There’s a local program (CSin3) that has students graduating within 3 years vs. the traditional 4 (or sometimes more) years it takes to get a diploma from a college. CSin3 costs about $13,000 for all 3 years, plus they give you a scholarship of $25,000 or more if you’re accepted because they want you to spend your time working on computers instead of at a job. Mostly every student gets a summer internship with well-known companies (Google, Uber, etc.) before they graduate. You can’t choose your classes because they’re already chosen. They’re Calculus, English, and Computer Science 5 days a week from 8-5. This kind of bothered me because before I knew about this program I wanted to have class at 9 or 10am. I don’t know whether I should apply for CSin3 and take a quicker, cheaper route or go to a Cal State/University. I’m really interested but it’s taken at a community college and part time at CSUMB so what really worries me is the social part since there won’t be as many people in CSin3 (only about 35 or 40) per year and what i heard about CSUMB is that its mostly a quiet school. I originally wanted to go to UCSC because I love the campus and city, or CSULB because of it’s location. What should I do? I would really like the “college experience” but CSin3 sounds really good, too.
Also, CSin3 doesn’t require SAT/ACT scores. Only 2 personal statements, teacher recommendation, and an interview.
There’s not a definitively correct answer for what you should do.
If I had the opportunity to graduate from college in three years with a reduced cost, I’d do it in a heartbeat. College was fun, but I was there to get a piece of paper that said I was qualified to enter the workforce. Going to college isn’t supposed to be about partying.
Can you apply to both types of experiences simultaneously? What if you aren’t accepted into CSin3? I agree with others that there is no right or wrong answer.
Do you want to go to college or trade school? The difference between the program you’re describing and traditional college programs is not that the CSin3 doesn’t leave you time for partying, it’s that it’s missing the bulk of a well rounded education. Some people don’t care (or can’t afford) a college education that includes the arts, sciences, history, languages, and other subjects offered in traditional programs. If you’re one of those people, then a technical education is a good choice. If not, research ways to get an education that includes gen eds in a variety of subjects, such as looking for merit aid or starting at a cc. I’d apply to that program and traditional colleges so you have choices in the spring and time to weigh your options.
Be careful about their internship brags. Maybe their very top students are getting those internships, but that doesn’t mean you will. Schools are super ready to name drop if even one student wrangles an impressive internship or post-college job. See if you can get overall statistics of where their employees are from the past few graduating classes.
Also, can you glean any other info about the quality of students? Average GPA or something? With no test score data , it is hard to tell.
Is it a for-profit school? If so, be extremely careful to understand as much as possible about how many students finish the program and are employed with a respectable starting salary in the field.
Do you get any chance in the program to take electives or explore anything besides CS? If not, is that okay with you?
Also, check on what the actual degree is. Is it a Bachelor of Science, or something else? You want to make sure you really have a bachelor degree when you are done.
Looks like a special program at Hartnell (a community college) and CSU Monterey Bay (which is smaller but more residential than most CSUs).
The $13,000 is just the tuition and fees for three years. But it is that cheap because in-state tuition of CC + CSU is cheap (though the more usual 4 year route with 2 at CC and 2 at CSU would cost a few thousand dollars more in tuition). Living and/or commuting expenses are not included in this number.
It looks like the courses and curriculum fulfill the same requirements, including CSU general education, as a normal CS major degree at CSUMB. The compression is due to having 17-18 units (instead of the more typical full time course load of 15 units) for most semesters, taking 3 units in winter mini-sessions, and 7 units in the first summer.
But where is the operating systems course in the sample curriculum?
Another question to ask is how much flexibility is there in choosing the general education courses. Students with AP credit may want to ask if any such credit can be applied to anything in the degree program.
In summary, though, it is not that special; it is just a structured accelerated program through course overloads and winter and summer sessions. It is at least theoretically possible that a college student at many schools can graduate in three years through overload schedules.
Thank you, @ucbalumnus. I didn’t catch that. OP, this appears to be an accelerated program, which is different than a tech program. I might consider an accelerated program for some types of majors if money is tight, but I’m not sure if CS is a program that lends itself to acceleration. Ucbalumnus may be able to give you an opinion on that. You can take 18 credits/semester at most schools, so one additional course a semester and a couple summer sessions at a 4-year school would cut it down to 3 years too.
Interesting… Hartnell’s (frosh/soph level) CSS 41 is the operating systems course in the program, while CSUMB’s (junior level) CST 344 is not included. The course descriptions indicate that the Hartnell course is more like a proper operating systems course than the CSUMB course:
It does seem odd that Harnell CSS 41 would be more of a proper operating systems course even though it requires just one introductory CS course as a prerequisite.
It does appear that CS and IT are kind of combined at both schools, so it may be worth more investigation as to how well the CS courses go into the depth that CS (as opposed to IT) majors should know.
In any case, the OP may want to investigate how feasable a roll-your-own accelerated CS degree would be at various other schools. That could allow doing something similar, saving a year of cost (though it may be hard to get below the already low cost of this CC + CSU plan) and getting into the workforce sooner, but allow somewhat more flexibility in choosing electives both in the major and for general education courses. It is also quite possible that many other schools have stronger CS courses and curricula than CSUMB (based on the course descriptions).
But be careful, since good quality CS courses can be rather time consuming with programming projects. An 18 unit course load with multiple CS courses with programming projects can be a very high workload.
@austinmshauri Thank you for your help. What do you mean by, “I’m not sure if CS is a program that lends itself to acceleration”? Also, I’m not really looking for a “party school”. I would prefer a school where there’s new people I can meet and a school where I can choose what time/when my classes start. The thing that hooks me into CSin3 is that they give you more money than all 3 years cost, help you a lot when you have to go to study hall (I think that’s what it’s called) and the tutoring sessions, and they make sure students get internships. What if I go to a regular college and can’t get an internship? They have a 95% graduation rate.
@ucbalumnus I’m not taking any AP classes this year. Would an overload schedule be harder at a CSU/UC vs CSin3? Do you know how I’m able to investigate how I’ll be able to graduate in 3 years even though college applications aren’t due until October/November? Also, I don’t know much about CS. I’m taking a CS class in HS right now. I would’ve taken it earlier but I never knew my school offered the class.
It looks like the CSin 3 program is there to support the students in that group and make sure you get through the program and graduate. It seems to be targeted at at-risk farm workers kids to get them into better jobs in shorter Time with less financial burden, is that where you come from, the local area? They want to get you out of the fields in summer. Everyone is moving together and supporting each other as well as mentors and tutors. Otherwise you are just floating around on your own and CSUs are impersonal. It is hard to get into your classes and you don’t have that support system. An average student should not pile on extra units because they might get overwhelmed and flunk out. You think you get to choose your class time but really you have to take what is open, no matter what time it is.
If you like this program, then it is a unique opportunity. Graduation rates at CSU are very low and this will help the students it targets. But if you have too many doubts a bout the Major and the line of work, or if you can work hard and do it, then pass. I think to take advantage of special things you have to give up some flexibility and do more hours in school. But you will still likely meet other people around the two campuses.
I’ve been reading more about CSin3, which I think is a fantastic program. But it says it’s a “program that provides full scholarships to children of farm workers as a path to futures in the tech world.” Unless you’re in that demographic, you may not get one of the 36 scholarships on offer. Frankly, I’d rather see those scholarships going to kids who genuinely need them, and it sounds like you might not be in that category.
As others have said, you can go to another school and build your own program where you can graduate in less than four years if you’re willing to go year-round. It just won’t be as cheap as the CSin3 program.
Sac State isn’t the best CSU for CS; SJSU, CPP, Cal Poly SLO, and certainly UCSC would all be better. If you have strong stats and are lower income, look into Occidental for a residential college that meets 100% need. Run the NPC and check out the CS offerings.
If you were willing to look a bit North, you could check out the NPCs and CS offerings at Whitman or Lewis&Clark.
CSin3 sounds like a good possible plan but you shouldn’t focus on just that. Apply to CSin3, apply to other colleges, then in the Spring come back here to get help on comparing your offers. You don’t have to make up your mind now. For now, create choices for yourself by applying widely to places your family can afford.
http://matsuifoundation.org/apply/ is the scholarship information. It is not an automatic scholarship. Presumably, the scholarship will help you cover living expenses and books as well as tuition and fees if the amount exceeds tuition and fees.
Since this CSin3 program is basically pre-set overload schedules at a CC and CSU, the difficulty and workload should be similar to that you will find rolling your own overload schedules at that CC and CSU. Other campuses’ difficulty and workload may differ.
However, rolling your own overload schedules at any campus may require more work on your part to figuring out prerequisite sequencing, which courses are offered which semester, which courses are offered which times of day, which courses you need to register at higher priority due to being more popular and getting full more quickly, and what the school’s policies on overload schedules are (you can research this in the catalogs of various schools before applying). This CSin3 program does this all for you, but the trade-off is that the curriculum is pre-set with no elective choices for you.
@simba9 the program is for children of farm workers and for local students. You get the scholarship as long as you’re accepted. What’s your opinion on quarter vs. semester systems?
@ucbalumnus thank you. Are there certain courses for CS that are high priority at most colleges? What math should I know by the time I apply to major in CS? Right now I’m taking pre-cal. I’ll make sure to apply to different colleges, too.