@NateandAllisMom When you say closer to home, what part of the state do you live in? And what type of natural science is he interested in?
Some of the UCs look at second choice major and some don’t (ex. UCLA and UCB). UCSD often admits students into their second choice major (or as undeclared). In that case, in order to get into CS, a minimum GPA is required in CS classes and then one enters a lottery to be accepted into the major. I’ve read on this board that it is also extremely difficult to get into CS at UW.
@lkg4answers Thank you for the information. He’s prefers not to go urban (not applying to UCB, UCLA, or UCI, UCR.) Will apply UCSC, UCSB, UCSD, Davis. Originally, he wanted to go to the PNW or out of state. There are a few schools in New England, Oregon, and Colorado left on the list plus U Washington, where I hope he would be admitted second choice major.
We live near UCSB. He’s done really great in bio courses, got a 5 on the AP bio test, and his ECs relate to marine biology and botany, so I guess environmental science / ecology.
Have you been to any of the campuses? You might plan a trip and visit SLO, UCSC and UCD. They all have a very different feel to them. I can share my opinions but I don’t want to take over the 2020 board with discussion about UCs.
@Ikg4answers We did a self tour at UCSC and he liked the campus. According to the program, he is a likely for CS there. We did yet explore UCSD except for watching some videos. I’d love to hear your opinions if you want to PM me. I’m hoping maybe if he doesn’t get into UCSD, UCSB or Davis as CS maybe he will get in as bio instead of just being rejected.
There is a lot of information on CC about CS majors and applying to college. There are even some more updated threads on the topic. I would start your research there. You will find more detailed (and relevant) information if you ask on those threads. A general class thread like this will be limited. (Though you already got some helpful replies.)
@ProfSD I didn’t really get a lot of feedback on my post specifically on admission to second choice majors. I searched that topic first and there weren’t many replies when it was brought up before, so I crashed 2020 thread. Thanks for allowing that everyone.
I’ve asked some podcasters so hopefully will get a little insight there. Big thanks to those who responded above.
How is everyone doing in this unusual start to college? My D is starting her 4th week of remote classes tomorrow. Her professors have been great, she’s involved in some interesting group projects and is working hard! Hope the rest of the class of 2020 is having a good first semester.
DD20 just started her 2nd week of online classes today. There have been a few bumps, but overall she seems happy to finally be underway. Tomorrow she gets to sign up for a move in appointment for the end of Sept. Let’s just hope the move in actually happens.
Things going well for daughter, her latest Covid test came back negative. Her school is doing both weekly surveillance testing as well as wastewater surveillance, no positive cases since 1st week of classes.
Enjoying classes, making friends, and rolling with the unexpected. She had started making plans for next Fall’s semester with one of her professors but the program she was interested in was canceled by the other college that sponsored it (due to lack of funds). They have come up with alternate plan that she is even more excited by, fingers crossed that this works out.
D is doing well. She’s learning to adjust being so far away from home. Mostly she loves the school and professors but admittedly is having a hard time making friends and doesn’t love the online classes. She lives in a quad but her three roommates delayed moving in, so she’s alone which at times is a blessing and at other times really hard. Considering all the challenges this year I feel like she’s done very well. She’s been sick which hasn’t helped (Not Covid). She’s been tested for that often! Just overall hasn’t been feeling well and has managed getting herself to urgent care several times. So she’s learning her way around! In all, I can’t complain. It’s gone a lot better then I had thought it would. She has many days that she says she is happy she picked the school and how exciting things are and those outnumber the “I want to come home” days so I think that’s a great sign! I am happy she’s home for thanksgiving though. It will be a really nice long break.
Everything great so far. 4.5 weeks in, and out of 18,305 Covid tests, Hamilton had its first positive last week (an employee working off-campus). They have truly created a bubble up there. All class years were invited back, and they have both singles and doubles. Dining is open and many classes are in person. Clubs are meeting in the tents outside or through Zoom.
D is getting along great with her roommate, and has met a lot of new people. 3 out of 4 courses are in person, and she is enjoying them so far. The biggest adjustment seems to be the workload.
Fingers crossed they can keep it up until Thanksgiving!
@ProfSD So happy to read your post. I remember that your D was a little concerned about her dorm assignment – what a relief that it’s worked out well. I hope that she continues to have a great semester. My D’s friend will be starting Hamilton in January, so I’ll be sure to let her know the good news.
Thanks. Being in a dorm down the hill isn’t as bad as she thought, and the dorm (Wertimer) is beautiful. She has a HS friend at JMU that had to pack up and head home after the big Covid outbreak. Another at NEU is in a hotel. She’s realized that it’s silly to complain about walking a bit farther to classes.
My daughter is living off campus for her first year of college. She is going to what I call zoom university BUT she said it makes it much better being in the same city as her college. She goes to campus to study, made new friends and loves living with other freshmen who are now all bonded in this unique situation.
My S is doing well at Duke. 3 out of 5 of his classes are in-person. The school tests for covid 2 to 3 times a week, so testing has become the norm for him, and thankfully the positive cases have remained low. He has been on campus since Aug 9th.
He had his first big Chem test this week and didnt do as well as he liked so he reached out to his professor, and they went over what he got wrong and how to do it correctly, and he feels better about it now.
He has made a few friends and even ventures into Durham weekly. He is hopeful that everyone will get to stay on campus for the rest of the semester, and last time I talked to him he was telling me he might join some clubs.(which are currently virtual)
My daughter is home from UNC Wilmington. She moved in on 8/15/20 and moved out on 9/12/20. Due to an increase in Covid the school decided to give kids the option of moving home with a pro-rated refund or moving into a single room. All of her classes have now gone online. She had 3 in person to begin with. She is fine with being home and second guessing if UNC Wilmington is where she wants to be. It’s been a strange beginning for these kids. She is considering transferring to UNC Charlotte next fall which will be much closer to home.
Finally moved DS into his dorm this weekend. They are supposed to be quarantined to campus with a 9pm curfew, but already Saturday night there was a large gathering and many, many curfew/mask/alcohol violations. I heard the school issued a stern warning today that individual students would be sent home if they continued to blatantly refuse to follow the safety protocols set in place. So…we’ll see. Also, the food situation is very bad. My kid would have easily got his money’s worth out of the dining halls in a normal year, but now they just get little “to-go” boxes with not much in them. It makes no sense to me that the meal plan should cost the same as it did when it was all you can eat buffet! My son is a big kid, 6’2" 220 pounds, so he’s pretty frustrated with not getting enough to eat.
My D20 is off to a good start with remote classes. She is enjoying most of them, seems to be managing the workload, connecting with kids via study groups and doing her best to participate in some of the virtual extracurricular activities that are being offered.
We are planning for her to move to Boston for spring semester. If students are not invited back to campus, she and her intended roommate are going to rent an apartment. She did not feel ready to make such a move for this first semester, but now that she’s gotten her feet wet academically, she’s ready to take the next step. I really do hope she will get to have the dorm experience, but if not, this will be a pretty ok second best for her.
