Hello Everyone!
As all my decisions have come out, these are the 3 schools that are on the top of the list. I have also been accepted to CS at Northeastern but it is far too expensive ($67K a year) and it does not offer that much in terms of reputation. I have also been accepted to CS at Drexel but it costs about $46K a year which is about the same as UW and it does not seem to offer the same prestige level as the others. If anyone can make a case for either of these two schools, I would love to hear it.
It is worth noting that I applied to, and hope to pursue, CS at each of the schools I applied to.
I got into CS for UC Davis. Approximately $61K a year.
I got into pre-science for UW-seattle. Approximately $47K a year.
I got into my alternate major of econ at UCSD. Approximately $59K a year.
I think that in terms of general prestige, UCSD and UW seem to be higher on the lists than UCD. But the only reason I am considering Davis is because of the direct entry into my major. As for choosing between UCSD and UW, I am leaning towards UW because its cheaper and its in Seattle. However, I must say living in California sounds appealing as well.
I would like to know what you guys think. I am a little confused right now so a little help would be much appreciated. Would it be risky going into UW or UCSD with no guarantee or would it be safer to go to UCD (with cost of attendance and location all considered)? And as for a comparison between UW and UCSD, is picking UW a no-brainer due to cost and no direct entry into CS at either?
Thank you in advance!
Not very good choices. UCD is most expensive, but your likelihood of being able to get into the CS major at UCSD or UW is low.
UCSD is probably the least desirable since it has the worse aspects of both UCD (nearly as expensive ) and UW (difficult to get into CS).
Drexel should be considered in this context.
No other less expensive choices?
Whatever Drexel lacks in “prestige” will be more than compensated by the invaluable hands-on experience and corporate contacts you’ll gain through its coop program.
@ucbalumnus Thank you so much for your reply. To be quite frank, this whole college application process has been quite a disaster for me. I’ve been rejected by a plethora of schools in the US and these are the only 5 that took me. I’m on the wait list for BU and NYU as well.
I also applied to McGill and U of T in Canada. I just found out from U of T that the CS programme has reached enrollment capacity so they can’t take me. My last decision is now McGill but I’m not too optimistic about that either given the results in the US.
Are you suggesting that I give serious consideration to Drexel (maybe even make it my first choice) with what I have right now? Just how hard is to get into CS at UW?
Once again, thank you for your reply.
@katliamom Thank you for your reply as well. Are you also suggesting that I move Drexel to the top of my list as well given my other choices? I was not aware of the co-op programme.
Coop is very much the reason to consider Drexel
http://drexel.edu/difference/co-op/how-co-op-works/
Since you’re an international student, verify with Drexel if there are any visa restrictions that would limit your coop options.
@katliamom I see, thank you.
@ucbalumnus That is some quite useful information that I was hoping to find, thank you.
For UCSD, getting into the CSE major is a lottery for students who earn a 3.3 GPA or higher in the prerequisite courses. However, that lottery likely has a low chance of success, since the previous thresholds when admission was done strictly by GPA were 3.9 or 4.0.
http://cse.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/admissions/cse-capped-major-status
@ucbalumnus That’s not very reassuring. One has an acceptance rate of 12.25% and the other 29.84%. And I think the GPA cutoffs are probably too high. I think this eliminates UCSD for me.
Thank you for your help.