UCI vs UCSD for CS Major [full rides, junior transfer student]

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For better community input, please provide the below details about your college offers:

Net price per year at each college, after applying scholarships and financial aid grants.

Prices listed do not include books and supplies.

UCI: full ride

UCSD: full ride + $11.9k/yr (I get paid about $12k per year to attend)

HOWEVER with UCSD there will be other expenses that I have not taken into account because I am not sure how much I would have to end up paying. These expenses include having to pay rent to live with a family member in SD, paying for my own gas, paying for my own food, and other costs that I can not think of right now. These costs would be completely paid for if I went to UCI.

Maximum parent contribution per year.

For UCI, free transportation, housing, and food. For UCSD, nothing.

Major/division admitted to at each college, if applicable to the college. Also, any special programs like honors programs or combined degree programs (e.g. BA/BS->MD).

Computer Science for UCI in the CHC honors program. Computer Science for UCSD in the Warren college.

If you applied to regular fall term start, specify if you were admitted to start at a different campus, in study abroad, in an online/distance or extension program, or other than in the fall term.

N/A

Desired major and post graduation goals (including if pre-med, pre-law, etc.).

Computer science major. Post graduation goals include finding work in software development such that I can have a comfortable existence. I do not have a preference for any particular tech industry though I would prefer not to work in the gaming industry. Working at a startup sounds interesting though it is not something that I MUST do. I would prefer to continue living in California though I would not be completely against moving out of state.

If not a frosh admit finishing high school, indicate status (e.g. sophomore level transfer, junior level transfer, frosh after gap year(s)).

Junior level transfer

International or domestic student (and state of residency if domestic).

Domestic student from California.

Student preferences beyond the above (including weather, class sizes, campus culture, college demographics, fraternities/sororities, distance from home, etc.).

To be honest I am shy and am not sure how to make friends. I would know a good handful of people at UCI but nobody at UCSD which is a big consideration for me. Distance from home is also a large issue as with UCI I can commute but with UCSD I would have to dorm as the commute would be over an hour from my current residence. The most important thing to me would be a school in which I would have good internship opportunities during my attendance there and good job opportunities post graduation. Considering how both UCSD and UCI are in important tech hubs this makes deciding which one is better in this aspect difficult for me. Social aspects are a plus but only a minor factor to me. I would also prefer a less competitive environment.

Preliminary assessment of each college based on the above.

I am leaning towards UCI. I believe that after considering the financial costs and social costs of UCSD, the amount of money that I would be getting paid would not be as significant of a “gift”. Additionally I think I would prefer to live in Irvine after graduation over San Diego. My main reason for considering UCSD is it’s reputation for its CS program which is intriguing in a career aspect.

Why did you apply to each college you are considering?

I applied to UCI as it is a school that is close to my home, has a reputable CS program, and is in an area that is (supposedly) good for tech. I applied to UCSD for similar reasons.

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When is your deadline to commit?

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My deadline to commit is June 1st. I am using an alias.

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Do you mean to say that UCSD is giving you a full ride for the commuter-living-with-parent’s cost ($36,594), of which $11,970 is estimated living and transportation costs that you will be using for paying rent to the family member, food, and transportation costs?

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You may want to check how many “catch up” CS courses you need to take at each school that were not able to be covered by your first two years’ of course work (see assist.org if you are coming from a California community college). This may affect whether you need extra quarters (beyond 6) to graduate. If it does look like you need extra quarters, check whether your scholarship or financial aid will cover that.

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I don’t think going to UCSD will limit you from getting a job in Irvine after graduation. I am an IT manager working in Silicon Valley, I just hired an intern attending UIUC CS major. I would pick UCSD over UCI in your case, getting full ride plus extra money to live in dorm. Use these two years to transition to an independent adult. Going to college is more than just attending classes and go home. Go hang out with dorm mates at lounge late night, go join clubs and meet new friends in parties. Good Luck.

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Yes that is what I meant regarding the full ride. For UCSD I am excluding the cost of rent and other essentials as I can not accurately calculate that as of right now. I simply know that I will have to pay for those expenses in the future if I attend.

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Will you be more productive living at your current residence or living at/near UCSD ?

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Not being able to estimate your living and transportation costs does not mean that they are $0. UCSD estimates that you will spend $11,970, although your actual costs could be substantially higher or lower. Financially, it seems that the UCSD and UCI full rides are equivalent on average, but UCSD is both potentially more risky (if your actual living and transportation costs are higher than UCSD’s estimate) and potentially more rewarding (if your actual living and transportation costs are lower than UCSD’s estimate).

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I would probably be more productive at UCSD. I am basing this off the idea that I will not make many friends there and will probably have to study to pass the time. This estimate I am making is just a guess though.

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So I asked my relative that lives in SD and it seems they would like me to pay $600 a month for rent. Assuming I stay in SD for 9 months a year, that would total $5400 in rent per year I would have to pay. This would leave me with roughly $6600 left.

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You will likely make friends in your classes. Do you have friends that you met in classes at your current college?

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Sounds like UCSD would allow you to stretch and grow more.
Do you feel ready to move out though?
Have you connected with people in Warren through social media, and found your people?

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Well I would not be dorming if I go to UCSD; I will be living in a relative’s house.

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From just classes, nope. Though a large reason why may be that I already had friends that had the same classes as me so I did not bother to make new friends. Unfortunately I am also a naturally shy person.

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I am not certain if I am ready to move out. I imagine it would be quite exciting but I will also miss some things from home. Though, I can probably just drive home every weekend as it would be a 1.5 hour drive for me. I have not connected with anybody yet as I am still contemplating which school to choose.

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I will clarify that the single largest deciding factor for me are career prospects, followed by convenience (which for my situation, UCI is the winner in).

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I also am not sure if I should move out yet as currently it is just my father and I living under one house. My mother passed away recently and even though my dad is strong it does not feel right for me to leave him alone.

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Quick update. I have actually gotten offered a software engineering internship position near my current residence. According to the hiring/intern manager, based off of my performance I may be invited to work part time during the school year. I am the only intern hire so it seems that I will have no competition. Realistically, accepting this offer would mean that I would go to UCI; UCSD would be off the table as it would be a 1.5-2 hour commute from the school to my work place. At least, that is my line of thinking. I would appreciate additional input regarding this. Keep in mind that one of the main reasons I was strongly considering UCSD was the internship/career opportunities that it could open.

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