What Schools should I apply to for Computer Science?

@bouders

I know SC is good for CS but the problem is I live 20 minutes away so there really isn’t a point of living on campus.

Also CSUs don’t allow you to transfer to other csu or UCs so the only way to transfer public to public is CC

What are your criteria that make a school desirable, other than that it offers a decent CS major?

You can do a CSU to CSU transfer or a CSU to UC transfer but priority is given to CC applicants.

@ucbalumnus I don’t have hard requirements but safety is obviously very important, and I’d prefer a school thats not the crazy party type

@Gumbymom My counselor told me that CSU to UC is nearly impossible as there are way too many transfer applicants

@AspiringCS12 It would be more of a waste to pay OOS tuition + thousands of dollars of traveling costs over 4 years at a lesser school.

There are been several posters over the years that have done a CSU to UC transfer. Not that common, but it can be done. I counted 149 CSU transfers to the UC’s.

Check this link for 2016-2017: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school

@bouders What do you consider a “lesser school”? At this moment I think if i got accepted to a school like Purdue I would go…

What makes Purdue or those other schools desirable to you?

@ucbalumnus From what I’ve read:
-Great engineering / CS program
-not too much partying
-clean / safe
-professors that care
-friendly environment
-good basketball team which i’m definitely interested in watching

I’m sure this applies to a lot of other schools but from what I’m seeing I actually have a chance at being accepted to purdue.

Be aware that Purdue CS is a competitive admission major.

https://www.cs.purdue.edu/undergraduate/codo.html

For guaranteed admission to the major, you must earn an A- or better in CS 18000, a B or better in a calculus course, and an overall 3.00 GPA. To otherwise be considered for admission to the major if there is space available, you need a B or better in CS 18000, a B or better in a calculus course, and an overall 2.75 GPA.

If your unweighted high school GPA is only around 3.0 or lower, then you really need to turn around your academic commitment, because if you do not, your college GPA is likely to be lower than your high school GPA.

@ucbalumnus Do you not declare a major when you apply? I was looking at the application and it did ask for a declaration.

Even if you declare a major when you apply, there can still be hoops to jump through to become an official major. University of Toronto and University of Washington are two that I know of that do this for computer science. Essentially, students who declared CS when they were admitted have to compete against everyone else for admission to the major. Those with the highest GPAs get in. Everyone else does not and has to find a different major. Even for people with a 4.0 GPA, I don’t recommend these programs. It’s just too chancy. You want a school that admits “directly” to the major.

If the school does not do direct admission, then you would have to compete for your major later.

Some schools offer direct admission, but only to some admits, while other admits get into the school, but not the major, and then have to compete for the major later.

@bouders that’s why I was asking @ucbalumnus because I was under the impression that Purdue doesn’t force you to go undeclared like UW. The CODO thing that he linked to me was for people who wanted to change majors I think.

Since Purdue is a reach for you, it is likely that if you are admitted, the space available in the CS major will go to admits with higher academic credentials than you have. If Purdue admits you, it may admit you undeclared or in another major that is not a selective one (other posters have reported getting admitted to Purdue, but not into their desired majors). In that case, if you attend, you would have to meet the CODO requirements to get into the CS major.

@ucbalumnus Yeah in that case I would have to meet the requirements but I think I can definitely do it. What other high match / reach schools would you recommend I apply to? (Given that price isn’t a concern)

UCSC would be a reach, but if they do not have direct admission to CS or you do not get it, you face a similar problem (2.80 college GPA needed): https://registrar.ucsc.edu/catalog/programs-courses/program-statements/cmps.html

Other UCs besides UCSC, UCR, and UCM are probably in the realm of unrealistic reach with a UC-weighted HS GPA in the 3.00-3.39 range.

@ucbalumnus Yeah the better UC’s for me are very unlikely and I’d rather attend CC for 2 years than go to Merced/Riverside so my options are to look out of state or CC basically.

If you are looking at out-of-state flagship type schools, then, with an unweighted GPA probably around 3.0 or lower, you will probably want to look at less selective ones, like the ones in Arizona or Oregon. Or Mississippi, where your stats may be scholarship-worthy if your unweighted GPA >= 3.0 or they consider weighted GPA.