So I’ve decided to attend Ohlone CC in SPRING 2016. and then transfer to UCB EECS or UCLA CS & E. I’m an international student, 18 years old.
I chose Ohlone because it has all the requirements UCB and UCLA requires along with one of the strongly recommended courses. At least that’s what ASSIST says. Also, I found that Ohlone students are accepted into Berkeley around 30% last year http://universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school so that’s almost how other CCCs admit rates are.
I’m not sure if Ohlone is great or if classes are hard to schedule, or any of that stuff. If anyone has gotten into Berkeley EECS or UCLA CS & E by transferring from Ohlone, please comment and let me know!
And if anyone think I’m taking the wrong step, please let me know. I had my mind on DeAnza but it didn’t have one of the strongly recommended courses and I just thought Ohlone was better. But, again, if I’m wrong, please let me know.
Also, any tips would be great!
@ucbalumnus - I don’t understand. Under the required courses table, it covers everything. Or am I using ASSIST the wrong way?
Once I scroll down to the two column table, that’s where the courses required and course articulated are. When I check a few other colleges, one or two courses display ‘no course articulated.’ But for Ohlone, DVC, Lane, it shows a course articulated for every required course.
Please correct me if I’m using it the wrong way. I’m totally new and just saw a youtube video on how to use it, that’s all.
For UCB, the EECS major requires CS 61A, 61B, 61C, among others. These are not required to transfer, but if you do not have them, you will need to take them after transfer. The more lower division courses you need to take after transfer, the more likely you will need an extra expensive semester, and have less space for upper division courses.
So attending a CC where you can take as many as possible before transfer can help.
I think alumnus may be talking about the highly recommended courses at the very bottom that are not articulated.
FWIW (up here on CC anyway), there seems to be more EECS students going to Berkeley from Laney or Diablo Valley. My daughter says it seems like every other person she meets there (figuratively) is in engineering or business and from Diablo.
@ucbalumnus - They are listed as Strongly recommended courses.
So, you agree that Ohlone and DVC both have all REQUIREMENTS needed by UCB?
@lindyk8 - So you agree that according to ASSIST Ohlone completes all requirements needed by UCB for EECS, correct? Could you check it from alumnus’ link and confirm? I’m sending my application to Ohlone today, wanna confirm before I do.
For a major like EECS, it is in your best interests to complete as many strongly recommended courses as possible. Having just the required courses may not be good enough to get in. EECS is terribly competitive.
@ucbalumnus is the king of this EECS stuff @crseven. Anything he posts is always right. You should defer to him. I know very little about the details of EECS, but know it is so competitive, the more you have completed the better. I believe there are several CCCs that can get you the required courses. But God is in the details and the strongly recommended should get as filled as possible, from what I am getting.
Ask ucbalumnus what his path would be.
@ucbalumnus - What do you say? Ohlone at least has all the requirements, like DVC?
@lindyk8 - Could you link some transfer success stats on college confidential for EECS? You are into UCB threads too, so I’m sure you must be knowing, just like @goldencub (you can link too).
You can still get admitted if you are missing the strongly recommended courses. But it is not in your best interest to have to take a lot of “catch up” courses after transfer, since that can delay graduation (do you really want to pay tuition and living expenses for an extra semester, especially as an international student?) and/or limit the number of upper division courses you can take after transfer.
I said “in your best interests”, eugh
Also: at DVC, it only takes 8 units to satisfy 61B and 61C - at Laney, one must take two four unit courses to satisfy 61B. DVC is probably the better option, but yes, attending Ohlone should be fine.
This is what you’re looking for: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search?discussionid=1742555&search=EECS
@goldencub - eugh?
Could you find that info for Ohlone and tell me? The 61B and 61C courses? I don’t know how to actually evaluate a community college for my major.
The phrase is “in your best interest”, I said interests (plural).
It shows on assist.org. Ohlone has all of the required classes, so that’s good. However, at Ohlone, you will have to take two classes (one 3 unit class and one 4 unit class) to satisfy the CS 61B recommended course. That is the only requirement you can satisfy at Ohlone, and it would take more classes than if you were to go to Diablo Valley College (CS 61B and 61C are offered as standalone 4 unit classes there).
You can also take Laney’s CS61A course, just to be done with the 61 series before you transfer. Completing the series, if possible, will make you more competitive, but it’s not necessary.
I think DVC is your best option. You should try to complete as many highly recommended courses as possible. EECS is not at all easy to get into - 4.0 applicants have been rejected.
If money isn’t an issue, then you could even go so far as to take the electrical engineering classes at UCB one summer via summer sessions. Note: the pacing of summer classes at Berkeley is far from easy, and these classes are made to be difficult. But completing all required and recommended courses would definitely give you an edge. (You still would need CS70 before you can declare your major, but it’s probably best to not do 3 UCB courses in a single summer 
- I haven’t seen any CC offer CS70, so you will probably have to take it at Cal.)
@goldencub - I will take CS70 at UCB. Anything to get in. And graduate from UCB. Keep me updated about your status too! You are applying to EECS too, right?
@crseven It may not be best to. You need high stats. I don’t know. I took a course at UCB over the summer and did well, but it was difficult. And I’m sure the electrical engineering/computer science classes are very demanding.
I think you should focus on finishing the CS61 series at CC’s. That will be advantageous to you, definitely. CS61A at Laney (possibly a summer session would be most convenient for you) and CS 61B & 61C at DVC would be a workable plan.
How long do you plan to stay at CC?
- and goodness, no. I'm a philosophy major.
@goldencub - Since I’m going in Jan 2016 (I was late to apply for Fall 2015), and since EECS only accepts for Fall, I’d have to spend 5 semesters, or rather 2.5 years. Hopefully it doesn’t extend longer. I’d like to complete it within 2 but I can still only apply for Fall, so.
That makes sense. That will definitely give you some wiggle room.
Is there any reason you are attached to Ohlone (like being able to live with relatives near there)?
If you are an international student who can select any CC (or combination of nearby CCs) to attend to prepare for transfer to UCB and UCLA CS, Laney, Diablo Valley, or a combination of the two make more sense than Ohlone (or the ever popular De Anza) in terms of being able to complete as many courses as possible before transfer.