<p>Hey! So, I'm a potential transfer from UC Riverside. I was admitted into Berkeley as a Computer Science major (B.A. in Letters and Science) and into UCLA as a Computer Science major (B.S. in the College of Engineering). I love the fact that computer science is NOT in the college of engineering at Berkeley, since I'm far more interested in arts and humanities than I am in most engineering. I also like the fact that I wouldn't have to take quite as many tough classes.</p>
<p>If you're a computer science major there, how have you found the experience? Do you have time for a social life and all that? Or are you incredibly bogged down by school work? Do you think that it would probably be the same difficulty as the engineering college's computer science at UCLA? </p>
<p>Don't hate me for looking for the "easy" route. If I were looking for an easy route, I wouldn't have chosen computer science as my major, haha. However, I'm a fairly social person who would like to have time to live and enjoy myself, and not be studying 24/7. </p>
<p>If you want the easy route, don’t come to Cal. L&S CS isn’t actually easier than EECS as far as CS goes. Go to UCLA – their CS program is not nearly as rigorous as CS here.</p>
<p>True. The difference between the programs is in the extra requirements (letters and science vs. engineering). EECS has more electrical engineering/other engineering requirements, while CS only has the CS requirements. </p>
<p>And I’m not looking for the easy route. I apologize if that was confusingly phrased. I’m looking for a route where I can work very hard and very often, but still have time to have a life. I felt that EECS may be the type of major where there is no time for a social life, while the lack of extra engineering requirements in the CS major might allow for one. Am I off base? Do both majors have social lives? Neither?</p>
<p>The hardest project courses are in CS in the 16x series (not all, some 16x are easy though). EE courses cover different material but since they’re largely theory-based with the occasional labs (few projects is what I’m saying), they require less work. I guess there’s EECS150 but time spent waiting for the thing to synthesize is not quite the same as time actively spent in a debugger or on the whiteboard. My point is that within EECS courses, taking on CS ones isn’t easier wrt time. The main difference in time commitments is going to come from the specific EECS courses you choose and also differences in pre-reqs/breadths but you should have most of those covered…</p>
<p>So, would you say that computer science majors in the college of letters and science have time for an active social life? Or do they spend all their time studying and coding? That’s really my biggest concern. I strongly believe I can handle the course load, but I’m a pretty social guy and would hate my life if I never got to leave my room/the computer lab. </p>
<p>p.s- I may already be through with the 16 series? Let me tell you the courses I’ve taken over here at Riverside: </p>
<p>CS 10 - Intro to Comp. Sci (C++ programming)
CS 12- Part 2 of CS 10 (C++ programming, includes topics like recursion, pointers, etc.)
CS 14 - Intro to Data Structures and Algorithms (very heavy loads of programming)
CS 61 - Machine organization/Assembly Language</p>
<p>Everybody has time for an active and social life if they have good time management.</p>
<p>I’m an actual EECS major who takes 16 units/semester, and I’m still able to participate in most of my fraternity’s activities while still having time to schedule social activities with other friends. However, I just have to warn you that it’s going to be a very tight squeeze.</p>
<p>No, you’re nowhere close to the 16x series, but you are likely prepared for them. Those include compilers, operating systems, and software development.</p>
<p>You’ll do well here. If you want to have a social life, lean towards 15 units/semester (12 units in solid courses, plus some type of research or DeCal).</p>
<p>The difference between EECS and L&S CS is mainly in the fact that EE20N / EE40 (signal processing and electronic circuits, respective) are traded for humanities breadth courses.</p>
<p>CS students still have to take some form of circuits, but they don’t have to take Multivariable Calculus or Physics 7A/B or EE20 as you said. As far as course loads go, I find myself spending maybe five hours a week on average (including lecture) for the easier CS classes and thirty or more hours a week for the more intense ones. It partially depends on your standards for quality work are and what your background is.</p>
<p>Some relatively light courses that I think you’ll need to take or might enjoy are 61A (programs), 70 (random math), 161 (security), and 188 (AI). 160 (UI) and 169 (SE) are also manageable but you will have to write more than a few lines of code. I think any of those would be a nice way to segue into CS here. Actually the only hard 16x courses are 162 and 164 but they are also the most useful if you wish to pursue computer science.</p>
<p>bsd: Sadly, I’ve already taken multivariable calc. and physics, haha. Ah well. Though 30 hours a week on tough classes is pretty insane. That implies that…well, you couldn’t take more than one tough class at a time. Two tough classes by your approximation would be 60 hours a week would be over 8 hours a day, and plus some other easy classes it’d probably be over 10 hours a day. </p>
<p>excelblue: Thank you. That was pretty much what I was looking for: that you can still have a social life if you balance your time well. Do you like the program there? Are you happy with your experience?</p>
<p>You learn to juggle your time and dedicate one week to one tough class and then the next week to another and so on. Even the 30-hour classes (there aren’t many btw, and in some upper-divs you should balance work w/project partners) have lighter weeks and sometimes you can choose how you want to balance your time across the semester so it works out. 40 to 60 hours a week is not unreasonable, it’s what you’ll be working once you graduate.</p>
<p>A handy tip: If you build something in a class, it will take time. Other classes where you write a few lines to do this or that or just have a few written assignments and exams (most classes here) are considerably less work. They aren’t necessarily easier since the material can be hard and I’m sure professors can give a hard exam in any field or make a class hard with a hard curve, but you don’t have to put in the hours of raw effort that the design classes demand if you want to produce quality work.</p>