<p>I am going to be going to CSU Fresno in the fall as a freshman, majoring in Comp Sci. I eventually want to transfer into a UC for Grad School. How hard would it be to get into a UC Grad programme? Is it tougher for CSU students as compared to students who went to a UC for their undergrad? What are some things (besides getting good grades and work experience/research) that I could do to strengthen my chances of getting into a UC grad school (preferably UCSD or UCI)?</p>
<p>You don’t actually “transfer” to a graduate school. It is a separate admissions process that happens during your last year of college or after you have graduated. Your application will be judged on your undergraduate academic record, your research experience, your letters of reference, and your test scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).</p>
<p>If you do very well in your undergraduate studies and have strong letters and significant research experience you will have the chance to get into a top graduate program. You can start right away but getting to know the faculty in your new university and get involved with their research as soon as you are able. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Don’t let the reputation of your undergrad institution dictate where you apply for graduate school. I met plenty of people from CSU’s during my interviews this year… And yes this includes UC’s as well as Stanford. They came off just as well as people I met that were from Harvard, Princeton, etc… so really, only YOU should be the one who dictates where you apply for graduate school. Do well in school, do well on your GRE’s, establish relationships with your professors/advisors and most importantly, get plenty of research experience.</p>
<p>The difficulty with getting research experience at a CSU is that there is not much research conducted at CSUs and if the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education in California was strictly adhered to there would not be any. The UCs were designated as research institutions for students intending to go to graduate school and the CSUs as teaching institutions whose mission was to award bachelors degrees that would prepare graduates for entry level positions in business and teaching. CSUs can now award masters degrees in a limited number of disciplines but are still prohibited from offering doctoral programs.</p>
<p>There’s enough research going on at Fresno State that a sufficiently motivated undergrad could obtain research experience necessary for getting into graduate school. The absence of doctoral programs may actually be a plus in this case, since professors cannot use graduate students as RAs and will need to employ undergrads.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t think it’s called CSU Fresno.</p>
<p>CSU Fresno = Fresno State. Same thing, except people tend to call the university Fresno State more often.</p>
<p>No one in California who attends a state college calls it by its true name; much to the chagrin of campus administration and their branding efforts.</p>
<p>As for having graduate success - make sure you do extra-curricular activities and network with individuals who will be able to write great letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>When you say “research,” is that the same as internships?</p>