Hi! Im into SD undeclared, Purdue DS, U wisc Madison CS and Penn State (Hon) CS. As you can probably tell all my options offer me very different things. I applied for CS and CE at UCSD but after not getting in for those majors I looked into their DS Program and realized it suited me WAY better than CS or CE. However I also saw it was a capped major (I’m really kicking myself for not looking into it sooner). Anyone who is/was/going to be a part of the triton community have any advice? It would be super cool if someone who has switched in to DS at SD could give their opinions but I would really appreciate any insight right now. Looking at DS’s page indicates that it wouldn’t be terribly hard to switch but I also know its such an in demand major
Hey, I’m a current sophomore studying Computer Engineering (just switched in!). I have some friends who are data science, and last year I was sort of considering it (until I got a C in a screening course) but for now, let’s talk from the website itself:
Capped Major Application page: https://datascience.ucsd.edu/academics/undergraduate/continuing-students/
Probably the most relevant part for you is this:
You get two tries.
Last I heard (last year), the average GPA in the screening courses (I think for successful applicants) was a 3.7. That’s two As and one B. It may or may not be more competitive when you get here.
I wouldn’t say that it’s easy to switch, but it’s possible. But the real question is: would you be okay coming to UCSD with a backup major if things don’t work out? Cognitive Science with a specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation might be sort of close to what you’re looking for, and it’s uncapped for now: http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/undergraduates/major/machine-learning.html#Major-Requirements
There’s also Math-CS, CS/CE/Bioinformatics too. However, if you are absolutely bent on studying Data Science/CS, I would advise you to stick with a school that admitted you to your ideal major. The CSE department admits on a lottery basis, and though the odds are pretty good, 100% at another school is even better.
Good luck with your decisions! Hopefully this helps a little.
Yeah, this is super stressful actually, I have actually done the equivalent of both math courses in community college and received As in both so I’m hoping they take that. Either way, I believe that I want to give it my best shot but I’m highly considering declaring the cognitive science specialization major just in case. Thanks for responding to this, I really just wanted an SD students opinion who might be familiar with the transfer system.
Hey, glad to help. If you’ve already received an A in both Math 18 and Math 20C, you would just need to crush DSC 10, then you’d be set to transfer. Honestly those seem like pretty nice odds, especially if you’re already into programming and all that. Of course, college can be a tough transition so having a backup major you’d be happy with is essential.
Actually, it would probably be a good idea to email them and check if they take those CC grades, but the website does say:
You need to be a student to access CAPEs, which gives in detail statistics from student-reported workload, grades, etc. Here’s something similar for DSC 10 (it may be based on old data): https://smartercapes.com/DSC/10