<p>Figure I'd post and help out any of the first years with any questions they have about their freshman year as an engineer at UCSB :) Anything else related to the Engineering Honor's Program or the Regent's Scholarship I can answer as well. Oh and Greek life too! aha</p>
<p>I’m going to be a frosh in the fall, same major as you.</p>
<p>How rigorous is the first year? What was your GPA, if you don’t mind my asking? Is it possible to have a 3.5+ as I would like to study abroad either soph or junior year.</p>
<p>Well, it is much more work than high school was for me, that’s for sure. How rigorous a class depends a lot on the teacher to be honest. When I took physics 1, we had a very difficult teacher. The people who took physics 1 the next quarter had it super easy and I kid you not, a question on one of their tests asked “1000 meters is equivalent to…” and had answers like 1km 10km 10000cm etc. But I am thankful I had the teacher I had now that it is over since I have a good understanding of all the material.</p>
<p>As for my GPA, I have a 3.86. A 3.5 is definitely doable no matter how much other stuff you are involved with on the side. I was part of a club and pledged a fraternity along with school and it’s all doable:)</p>
<p>Studying abroad would be cool. I guarantee you that you can pull it off. Things progressively get harder, but winds up being manageable.</p>
<p>beamers, don’t give up on the idea of studying abroad since many people report it was one of the most meaningful experiences they had in college. And you’ll probably never get another chance to spend 3-6 mos or more living overseas.</p>
<p>I say all that because the curriculum in engineering is tightly structured. Perhaps sophomore year would be better because many of the required classes are still generic math and science and you may be able to replace some or all of them; you’ll probably have a harder time doing that with junior level classes in your major. But don’t be surprised if study abroad puts you on a 5-year plan. Here is a link to the curriculum [Computer</a> Engineering | Four Year Course Plan](<a href=“http://www.ce.ucsb.edu/undergrad/curriculum/plan/]Computer”>http://www.ce.ucsb.edu/undergrad/curriculum/plan/) I suggest you meet up with a dept advisor as soon as you show up in the Fall to map out how you can best do this. Or maybe finishing in 4 is not important to you; after all, who wants to rush thru UCSB ;)</p>
<p>I’ll admit up front I’m not an expert on this, just wanted to raise the issue.</p>