So I’m stuck between choosing UCSD and UCR. I’ve heard that it’s a lot of hard work to transfer into the CSE program for UCSD, but so many people are telling me to go regardless because it’s generally a better school than UCR. I do have a little bit of hope that I would be able to transfer in because I have some experience in programming, but I don’t know if I would be able to handle the stress and anxiety of not getting in. Even more so now that those who apply and get in are randomly selected from those who have a 3.3+ GPA.
On the other hand, others are telling me to play it safe and go to UCR. I’ve also been invited to their University Honors Program and if I do get in, I would probably lean towards UCR. But while I know I would have an ease of mind there, I don’t really like the area and it’s considered one of the lower UCs.
What do you guys think? Is a better platform more important than the major? Should I risk it and go to UCSD? Or play it safe and go to UCR?
In your situation I would strongly suggest going to UCR where you are sure to be in the major you like. As you already know some programming, you know to some extent the nature of it, with that background going to a field you like is much more important. Also important how you well you will do among your peer, that will motivate you to do better. Being in bad neighbourhood , you will soon learn to ignore and find ease with your newly formed friends. My son has chance to go to better universities but those are pre engineering , not guaranteed major. He is deciding between UCSB or UUIC because of those factor and not considering others. He can not afford to trade between the major (or very similar field) and better university name. Very practical example, I personally l see a huge percentage of engineers from outside the country getting hired with high pay in Silicon Valley, not in the list of top 500 university anywhere. Learning and knowing your subject is key, you feeling successful is important is important to go to the next higher level. UCR is a very good place. Once you are inside, you will be proud of it. Go to UCR and study well, you can surely meet many later on to say I did not go to UCSD but I know more than them!! If you had very high chance to be in CSE in UCSD, that was different issue. Being in more competitive group would have helped your own horizon, that is not the case I see here! It is a personal perspective, assuming you admitted to non engineering major in UCSD,
@wgsbd123 @replyback UCR overall is a lower tiered UC but UCR Bourns College of Engineering is equivalent or ranked higher than some mid tiered UCs. See U.S. News 2017 global ranking below:
UCR EE program is 43rd in the world as of 2016:
My S is currently a EE major at UCR in Bourns COE and he’s very happy (but very rigorous). At first, he was thinking of transferring to UCSD or UCB after a couple of years. Not anymore, the positive experience and the friends/connections he has formed has changed his mind. Fit is more important than prestige. If you got into UCSD CS program then that’s a different story. At UCR, CS is part of BCOE so if you decided to change major within BCOE, it wouldn’t be difficult. My S mentioned a PA at UCR who graduated from UCB told him that UCR is teaching the exact same materials as UCB.
UCR campus is very nice. I agreed that surrounding areas especially at night are questionable but University Village (walking distance from UCR) is modern with lots of eateries and even a movie theater.
UCSD is a great school all around. La Jolla, CA is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Only exception is if you can’t get into the major you want or desire.
Remember “The choices we make, not the chances we take, determine our destiny”.
If I were you, I’d do more research regarding the requirements/competitiveness of get into UCSD CS program. Remember that you have to compete with other UCSD qualified candidates like yourself. I read somewhere online that a current UCSD student trying get into Jacobs COE decreased his chances because he received one B grade.
Congrats and choose wisely.
@wgsbd123, have you been to UCR? I just went with my son last week, and he really liked it. Anyway, that doesn’t help you with your real question, but I do think fit is important, and I’m wondering if you liked it. Think, too, about where you perform/learn your best, in a competitive environment, or in a cooperative one. As well think about how you handle stress and pressure. Oh, you could also look into how hard or easy it is to transfer from UCSD to another UC in your desired major. Maybe if you do all your prereqs but don’t get in to the major at UCSD you could transfer to UCR or another school. Just another thing to think about. Good luck.
Update: I’ve visited both UCSD and UCR. I like how UCSD is near the ocean and how cooler it is than UCR, so I definitely favor UCSD in terms of location. To be brief, I would go to UCSD but my sole concern is my major since transferring into the CSE has around a 10% success rate since admissions is randomly chosen. People tell me that students change majors all the time, but my interests as well as the majors that are employable are all impacted. My backup plan would be ECE and if not, then cognitive science with a specialization in computation, which isn’t impacted but I don’t think getting that degree would be employable by itself.
On the other hand, I got into the Honors program for UCR so that is definitely a plus. Having my intended major also makes me want to go there, but like I said a couple weeks before, it seems like people think the platform is more important than the major. The location and reputation is also not as great as UCSD, and a friend of mine who currently goes to UCSD told me that getting a degree at UCSD would definitely be better than getting one at UCR.
To summarize:
Going to UCSD = better location, better school overall, but it’s a “high risk, high reward” situation so even if I work my butt off, there’s a chance I don’t get into my intended majors
Going to UCR = safe route, lower reputation, but got into my major and Honors program, don’t mind the location
Time is running out, and I still honestly don’t know what to do. UCR is the safest route, but I can’t help but think about the possibilities I could have inn UCSD.
Honors program at UCR sounds like the right call. Undeclared is a trap. I would not obsess over small differences in perceived reputation. Go where you can accomplish your goal with greatest efficiency and lowest amount of unnecessary stress. Academic rigor is equal among the UCs. Finishing in four years would be great. And where you went to school matters only to your first employer. I say this as a UCSD alum. Go to the one that loves you more! Best of luck with your decision.
College is 4 years and then it’s a memory. But what you do in college–what you learn, the degree you earn–is what sets you up for your career and the rest of your life. If you have the aptitude to do computer science, and if you want to do computer science, then you should choose the college that will let you fulfill that promise–UC Riverside. You can spend summers near the beach, you can maybe even eventually afford to live, and buy a house, near the coast with your high-paying tech salary…enabled by your UCR CS degree. I agree with PadreDeTres–undeclared at UCSD is a trap.
@wgsbd123 you are right to think UCSD is more prestige in many ways. However, given that you got accepted as an undeclared major and hoping to get into one of the most competitive capped major CS is going to be very very difficult. The cutoff GPA is 4.0 in the prerequisite courses. So in the next couple of years if you get one A-, your chance are reduced greatly. Different perspective, I have relatives who graduated with engineering degrees from CSULB and CSUF who are very successful in their careers as Engineering Managers for very large firms. One of the above comments mentioned a huge percentage of engineers from outside the country getting hired and by high tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Qualcomm etc…where did they go to school? Another option, go to UCR earn a 4.0 GPA and finish all your requirements to qualify for a UC to UC transfer and if you don’t get into UCSD CS then you have UCR CS to fall back on vs the alternative? Good luck!
@PadreDeTres you’re right on, pre-majors and undeclared are false hope and a trap if your intended major is capped/impacted. It seems like a better choice is California community college (save lots of money and stress) then transfer up to a UC under TAG program.
@bighero8 As the OP mentioned, the new system for getting into CS at UCSD is no longer based on competition with grades, i.e. getting a 4.0 or 3.9 GPA in specified CSE classes, as it was in previous quarters. It is now based on getting a minimum 3.3 GPA and being entered in a lottery system. This change was made only weeks ago, so a lot of people are just finding out about it.
@BunnyBlue link to UCSD CSE major change Q&A. I’m aware of the lottery system and min 3.3 GPA. But the current Acceptance Statistics for Spring of 2017 shows GPA cutoff of 4.0? So if changes were made recently then Acceptance Statistics for fall of 2018 should show cutoff GPA of 3.3, right? They also said new freshmen, transfers will be included. So for example, if CSE dept has 6 spots available and 2 from each pool (freshmen, transfers, current UCSD students) were considered, how competitive is the candidate with 3.3 GPA compared? I guess we’ll wait and see? My son’s friend who is a current UCSD CS Math major is trying to switch over to CS in the College of Engineering said it’s very very competitive. He has a 4.0 GPA currently.
@BunnyBlue I forgot to attach link:
http://cse.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/admissions/cse-capped-major-status
@bighero8 the lottery system is implemented after July 1, so that means that it is effective for the summer sessions and on. This means that incoming freshman and transfers beginning Fall 2017 have to deal with the new lottery system. Since its still the spring quarter, current students are still under the old system.
Another update: I had a detailed tour at UCR yesterday, not like last time where all I did was walk around in the heat. There’s some interesting things to do there, like getting paid to play video games or sleep. Sure, the heat is unbearable but it’s not like I’ll be spending my time outside all the time. The University Village was also alright, but I feel like if I wasn’t involved I would be bored out of my mind. Since I got into the Honors program where I sorta have to be involved, I’m not too worried about that. Plus there’s also music festivals every year so that’s something to look forward to.
I was supposed to get a tour at UCSD today (also unlike last time where my “tour” was just mindless walking around the area to get a feel of the campus) but I was too sick so hopefully I could visit before next week ends. After my last update, I asked many teachers and counselors at my school about advice on my situation and they’ve all told me to go to UCSD. Their arguments were all the same: better school, better location, students switch majors anyways, and most importantly current programmers and software developers don’t even have a CS degree so I don’t have to transfer into CSE at UCSD. The only helpful advice I got was from one of my other counselors, who said that if I was going to UCR to do the BS+MS program the dean had emailed me about. However, if I was only interested in getting a bachelors, then I get it at UCSD.
This brings me to my backup plans: Math-CS and Cog Sci with Specialization in Computation. Math-CS was impacted last year and deals more with what I want to do whereas Cog Sci isn’t impacted but deals with a lot more science stuff that I don’t really like. There’s an entire first year plan for those who want to do CSE but have these two as a back up plan (http://cse.ucsd.edu/sites/cse.ucsd.edu/files/undergraduate/ComputationalMajorsLTP.pdf). However, I find myself thinking what the point of going to UCSD is if I don’t get into any of the lower division classes since students with majors get priority first.
Despite my tour at UCR, I’m still sorta 50-50 between the two. I’ll see what happens after the tour at UCSD. If I can see myself enjoying campus life (like UCR) and feel at ease about my major situation after talking to the academics counselor there (because Math-CS doesn’t seem that bad, given how they give many CSE classes as an alternative and are only recently impacted) then I’ll probably go there.
Honetly, thank you for all of your advice. I’m not disregarding them–in fact, I’m taking college fit and stress a lot more seriously when I’m at an official tour. The only reason why I still keep UCSD on my list is because of the fact that employers are looking for skills, not necessarily the degree; I’ve got a relative who works in a tech company that majored in film but later up programming on the side because he thought it was fun. A CS degree does set up the foundation, but it doesn’t dictate whether I’ll get a job as a software developer or not.
@bighero8 I’m not sure if I understand your question, so I will summarize the situation as I understand it. There are many people who will be entering UCSD in the fall of 2017, freshmen and transfers, who have been given direct admission to the computer science major. Those who have not been given the major but wish to transfer into it must first achieve a minimum 3.3 GPA in the specified CSE courses in order to be given a chance in the lottery that randomly picks the ones who get the remaining spots in the major. The idea of a cutoff GPA will not exist, unless that is what you want to call the minimum required GPA to enter the lottery. People will no longer be competing to get in based on getting the highest grades. UCSD’s rationale for changing the system includes their belief that some students who did not have the tippy-top most competitive GPA’s in the requisite courses were also qualified and deserving of having a chance at it. So your son’s friend who has a 4.0 GPA (assuming he has completed the courses required for entering the major) will not have a greater chance of getting into the major than someone with a 3.3 in the requisite CSE courses. He will have an equal chance. (That is assuming he applies after this July 1. The old system is still in place right now.)
How is UCSD, in your situation, a “better school” than UCR? You will spend a good chunk of your time at UCSD studying in a field that isn’t the right field for what you want to do. It appears to be true that non-CS majors get hired to code. But don’t you think you’ll know more, and be more valuable, if you have learned everything that goes into a full four-year CS BS degree? You don’t just want a job, you want a good job. And when you’re a few years into your career, you want to be able to reach back to the rigorous training you got as a CS major, rather than realize that you didn’t have the depth of training because you didn’t really study CS. Yes, employers are looking for skills. Don’t you think those skills will be better if you can devote your undergraduate years to the rigorous study of computer science?
@wgsbd123, I agree 100% with @rocket88. The “better” school is not the one with more research dollars. It’s the one that teaches you what you need to know to be successful in your field at the least cost and with the lowest unnecessary stress.
What about recruiting? I heard recently that who recruits on campus is a big issue, and where you want to work after graduation. I looked at a few schools (the ones my son is considering) and Riverside didn’t look as impressive with the industries/companies that recruit on campus. And if one wants to work in the IE, Riverside could be perfect, but if one prefers to work somewhere else, should they attend school there?
UCSD student here, don’t play with your future. CS is a crapshoot. If you’re undeclared and set on CS (0% chance of enjoying something like Biochemistry or Econ), go to the school where you got in. Your employment opportunities in CS are still better as a Riverside CS major than a UCSD comm major.
My S1 didn’t need the campus recruiting fair to get his CS internships. He just applied to companies and interviewed online. We believe he was chosen because of a project he did with a professor. Take advantage of the Honors Program at UCR to find a professor to help you get started on a CS project.
@JessiesGirl I agree with @BunnyBlue I am in Southern California and hire UC graduates every year. I never go to recruitment fairs as it isn’t worth my time. I can’t go to all of the college fairs and can’t predict which students at No Cal schools will be moving to So Cal after graduation. I post the job listing on the job/internship link sites (Bruin-link, Gaucho-link, Zot-link, etc) and have the potential employee come to my business to interview. I currently have employees from UCSB, UCSC, UCB, UCI, UCR and UCLA working at my business. In the past I’ve recruited from LMU but, as far as I know, they don’t have an online system and they haven’t had a pre-health advisor in several years.
Note that most of the UCs are changing to a new online system next year but that shouldn’t affect the students.
Edit to add that I’ve had students from UCSD and CSULB in the past as well.
Update: I chose UCR over UCSD. When I toured UCSD, it didn’t feel like my type of school. It’s a great school but the felt a bit stifled about my major situation as well as how far the departments were from each college. If I went, I had the feeling that I would feel a lot of unnecessary stress about my major situation as well as getting up earlier than usual to go to the math classes. The weather and location is great, but as my teacher accurately described it, it’s like a “hit or miss” type of school once people get more acquainted with it.
Thank you all for your advice! As for the recruiting opportunities, I feel that showing passion would increase my chances of getting a job. Sure, being technical and knowing how to answer everything is good, but passion is what I think separates good applicants from great ones. This is what I think I would be able to achieve with UCR as I was admitted into their Honors Program, which gives me the opportunity to research on a topic that I want to. Being in my major there also helps as well because my only concerns would be my classes and not if I can get into the major I want.
For future students who get into UCSD as undeclared but into another UC with their intended major, this is my advice: if you have no interest whatsoever in any of their non-impacted majors or feel uncertain about getting into any of the impacted ones (especially the engineering department because those are SUPER impacted), then just go with the other UC. If that major you want truly is the one you want to do, honestly just go to the other one. But if you don’t know what you want to major in, what some undeclared students do is that they take non-impacted classes and try to see if they’ll like it. But then again, that’s a bit risky because you can take a class, like maybe chemistry, and find out you don’t like it at all and end up barely passing.
Other than that, thank you all again for helping me out! Hopefully this thread will be useful for other students later on.