After waitlist decisions came out I’m stuck choosing between UC Berkeley Statistics, Cornell Math, and CS and Stats at UIUC.
I’m inclined to UIUC because it’s the only school I got into for Computer Science and the only school I will graduate with a BS(Bachelor’s of science) major.
Berkeley looks awesome but very cutthroat and I’m unsure if going there is worth not being able to major in CS. Even if I were able to transfer into CS once there, UIUC is literally one rank below without all the hassle of having to transfer.
I’ve more or less ruled out the Cornell program at this point, CS+Stat @ UIUC and Stat @ Berkeley look a little bit better.
The BS vs. BA distinction is meaningless; employers won’t notice or care.
Are you a Frosh? if so, your Cal admission is really L&S undeclared pre-Stats. You can readily change your pre-xx. But, since Comp Sci is impacted you need to apply to the major and earn a B+ in the required courses.
I believe you can also change from Math at Cornell to Comp Sci, at least that’s what is says on their web page. Call them and ask.
What is the COA? Are you instate for any?
If you are OOS for both Cal and UI, to me the value prop is the private Cornell for a few dollars more.
Yah cost is not an issue for me. My parents want me to make the decision based on where I want to go. The proposition of not being able to transfer to the major at Cornell and Berkeley is what deters me. At UIUC I’m at least in a CS program that already outranks Cornell and is one notch at Berkeley. Isn’t it better to take what you have than to end up in a situation where you can’t do what you love? Also oos for both UIUC And berk
Oh I see ! Thanks ! So would CS be much more competitive to declare than math since a lot of people probably want to major in Comp sci rn ? I mean there are only a certain number of seats in each department.
As far as I know, you would choose your major at Cornell from those available at CAS (such as CS and math). You would not need to meet further significant thresholds beyond that which you already have earned by your acceptance there.
It seems, though, that students who do not meet these requirements at Cornell might not be adequately prepared to enter a full computer science program, and hopefully would choose to self-select themselves out of declaring the major in most cases even in the absence of these not particularly stringent requirements. Nonetheless, that’s helpful information, @ucbalumnus.
There is nothing wrong with majoring in math given the data science jobs available, also you could probably double major in math and CS at Cornell, thats a common path. The more math you take, the better, math classes are typically harder than CS classes, although some CS classes will be very time consuming, the concepts are easier in CS. Math is not a “lower” major, its a stronger major than CS and leads to the same CS jobs in many cases, but also could lead to jobs in actuary science, data science and more. Look up data science on Indeed, the job database and see what degrees they want for those jobs.
Unless something has changed…
The math major at Cornell is housed in its College of Arts & Sciences (CAS). Admits to CAS do not select a major at the time of application, nor are they admitted to a particular major at that time. They apply to CAS, not to any particular CAS major. They may have been asked to indicate a probable area of interest in the application but all that influences is what adviser they are assigned initially.
Computer Science is also a major within CAS (though the same major can also be taken via the college of engineering), so, providing prerequisite requirements are met, either a CS major or a math major, or any other major within CAS, can be selected when that time comes. Which IIRC is during sophomore year.
The College of Engineering shares the CS major, and may have some majors that look a lot like “Applied Math”
The College of Agriculture does not have the CS major but I think has an Information Systems major, and has some other majors that look like Applied Math. And at the ag school those majors DO have to be selected at the time of application IIRC.
But assuming OP is in at CAS, OP is NOT accepted to CAS math, actually. OP is accepted to CAS, period. And can choose whatever majors OP wants (subject to qualification of course) at the time that majors are selected. Which is not at the time of application or entry.
Exactly. And that is the same at Cal. OP is accepted into the College of Letters & Sciences (which does not admit by major). OP can choose any major within L&S, as long as OP meets the minimum requirements (prereqs and GPA, if necessary).
once again, if the OP has a direct admit to UIUC for CS, which is very hard to obtain, that’s where he should go IMO. No need to debate about Cornell which is not as highly ranked for CS without the direct admit, and Cal which for L&S CS getting the 3.3 is not particularly easy (not hard actually, but stressful).
Disagree on both counts, professor. OP can easily choose to major in CS at Cornell. Moreover, even if UI is ranked higher than Cornell – and I don’t believe that it is, at least by nrc standards – a ranking spot or two is meaningless. (For example, USNews has UI #5 and Cornell #6 for CS grad programs.) It’s not exactly like we’re comparing the rankings of Directional State Uni and MIT.
Moreover, to me Cornell offers a better value. OP states that cost is not an issue, so its a comparison of a top notch private college at ~$70k per year vs. top state public at $55k. Again, to me, $15k delta buys a whole lot of undergrad experience.
If OP does want to go the public route, I’d go with Cal and make sure s/he aces teh prereqs.
Consider also: there’s more to college than one’s major.
Probably 2/3 of courses will be out of major.
And one’s social life, extra-curricular involvements and surroundings can be very important to one’s sense-of well-being and overall happiness.
OP says he does not want to go to Cornell, based on information that he cannot get a CS major, which may be incorrect, and that he cannot major in CS at Berkeley, only in statistics, which sounds correct.
So I think he is looking for advise about major, CS at UIUC, versus statistics at Cal Berkeley. (versus CS at Cornell)
Statistics at Berkeley is super strong. So OP needs to look over this curriculum and decide, does he want to study this statistics curriculum versus the CS curriculum at UIUC or Cornell. Compare this class by class, since
academics seem to be your focus.