<p>I'm having a tough time choosing between going to UCI (CHP), or UCSD or UCLA without honors. What are the pros and cons? Does CHP really benefit you? If so, in what ways?</p>
<p>I can't even begin to answer your question until I ask you some of my own:</p>
<p>What do you want to major in? Are things like sports and school spirit important to you, or not so important?</p>
<p>Have you visited each place? If so, which campus do you like best? Would you want close access to a beach? Would you want a college town?</p>
<p>Is it important for you to identify with a small group of people rather than only be one in a massive student body?</p>
<p>That may clear a couple things between UCI and UCSD. I don't know about the CHP though.</p>
<p>I have a similar question. To answer sndebrosse: my major is CS/CE, not entirely sure if I care about sports/school spirit, and I would think being able to identify with a smaller group is better.</p>
<p>Sorry for hijacking your thread, seniorgirl, but I just had to ask.</p>
<p>@sndebrosse: I'm going to major in CS. I don't care about for the sports/school spirit at all. In fact UCLA is so sports oriented that I'm afraid that I'll just be surrounded by all these jocks and cheerleaders and won't fit in; not my cup of tea.
I have actually visited all three, but it was during the summer, so I didn't actually get to see "college life" in action. I would say that they all have a beautiful campus, and it would be pretty hard to choose, though UCSD's college system sounded pretty cool.
I wouldn't really care for access to the beach, a pool in the summer is just fine for me. As for a college town, well, I really don't know. I want a place where there things to do, definitely, but coming from a suburban town, LA would take some getting used to (although I think I could).
I don't care so much about class size. As long as the size doesn't hinder my learning then I'm fine, but I would like to have a strong core group of friends (though I think you can find that at any college).</p>
<p>@movicontr: It's totally fine :). And I'm majoring in CS too! </p>
<p>@everyone: Probably one of the more important factors that I would like to know about:
-UCLA is one of the top schools. Are the strenuous courses there worth it? Or should I go to an easier school and get the grades to go to grad school?
-UCI's CHP's benefits seems only to be smaller classes and special library priveleges. How "special" could the honor previleges get? Probably my number one question (which is why this in the UCI thread). Is it worth giving up UCLA and UCSD for?
-I heard that there is nothing to do at UCSD and UCI. Is this true? I would even be fine if there's just a good mall/shops, park, ice-skating rink, or movie theater, etc. I'm definitely not interested in the whole party like an animal and drink all the beer you can though.
-Oh and dorms, which are better (the freshmen ones)?
-I'm Asian, and I just tend to get along better with Asians. I'm not racist or anything, but I find that I have more in common with other Asians and therefore become closer friends with them. So I'm wondering, what would it be like in UCLA, would I be able to fit in?</p>
<p>seniorgirl09:</p>
<p>UCI CHP has a lot of perks. Smaller classes, discussion sections taught by actual professors! better personalized academic advising, Special treatment in terms of research opportunities, a smaller community that you can get aquainted with, social activities, and guaranteed 4 yr housing, priority enrollment.</p>
<p>UCSD has good housing, but their drop policy (you can drop without consequence after 6 weeks) can really hurt you in the curve because it makes most people take the class twice, meaning you'll most likely be taking the class with people who've already taken it, making the curve really steep. </p>
<p>UCLA has a lot of party animals and jocks, but also a lot of really smart nice people. Your first year of housing you will most likely live in a triple. It's hard to get into classes b/c it's such a big school. Advisors really don't have time for undergrads. It's also harder to ask for help from professors.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>so i googled choosing between UCI chp and UCLA because I heard from UCI back in feb and i got into CHP. however i also just got accepted to UCLA and UCSD, and UCI and UCLA were both my top choices… not really something to be complaining about but I really want to make the right decision. What factors helped you (or those in my boat) decide? i am a fiction writer, so i’ll be majoring in english, but i also would love to really dabble into writing screen plays. however, it seems that uci would give me so much personal attention, attention i doubt i would get at LA… any advice?</p>
<p>Hi,
The best advantage of being in CHP (IMO) is that you get priority enrollment. This means you will be able to sign up for classes during the first week of EVERY enrollment period. You get to sign up at the same time as graduating seniors and you will ALWAYS get the classes you want! </p>
<p>You said you’r intended major is CS! Irvine has the only Information and Computer Science School/Dept. (ICS). None of the other UC’s have their own separate department. The school itself is extremely well endowed, plus there aren’t as many students in ICS as other majors. I would seriously consider looking into this. </p>
<p>Are you going into grad school? A friend (pre-med wanna-be) at UCLA says there is hyper competition there because everyone there is “top of the class” from HS. Irvine will still have some very tough competition but with enough work, there’s no reason you can’t get a high GPA. </p>
<p>I can’t say much more for UCLA and UCSD, but I personally would prefer LA/Irvine over SD, mainly based on area!</p>
<p>dude just because uci has compsci off on its own doesn’t make it better than other UC programs. I’m sure we can all agree that the Berkeley EECS department runs laps around UCI’s ICS dept</p>
<p>Actually, not really. ICS at UCI is a School, not a department. As a result, it has majors and concentration that Berkeley doesn’t. </p>
<p>Additionally, comp sci at Berkeley is offered only as a BA (unless you want to do CSE), which I find to be kind of lame.</p>
<p>As far as the actual amount of research output, you very well might be right. However, as an undergrad, Irvine very well might be preferable for a lot of reasons.</p>
<p>WHAT!!! the berkeley EECS curriculum gives you both a solid EE and CS background with either a EE or CS specialization. This curriculum model is unique to MIT & Berkeley, so if the decision is UCI ICS or Berkeley EECS, it is Berkeley EECS hands down</p>
<p>FYI Berkeley doesn’t just have a BA in CS it also offers a CS option in the EECS department hence the CS!!!. </p>
<p>p.s. Berkeley CS is #2 if not #1 in CS</p>
<p>Ok. That’s not really responsive to what I said. UC Irvine offers several computing majors that Cal doesn’t. If you were interested in one of these majors, and you were offered CHP at Irvine (which has tons of advantages, such as guaranteed four year housing, priority registration, etc.) as the op was, then I can see it being a more difficult decision.</p>
<p>Yes, I am aware that you can get a BS at Berkeley (in comp sci eng, not cs), which is why I said this:</p>
<p>“cs at Berkeley is offered only as a BA (unless you want to do CSE)”</p>
<p>I know many people who just want to be software developers or work for game companies. It really doesn’t make sense for these people to do EE and CSE stuff, beyond CS material.</p>