Was going to UIUC CS but now I am off WL for UCSD Math+CS and Cal Poly CS (I am CA in state). Need to decide by weekend. Posted on CP site and of course it’s more pro CP. Now post here too and hope to get some insight from UCSD camp. I know if I go to UCSD I may not get into CS, which is OK as I’d be able to take bulk of CS core courses. Extra math can be tougher than CS but I am thinking why would employers look down on more math? Question is can math+cs folks participate/take pretty much the same CS courses/clubs/activities/research like CS majors do? My impression is that either one has no problem attracting top CS employers. CP is more of a college town so perhaps more spirited than the wide spread 6-college SD, but it’s also almost locked in the remote SLO. UCSD class size is probably larger than CP but I heard CP is getting crowded nowadays (still better I guess). UCSD CS faculty is bigger and conduct wider variety of research/teaching. UCSD’s non-Eng fields are better than CP’s which I value (esp. with all those GEs to take). What do you think? Please help.
Math-CS is not a CS degree: it’s what it sounds like, a math degree in which you also learn CS. UCSD’s math advisers do a great job of describing it here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18292151/#Comment_18292151
Anecdotally, I’ve heard that Math-CS majors aren’t at a disadvantage when finding CS jobs at all. In particular, if you complete projects and get internships early on, you’re usually as prepared and hireable as a regular CSE major. In fact, you might have an advantage because apparently some employers think Math-CS refers to a dual degree. All of the regular CS and Math clubs, activities and research opportunities are open to you: there is a slight difference in that CSE majors have priority enrollment for CSE courses, but even that usually isn’t a huge issue. As for transferring to CS, you can try but it’s very competitive: you usually need at least a 3.8 in the prerequisite courses, and spring quarter only a perfect 4.0 got you into the major.
Cal Poly undoubtedly has a better social scene and more school spirit, although the latter might change if UCSD successfully votes to move up to Division II next week. While UCSD also doesn’t have a traditional “college town” like SLO, San Diego is one of the most beautiful, exciting cities in the country and definitely has enough to keep you interested for four years. Our school’s proximity to the beach and beautiful scenery of La Jolla is great, and University City is rapidly developing into a combination student ghetto and second downtown. Additionally, once you turn 21 you’ll have access to some of the best nightlife in Downtown and Pacific Beach. Also, before you graduate, they’ll probably finish the trolley connecting campus to Downtown SD and Tijuana 
Class sizes, particularly in lower division courses, are pretty large but probably comparable to Cal Poly’s (and there’s no 1,000 person lectures like you hear about at Berkeley, I’d say they average 200-250). Even then, the classes feel smaller because of discussion sections with the grad student TAs. For CS in particular, there are a ton of resources and tutors to help you with assignments, and a lot of the assigned projects are group work: expect to spend a lot of time grinding in the CS basement. Academically, UCSD has much more diverse research going on (as you would expect of a PhD granting institution). That’s true for both CS and advanced mathematics. Similarly, you’re correct that UCSD is stronger in many non-engineering fields (particularly cognitive science, biology, oceanography, economics, political science, international relations and linguistics). What college were you admitted to? I can try to tell you a little more about its GEs and residential atmosphere.
Overall, I’d say UCSD is the stronger choice. You’ll receive an extensive, thorough education that will certainly prepare you better for grad school and will almost certainly afford you similar or better opportunities in finding internships and careers. The networking and conference opportunities you’ll have will be more numerous, and you’ll be part of a thriving CS community of motivated students that does cool stuff like the Entrepreneurial Challenge, Startup.UCSD and SDHacks. You’ll also get to enjoy beautiful La Jolla, a short drive from San Diego’s best attractions (and closer to LA than SLO is). Feel free to ask if you have any follow up questions and let us know what you decide!
Thanks DP. You should lead more campus tours to increase yield of SD. I am at Warren (1st) as I applied to CS as 1st choice (GE happy for engers). Now I am at M-C which is not Eng, so we are looking at 12 GEs plus writing (how’s Warren’s W btw?) and all that to account for 1/3 of all 4 year courses to be just on GE. Is that kind of norm at SD no matter which college you go? I think CP won’t need that much. This plus bunch of math I now need to take leaves only few electives for some more advanced CS courses. At CP I can take more CS stuff as there’s less GE and math to take (I am OK with some but this is a lot). I am trying to figure out some good GE strategy at Warren but I guess you just have to allocate about 1/3 of course taking to GE at UCSD (in pretty much all colleges)?
The other thing is can M-C students take upper div CS courses in general? Many UD courses are also on M-C elective list but for those not on the list can they still take it (ie, usu. has space for non direct CS majors)? Also rumor has it that DS might come in 2017. Do you think that may change the CS landscape/capacity a bit?
Warren’s GEs for non-engineers are fairly in line with the GEs at the other five colleges. (Personally I think its engineering GE load is ridiculously light, possibly excessively light since the whole point of GEs is to give you a more rounded education. Some of my fellow engineers could use one.) Warren Writing is supposed to be easy, but kind of boring. If you’re concerned about the workload, you could try to take one of the “easier” or “more fun” PofCs that still interests you. Don’t pick one just because it’s easy, because you’ll probably struggle with its upper division coursework if you do. If you’re not a fan of taking a lot of math, a math major might not be for you…
You can take most upper division CS courses. They may say “restricted to major” or “departmental stamp required” but if you shoot the professor an email expressing an interest in his/her class they’re usually very helpful. Upper division courses usually have space, I’d be more worried about getting into the lower division CSE classes which give priority to CSE undergraduates.
I’ve heard rumors that the Data Science major was approved by the academic senate but might not be available until 2017 or 2018. I don’t think it will actually change the CS landscape that much, because with all the people trying to major in CS-related fields a brand new major will reach capacity pretty quickly. A lot of students may also see it as too specific for their liking, or they might actually be thrilled about its more interdisciplinary focus. Your guess is as good as mine.
“spring quarter only a perfect 4.0 got you into the major.” Any idea how many (or % of) students are we talking about?
Admittedly this is not a huge sample size but anecdotally I think only one or two people were admitted with lower GPAs. I’d say your chances of switching from Math-CS to CS are pretty low so I’d look at math-CS as your main option.
https://docs.goo gle.com/spreadsheets/d/1AwYbPAeHDsOpkrnkyFzVFETqq6xxn3_D55xkFSQ39HI/htmlview