So I’m a Community College student who plans on transferring to a UC about three years from now. I’d like to major in ECS (Engineering & Computer Science) and minor in Economics. I’m also considering possibly applying to medical school in the future or going for a Masters degree after my Bachelor’s. My plan has sort of just been to rely on my UC Davis TAG (Guaranteed Admission as long as I maintain above a 3.3 GPA) and then maybe if I’m lucky possibly apply and get into UCLA (although this is unlikely as you need like a 3.9 - 4.0 to get in for my major and due to some unfortunate medical hardships I recently faced I think I’ll only be able to graduate with around a 3.8). I’m hoping maybe some solid internships and some personal business ventures I’m pursuing could put me over the edge but I won’t get my hopes up.
But now I’m wondering; what about the other UCs? Is UC Davis satisfactory? Or would maybe UCSD, UCSB, or UCI would be better for my career path? All I know is I want to work in the tech industry later on in life or possibly become a Doctor. I also am interested in doing some “Liberal Arts” type stuff on the side like being a YouTuber or Voice Acting for example. As for the surrounding college life that doesn’t really matter too much to me (although due to these “Hollywood” type hobbies I’m interested in, being located in LA would be very useful although what’s more important is what location will allow me to pursue a successful career in my major). Anyway I would love any opinions on which UC might be best for me, thank you!
You seem to want to develop in many different fronts. How would you rank your goals in order of importance & priority?
The issue that I see is that there just simply won’t be enough opportunities for you to complete everything in the short amount of time you have after you transfer to any UC. All the UCs have some sort of unit cap and / or term limit that will make completing your three stated goals (EE / CS major, a non-related minor, and pre-med core completion) practically impossible without some administrative intervention or extensive waiting period.
Rather than pigeon-holing yourself to EE / CS, have you considered a major that combines your interests in an integrated way instead of pursing them as separate disciplines? Multidisciplinary majors minimize the amount of required courses that don’t align with your long term goals. (i.e. Knowing electrical power distribution systems is minimally helpful for a doctor as is knowing intermediate econometric theory for a wireless systems engineer.)
I recommend you look into majors like Cognitive Science (UCB, UCSD, UCD, UCI, UCSC, UCM) or Computational & Systems Biology / Bioengineering (UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCI) which seem like a better fit.
Additionally such multidisciplinary majors have a lot of variance (due to differences in available resources) so the motion of “Best UC for Me” should emphasize which program better caters to your academic interests and less of location and / or lifestyle fit.
I agree with @SDGoldenBear - Cognitive Science seems like an excellent fit IMO.
Well my number one goal is getting that Engineering And Computer Science education. If I could have a secure and well paying tech job that allows me the time to work on personal projects and enjoy life; I’d be a very happy man. Economics is more out of passion (or the highly unlikely chance of going into politics) and the considering of medical school has been due to the very recently mentioned (life changing) medical issue I had been having. The side hobbies are actually pretty darn important to me but I don’t really know how good job prospects are in LA for an Engineer/Computer Scientist or a Doctor.
Also I don’t know if this was clear but I wasn’t talking about double majoring, I meant literally the major ECS (that combines both Engineering and Computer Science into one). I LOVE the broadness of the major, it makes me feel like you’re given the tools to pursue ANYTHING in the tech field. But one of the reasons I’m debating which UC would be best is seems like UCSD and UCSB don’t even have the major but are considered “better schools”. And technically you could just go into whatever specific Computer Science or Engineering major then just take the other courses as electives on the side. Irvine also DOES seem to have the major like UC Davis, but I can’t tell if it’s as good and it seems like it may possibly have more of a “Software Engineering” focus which isn’t what I’m looking for, I’m looking for broadness. But in the case I don’t get into UCLA, Irvine is less than an hour away from LA which would be really nice for meeting up with other YouTubers (Which LA is absolutely filled with). And while I heard they’re not as good for Pre-Med or Economics, they apparently have much stronger Internship opportunities? I don’t know, it’s a hard choice.