Unfortunately, there will be a lot of people in Davis for Aggie Day and hotel prices are higher than average. Some people find more cost effective hotels in Woodland. Yolobus runs between Woodland and Davis.
For others who have already committed, book hotels for move-in weekend and parents weekend (usually mid October) as soon as possible. Fall quarter classes begin on September 25. First year students have mandatory orientation the week before.
Southwest Airlines will open flights for Thanksgiving on May 4. UC Davis students have classes on the MTW of Thanksgiving week. They DO NOT have the entire week off. Thanksgiving flights get expensive the longer you wait. Experience parents book early and watch for price drops.
When students register for classes (early August), they will see their final schedule on Schedule Builder. This will help if you need to book flights home for winter break.
The field of computer engineering tends to prioritize computer design and development for computer hardware, whereas computer science places a heavier emphasis on software development, a greater focus on cybersecurity and Algorithmics. They are similar but different so some job opportunities will not be interchangeable. Both will give students opportunities for internships, research and jobs. I suggest you check out Linked In and look up the job skill sets for each type of major that is required.
So many parents/students ask about internships, research and job opportunities. The departments at UCD will send students emails regarding these opportunities but it is up to the student to seek them out. The on-campus career center will have internship and job postings and visiting professor office hours will allow the student to find out about research opportunities.
If you have completed one upper division course towards the minor, you can submit a “Minor Declaration” form on OASIS. You don’t need to have all of the courses completed before submitting the minor declaration form. You must submit the minor declaration before you apply to graduate.
I would ask during student orientation if a CS minor is possible and the steps required to declare the minor. I see no benefit on a CS minor since there is a huge overlap between CSE and CS.
You can’t really have a minor that is “too similar” to your major. CS with CSE minor falls right into that category. Also, at Davis, only one course is allowed to overlap your major and minor.
There were several posts from myself , @lkg4answers and other posters. I have stayed in Davis at the Hyatt Place, Best Western University Lodge, La Quinta and Holiday Inn express. Other posters had recommendations in Dixon and Woodland.
When do you plan to come up? There is also the Hyatt House (no experience). We would always come up the I5 and stop for lunch at the In-N-Out in Kettleman City or Santa Nella.
We’re coming up April 7th for Aggie day April 8th. Everything decent in Davis seems to be booked. We found a spring hill suites in West Sac that looks promising.
Any big events require reservations well in advance. For UCD graduation, I booked 13 months in advance for the Hyatt place and got a good rate for booking early. As noted by @lkg4answers if your student commits and you want to attend the Parents weekend, book early.
Chiming in on the accommodations discussion. We are in the Bay Area, so we will just come up for the day. However, we are going down to Santa Barbara and booked an Airbnb for a night. I ended up finding something close to Isla Vista with private parking, and the price was less than most hotels in the area. Just a thought…
Move in should be before orientation which is Sept 22-24. They usually assign move in dates so everyone isn’t moving in at once. If you are looking to book a hotel, I would make reservations for multiple dates and then cancel or modify if needed.
Family weekend is usually in October when there is a home football game. Unfortunately, it looks like the only game they are hosting in October is the week after school starts. I have no inside information but my guess is that they might go for Nov 4.
West Sac, Sac, Woodlands - all good alternatives.
If you decide on Sac or West Sac, you might need to check on the traffic delays before you can start.
The I-80 W passing through the causeway connecting Sac with Davis will usually have good traffic in the morning hours, as most commuters use this time to travel to SFO (even during weekends).
