<p>After a plethora of applications, I currently sit with three acceptances and two waitlists. All of these schools are good for computer science, but I'm not really sure which to choose. All of them are very similar in terms of rankings, but which of these schools will provide me with the best job prospects, internships and connections to really get involved in the field?</p>
<p>Accepted:
University of Washington
University of California San Diego
University of Maryland- College Park</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
University of Michigan
University of California Berkeley </p>
<p>Appealing UT Austin, as there was a problem with my application, but I don't know what will happen with that haha.</p>
<p>Essentially, all I really know about these schools is that they are all good for comp sci, but not much else besides that. Anyone with further knowledge about what each department can offer, I sure could use some assistance and insight.</p>
<p>I’ve heard the waitlist has gotten bigger this year, but historically they have had very small waitlists. I’m crossing my fingers, to go to UC Berkeley would be insane. I still got great choices though.</p>
<p>For your three admit schools, are you admitted to the major? Washington in particular is known to be fiercely competitive to get into the CS major if you are not directly admitted to the major. UCSD has announced that the CS major is impacted, so there will be some admissions threshold higher than just being in good standing and passing the prerequisites.</p>
<p>I was not directly admitted into those majors. Is this a large problem? I am OOS, so I don’t want to travel away to a college in which I would be unable to study what I want.</p>
<p>It looks like UMDCP has no special requirements or competitive admission processes to get into the CS major (other than passing the required prerequisite courses), but check with the department to be sure. At Washington and UCSD, you run the risk of not getting into the major even if you pass all of the required prerequisite courses, due to there not being enough capacity in the major to accommodate all students who want to enter it.</p>
<p>I will add a little insight for UW’s CS program, since I have a few friends in (and out) of it: if you don’t get directly admitted into the major, you basically have to kill it freshman year. You’ll definitely want As in all of the CS classes you take and a GPA of at least 3.7. If you’re up for the challenge, though, it really is an excellent program with great surrounding job/internship prospects and an amazing variety of courses. </p>
<p>UCSD and Maryland’s CS programs are held in slightly lower regard, but they’re still both great. Assuming it is equally difficult to get into the CS major at each (and that is probably a very wrong assumption, based on the above posts), I might be tempted to go with UCSD due to the great location, but you’re not going wrong with either in terms of their programs.</p>
<p>Glad to know I have a “good” sort of problem on my hand. All these programs sound great. Obviously if I can go to UC Berkeley I would take that, and my UT Austin situation is most likely going to be rectified as I have been in contact with admissions. The Michigan waitlist is historically quite difficult to get off of, so I won’t be holding my breath.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input. Honestly, considering I reside in Las Vegas, it would be nice to be relatively close to home. Because of that, UCSD and UW are the two choices I am torn against. Then again, I have always thought about transferring into Berkeley. If I am looking into a transfer, would it be better for me to go to UCSD? Would transferring from a UC to another improve my transfer chances, or does it not matter where I go for my previous year?</p>
<p>A combination of Laney College and Diablo Valley College will provide the best coverage of Berkeley lower division CS courses to prepare for junior transfer, according to <a href=“http://www.assist.org”>http://www.assist.org</a> (these are two community colleges not far from Berkeley).</p>
<p>If you want to be sure of being able to major in CS, either Washington or UCSD will be a risk in terms of not being able to get into the CS major. If UMDCP provides assurance that you can major in CS without any additional admission barriers, then it may be the least risky choice, if it is affordable.</p>
<p>Since you are out-of-state, are all of these schools affordable without more debt than the federal direct loans?</p>
<p>Wouldn’t I be able to transfer after one year?</p>
<p>As for financial aid, I was hoping considering my family of three, my widowed mother and my $60k household income would provide us with some good aid. Unfortunately, most of these schools are only giving me around $10,000 per year, which is a lot in debt.</p>
<p>I was thinking that at Berkeley, considering I’m in the bay area, there is a lot of paid internships to help me pay for college loans.</p>
<p>In any case, my situation isn’t dire financially. My family has enough in savings to cover 2 years of my undergrad, and the rest in loans given the aid won’t be too bad, not counting scholarships, internships, extended familiy contributions and so forth.</p>
<p>So because of that, I’m not worried financially. I need advice on other matters at this time.</p>
<p>UCs and most CSUs only admit junior level transfers (i.e. after completion of two years).</p>
<p>Be wary if you need more than the federal direct loan amount ($27,000 over four years) for undergraduate. Note that out-of-state public schools generally come up short on financial aid. UCs are about $50,000 to $55,000 per year out-of-state; the minimum out-of-state net price after financial aid is about $32,000 per year. California community colleges will cost about $7,000 to $8,000 per year in out-of-state tuition and books; add about $7,000 per year for room and board if you live in some place cheap like the BSC co-ops (but most other possible living arrangements will cost more than that), and some extra for personal, transportation, and misc. expenses.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information on transferring. Considering at the end of the day my mother will help me make sure I am financially sound, I will weigh all my options and see where the best place is for me to go. I’m still waiting on an appeal and two wait lists, so in time I will take everything into account and make a good decision.</p>