We seek help from the group here. My daughter was initially interested in Biology major, but after a few college trips is now showing an interest towards Comp Science. (She is hearing from Med school students about the 2-3 stage they go through to become a doctor, which seems to make her feel reluctant to think about premed at this time). Hence the reason of the thread; since she is wanting to stay open for Computer Science and not fully decided. But she has been passionate about equity and women’s issues, and medicine was her first choice. I would say she is 50:50 on Medicine : Comp Science. She got into Rice, Berkley(as Bio major), USC, WashU and UMich.
To reduce the variables, we were thinking of schools that have reasonable programs in both PreMed / Comp Science tracks. Using this approach, she ruled out WashU. Rice seemed really nice, though the Owl day on 4/8 was below expectations. USC put on quite a show on their USC day. Berkeley tour guide sounded very positive, but the students there brought out the resource challenges, and the highly competitive nature of Comp Science majors in their L&S college.
Seeking feedback about prospects for Computer Science graduates in Rice, if they get good internship and placement? And how difficult is it for Bio declared student in Berkeley to transfer to Computer Science(the weeder courses seemed scary)?
UCB is phasing in some changes to their CS program in the College of Letters and Sciences so at least for this year, Freshman will still need a 3.3 in the pre-req/screening course to declare the major. In general about 50% of the students that try for the secondary admission are admitted into the CS major. Other majors to consider would be Data Science instead of CS which is an easier major declaration.
Students must complete the required prerequsites and attain the GPA required to be admitted to the major.
Students can apply to the major during the semester in which the final technical prerequisites are being completed.
If a student completes equivalent courses to our prerequisite courses (CS 61A, CS 61B, CS 70) at another institution, at least one course must be completed at UC Berkeley to calculate the major application GPA.
Per campus policy, students can retake and earn credit for a class in which they received a grade of D+ or lower. Beginning Spring 2017, prequisite courses which have been retaken will be averaged to calculate the major application GPA (For example: CS 61A = D; CS 61B = A-; CS 61A = A-; CS 70 = A; averaged GPA = 3.1). Attempted courses taken before spring 2017 (and repeated thereafter) will not be averaged into GPA.
Students who entered UC Berkeley before fall 2015 can apply for early declaration if they have ONE prerequisite remaining to complete in the following semester (i.e. currently taking prerequisite #5 and #6, and only need to complete the last prerequisite next semester). Students must achieve a 3.30 GPA in those prerequisites at the end of the semester in order to be admitted via early declaration.
Students who do not meet the minimum prerequisite and GPA requirements for the Computer Science major, may chose to appeal the major declaration decision after they have submitted an initial application to the major. Find our more about the Major Declaration Appeal Process.
It is actually non-competitive, but it is not necessarily easy to get into L&S CS. A 3.3 GPA in CS 61A, 61B, 70 is needed. These courses are not graded on a curve (i.e. non-competitively), but about half of students have historically earned B+ or higher grades in those courses.
Pre-med is a four year competitive process to earn a very high GPA (probably 3.7+), score highly on the MCAT in one sitting, and do all of the usual pre-med extracurriculars. Probably only about 25-40% of frosh pre-meds apply to medical school, and only 40% of those who apply will get admitted (70% of them to only one medical school) and then have to take it (and $400,000 of costs / debt) or leave it. Colleges with pre-med committees will advise those with lower chance not to apply, so that those whom they do encourage to apply have a higher admission rate.
My daughter is a student at Rice, and while she is not a CS major, many of her friends are. I would say based on what she has told me, CS majors do not have a difficult time finding internships/work. In fact, she’s a little jealous in that regard of some of her CS friends.
Pre med can be any major of course and while schools should put their best foot forward on their admitted student days, I wouldn’t make a decision solely on their execution.
Different schools. Different living environments. Different levels of sports and Greek. Maybe different chances of changing majors.
What’s her hot buttons ? Weather. Size? Greek or not ? Sports ? Money (cost)?
Here’s the Rice outcome reports.
In my mind it’s most prestigious on your list, highly rated in CS and in a great city for jobs.
Your daughter has really great options! (I’m a University of Michigan grad and my husband is a Rice grad - and our daughter is a junior at Rice in Mechanical Engineering.) My guess is that if your daughter is unsure of what she wants to study (why do we expect 18 year olds to know?), somewhere that provides the most flexibility is a better fit. Rice doesn’t require major declaration until late sophomore year.
My daughter took the intro CS course - she had visions of grandeur in double majoring in ME and CS or EE. But she didn’t much care for it - not the topic but the professor and the large course put her off I think. (And it was her very first college A-!)
Thanks for sharing the information. Owl day was very low key, we did not get to see rich student body, premed advisors or study groups but students moving around alone or max 2 kids together. We were expecting more life at the campus although we did meet interesting bright students. For WashU, she feels it might be very competitive for premed culture and not good for computers.
Check with USC to make sure she can do comp sci. I know that it’s not impacted for students admitted to Viterbi, but she may not be able to switch into Viterbi if she did not directly apply there.
Daughter is a Junior EE/CS and has had paid internships in CS since her freshman summer (2020). While that may have been somewhat unusual for freshman year, it seems standard for sophomore year on. Top companies throughout the US. So there is no concern about being able to get CS internships and jobs from Rice.
The real upside to Rice in your situation may be that your student will be able to pursue whatever she chooses at Rice and change her mind without needing to jump through any hoops or over any hurdles. That may or may not be the same at the other schools you list (I have no idea), but it is absolutely true at Rice.
As to your student’s experience on 4/8, I can’t really speak to that. When my daughter did her visit in 2019, she had never visited Rice and it was not a school she was really considering. The visit completely changed her mind and made it clear that Rice was exactly what she was looking for - engaged, happy, friendly students who were very serious about their education and other interests, but also looking to enjoy their four years of college. That date was shortly after Beer Bike (an annual event with a lot of student engagement and fun/parties) so perhaps the students were catching up and taking it easy that week. Total guess on my part, so take that with a grain of salt.
Rice is a great college but it is, as many smaller schools are, important that it is the right fit for your student. My son, current HS senior, did not even consider it because it was not the right vibe for him (interested in engineering but wants a more laid-back student population). It seems like Rice is the outlier compared to Cal, USC, and UMich, which have more in common with each other than with Rice. We are from California and Cal/USC are very different from one another, but not as much as they are different from Rice. So definitely also consider what type of college experience your daughter is looking for. Good luck!
Getting into medical school nowadays is no easy feat. Even from top colleges like the ones your D is considering. While she can major in anything, note that getting top grades will be essential. For non-ORMs the target should be 3.7 with MCAT of 514. If she is ORM then shoot for higher.
Med school admissions committee members don’t make any special adjustments for ‘hard’ majors or colleges with grade deflation. I know that CS majors have some of the most stringent grading requirements, so I would check. It sounds like your D is intelligent, but being CS at Berkley and getting a 3.7 overall sounds like it would be difficult.