<p>Ok just to get this out, I'm a parent of an admitted student in Computer Science.
He hasn't decided which college to go to yet, but one of the most important criteria he's basing his decision on is the schools internship opportunities.
Does UCR have a good internship program?
By a good program I mean:</p>
<p>large selection of companies to choose from;
assistance in resume/interview help;
financial aid;
anything else...</p>
<p>If any current or past students students could chime in, it would really be much appreciated.</p>
<p>I got an email from UCR telling me to apply to the honor college, and one of the benefits mentioned were increased internship opportunities.</p>
<p>There are plenty of UCR internship opportunities. I am currently working for two professors as well. My roommate is a business major and he found five internship opportunities in riverside.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Towelie and 1245654363.
The whole family ended up going to Discover day after all and we talked to 3 profs , 2 students and an advisor and they said the same thing you wrote.
We’re really impressed by UCR - at first, it was just my sons safety, but its looking more and more like a first choice. He applied to UCI, UCSC and UCSB, and at first it was UCI, but UCR looks more likely now.
We’re Cal residents, so tuition is somewhat affordable, but extra $$$ from an internship would sure help…
We like the fact that at least in BCOE they cluster the students in lower division classes and also have BCOE themed residence halls. TTBOMK, no other UC has similar programs for Freshmen. Our son isn’t the most outgoing person in the world, so at least there’s an opportunity to interact with people with similar interests.</p>
<p>I’m in Bioengineering as a freshman, and from what I’ve received, there are a lot of internships. Some are for undergraduates, but most that I’ve seen are for graduates. You don’t need to worry about looking for them because your counselor will mass email everyone in your major about internships, even if it only applies to graduate students. As an example, from Jan 29 - March 15 2013, I’ve gotten 8 internship emails, not including the ones I’ve deleted. I can’t account for the deleted ones because I don’t know how many I deleted, but hopefully this provides a good idea.</p>
<p>I’m a 4th year Electrical Engineering. There is a Career Center and can even get more help from the man in charge of professional development. Your son may be offered campus job opportunities if you have the financial aid need. The internship opportunities are also sent out all the time and there are plenty for computer science. There are also many professor who would be willing to take on more people in their research labs if that’s what he’s looking for. As for the CS department, I feel that UCR’s is pretty strong.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Sounds like opportunities abound. The more I hear about the program at UCR, the better it sounds.
One more question - do you know the attrition rate? CS and Engineering in general is extremely demanding, and it sounds like UCR is doing everything they can to give students as much help when they need it, but I know from personal experience it’s still tough. I didn’t see any stats for attrition rates or rates of graduation for specific majors, so just from personal experiences, can anyone give a ball park idea how many freshmen made it all the way through to graduation? Did you feel the learning communities helped for this?</p>
<p>@dudeyes
I actually asked one of the advisors your question. She said only about 40 percent(?) graduate with a degree in engineering.</p>
<p>@dudeyes</p>
<p>What Towelie saids is true and I believe it. There are a lot of things that you have to get through in engineering and some people do decide to either leave BCOE or others are in a sense forced out due to not passing classes.
I will say if you work hard, there should be no reason you cannot make it through. I did feel learning communities helped. It gave me a set of engineering friends and people to ask for help. It helps that first year, but that second year everything becomes all on you. So I would recommend getting involved with clubs earlier. Getting into clubs you’re able to meet upperclassmen who are going to be more than willing to help you out.</p>
<p>@Towelie</p>
<p>By any chance do you know how your friend was able to get 5 internship opportunities? I got accepted to UCR for business as a transfer student and wanted to know the opportunities for business students specifically accounting.</p>
<p>I said he found 5 internship opportunities. He did not apply for them yet. There is a site that shows available internships for uc students. ( I forgot what it was. Sorry, but there is one for uc riverside students only.)</p>
<p>I just graduated from UCR and even though my major was not in Computer Science, I can tell you that there are many many internship opportunities at UCR. The site Towelie is referring to is SCOTjobs. It’s a database of all the interships available at UCR. Unfortunately you won’t be able to log in unless you have a UCR login and PW already.</p>