I’m currently a sophomore applying for Comp Sci in November for the Fall 2021 quarter.
Currently have a 3.9 GPA, and while I’m still waiting on a response from a guidance counselor on transfer course equivalence I think I may still be on track to fulfill the gen-ed requirements by the Winter 2021 quarter.
CMPSC 121 (C++ OOP intro course) - A
EARTH 101 - A
ENGL 15S - A
MATH 140 - A
PSYCH 100 - A
CAS 100A - A
CMPSC 122 (C++ OOP) - A
MATH 141 - A
MATH 220 Matrices(basically introductory Linear Algebra) - B+
PHYS 211 Mechanics - A-
To be taken in fall:
CMPSC 221 (Java with Web)
COMM 100N
KINES 72
MATH 230 (Calc 3)
PHYS 212
(Thinking of adding discrete maths class for the Comp Sci requirements in UCSC)
EC’s were difficult for me first year, partly due to my major in Harrisburg and partly due to COVID. I started an engineering club and our project was based around food delivery robotics. We were able to make headway and were planning on having a physical product by now but due to COVID obviously that had to be put aside for now. Right now I’ve basically stopped club activity as I’ve also been lucky enough to be able to have a web dev internship right now in the summer for a start up based in Cali, which I plan on continuing into the Fall 2020 semester.
Obviously, I’m at a huge disadvantage because I’m not applying from a CCC or CSU(which I totally regret not doing now) but does that mean with my current credentials that its still basically impossible to get accepted? Will being a resident in Cali give me a better shot? I like PSU but I was hoping for a much more productive first year to be able to make a solid project and good connections before I transfer up to University Park(2+2 plan). But like many others right now not able to return to campus, I can’t see much more opportunity for Comp Sci in PSU Harrisburg and am having trouble justifing the extra OOS tuition. I’d rather now stay in-state and focus on internships in the Bay Area.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major indicates that fall 2019 transfer admits to UCSC computer science had middle 50% college GPA of 3.24-3.78 and an admit rate of 46%.
Here is an example of courses to take at a community college to transfer to UCSC for CS: https://www.assist.org/transfer/report/23751249 . If you stay at PSU Harrisburg, try to take as many courses similar to the listed UCSC courses as you can. If you transfer to a California community college this year (should cost much less than PSU Harrisburg), use https://www.assist.org to check course equivalency (for equivalency by major, you may need to try past years if the current year does not have it).
You probably want to take the following if you stay at PSU Harrisburg:
(apparently similar to UCSC CMPE 12 and 12L)
CMPSC 312 — COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE (3)
CMPSC 313 — ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING (3)
(apparently similar to UCSC CMPE 16)
CMPSC 360 — DISCRETE MATHEMATICS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE (3)
if you’re not going to be able to return to campus, why not enroll at a CA CC? If you complete 30 transferable semester units at a CCC this year you’ll be considered a CCC transfer, and you just have to have the 30 by the end of next spring (not when you apply). You’d also save a lot on the OOS tuition compared to another year at Penn State when you’re not even on campus there.
Also given your great GPA it looks like you’d qualify for TAG if you go to a CCC this year, which guarantees admission to 6 UC campuses. Davis is one of the six and you don’t qualify for TAG there since they require attendance at a CCC the spring before you apply, but the rest do not. Including UCSC. Take a look at the overview at https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf and then go to the campuses you are considering for the particular rules they use.
This is really great advice thank you so much for your help. I’m currently thinking about taking a gap semester to pursue some internship and research work and depending on how that goes transferring completely to a CCC and finishing out the rest of the classes I need.
@thenomadlife be sure you have the 60 semester units required to be eligible to xfer completed by next spring, which is the UC requirement.