I am currently attending a California community college and am not sure what to do as my next step. I am a computer science major and would like to transfer to a UC. My issue is that many of the UCs have a set of required major prep for admission to their engineering school which I do not have done. I applied to a few UCs for fall of next year as a computer science major in the letters and science schools, where I do have the major prep done, but I am not sure if it would be better for me to take another year at this CC and finish the required major prep and apply to the engineering school.
My dilemma is that I am already on my third year here and taking the other courses would just set me back another year. I think I would be able to complete the courses and still maintain the 60-89 units so I would still be able to transfer with junior standing if that would be best.
I think I would prefer be in the engineering school, but not sure it would be wise to take an additional year here. From what I am reading, I do not think that I will not be able to apply to the letters and science school, complete the prep, and then change to the engineering school since I am a transfer student.
So, would it be better to just go for the letters and science computer science program, or go take another year at this CC and apply to the engineering school? Is there really all that much difference in the subject matter between the two courses?
Also, if I do decide to take another year here, will there be any issue when I attempt to apply next year for the same schools?
Thanks!
Which UCs?
For Berkeley, admission to L&S does not mean admission to the L&S CS major; you need to complete the prerequisites with a high enough GPA to enter the major. See http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning
Admission to EECS means admission to the major, but is probably more competitive. Both majors choose from the same CS courses, and both will prepare you for the usual post-graduation destinations for CS majors. EECS gives you the option of emphasizing EE instead of CS.
You can check other campuses to see what their policies are. But the CS majors in each division should be choosing from the same CS courses.
If all of your course work is from community colleges, you do not have to worry about going past junior standing, since lower division units (including all community college units) are capped at 70 semester units. See http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/uc-transfer-maximum-limitation-policy-chart.pdf .
You could apply now for the non-engineering CS majors; if not admitted, you can complete more prerequisites and apply again next year, including the engineering CS majors.
So, is the only difference between going with the EECS and just CS at Berkeley the EE emphasis? And would there be any difference in receiving a BA in CS over a BS from the engineering school in the future when I am looking for jobs?
EECS and L&S CS majors at Berkeley have numerous minor differences in requirements, but they choose from the same CS courses. With reasonably chosen CS courses, a graduate from either major should be well suited to seek work in the computer field.
The main difference in employment would be if one wants to go into patent law or otherwise take the patent exam, which requires that a CS graduate have either an ABET-accredited degree (which EECS but not L&S CS is) or include sufficient non-CS science courses as listed in the prerequisites to the patent exam.