather not be any further behind. From what I am seeing, there is far less catch-up to do if I where to transfer to a CSU like Channel Islands or CSUN.
mikemac:
Not sure what exactly you mean by me not doing the things that I should be doing to build my CS skills. Mathematics has always been a bit of an alternative for me. I really enjoy math and I would not entirely be opposed to majoring in math, its just that I would prefer pursue Computer Science since I enjoy it more.