<p>Hi. I am starting CCC this fall and look to transfer to Berkeley in 2 years. </p>
<p>My question is that, should I apply as a EECS or CS major.
My personal interest in software > hardware.</p>
<p>I want to do CS because there are very few pre-reqs to take (just math) as opposed to EECS (where i need to take math, physics, english, and one natural science course). </p>
<p>But then the problem is that UCLA only offers a B.S. degree for both CS and CSE. Which means that even if I apply to UCLA as CS, I would still have to take physics courses anyways. </p>
<p>If my ultimate goal is to transfer to berkeley (#1 choice) what should i do? Only finish pre-reqs for CS at berkeley and apply to UCLA CS without their required courses (physics) ?</p>
<p>I mean if i do that ^ then i'd have guaranteed admission to UCB and UCSD assuming i maintain a high enough GPA. However, I might not be accepted to UCLA on the basis of not having my pre-reqs finished</p>
<p>Lastly, I took 2 GE courses (3 units each) in 9th grade and received "C" grades in both classes. Assuming that I get straight As from this point on, would those two Cs limit my chances for Berkeley as CS major? </p>
<p>I really need to get this sorted out and information/advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>@iTransfer - Yeah I see what you’re saying but I wanted to keep UCLA as a backup. If I dont get accepted to UCB I would want to study computer science at UCLA.
At the same time, I don’t want to take the physics series if it’s not required for UCB CS - only because I can assure myself a higher GPA without physics (less workload, etc.)</p>
<p>@Rigoletto - Are you certain about that? I’ve heard from many people that each and every single college course you have taken in your life must be reported, even if it was in high school, or you can be revoked. Meaning that the two Cs would still impact my college GPA. Are you saying that when my reviewing my app, they would omit them from the GPA calculation?</p>
<p>If you’re interested in software then apply to L&S, the classes are virtually the same save the physics and engineering courses. Engineering at Berkeley is extremely competitive and if EE is not something you’re interested in there’s no point in applying to EECS. I’d highly suggest taking physics and all other required prerequisites if you want UCLA to be your second choice. I highly doubt UCLA will accept you with the physics series incomplete. And I wouldn’t plan my schedule around the assumption you’ll have guaranteed admission at UCB even with a high GPA, have a solid backup and a safety.</p>
<p>As for the college courses, yes they will count. The best you can do is perhaps try to retake them.</p>
<p>Since you’re primarily interested in SOFTWARE, I would STRONGLY recommend you go the CS in Letters & Science route at Berkeley! Not only is it substantially LESS COMPETITIVE, but as you properly noted you will have to do a ton of “unecessary” pre-reqs (especially in this environment of non-existent class availability)</p>
<p>Besides this, there is virtually no difference between the CS option (option IV) and the CS from L&S (you get to tailor your degree anyways and no one prevents you from taking the specific courses you want)</p>
<p>Only go for EECS if your main interest is in the Electrical Engineering or Computer Hardware side of things. Personally, I went for EECS only because I was primarily going for the EE part of it. If Berkeley had a “purely EE” degree I would’ve applied for that. In fact, I’m choosing option I (which is electronics), and will have to take only a very minimun of CS (software) courses. People choosing option IV in EECS do virtually all CS (software) courses, except for 2 EE courses they must take (EE40 and EE20N).</p>
<p>Note that the L&S CS major prerequisites can be hard to find. You may have to search all of the community colleges in your area to find one that has a CS 61B equivalent course. CS 61A and CS 61C are very difficult to find at community colleges. In northern California, Laney College has CS 61A and CS 61B equivalents, and Diablo Valley College has CS 61B and CS 61C equivalents, according to [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) .</p>
<p>I’m not 100% sure but from what I’ve heard I think they’re considered comparable, with UCLA maybe considered as a little more “prestigious”. Both are good schools, if you want to do software I’d say they’re maybe almost interchangeable. </p>
<p>I just finished my first year at CC. I’m behind on many math prerequisites so there’s no way I’d be able to finish my physics series for other schools. I was trying to decide if I wanted to stay an extra year to finish the other two physics courses and take C++ instead of Java. I’m applying to Berkeley this fall for Cogsci, if I don’t get in I’ll stay another year. My #1 choice is Berkeley Cogsci/CS.</p>
<p>@victor5555 - thank you. i guess I’ll still complete the physics series (for the sake of meeting UCLA requirements for CS B.S degree. Dammit why couldn’t UCLA offer a CS B.A degree) and apply for CS L&S at UCB.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus - I will be completing IGETC (the alternative to L&S Breadth Requirements).
"To be competitive for admission purposes, the department advises prospective<br>
transfer students to take UC-transferable courses in:<br>
data structures–even if not officially comparable to Berkeley’s CS 61B; and
Java (preferred) or C++."
I will be doing just that for meeting CS 61B requirements ^.
However, it will not be possible for me to take CS 61A/C equivalents at Laney/Diablo. I do appreciate the information though =]</p>
<p>@credulitykills - oh sounds good. best of luck. </p>
<p>BTW, how does choosing an “alternative major” work. Do all UCs offer this option on your application? And what is the difference between a minor and “alternative major”.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the replies. Great community we’ve got here :D</p>
<p>Looking at the pre-requisite work for a CS degree at UCLA - it’s almost identical to Berkeley’s prequisites for EECS. Since I want to keep UCLA as my backup school, I intend to complete all UCLA prereqs for CS. Knowing this, would it be a good idea to apply as EECS for UCB (considering the fact that i’ll have required coursework done anyway)?</p>
<p>I would prefer CS L&S over EECS only because of the pre-reqs i get to avoid. However, considering the UCLA situation, I would choose EECS > CS L&S because I’d be doing EECS coursework anyways. </p>
<p>Go for EECS at UCB. I was in your position two years ago now transferring to UCB as an EECS major. I wanted to have UCLA as my backup as well so I took those Physics courses. UCLA still accepted me although I missed the 3rd Physics course. It wasn’t required for any other UCs so I didn’t take it. According to their website, it’s generally acceptable to miss one requirement as long as you have good gpa. That may change in two years though since UCs get more competitive each year. Two years ago, UCB only required to complete 80% of the required courses to transfer as EECS but now it’s at 100%. So keep that in mind. Another thing that motivated me to go down the EECS path instead of the CS is when someone told me that the major you apply for in L&S at Berkeley is not guaranteed. It depends on your grades on the core courses during your first semester at UCB. So apparently it’s possible to go to Berkeley, apply as CS and end up not being able to major in CS at all. But in the college of Engineering, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be an EECS major as long as you pass your classes. This is not exactly a big deal I guess lol, I just worry about stuff easily. But it’s tougher to get in as an EECS major.</p>
<p>I agree with sgtbrecht, EECS might be the best way to go if you want to keep UCLA as a backup. It might be a pain in the ass to complete the IGETC for L&S and do the requirements for UCLA at the same time. However, I think UCSD requires the IGETC for their CSE major too so if you were thinking about them, perhaps it would be better to complete the IGETC and apply for L&S CS.</p>
<p>Either way, those physics classes aren’t that hard. Just study the material, do a crap ton of problems and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Several years ago (probably before the .com crash of the early 2000s), L&S CS was a [capped</a> major<a href=“marked%20with%20a%20red%20#%20in%20the%20major%20list”>/url</a>; it no longer is. Capped majors in L&S require applying to declare and being accepted based on courses and grades at Berkeley compared to other applicants.</p>