I’m an international student from Asia who applied to both schools and was rejected at UCLA and waitlisted at UCB. I know one factor that definitely made it more difficult for me to gain admission was the fact that applied to both school’s engineering programs with Com Sci as my major (which I understand has an acceptance rate of around 8% for both). With that as a disadvantage already, I was wondering whether me being international also gave me a disadvantage — my school is weird as since it’s an American international school, though my school is located in Asia, some of my peers who applied are in-state, some out-of-state, and some, like me, are international. I just want to figure out what I did wrong. Or I don’t know.
Yes. The Universities of California are funded by the taxpayers of California with their primary responsibility being to educate the residents of California. It is more difficult to get admitted as an international student. It is also more difficult to get admitted to engineering and computer science. These are very popular majors. UCLA and UCB are the most difficult of the Universities of California to get admitted to.
The Universities of California are also very expensive for out of state students. Financial aid is very rare. As an international student if you had gotten accepted you would almost certainly have been full pay.
There are a lot of universities in the US that have very good computer science programs.
@DadTwoGirls Is it more difficult for an international student to get in than an OOS student? Additionally, would it have been a better idea for me to apply undeclared or to Letters and Science and transfer to a CS major when I’m there?
“Is it more difficult for an international student to get in than an OOS student?”
I do not know. I know that it is very difficult either way. The problem with applying undeclared is that I do not think that you are guaranteed to be able to get into the computer science program if you do not start there. If applying as undeclared and then switching to computer science was easy than everyone would do it – CS is a very highly desired major at most schools and at UCB.
Computer science is an area where people really do not care much where you went to university. In most cases I do not even know where someone I work with went to university. Occasionally I find out over lunch or a beer.
Where have you gotten accepted?
For UCB, CS can be done as either EECS in the CoE, or L&S CS in L&S. EECS is direct admit to major, but more competitive for admission. L&S admits undeclared only; students need a 3.3 GPA in three CS courses to get into the L&S CS major. About half of the students in those three CS courses earn B+ or higher grades.
For UCLA, CS is only in the CoE. Those who enroll not directly admitted to the CS major will find it very difficult to get into the CS major there.
@DadTwoGirls I’ve been admitted to Carnegie Mellon (School of Computer Science), University of Michigan (CS in College of Engineering), UCSD (Undeclared), Northeastern (CS and Business), and UBC (Canadian uni, also for CS)
Still waiting on NYU. Has been my dream to go to LA so wanted to apply USC but my parents didn’t let me.
From UCSD undeclared it can be difficult to get into the CS major.
https://cse.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/cse-capped-admissions-program
“I’ve been admitted to Carnegie Mellon (School of Computer Science), University of Michigan (CS in College of Engineering), UCSD (Undeclared), Northeastern (CS and Business), and UBC (Canadian uni, also for CS)”
Wow.
For me this would come down to Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, or maybe UBC. Any of these would be superb. Northeastern is also very good and their coop programs would be a great thing to participate in as a CS major. If you are Canadian then UBC is a bargain, other than the housing costs, and with the weak Canadian dollar it might be relatively affordable in any case.
I would be a bit concerned about going from undeclared to CS at UCSD. If you can get into CS then it is also very good. I suppose that if you can stand sunshine then the weather is not so bad there.
You are in at multiple great universities. I would just forget about UCLA and UCB.
@DadTwoGirls I’m not Canadian, I’m Filipino (but living in Singapore). I did not apply to USC but am starting to have regrets now due to getting rejected from UCLA. Is this CS program there strong? If so, stronger than the ones I’ve gotten into?
Carnegie Mellon SCS is as strong as it gets. USC is not on the same level.
@bouders How about CMU Com Sci vs UCLA or Berkeley Com Sci? I was waitlisted at Berkeley.
In realistic options, what about CMU vs UMich?
@bouders Also, really? I thought USC would be up there due to being in California and close to Silicon Valley. Is CMU CS really that good?
CMU for CS is right there behind MIT.
That said you have great choices and can’t go wrong anywhere.
I would focus on where you have been accepted and forget the rest.
@sushi48: USC is California but about 6 -7 hours away from Silicon Valley. California is a very large state.
@Gumbymom Is USC’s CS Program stronger than UMich?
Also, how is CMU’s CS Program compared to UCLA and UCB?
@sushi48: If you are going by rankings then CMU’s program would be the top followed by UCB and UMich which are all in the top 10. In the top 20 are UCLA and USC.
I like to compare CS curriculum’s between schools and look at their course offerings. Do you have a specific interest in a CS field such as Artifical Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Software etc… then see which school best courses for you interest. There is no bad school out of the bunch but you cannot get any better program than CMU.
@Gumbymom which ranking is this based off? Not really sure about specific areas of CS as of now…was just unsure abt the strength of CMU’s and UMich’s program bc as schools as a whole its lower ranked than the UCs and at times USC.
The other thing I was unsure about was the highly stressful environment of CMU CS vs CS at the UCs or USC — my thinking was that I could get a good CS education at these unis in Cali without being overly stressed while at CMU I might burn out. Again, as I’m international I might be totally off and am just trying to get more info so sorry if I sound stupid.
@sushi48: US News and Forbes have these schools in the top 20 rankings for US universities and CS. CMU is always at or near the top 2.
All the schools will give a great CS education and if that is what you specifically looking for, then concentrate on the CS programs. Overall ranking can help, there are many schools where not every program is considered equal in terms of academics.
CS is not an easy major, so stress is part of being a CS major. How you deal with it in any environment is up to you.
As an International student, I understand that prestige/name recognition will probably help with job opportunities but you need to decide what is best for you. I know of CMS and Michigan and their stellar reputation for CS but they are not my expertise. The UC’s and USC are equally good so it will be up to you to decide the best fit academically/socially and financially.
My younger son went a Cal State and is doing great as a CS major. Name may mean more for you as an International student, but CS is a highly marketable major so what you do with opportunities you are given at any school will make you successful not just the name.