[UCSB Computer Science (Engineering)] Current First-Year's Experience/Observations/Advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
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I remember last year around this time when I was getting my decisions back. It sucked, and UCSB was the last place I thought I’d end up at. Now, I’m very happy and I would GREATLY recommend UCSB’s engineering and CS programs. Feel free to ask me anything. I hope this helps!

Good luck on admission!

-----A LITTLE BACKGROUND ABOUT ME------

Last year, I applied to the top six UCs, CPSLO, as well as many privates. I applied as Computer Science/Engineering, despite not really having any coding or computer science experience. The UCs/CPSLO were the best option for me financially, so I didn’t end up really considering attending any other school once decisions came in.

I was accepted to all the UCs besides UCLA. My decision came down to UC Berkeley L&S (undeclared, like everyone who applied to L&S), UCSD Computer Engineering, CPSLO Computer Engineering, and UCSB Computer Science (in the College of Engineering). I visited UCSD and didn’t really like the atmosphere or campus. I didn’t love CPSLO’s campus and atmosphere either, but their focus on practical versus theoretical was very enticing, but I didn’t really consider attending CPSLO because CPSLO attendance was considerably more expensive than attending a UC given that my family’s expected financial contribution was 0$. The choice between Berkeley L&S CS and UCSB CoE CS was very difficult, and I took up until May 1st to decide on UCSB. The pros of UC Berkeley were the prestige and closeness to home (25mi), while the cons were the campus atmosphere (and cutthroat reputation), the large amount of GEs required for the degree, and the lesser amount of classes/requirements my AP units would get me out of.

In my opinion, and in the opinions of those I talked to when making my decision, the top 6 UCs and CPSLO are all academically on par for Computer Science/Engineering (except for maybe EECS at Berkeley which is probably slightly more rigorous), while CPSLO has a greater relative focus on practice over theory and Berkeley/LA have more name recognition and prestige.

-----LIFE AT UCSB-----

The atmosphere is great and the people are very friendly and outgoing, there are lots of great intramurals and clubs, and the party scene is huge. That being said, I personally spend nearly all of my time with my girlfriend, a few friends, or by myself. The weather and campus are absolutely beautiful. The food is really really great – far better than any other campus I visited – lots of very healthy and tasty food at the buffet-style dining commons. Unfortunately, classes are very large and impacted, with math courses (calc 1-3, DE, linear alg) having 150-300 students and about 50 crashers, while CS courses consistently have 60-90 students throughout the undergraduate curriculum. As far as I can tell so far, a really driven person could self-teach their self the entire curriculum and be no worse off, except for that all-important piece of paper – but this is true of any public college (and privates, but at least you’d get smaller class sizes and one-on-one time with professors – or at least that’s what I’ve heard) and shouldn’t encourage you to attend a different UC/public college.

When I was applying to college, I thought my ideal class (graduating) size would be medium: like 1500-2500 students. UCSB’s class size is very roughly 5000, and I think I actually prefer this. It’s great to always be able to meet new people and yet still see the same friends around your dorm/dining hall (although rarely campus).

-----CS/ENGINEERING MAJORS-----

There are five engineering majors: Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science. The curriculum and course information for these five majors can be found here: https://engineering.ucsb.edu/current_undergraduates/pdf/GEAR-15-16.pdf . If you’re looking for CS, check out pages 28-30 and 49-50 about CS (look at 49-50 first). If you’re looking at a different major, look for the equivalent 5 pages for your major – they’ll be within 6 pages of the page ranges I gave.

UCSB has three colleges: L&S, Engineering, and Creative Studies. Computer Science is only offered in Engineering and Creative Studies. Computer Science as well as Computer/Electrical Engineering are the most difficult and most impacted major to transfer into, though very many people attempt to. Per class (year), there are roughly 100-150 CS majors in Engineering and 10-15 CS majors in Creative Studies. The upper division curriculum for the two are identical, while the lower division for CCS is accelerated, has class sizes of about 10, and offers other perks. You have to apply separately for CCS, and I regret not doing so (when I applied, the college name made it sound like a non-serious version of Engineering CS, and I wasn’t seriously considering UCSB at the time so I didn’t look into it). If you want to study CS at UCSB, I would HIGHLY recommend reading more about the College of Creative Studies and look into applying for College of Creative Studies Computer Science, even though the deadline is past (email them, it can’t hurt). CS majors in both colleges have the highest priority in taking all their classes. The biggest downside to the UC system is how impacted it is and how difficult it is to get the classes you need, however as an engineering/CCS major at UCSB, you are essentially guaranteed every math/physics/major-related class you want.

-----AP CREDITS-----

As an engineering major as UCSB, your general ed requirements are as follows: three writing classes and six GEs. As far as U.S. public colleges ago, that’s nothing, and AP credits can reduce these two numbers.

Many people come in with a lot of AP credits. With the exception of AP English Lang/Lit, UCSB does not care what score you get on your AP tests as long as you pass with a 3. The two most important tests by far that you should pass for engineering at UCSB are AP Calculus BC and AP English Lang or Lit. AP Calc BC is 8 units and gets you out of two quarters of calculus and lets you quickly jump into math and CS classes that you’d otherwise have to wait until sophomore year to take. If your school was like mine and only offered AP Calc AB during senior year, TAKE THE BC TEST ANYWAYS! I got a 4 despite not even self-studying the additional BC topics. AP Calc AB only gets you 4 units and out of one calc class (which never even touches on integrals. if you took calc in high school, you will be so bored during this class). The other important test is AP English Lang/Lit. UCSB only cares about whichever you did better (so if you get a 5 on one, it doesn’t help to take the other at all). A 5 on the test gets you out of all three writing classes, a 4 gets you out of two writing classes, and getting a 3 gets you out of one writing class (that you probably get out of anyways due to SAT/ACT/something else).

for other AP tests, consult : https://my.sa.ucsb.edu/catalog/2011-2012/UndergraduateEducation/APCreditandChart.aspx .
If an AP test has an area D, E, F, or G course equivalent, it probably gets you out of one of your six GEs. Otherwise, it’s only giving you units, which really only helps your class standing and registration priority.

Unfortunately, this means that AP Physics and AP Chemistry don’t get you out of any classes. You still have to take 3-5 physics classes and 0-2 chemistry classes (depending on major, see: https://engineering.ucsb.edu/current_undergraduates/pdf/GEAR-15-16.pdf ).

A special note on AP CS: AP CS as well as any college-level computer science course gets CS/CE majors out of Computer Science 8 (an intro python class required for other classes) and other engineering majors out of Engineering 3 (it might not – I could be wrong), which is an intro MATLAB course.

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-----EARLY GRADUATION-----

Most engineering major degree requirements are highly structured in a way that classes are offered once a year and are usually part of a series or a prerequisite for the next class. This means that early graduation is impossible (sidenote: so is late graduation – with very few exceptions, all UCSB engineering majors graduate in four years). However, for Computer Science (and to a lesser extent, Computer Engineering), early graduation is possible, in fact, very easy, if you come in with enough AP credits (particularly AP Calc BC). This is because CS classes are often offered multiple times per year and have far less demanding prerequisites. As a driven CS or CE major with at least a 3 on AP Calc BC and a 5 on AP English and at least another 10 or so units in AP credits, you can graduate very comfortably in 3 years (without doing summer classes).

If only spending 3 years in college sounds unappealing, you’ll be happy to know UCSB offers 4+1 BS/MS programs for all its majors. It’s a great deal for people who want to go into industry rather than academia/research. You do your four years (or 3 if you’re an ahead CS/CE major) of undergraduate studies for your Bachelor’s, then do one year of graduate classes at UCSB for a Master’s of Science degree in CS/EE/Materials/Chemical/etc.

I’m not sure how possible early graduation for CS majors at other UCs/CPSLO is (you’ll have to do your own research), though I’d suspect it’s similarly possible with the exception of UC Berkeley. If you don’t know for sure that it is and you want to study Computer Science in an engineering college of a UC, this should be a HUGE selling point!

-----FRESHMAN SUMMER PROGRAM-----

If you get accepted as a Freshman to UCSB, you qualify for the Freshman Summer Start Program (FSSP). I’d highly recommend this – it’s a seven week program, the length of one of the summer sessions, and about 300-500 Freshman do it. This is a great way to transition into college, knock out a few classes/GEs (GEs are much easier during summer than they are during regular quarters, AND they last only 6 weeks rather than 11) or get ahead in math/major requirements, meet your new friends and classmates, and have a blast!

College life really is SO great and this program was way more fun than I would have had at home (despite taking a lot of shitty classes during this time). Nearly all my best friends did FSSP, and I don’t know a single person who regretted doing FSSP.

-----ON CHANCING-----

Lots of people want to get “chanced.” For UCSB, it seems really difficult for a stranger to accurately “chance” you. From my experience as a current CS major, I see SO many people that really did not deserve to be admitted to UCSB for CS/engineering, and yet, last year during admissions decisions, I saw SO many extremely qualified people get rejected. It seems that nearly all, if not plain all, of the people who are doing poorly, cheating in, and even failing the CS/engineering curriculum are from poorer high schools and backgrounds. It also seems that nearly all the highly qualified people who got rejected are from high-performing high schools/backgrounds.

UCSB cares a huge deal about GPA, and I’d be very surprised if UCSB engineering admissions didn’t admit based either on 1) how a person does relative to the people in their high school or area, or 2) socioeconomic class, and if not that then race/gender.

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reserved

edit: nvm… guess I can only edit within 15 min of posting

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Thanks for posting this I applied as Comp Sci major and I got the chancellor’s invite so I think I’m in (though I don’t know if I got my major) This post really makes me wish I took more AP classes tbh but anyway is there any tips you have for incoming freshmen?
Edit: One more thing, are there any majors that have a course load similar enough to Comp Sci that you could double major with them?

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If you got the Chancellor’s invite, I’m nearly positive you got your major. My friend who attended one of those last year worried she didn’t get her major (Mechanical Eng) and asked the representative if she had gotten her major, and he said that the invite meant she got her first major choice.

The only similar major is CE, and you can’t double two engineering majors. A lot of ambitious people want to double major to set themselves apart, but if you’re pursuing CS or Engineering, it’s really unnecessary (with a possible exception of CS/bio major for someone interested in bioinformatics).

What APs have you done? You can always self-study some for a passing grade, there are a few which are really surprisingly easy to pass even if you don’t know anything particular about them (Psych comes to mind). It’s also definitely worth it to just try winging the AP English Lang and Comp exam. I know it seems like a lot of work in your senior year after you’ve already SIR’ed, but it’s so worth it. That’s one or two 11-week courses you could get out of by just winging or doing some minor studying for a single test.

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I haven’t taken any AP exams and I’ll only be able to take Gov and Macroeconomics this year, I actually thought of self-studying some but the test fees were just too damn high lol. Man I probably should’ve signed up for one of the English ones because I probably could’ve winged it but I got 700 SAT Writing score so I think I’ll be exempt from at least one English course. Btw, thanks for giving me relief about the major situation.

Alright 2 more things.

  1. Does getting a meal plan sort of restrict you from eating out?
  2. About what percentage of the students in your CS classes are female? jk/not jk
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Is it too late to sign up or obtain a fee waiver? It’s a lot more cost-efficient in the long run to just pay the $100 for a test than have to take a class at university/online.

If you’re living in the dorms, as essentially all Freshmen do, then you either have a plan with 10, 14, 17, or unlimited meals per week. The dining commons are great IMO, but you can go out whenever. Personally, I never do because the dining commons are good enough and I don’t want to spend the money.

I don’t think there are any published statistics about the demographic specifically of engineering undergrads. For chemistry and engineering (including CS), I’ve heard the gender balance is something like 15-30% female. Anecdotally, that seems high. Engineering students are not at all representative of UCSB students.

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IneffableMind, I can provide some insight for you. Firstly, a meal plan does not restrict you whatsoever from eating out. I may be taking this question to literally but no, a dining establishment will not turn you down because you have swipes left. You will, however, realize that most freshman like to eat in the dining commons because it does save money compared to eating out.

As for advice - you know you will have to work hard, but most importantly, be social. Santa Catalina (FT) is more social than the other halls, but it’s pretty far off campus, which sucks when it rains, or if you have an 8AM and need to get up extra early. And yes, 8AMs are hell in college. If you choose not to reside in FT, which was my choice, try to go to Santa Cruz or Anacapa (the shorties). They have a nicer interior, do not require you to use elevators, and are cheaper (San Miguel and San Nicolas both have doubles, whereas shorties have triples). Living with three people, by the way, is great if you like them and sucks if you hate them.

When you first get to school, everybody will be extremely social and will talk to anyone and everyone they can. Take advantage of this by doing so and establishing your group quickly. You should be leaving your room door open, walking into other people’s rooms, talking to people who walk past you, and establishing good friends. It becomes harder over time as people settle into their groups, and you will notice that walking past someone no longer grants you a cheery “hey!”, and will rather just be that awkward glance away like you would be used to anywhere else. RHA will be throwing meetup events when you move in, and you want to take advantage of that by meeting everyone you can. Seriously, if you play this first week right, you will have such an easier time at school, and you will immediately start having the best time of your life.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. Be excited. This is going to be the best time of your life - one day you will be sitting on the floor in a dorm with 6 of your close friends at 2 in the morning having an amazing time laughing and having fun, and you’re going to realize how amazing this is. I still run along the beach and am moved by the absolute beauty of the school and its neighboring city. Go out, have fun, meet random people on friday nights, and just realize, that your dream has come true. Do all this, and you will have the time of your life.

I look forward to potentially meeting you, future Gaucho.

P.S. CS has like no girls. But if you want a major with lots of girls, go to Com :slight_smile:

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@pmast25 Yea and so is the deadline to register to take tests.
@tromicron I meant more like if you get a meal plan are you more pressured to eat at dining commons instead of eating out with friends but now that I think about it the answer is pretty obvious. I appreciate the detailed advice and look forward to potentially meeting you as well.

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@tromicron wow, that really describes my experiences exactly. I’d highly recommend FSSP, though!

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@pmast25 How did you know this? The good stats kids from your HS that were rejected by SB CS? Do you think it’s due to UC weight GPA a lot more than SAT/ACT w/o even considering much of each HS’ caliber, or maybe a deliberate attempt from UC to diversify demographics (and take care 9% from all schools)?

“It also seems that nearly all the highly qualified people who got rejected are from high-performing high schools/backgrounds.”

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@Just4Years

A lot of qualified people (in terms of GPA/SAT/ACT/major choice) from my decent-ish HS got turned away (they were mostly Asian but I doubt that mattered) while I can’t think of any unqualified people from my HS that got in. My UCSB friends who went to really good high schools (Cupertino HS/Torrey Pines HS come to mind) also saw a huge amount of qualified people get rejected and essentially no unqualified people get accepted, while my friends from low-performing high schools saw the opposite happen. Also, I’m not specifically talking about CS applicants, just UCSB applicants in general.

I don’t think attributing these observations to blind consideration of GPA is nearly enough to explain what seems to be going on. I’d guess that there is a quota-like system going on based on high schools or area, or that they give some weight to the socioeconomic class of an applicant or their high school/area. My evidence is all anecdotal, though.

I remember hearing that, as far as UCs went, UCSB put more weight into your test scores and personal statement than GPA. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but I think UC admissions should be a lot more transparent.

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@pmast25 Yes I’ve seen some of that in UCD and esp UCI this year. We’ll see how SB goes soon. Yeah Asians from competitive HS for CS are kind of screwed. BTW, I’d always thought UCSD’s Eng/CS a tad better than UCSB/D/I. I know you mentioned you don’t like the feel of SD campus but academically (in Eng/CS) do you agree they are at least no worse than SB and maybe even a little better?

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@Just4Years I think SD/SB/LA/Berkeley L&S CS/CPSLO/Irvine/Davis are all academically essentially on par for undergraduate CS/Engineering. That’s just my sort-of-informed opinion though. I haven’t really looked at in depth, but I’d guess that the CS curriculum for all the UCs is pretty much the same, as well as the rigor of the classes in the above schools I named.

I’d strongly advise anyone who’s deciding between CS/Eng at one of those schools to ignore the perceived prestige of the school and to just pick based on atmosphere/feel/non-major GE requirements/campus life, and for me, I think that means SB.

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@pmast25 Just got back from the Chancellor’s reception and you were right, we get our first choice major

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Meal plans definitely do not stop you from going out to eat with your friends, although you guys will mainly be eating on campus. This is because no one wants to waste money and you will be obligated to want to finish using your swipe every week as they do not roll over. But you should have 2-3 meals every week where you would go into IV to eat with your friends.

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Hello, not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I think I am highly qualified for UCSB (2120 SAT, 3.98 UW GPA). However, I didn’t get any emails from UCSB except the ones telling me that they received my application and the one telling me to make my portal. I’m afraid this means I am rejected- I already got waitlisted by UCLA and UCSD, so I’m really counting on UCSB right now. What do you think- can you still get accepted even without the invitation? BTW, I’m a permanent resident of Cali, but I currently live in Dubai, UAE. I applied for Mechanical Engineering. Thanks for your help!

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Looks like AP Calc BC helps towards early graduation. However, do you think AP Calc AB helps you get admitted to the school?

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Hi! Assuming I was accepted for CCS biochem (I submitted my application late so I guess they looked past that!) through the chancellor’s reception that I didn’t attend, is that majorly competitive and on-par with biomedical engineering at cal poly slo/UC Irvine for getting one into medical research?
Also, I have a few questions:

  1. The over the summer program was recommended to me, but I would be in San Nicolas and then most likely stuck there. I prefer Manzanita’s setup (I have medical problems so not having to walk down the hall to the restrooms is a huge plus), but would it deter me from making friends?
  2. How exactly do meal swipes work, and is there a huge variety of food available? I’ve heard from many college friends that dining hall food becomes repetitive after a while.
  3. Do all CCS majors have guaranteed classes with small class sizes, and are they located mostly in the CCS building or spread out around the campus?
  4. Are bikes necessary, and if so, what type of bike is preferable?
    Thank you!
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  1. Not too sure about the setup of those two dorms but I assure you that making friends will not be any different in the two dorms. But yes, if you choose the summer program, you will be obligated to dorm in San Nic for the rest of the year.

  2. Meal swipes works as in you choose between 10, 14, I think 18 then 24 then unlimited, swipes per week. It resets every Monday with no roll overs. Basically there are 4 buffets you can choose to eat from. You get X amount of swipes every week to go in. Although there are 4 places to choose from, you are usually going to go to the same 1-2 dining commons as it is the only one close to your dorm. And yes after a while it gets boring, even though they change up the main course daily. The food just is not that good.

3)Cant answer the second part to this question, but yes, they should have smaller class sizes.

4)I think biking/boarding is a good idea. You will have classes all over campus. I suggest you get any bike that is not a cruiser. A road bike or a mountain bike is a good idea. Regardless of which bike you choose, get yourself a good U-lock or it will get stolen.