<p>It’s very competitive! But you probably knew that. UCSB is strong for Physics anyway and the CCS program is a very intense accelerated program that ranks with the best in the nation. If your son got accepted to UCSB then this is a win-win situation. You won’t go far wrong with L&S Physics and it may be possible to transfer in even if you are not accepted to CCS (disclaimer, I’m not in the Physics program so can’t make any promises). If you are local or localish you could come to spring insight and talk to the faculty in physics.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your time. We’ll just keep checking that mailbox…</p>
<p>@ccsfaculty thank you so much for you advice. We had another question. My son wants to pursue an MD/PhD.D program after his undergraduate education. Do CCS Biology majors do such a track on graduation? Since its a very small class size, we have not been able to find any info on the UCSB CCS website or in CC about this. Can you point us in the right direction.</p>
<p>In CCS biology most of our students go on to PhD programs. We are looking for students who are interested in research and give them an accelerated program so they can accumulate three or even four years of research experience before they apply to grad school. That means they have a much clearer idea about what they want to do in grad school and have an awesome resume (often with publications) and letters of rec to help them get there.
This focus on research means that CCS bio might not be the best fit for a student whose goal is med school. Sure, research looks good on the application but a med school student has many other things to consider - grades, volunteer hours, all the required classes etc.
We have had students in CCS Bio go on to MD/PhD programs though. In those cases the research you do as an undergrad will count more in your application and also the research experience you get will allow you to decide if your really want to go down that road or whether a straightforward PhD program might be more appropriate. Many students do not realize how much biomedical research is going on and how little actually requires an MD.</p>
<p>@ccsfaculty: Thanks for the great color. My S is very interested in research and it looks to me as a parent that he is NOT looking to be an MD in clinical practice but rather be a medical scientist. I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on how most biomedical research does not require an MD degree. </p>
<p>I did a “gap analysis” on the CCS Biology / Bioengineering concentration and pre-med courses recommended on the UCSB website. To fulfill the pre-med requirements a student in this pilot would need to do additional courses in writing, english literature, psychology, sociology and physiology. Looks like it will take 5 years to complete these requirements.</p>
<p>The bioengineering concentration is really aimed at those who wish to ultimately pursue graduate research in this field. I would not generally recommend it for pre-med students (and,as you say, it may not even be possible in 4-years with the new pre-med requirements). It sounds like your son would be best off in CCS Bio, get into research but keep the pre-med option open for at least a year or so before deciding whether to complete all the pre-med requirements or go the research route. If you have any further questions they are probably a bit specific for this forum so you can contact me by e-mail. I’m John L. and you can find my e-mail at the CCS Biology Faculty webpage.
And for anyone else, I’m happy to answer whatever questions I can about CCS or find you the right person to contact if I don’t have the answer.</p>
<p>@ccsfaculty, do you know when CCS will be sending out official decisions, and whether it will be via email or snail mail? D’s portal shows acceptance to CCS but she has not received any official confirmation. Thank you!</p>
<p>Hi @caligirl14 Bruce Tiffney, the dean of CCS, said, at the Irvine reception, that decisions would be sent out snail mail “as soon as possible.” He agreed maybe two or three weeks. Hopefully sooner!</p>
<p>I just checked with the office to make sure I got these answers right.
Letters went out TODAY (3/20) and are just by post not by e-mail. (Sorry it’s probably a resource issue, CCS does its own admissions and is swamped at this time of year).
The information on the University site is probably accurate but should be interpreted with caution - it depends on the timing of when we returned our decisions to the UCSB admissions office. If it says you are admitted to CCS then that is definitely a good sign but the official letter is the, well, ‘official’ announcement. However if anyone looks and finds it does not say CCS then that does not necessarily mean your application was not accepted. It may mean that UCSB admissions have not processed the CCS data yet.</p>
<p>Thank you so much @ccsfaculty!</p>
<p>@ccsfaculty, looks like my son got accepted into CCS Computer Science and he is very excited about that! We are planning to visit campus during his spring break in April. What would be the best way to meet with some of the computer science students and/or faculty? Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Did you get your letter, svetik? We are still waiting.</p>
<p>yes, today!</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>Congratulations svetik. If you visit UCSB and CCS, which is a great idea, you should contact the program coordinator who can arrange for you to meet with faculty, students and maybe sit in on a class (depends if there is one suitable when you visit). For Computer Science the person to contact would be Phil Conrad and you can find his e-mail address on the CCS -> Comp Sci -> Faculty page. You can also schedule a meeting with one of the staff advisors in the CCS office who can give you a lot of information about the college (Sara or Cholle). Meeting with students though is the single most valuable thing you can do so try to arrange a day when you can maybe sit in on a class and then go to lunch with the students. If you aren’t familiar with the UCSB campus you can then take one of the campus tours:
<a href=“Visits | Undergraduate Admissions”>http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/visit-ucsb/tours</a>
Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>@ccsfaculty I’m going to apply to CCS next year, its my dream school and first option by far. I was just wondering if you base admission strongly on GPA or are other factors (such as evidence of ambition and passion) more important? I have a decent GPA (4.15-4.3 range) but love biology and have worked in labs etc…Research is my #1 priority and CCS seems to be the best option to pursue research early in college. </p>
<p>Each major in CCS is slightly different in how important scores like GPA or SAT’s are in admissions. All majors are looking for passionate and, ultimately, creative students - whether that is creating art or carrying our original research. We are also looking for students who are prepared to dive in quickly.</p>
<p>Whether grades are a good predictor of success varies a little from subject to subject. In biology grades alone tell us rather little and are far from the most important factor. So when looking at applications I tend to look at grades last. The statement is generally the most important (general advice - be honest, we are trying to find the best fit for you so don’t tell us what you think we want to hear), after that letters of recommendation can be very valuable if you have one from someone who knows you in a research capacity (although only minority of students have this). I typically turn to the grades last and have already formed an impression of the student as one that would either be a good fit for CCS or not. If I don’t see the fit being good then even the most stellar grades are not going to change my mind. On the other hand if I really think the student is the type of student we are looking for then I’m really looking at the grades just to check for major problems. However, for some of the other majors, I know that grades can be of greater weight.</p>
<p>My name is John Latto and you can find my contact info on the CCS website. Feel free to ask me further questions here or by e-mail. If you want to visit campus sometime in the next year I can arrange for you to meet faculty and current students.</p>
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Did your son end up going to ccs in CS? We are now in the same position you were a year ago.