<p>I need to pick 3 University of California campuses for a semester exchange program one of which I will end up at.</p>
<p>I am currently a computer science and computer engineering student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and was accepted to participate in a semester exchange program abroad. </p>
<p>Expenses are definitely something I need to take into consideration as well as somewhere that is both fun and provides an environment in which one can pass thier courses. </p>
<p>Of the UC campuses I can choose from Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. So I have SB in mind for the number one spot as it has the lowest living expenses and sounds like a cool uni too. Other than that Berkeley will be too expensive haha</p>
<p>Note that Berkeley and Merced are on the semester system (two 15 week terms per academic year), while the rest are on the quarter system (three 10 week terms per academic year). If you compare academic year costs, Berkeley is not much more expensive than Santa Barbara (and Santa Barbara’s costs have the * indicating that a mandatory health insurance charge is extra).</p>
<p>In terms of environment, Santa Barbara is on a sunny beach. Santa Cruz is near a beach and some hiking and mountain biking trails, but the water is cold. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Irvine are more urban.</p>
<p>Do you have any criteria besides cost? Do you want rural, suburban or urban? Mountains, beaches or rolling green fields? Do you want to do a lot of sightseeing? Are you into big time sports? California is a BIG state, so pick a university near things that you are interested in seeing. Wherever you go you will have a great experience.</p>
<p>Thanks your responses guys, Merced and Berkley being on semester systems seams to hectic and I’d prefer the shorter terms at other uni’s. Cost is not my only criteria (as I need to find appropriate courses at which ever uni i choose) so in response to your questions I would say that environment Santa Barbara offers is what I’d enjoy most with a nice outdoors. I’m not so big into site seeing.</p>
<p>What type of courses are you looking for? You can find each school’s course catalog on-line.</p>
<p>If you attend one of the quarter system schools, would you attend for one quarter (10 weeks of instruction, 1 set of courses), or two quarters (20 weeks of instruction, 2 sets of courses)?</p>
<p>I’m looking for a computer science, an engineering course and a basic calculus course. I do know about the catalogs the difficulty i am facing in this regard is that i have to find courses that will sufficiently take the place of the second year courses I would take if I didn’t leave and I dont know how to differentiate between first, second and third year courses.</p>
<p>What courses would you take at UCT? Perhaps if you list them and give links to the course catalog descriptions, people may be able to help you find similar courses.</p>
<p>That would be utterly fantastic! I mean for pretty much any UC at this stage haha</p>
<p>I only take three courses in the second semester: </p>
<p>EEE2026S BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING II
Outline: A history of computers and microprocessors; analog and digital systems; sampling and A to D conversion; simple microprocessor systems; introduction to a microcontroller; structured assembler programming; building from components to systems; connecting external devices to the microprocessor; simple control loops.</p>
<p>CSC2002S COMPUTER SCIENCE 2002
Course outline: Mobile application development and interface design. Computer architecture and introduction to assembler programming. Multicore computers. Concurrent programming.</p>
<p>As well as what would be the second half of a the first year calculus course described here:<br>
MAM1000W MATHEMATICS I
Course outline: Differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable, differential equations, partial derivatives, vector geometry, matrix algebra, complex numbers, Taylor series.</p>
First year calculus is Math 1A and 1B (note: H1B is an honors version of 1B). Second year math courses are Math 53 (multivariable calculus) and 54 (linear algebra and differential equations) (H53 and H54 are honors versions).
UCT CSC2002S appears to have no direct equivalent, though CS 61C appears to have the most overlap.
UCT EEE2026S also appears to have no direct equivalent, though EE 40 or 42 appears to be the most similar course in terms of what students at that level would take.
You may want to ask your advisor at UCT to suggest course options; show your advisor the course catalog and course home pages (link in post 2).</p>
<p>Most or all UCs use course numbers 1-99 for courses intended for first and second year students in the major (or students in other majors taking non-major electives), 100-199 for third and fourth year students in the major, and 200-299 for graduate students. This may help you when looking through course catalogs at other UC schools.</p>
<p>Firstly, wow. I’d like to thank you sooo much, the fact you would take the time and effort to help me like this really is very appreciated. </p>
<p>UCT is on a semester system (two terms making up each semester) and while there are many full year courses there are just as many semester long courses too.</p>
<p>One down two to go! And now that I actually understand how the catalogs work I am feeling a lot better about this. Thanks again ucbalumnus!</p>
<p>Because most of the UCs (other than Berkeley and Merced) are on the quarter system, you may have trouble matching up the calculus course, since the typical first year calculus course is divided into three quarter courses instead of two semester courses at the quarter system schools. The topics may also be covered in a different order.</p>
<p>Not sure how much this matters to you, but Berkeley is well regarded for computer science and many other subjects, while Merced is the newest and least selective of the UC campuses, and has not gotten much of a reputation yet.</p>
<p>However, if a course at UCSB or other quarter system school does match up well for your math and other courses, then the school does become a reasonable option from a course standpoint (ask your advisor and/or faculty in those departments at UCT if you are not sure).</p>
<p>It does matter, however I have to provide possible courses for at least three UC’s campus’s so as you said I am researching in case I fail finding courses elsewhere.</p>
<p>What kind of fun are you looking for?
Do you want to be in a college that you can easily visit the surrounding areas or just to concentrate in activities inside the college?</p>
<p>As a Californian, I can tell you a bit about the geography and the reputations of the schools. You seem to be leaning toward UCSB. The school is in a beautiful area by the ocean, a good school, and you also would get that “classic college experience” you desire, in terms of parties, etc. Less than 2 hours north of LA, and 5 hours south of San Francisco, you’d be in a good position to see the state as well. From your posts, I think it would be a good choice.</p>
<p>Berkeley is a great school. It has more of a free-spirited hippie vibe, as does Santa Cruz. I must say that Santa Cruz is in another beautiful area. </p>
<p>Irvine…um… people who go there like it. I personally think the Orange County area is homogeneous and boring. If you’re looking for “experiences” I don’t think you’ll find it the most interesting. </p>
<p>San Diego would be another good choice. It’s probably the closest in feel to Santa Barbara. UCLA is large and … I dunno… a fantastic school but maybe too big? My own personal opinion.</p>