<p>I've been admitted to EECS and am looking for people in the program who could answer some questions. Unfortunately I can't make Cal Day which is a problem I'm trying to work around by seeing how else I can learn more. I live locally and can visit the campus next week. (Have already sat in on classes and taken the tour.) Is there a way to get in contact with undergrads in the program? I'm waitlisted at Stanford (not holding out for it) so it's between UCB and USC. I know USC's program isn't as well regarded but I am thinking that with the UCB budget cuts we're looking at 5 yrs at UCB and a struggle for requirements. Also, I'm interested in doing theater tech as an EC and have heard that UCB engineering students have pretty much no chance of EC's. Is that true? Is the great reputation of UCB's CS program worth the Berkeley hassles, and is USC's CS challenging enough in comparison - or would I end up in the same place skill-wise after 4 yrs at either of these schools? Right now my interest is AI.</p>
<p>As an EECS student, EECS at Berkeley is, I feel, a no-brainer here. </p>
<p>I’ve gotten high-paying jobs the beginning of my freshman year (although I had a lot of prior CS experience ), that I wouldn’t have gotten at other universities because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Geographical Location (Berkeley next to silicon valley). This is the main factor that made me choose Berkeley over Cornell, CMU, and Brown.</p></li>
<li><p>Reputation of Berkeley EECS (on par with MIT, really). Berkeley EECS compares more with MIT than it does with USC in terms of prestige, opportunities.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Budget Cuts aren’t bad at all (esp. for engineers). If you are going to have trouble graduating in 4 years, or doing ECs on top of school work, then you probably aren’t cut out for EECS in general, which requires you to be both skilled and passionate in the subject. </p>
<p>Also Engineering majors must graduate within 4 years at Cal.</p>
<p>BUT…as a final caveat. Like I said earlier, you must be really passionate about EECS, such that CS becomes as fun as your non-essential EC’s. You will be competing with many people whose life is EECS and aren’t hindered by humanities ECs.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback - do you know of any student groups I can contact to get more info in lieu of not getting to Cal Day?</p>
<p>Sounds like EC’s are not a high priority for EECS majors.</p>
<p>Try contacting CSUA and HKN. Cal day is actually not that important in terms of actual information. More than anything, it’s a cramped expo. Try emailing a few lower-div professors, and they’ll most likely be enthusiastic to answer any questions you have.</p>
<p>To be honest, the budget cuts aren’t affecting EECS students too much. The department has lots of cash, and course offerings / availability is still decent. ECs won’t be much of a problem, but you just need to be able to finish the extensive list of requirements in 4yr.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s AI group seems to be growing quite well. If that’s your research focus I’d either pick Berkeley or Stanford, and to a lesser extent, MIT.</p>
<p><a href=“mailto:pabbeel@cs.berkeley.edu”>pabbeel@cs.berkeley.edu</a></p>
<p>He’s a new professor at Berkeley, and his research group has made a ton of headway in AI very recently. Shoot him an email…Very affable person. He may help you a bit here.</p>
<p>Berkeley also has a world class Statistics department, so if you’re into machine learning Berkeley seems like the ideal choice. </p>
<p>[Berkeley</a> Statistical Machine Learning](<a href=“http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~statlearning/]Berkeley”>Berkeley Statistical Machine Learning)</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your input. I will try to contact these professors. Also interested in spending more time on campus next week and maybe an overnight visit.</p>
<p>Hmm, I’ve heard CMU’s AI was supposed to be pretty good.</p>
<p>Technically speaking, EECS doesn’t actually require that many units compared to some other majors. There are people who graduate early with it.</p>