I want to major in CS and I can’t decide between UCSB or UCSD. Unfortunately, both is not an option because I’m already applying to 6 other schools and the UCs aren’t going to be that high on my priority list since they’ll both be reach schools for me. UCSD seems to be showing some interest in me, but I’ve heard that UCSB has a higher quality of education. Thoughts?
Both UCSD and UCSB provide a very high quality of education, especially in a well established field like CS.
Some differences:
- CS is a capped major at UCSD
- There is a BS or BA option in CS at UCSD
- CS major doesn’t appear to be capped at UCSB, however declaration of your intent to major in CS is required at time of application, indicating that Admissions may monitor/throttle the number of acceptances
Good luck
If you’re OOS and need fin aid, don’t bother. You won’t get enough aid.
Both use the same application, so applying to both versus one is a matter of just paying the extra application fee.
If you are not a California resident, be aware of the cost and the absence of financial aid.
CS is ultra-competitive at all UCs. UCSD is admitting CS hopefuls as Undeclared with a plan to do a lottery later for those with GPAs at 3.3 or better. I have seen estimates that only 10% will get in to the major. UCSB reportedly accepted only 6% of their applicants to CS this year. Kids with outstanding stats were rejected. Best advice is to apply very broadly and if OOS, find other schools where CS is not so impacted.
@PadreDeTres Thank you for the information! I’m probably not going to apply anyway because of the whole financial aid situation.
Yes, applying broadly makes sense because patterns of admissions don’t make sense. My son was accepted to UCSB with Regents for Computer Science, but was accepted Undeclared to UCSD.