<p>45 quarter units nearly completed, 3.7 GPA
Comp Sci major
almost no IGETC completed (only English 1A, math, and phys. science)
most prereqs completed
basically no extracurriculars</p>
<p>I really want to go to UCSD for CS so is it a good idea to TAG in case I don't get in normally? What are my chances for the normal application? I'm hesitant to TAG UCSD because of the IGETC requirement.</p>
<p>Youll be fine. Complete igetc by end of spring 2014. Keep good gpa above 3.5 after end of fall 2013. Tag ucsd. I did but im going to ucla</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation, I’m a CS major but my GPA currently is 3.44 and I really want to go to UCSD. If I get straight A’s till the end of fall I could have a 3.69 GPA. </p>
<p>The IGETC is making me wonder too; I am also hesitant of TAG because of the IGETC environment (I would have to squeeze in a lot in the Fall and the Spring). </p>
<p>However, for me I feel like in order to get in, it’s a very good idea to do TAG as long as I get to the 3.5 GPA.</p>
<p>You already have a 3.7 GPA but maybe its TAG to be safe anyway. I say you should TAG just incase but wait… exactly how many courses do you have left for IGETC and I assume you are applying for Fall 2014?</p>
<p>Yes, Fall 2014. I have 8 more IGETC courses to take, but also 3 more major requirements and a lot of “recommended” classes. If I do IGETC I’m going to have to give up those recommended classes which could hurt my application for all the UCs.</p>
<p>Since you’re a CS major: are you taking Java/Assembly classes?</p>
<p>I will be done with 3 programming classes completed by the time I transfer (Intro to Object Oriented Design: Java, Programming Methods: Java, and Java Data Structures)</p>
<p>Which are you taking?
Which are those “3 more major requirements”? and
Which are the “recommended” classes?</p>
<p>Isn’t TAG for ucsd ending in fall of 2014 and don’t you have to carry a 3.75?
You may want to check before you commit.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about transferring to UCSD for CS you may want to expand your search. My wife is an older student getting her CSE degree there now and is very unhappy. We are looking for other colleges. I went to Cal Poly SLO as a engineering major and the difference in classes between the schools is like night and day. At UCSD you will be in classes that are normally 200-300 people all the time. The TAs for the assembly class decided while my wife was taking the class that they would not do hand grading of assignments and that their robot would do all the grading. This is a bit of a norm for the CSE classes - you are graded by robots - literally. You can get 99.8 percent of a program correct but have some small format error and then receive only 10-20% of the points for the assignment. Plus you then get no feedback as to what was wrong - just a printout of the tests it didn’t pass so you don’t really know what was even wrong or how to improve. Even more, you don’t get any feedback on important topics like efficiency or better way you could of coded because they just don’t care. </p>
<p>This applies to classes beyond CSE as well - I don’t think my wife has had a class yet with less than 200 students. The professors do not grade their own papers but hire other students at minimum wage - who you will never get to meet or talk to. This is compared to when I was at Cal Poly - the professors all graded their student’s work, classes were usually only 30-40 students and you always got to know your professors. Cal Poly did this at 1/3 of the tuition fees.</p>
<p>Community college teaches better - at least there the class size is limited, you know the professor etc. Frankly the community college professors were way better as many of them taught as an aside to working in industry, so they gave students what they really needed to for success later in a coding career. Few of the UCSD faculty have any kind of experience outside of academia. </p>
<p>The school and campus life is cold and unfriendly. So much more to write about why you should look elsewhere. . . Just don’t have the time to write it.</p>
<p>@ concer</p>
<p>It’s lower division coursework; don’t expect anything different from pretty much any other UC.</p>
<p>If you want a world-class education with small class sizes, go to Harvey Mudd. :P</p>
<p>^^^Completely agree with concer. The classes are huge. My dd’s friends attend because that’s the only UC they were admitted to. They acknowledge that the social atmosphere is horrible.<br>
When my husband went there, Roger Revelle greeted each new class of graduates. The professors actually cared and graded their papers; invited students to dinners, etc.<br>
People are so into the “prestige” factor that they try so hard to get in and then realize that the academics are tough, but the people are even tougher.</p>
<p>@aunt bea</p>
<p>Yes, UC San Diego will be ending it’s TAG soon. Fall 2014 will be their last offering. No - you do not need a 3.7, only a 3.5 to be admitted as a TAG transfer.</p>