Hi I’m currently a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis.
I only decided this fall semester after taking intro to CS class that I wanted to actively pursue CS, but from what I’ve heard from other CS majors, I feel that our CS dept isn’t our school’s forte (which is why I’m considering a transfer).
However, I haven’t taken a lot of CS classes: so far, I took Calc III and cse131 (the very first intro class), and by the end of spring semester, I’ll have taken Math310 (equivalent to logic and discrete math), engineering stats, CSE132 and one CS machine class at 200 level.
I have a ~3.6 currently (though I’ve taken mostly humanities courses so far), which will improve after this semester. Although I’m not sure if they look at math/science gpa separately, I’ve gotten an A on both Calc III and cse 131 and a b+ in physics.
I’ve been involved in a few research assistantships on campus and volunteering, but none of them are related to CS.
Not sure if it matters, but I have pretty good stats from HS, though none of them are related to CS again.
If you decide to apply (deadline is jan 4th), you can explain your situation and go in to detail how you recently developed your interest in CS. You can explain how your school (if its true) lacks a solid program or specific courses you would like to take. Also maybe try to join some student groups related to CS? If you want to transfer go for it. UCB will definitely be a reach, but its worth a shot if you really want it
Cal has 2 CS majors, one in Engineering and one in Letters&Science. I assume you’d be interested in the latter. L&S admits by division at Cal, not by major. You can find more info on their website about general requirements.
@sallywin12 If you choose L&S you will essentially end up with a BA in Computer Science. I would strongly advise against this option. BA in Computer Science is nearly worthless. You can get a programming certificate at a community college with the same success. If you do not fear sciences, go for EECS (engineering)! It is a bit more competitive and much more challenging, true, but the degree you get there will be worth so much more.
If you’d like to go pure CS route (without strong emphasis in engineering), check out CS programs at UCSD and UCLA - both of them give an option of BS in CS, and these are great schools too.
UCB’s CS is top in the country. Plenty of people in L&S CS go on to work high salary jobs in silicon valley. I’m pretty sure the difference is diminutive.
@goldencub Yes, the difference may be subtle, but I am pretty sure it’s nicer to be making 70K than 50K on an entry level position (aka junior developer). These are real numbers from my current place of employment, if you are wondering. I’ve worked in IT field for over 8 years and I have never seen a person with BA picked over a person with BS for a developer position. In fact, most of my employers, including former ones, would rather hire a person with BS from a shady school no one ever heard of, than a person with BA from a prestigious university. But what do I know…
It is, of course, up to OP, I am sure he/she will succeed one way or another, but he/she should know that there IS a difference.
@RAHforHEE I don’t believe he was involved in that conversation that’s buried 15 pages back in another thread, so he probably has no idea what you’re talking about. Even if he did read it, it doesn’t sound like his post is in agreement with you … nor is any of that relevant to this thread.
@RAHforHEE along with a strong academic background, yes, absolutely. Prestige of the school has some weight, but going for a knowingly less distinguished degree at a top notch university is just not worth it. In the end it’s not where you get your degree from, it’s what you make of it. If a position requires having BS in CS, 90% of the applicants will have it, your skills and experience is what really gives you an edge.
@ucbalumnus Are you aware that the link you posted actually refers to both degrees and NOT only to L&S CS that you are defending so much? In fact, L&S CS probably makes up less than 3% of this list. And on a side note, everybody is entitled to their opinions. You cannot state that someone is “not correct” just because your opinion differs from theirs. Present your facts, please, because these are mine:
“Bachelor’s in CS (or STEM with professional programming experience)”
“Bachelor’s degree BS in Information Technology, Computer Science or a related field”
“BS in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or a related field required”
"BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field. "
"BS in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent "
“Solid understanding of computer science fundamentals (B.S./M.S./Ph.D. in Computer Science preferred)”
“B.S. degree in Management Information Systems, Computer Science or equivalent.”
“Minimum of B.S. in CS/EE or related science required”
“BS in Computer Science or related area”
“Education: B.S. in Computer Science or in field/discipline from an accredited college or university”
These are application requirements from 10 random “software engineer” jobs in San Francisco (first few pages of indeed). How many BAs do you see? I wonder why.
@ucbalumnus Also, one cannot boldly trust everything that is written on UCB’s website. With all respect to UCB, they carry no responsibility for their graduate’s future employment what-so-ever. At the same time it’s obviously to their advantage to sell BA the best way they can, because this is how they MA-KE MO-NEY. CS is a hip degree these days - everybody wants it, but not everybody understands physics, chemistry, and advanced math. So, how do we bring more CS students in? Right! We tell them that BA is just like BS, but with music and philosophy instead of physics and chem. Problem solved.
You just read this:
“Some students choose EECS because they feel that a B.S. degree is more prestigious than a B.A. This is not a good reason; any CS degree from Berkeley is prestigious enough! If, in addition to CS, you’re also interested in philosophy, or literature, or mathematics, or music, you should probably choose the L&S CS curriculum”.
Do you really believe that in a real world anyone would care about your interest in philosophy, when it comes to employing you as a software engineer/qa engineer/software architect/even DBA?
Having been in the industry for a while, there are plenty of UCB L&S CS grads around, and no one cares about whether their major was L&S CS or EECS (unless hiring for EE jobs). The job ad writers may write BS, but they will not auto-reject someone with a BA.
The L&S CS major is not new; it has been in existence for more than three decades.
They largely won’t care about whether you take the extra physics, EE, or calculus 3 course that you say that you are getting a C or D in (in another thread) either. Except for specific applications of CS, someone hiring CS (L&S CS or EECS) graduates will mainly care how well you know your CS, which is based on what courses you chose, how well you did in them, and how well you can answer technical questions about what you should have learned.
“The job ad writers may write BS, but they will not auto-reject someone with a BA.”
Our company rejected 8 people in the past two weeks for this very reason.
“They largely won’t care about whether you take the extra physics, EE, or the calculus 3 course that you say that you are getting a C or D in (in another thread) either.”
I actually got a B, since you are following my progress.
Yes, they won’t care what you took, but they will care whether you majored in arts or sciences, because CS is a science (mind-blowing, right?)
What do you think about transferring as a different major and then going for an internal transfer