Realistically, how much harder is it to get into CoE CS vs LSA CS? I’m debating whether to apply CoE or LSA. I’m scared I won’t get into CoE but at the same time worried I won’t be able to transfer from LSA. Thoughts appreciated:)
Not knowing anything about you, in terms of stats and whether you’re in-state or OOS, it’s more difficult to be accepted into CoE versus LSA.
There are about 1,400 +/- seats in the freshman CoE class. There are roughly 4,400 seats in the freshman LSA class. The overall acceptance rate to CoE is 19%. The overall acceptance rate to LSA is 25%.
I’ve heard that if you meet the internal UMich transfer requirements of CoE, then your transfer is pretty close to a “sure thing.” Not a sure thing, but close.
If you enter in LSA, entering the LSA CS major just requires a 2.5 GPA in the prerequisite courses:
https://cse.engin.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/06/cslsa_guide_fall_2019.pdf
https://cse.engin.umich.edu/academics/undergraduate/computer-science-lsa/
But changing to CoE requires a 2.5 GPA in a larger set of classes, but that does not assure admission to the CoE:
https://www.engin.umich.edu/admissions/undergrad/cross-campus-students/admissions/
Why bother with trying to transfer to CoE if you enter LSA with the intent to do CS?
I agree with ucbalumnus. Why bother switching unless you really prefer math/chem/physics over humanities as your non-CS classes.
Regardless, transferring is very easy internally
This is just a repost of stats but I also have SAT score now:
In-state Asian male
GPA: UW: 3.89/4.00 W: 4.04/5.00
Rigorous classes: 5 APs: AP World, AP Calc/AB, AP Chem, AP CSP, APUSH
AP Scores: AP World(4), AP Calc/AB(4), AP Chem(4), AP CSP(4), APUSH(5)
AP by year: AP World 10 and rest 11
Level of Rigor compared to peers(1-5): 4
In-state or out of state: In-state
Senior year schedule: Honors Physics, AP Bio, AP Govt, Guided Study, AP Calc/BC, AP Lit
ACT: 33 Composite 35 E 35 M 34 R 29 Sci
*SAT: 1520 - 720 EBRW + 800 Math
School: Excellent Public school
Family: Middle-class in fringe rural setting
ECs:
Varsity Cross Country 9-11
Varsity Track and Field 9-10
Off-season running training 9-11
Varsity Swimming 9
Volunteering club at school 9-11(5Ks, soup kitchen, clean ups, mainly service etc)
Solar Car Club 9
Mentoring elementary kids 9
USNA Summer Stem Program 11
Government-sponsored cultural exchange program China 9
Honors:
NHS 11
League Conference All-Academic Award 9, 10, 11
AP Scholar with Distinction 11
National Merit Commended Scholar
Rural and Small Town Scholar
School applying to: College of Engineering
Intended Major: CS
*No Counselor or teacher recs, essays not finalized
I just want to know if transferring from LSA is a definite as long as I have decent gpa etc freshman/sophomore year. Are there any truly significant differences between cs for LSA and CoE?(E.g. more humanity courses etc at LSA?)
Also, should I submit my act or sat or both?I looked at UMich engineering act and sat stats and their 34 avg ACT seems much higher than their 1440 avg SAT
@Knowsstuff has a son who was an LSA transfer to CoE. Hopefully, he’ll chime in. I know my kid has met a few transfers in her math and science classes over her 1st two years. One is a very good friend.
Here’s the link to the differences in the CS degree from LSA versus CoE:
Thanks for the info!
OK. My ears are a chiming… So your instate and that is a large plus. Your Sat is a 34 Act equivalent. Both are great scores so send both. It will be a plus this year with kids that have none. So I am helping a OOS girl who is torn between engineering and Data science from LSA. Their first year curriculum is similar enough. She has a 1520 and a 1510 and a 34 Act. Her superscore is 1560 (yes Michigan doesn’t officially superscore but they do look at the highs on the tests you send).
She is going through LSA if accepted. Like my son that was looking at Actuary for a minute, once he got on campus he knew it was engineering for him. Everyone takes the basic science, Math etc together anyway.
He applied two weeks before the deadline of Feb 1st for the cross campus transfer to engineering and was accepted on Feb 1st. He still had to finish the core classes but so does everyone even the kids in engineering. You have to write an essay of why (sound familiar).
FYI - don’t let the 2.5 to transfer fool you. It’s hard to get a B at Michigan. You will study like you never did before for that B. Most kids skate through high school. That won’t be the case here.
Thank you very much for your insight! Yeah, I know that if I get into Michigan the classes will be much harder. I’m hoping that I can get a 5 on BC so I have less math classes to get through
In general for college, it is harder to get an A in college than it is to get an A in high school (same for B or C grades). Colleges in general spread 3.0-4.0 HS GPA students across the 2.0-4.0 college GPA range. Michigan has significant grade inflation, according to http://www.gradeinflation.com/Michigan.html , but 3.37 college GPA is lower than the 3.8-4.0 HS GPA that Michigan students had in high school as listed in https://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/factsfigures/freshprof_umaa_fall2015-2019.pdf .
LSA does not have grade inflation right
I would not call a 3.3 avg from 2007 till now grade inflation. Look at Harvard etc where the avg grade is an A…
Again, you will work for your B. Check out Reddit, Quoura etc the like from real students
Compared to 1933? :lol:
Instead of comparing UMich to itself, how about Cal (Berkeley):
https://www.gradeinflation.com/Ucberkeley.html
Or UCLA:
https://www.gradeinflation.com/Ucla.html
Both pretty similar to UMich.
Pick any school at the bottom of the link:
https://www.gradeinflation.com/
Grades in STEM departments, on average, will be lower than non-STEM departments.
Err
. Look above ?.. So many articles talk about Berkeley with Grade Deflation… Lol…
As stated. The OP will work for his grades I think is a sure bet. Call it what you want to.
Yep, interesting, for 2014, the last reporting year on the chart for Cal:
UCLA 3.24
Berkeley 3.29
Michigan 3.33
UCLA has the slightly better argument for deflation.
In general, highly selective colleges do not have grade deflation. Almost all of them have grade inflation, although some have more of it than others do.
Except for UCLA and Berkley ~“You have to work your tail off to get good grades in science classes at the UCs, which are often graded on a curve. A curve means you’re directly competing against the other students in the class. 10% of the class will get A’s, 20% B’s, and so on. No matter how well you perform, if you don’t beat enough of your fellow students, you won’t get an A.”~ Maybe a non issue for COE but for pre med it could be an issue. 3 Reasons Many UC Pre-meds Regret Their College Choice.
Pre-med is always a competitive environment.
Students in grade-sensitive situations, such as pre-meds, may want to look up actual grade distributions to see what they are like, rather than relying on vague comments about “grade deflation”.
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