<p>I have never heard UCD as being strong in CS - how is their CS program?</p>
<p>Cal Poly on the other hand, is herald as a great choice for engineering. CS is in Cal Poly’s College of Engineering, can I assume that Cal Poly’s CS program is strong based on being in the same college as their other engineering majors? How is Cal Poly’s CS program?</p>
<p>The main criteria I am considering is prestige and quality of education.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Poly and Davis schools and was impressed by both programs. I chose Poly basically because of cost and proximity to Los Angeles. Also a lot of the courses at Cal Poly are smaller (25-40 people) which I liked because of the individual attention. Davis might have better prestige due to it being a UC, but Poly has great connections with industry. Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Raytheon, Amgen, and many others recruit from here. </p>
<p>In a nutshell I’d suggest Davis if you want to go on to a phd program due to the research opportunities and Poly if you want to work in industry. Also visit both schools and take into account whichever you like more.</p>
<p>I’m involved in CS, so I have some experience with Davis’ CS program. A lot of the teachers here are much more experienced than at Cal Poly, and have likely worked on much more projects that you use in your day-to-day life. Nearly all have PhDs from places known for CS, such as MIT, Illinois, Harvard, Berkeley, etc. This is something that cannot be said for Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Secondly, those companies recruit at Davis as well, along with many others. I just spoke to a Cisco recruiter last week. The Department of CS hold recruitment fairs monthly. In addition to that, they also have a great advising department that makes it very easy to set up students with paid internships, even in your first year.</p>
<p>Also, if prestige is in your criteria, it seems Davis would be the way to go. I would also say the quality is better here as well. If you have any other questions, feel free to post or PM me. Good luck.</p>
<p>This is perhaps not necessarily a CS question, but I got accepted under Computer Science, which is in Letters & Sciences. Is it difficult to transfer into the College of Engineering, where CSE is?</p>
<p>What about the opposite. I am admitted in ECE. How late can I decide to switch to CS without losing time. I would like to give it a try to ECE initially.</p>