I am a HS senior and I got admitted to both UCLA and UC Berkeley but I’m having a really hard time choosing between them. I live in the LA area, so I don’t know that much about the Berkeley area. I’m very interested in computer science/computer engineering and want to work and hopefully internship at a tech company or defence contractor in the future. One of the big concerns I have about UCLA is the major transfer process. I’m in the college of engineering already, which is definitely a plus, but as material engineering, not computer engineering. Material engineering is chemistry based and computer engineering is physics based, and switching to CS courses requires some prerequesite classes (I think you have to take some CS courses, and I’m guessing priority for those classes goes to CS students).
Heres my thoughts so far (some are based on rumors which I don’t know if they are true)
UCLA:
Pros: very close by, campus is really nice, good area, close to family, good food nearby
Cons: I got in as material engineering but I really want to switch to computer engineering, so being able to transfer would take a few quarters and is not guerenteed at all.
UC Berkeley:
Pros: I’m accepted as the major I want: computer engineering. Also its right next to Silicon Valley so lots of job opportunities. I think EECS is also rated as one of the best programs in the world, tied with Stanford and MIT.
Cons: far away, no family nearby, and many people say the area is worse with lots of crime and worse facilities compared to LA. I’m going to visit soon but based on video tours, the UCLA campus looks a lot better than the Berkeley one.
If I were you, I would choose Berkley, the computer science/engineering program their is among the best in the world and as you said is ranked number 1 and is tied with Stanford and MIT, at UCLA switching majors to computer engineering is going to be next to impossible.
I don’t think you’ll find that the Berkeley campus is worse than UCLA. They are both very impressive campuses in urban areas. Berkeley has a lot of rich history as the first UC. As far as proximity to home, that needs to be considered. We are also from the L.A. area and our son’s trips home from Berkeley are extremely easy. He takes the BART from campus to the Oakland airport, then a one hour flight to Burbank. It’s so easy, he comes home for a long weekend every 3-4 weeks. It sounds like your major situation would be better at Berkeley. Would you want to go to UCLA if you couldn’t change into your preferred major? Realistically, you might not be able to.
Even if I am in the college of engineering, is switching to a CS related major that hard? The prerequisites I think are 3 CS classes and 1 physics class all to be taken at UCLA, which I think can be done within a year? I’m guessing as a material engineering student I wouldn’t get priority for these classes since its chem based so securing them would be tough.
Honestly the proximity to family is not a major concern, what’s more important to me is job/internship opportunities and the quality of campus/surrounding area. Do you think getting CS related work would be easier at Berkeley compared to UCLA since its much closer to silicon valley?
Change into CS from another major within the same college is possible but difficult due to the sheer number of students already enrolled in the program and the number of students who are also looking to transfer in. However, if you really want to pursue cs just choose the program in which you are guaranteed to receive a cs degree, which is Berkley.
It’s not just about high academic quality; EECS also offers a high level of academic flexibility within the major. After taking the core courses, you can study any combination of upper-division electives from electrical and computer engineering, computer science, and related fields. Since the unit requirements of the major are not extremely heavy, many students find that they have space in their schedules that they can use for additional high level courses in the major, or to study other subjects of interest, or simply graduate early.