UCSD (Data Science HDSI not Jacobs, Ranked #10 in Data Science & #16 in CS)
UCSB (CS CoE, Ranked #29 in CS)
NEU Honors (CS Khoury, Ranked #39 in CS)
Factors to Consider:
Cost is not a differentiating factor (Honors Scholarship at NEU)
International Student
Want to have some flexibility to change my major to CE, EE, or Mech. E in the second year (almost impossible at UCSD & UCSB) since I am not too sure whether to pursue CS
Data Science at UCSD (Halicioglu Data Science Institute) is relatively new
NEU Co-op best in the country
No preference in terms of geography/location
Little to no preference in terms of social life/college experience
*Want to have some flexibility to change my major to CE, EE, or Mech. E in the second year (almost impossible at UCSD & UCSB) since I am not too sure whether to pursue CS
UCSD would not be an option. UCSB could be an option to switch but not guaranteed. I would contact the Engineering department at UCSB and ask your chances to switch majors before eliminating UCSB. Since you are already admitted into the Engineering College, change of major would be an easier process.
If you want the flexibility to switch majors it sounds like NEU is the clear option. Otherwise I would say UCSD sounds like a better fit over UCSB for you and what seem to be your priorities but that is only if you decide you are good to stick with CS.
I’m sure the Data Science major at UCSD is just fine for students who truly want that major; but if you really want CS or engineering, don’t go to UCSD for Data Science; it would be very difficult if not impossible to switch into a Jacobs major. Why limit your options when you don’t have to?
In terms of CS program rankings, I don’t think there’s any meaningful difference between UCSB at #29 and NEU at #39. They’re both very strong programs. In your situation, I would choose NEU for the following reasons:
Co-op is a great way for an international student to get US work experience.
International student body: both schools have plenty of international students, but Northeastern is especially international-friendly
Access: Boston Logan is a very convenient international hub and easy to access on the T from campus, whereas Santa Barbara is 100 miles from LAX
The one thing about switching out of straight-CS at Northeastern is that they front-load the CS coursework more than most schools do, in order to prepare students for their first co-op. So, if you switched out of CS, you’d sort of be starting from scratch in your new major, having taken more CS classes than GenEds in the first semester/year. But, it’s not as if the time in CS would have been wasted, as you’d have acquired a strong skill-set and probably a minor in CS before switching.
I think the only reason to choose a UC in this situation is if you know (not just assume) that their reputation in your home country exceeds Northeastern’s in a way that will make a real difference to your opportunities. In the US, I don’t think the small ranking differential would matter at all (they are really all in the same reputational category - we’re not talking Northeastern vs. MIT), but it’s possible it could matter more elsewhere.
There are of course the “lifestyle” factors - great student city but cold, vs. sunshine and beach access, honors housing as a perk, and so on, but you don’t seem as swayed by these factors as many students are.
I’m stuck between Northeastern and UCSB, and I’m having difficulty mainly because their Computer Science programs are equally reputed and lucrative. I’m not really inclined toward switching and pursuing Engineering at Northeastern or UCSB either.
If I want to have the option to transfer to other undergraduate institutions that offer my preferred choice of engineering major in my sophomore year, which university would provide me with a better pedestal to take this leap?
I understand that Northeastern has a great co-op program, is international-friendly, and has
more flexibility to change my major. But I won’t really take some of these factors into consideration since I’m going to be out of NEU either way. Will doing a 6 month co-op in the second semester of my sophomore year be worth it over attending a “slightly” better-ranked institution where I might possibly secure an internship?
FYI, the UCs are better reputed in my home country.
I have contacted the College of Engineering at UCSB and I’m currently awaiting a response. For now, I have read that at UCSB, I will have a high chance of switching my major but I’m not really inclined to pursue Engineering at UCSB.
Since I am not committed to pursuing CS for all four years of my undergraduate degree and if I’m not successful in changing my major at either of these universities, I plan on transferring to another undergraduate institution that offers my preferred engineering major in my sophomore year. According to you, out of UCSD and UCSB, which university will offer me a better pedestal to take this leap?
If flexibility to switch to an engineering major is your highest priority, then Northeastern would be a better choice. But how likely is it? Why did you select DS/CS as your major in the first place? How interested are you in DS/CS? If you are, did you choose DS (at UCSD) because it’s perceived to be easier to be admitted than CS? On the other hand, if DS is truly something you’re interested in, the best choice is easily UCSD. Data Science nowadays is really about applications of machine learning and UCSD is a much better place to learn about machine learning than the other two.
Please do not enroll at a college with the intention of transferring. Enroll with the intention of making the most out of where you are. You will do better, seek out opportunities, make friends, etc. If all you are doing is looking for the exit door…you won’t likely take advantage of the opportunities at your college.
Also, if you transfer after your first year, your high school record will largely be used to evaluate your application.
ETA…maybe you would be better off taking a gap year…and applying to places where you have a good chance of acceptance, and the ability to switch majors within engineering more easily.
Coops and internships are important. A small difference in ranking is not, particularly for computer science or anything closely related. The difference between a #16 ranking and a #39 ranking really does not matter.
A coop or internship gives you experience working in industry. This gives you are better chance of getting a job later in the company where you do your coop or internship. It also gives you contacts which can be useful for example as a reference. It also gives you work experience that you can talk about in future job interviews. It also makes the whole thing a bit more “real”, in the sense that when you later are in a class, you might see how you can apply some of what you are learning.
There are over a hundred universities in the US with good CS programs. Anything in the top 50 is very good. Prestige also does not matter much in CS. What you can do does matter.
I would not count on staying in the US after graduation. On the one hand visas to work in the US are a political issue, and politics in the US is hard to predict four years in advance. Also, if you do get a permanent resident visa to live and work in the US, the US feels the right to tax you for life even if you later leave the US and return home. The reputation of each company in your home country is something to consider. However quite a few US based high tech companies have major engineering facilities in other countries (particularly India, but also Canada and in some cases some other countries also). I do know a few high tech people from India who had trouble getting a visa to work in the US so they ended up working in Canada (with a Canadian work visa or permanent resident visa). I know a larger number who worked in the US briefly on a temporary visa and then returned to India. We still chat regularly online.
This all feels oddly complicated. Do you actually want an engineering major that isn’t offered at Northeastern or Santa Barbara? Or do you just feel that the engineering programs aren’t good enough at these schools?
I don’t generally think that attending one four-year institution with the intention to transfer to another is a great idea. If your assessment of what you want to study and where you want to study it has changed since you applied this year, it might be better to take a gap year (during which you could certainly build your programming skill-set as long as it’s not credit-bearing) and rework your application strategy.
If what you really want is a particular UC engineering program that isn’t available to you with your current acceptances, there are a number of California community colleges that actively recruit international students who want to pursue the transfer pathway; that would be another option.