I’m currently a high school senior about to graduate in a little over a month, and in a dilemma of whether I should pursue an applied mathematics major with a minor in economics at UCSD or UCSB. I applied undeclared at both schools.
I was accepted for Marshall College at UCSD, which I did not want to go to. I figure their general ed requirements will be in the way of my intended major. Plus, since i applied undeclared, Im worried i wont get into my major or get into the classes I want.
For UCSB, i was accepted for the college of letters and science. It seems that their math majors arent as impacted like UCSD, which is why i am consisting this school, but as a quiet, introverted person, i fear I won’t fit in with the rest of my classmates, considering that they have a very extroverted culture.
What do you think? Im not sure which school to enroll into, please let me know what you think.
@youcee can answer questions about the culture at UCSB. I don’t know which school you should go to, but don’t worry about the fact that UCSB has a lot of extroverted partiers. It also has groups of non-partiers who fit in nicely with their own groups. I think UCSB offers four years of housing, first dorms and then apartments. I believe UCSD offers two years.
Looks like UCSB requires a 2.5 GPA in two math courses to enter the math pre-major, and then a 2.5 GPA in the rest of the pre-major math courses to enter the math major, according to https://www.math.ucsb.edu/undergrad/requirements .
@Limacoid Have you had a chance to visit each school? Although both are close to the beach, they have very different vibes. I personally find UCSB has a very friendly vibe and the students seem to be pretty collaborative from what our son has told us. I think our other, more introverted son preferred UCSD to UCSB, but it didn’t come down to that for him. If housing is a concern, UCSB is much better guarantee-wise. I don’t really know the reputations of each school’s math department. My son didn’t find the lower division math teachers to be anything special at UCSB, whereas the lower division Chem profs were very good. I would say for that major to just go to the school you have the best gut feeling for.
What im worried about is that since i am undeclared at ucsd, i will have trouble getting into my major for how impacted the math department is. At ucsb, the math major is not as impacted, but not as good as the math major at ucsd.
Will getting a degree in math at either school earn me the same respect for my major?
What do you want to do with a math major? Is there another major you can study at UCSD that will prepare you for your career aspirations? If not then go to UCSB where you can study what you want.
If you are not willing to take the risk of not being able to get into a Math major at UCSD, then I would consider UCSB. You will find like minded students and not everyone there is “extroverted”. There are many serious students on campus and the party school reputation is pretty hyped up.
If you are willing to take the risk, then consider UCSD. Although the Math majors are capped, the requirements do not look to difficult to achieve.
How to declare a Math major at UCSD:
Students who have earned a C- or higher in the five screening courses (Math 18/20F, 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D) with a minimum GPA of 3.0 for those courses are eligible to apply for a math major on the Capped Major Application Tool.
Incoming students who have already completed the screening courses may use the Capped Major Application Tool to apply to the majors after they have enrolled in their Fall Quarter courses.
For more detailed information on Entry to the Math Majors, please see the following page:
Im currently leaning more for UCSB, since im guaranteed an easier switch into my math major than UCSD.
But do you know if i will also be able to minor or double major in economics or Comp Sci (or at least some programming experience) in the college of letters and science? I want to at least gain some skill in another area for math just like the ones i mentioned. If possible, do you also know what job opportunities math graduates from UCSB get (im planning on getting a B.S)?
UCSB does not offer a minor in CS or Econ and you cannot double major in CS and Math unless you were admitted as a CS major into the School of Engineering first.
You could double major in Econ and Math but requires department approval.
I would contact the specific departments to confirm and you would have to meet an advisor during orientation regarding a double major for approval and a proposed plan to meet the requirements.
I suggest you check the career center regarding job opportunities for Math grads and also look at Linked In to see where UCSB grads are currently working.
I will be submitting my SIR to UCSB, then thanks for your help.
One more question, even if i cant minor in Comp Sci, can i still take some computing or programming classes to gain some experience within the college of letters and science?