<p>So basically no one’s gonna hire me with a decent salary if I do engineering from UCLA? =/</p>
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False. Lots of high tech companies hire from UCLA.</p>
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The best way to prepare for the GRE is to buy some books, download ETS’s PowerPrep software, and take practice tests. I would have suggested spending time memorizing words, but that seems less important now that they’ve changed the format. Keep in mind that the GRE is one of the least important parts of the application; just make sure each score isn’t terribly low. If you want to be safe, a good target is 90th percentile on each section.</p>
<p>For EE, many of my friends are going directly to PhD. If your son has a high enough GPA and solid research experience (ideally with publications), I would recommend that he take that route since it usually comes with guaranteed funding. If he decides later that it’s not for him, he can leave with a MS from most schools.</p>
<p>Is it the same with CS and CEN?</p>
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Yes, especially those.</p>
<p>UIUC Chemical engineering vs UCLA Electrical Engineering. Where should I go?</p>
<p>I was in the same boat, but both for EE. I chose UCLA although it’s a few ranks below UIUC, but those few ranks won’t make a difference in the long run. It’s the name that’ll matter, and UCLA DOES have more prestige than UIUC.</p>
<p>There are some freshmen who get in to research. If you’re persistent enough, you can get something. There is a program called SRP (I think it stands for Student Research Program) that many underclassmen get involved with that will allow you to get some lab experience before really diving in to some hardcore Bioengineering research.</p>
<p>Don’t feel like you have to rush and do everything your freshman year. Enjoy your first year of school. Go to football games, join some clubs, date some girls on your floor. Even if you wait until sophomore year to begin, that’s still 3 solid years of research, which is more than most applicants to graduate school will have.</p>
<p>What does the typical day of a computer science student look like at UCLA? Does that coursework take up all of your time?</p>
<p>^ Based on CS majors I’ve seen, yes. Though somehow they manage to fit in a couple hours of League of Legends…</p>
<p>CS classes in general take so much of your time I think. But I’m not a CS major.</p>
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I spend more time on GEs. As long as you go to class, make an effort to understand the material, and practice, CS classes (for the most part) aren’t so bad.</p>
<p>Obviously, there are CS classes that are time-consuming (e.g. CS 111, 130), but as long as you group those with less time-consuming classes (e.g. CS 118, M151B, classes outside the CS department), it’s very manageable. I do well and I have quite a bit of free time.</p>
<p>I saw this link which was announced few days ago.<br>
[QS</a> World University Rankings - Topuniversities](<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/engineering/computer-science]QS”>http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/engineering/computer-science)</p>
<p>My son was accepted to the HSSEAS and I was kind of surprised that UCLA engineering would lie outside top 10. This ranking (at least US) resembles what I used to know.</p>
<p>I’ve been accepted to both schools and am trying to decide which will offer the best future for myself. How will attending each university be different in terms of quality of education, and how different will my career options be after graduating from either school?</p>
<p>Thanks :D</p>
<p>BYU for CEN? No way, man. UCLA all the wayy.</p>
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</p>
<p>I don’t think a freshman can really contribute to the lab right away. Most likely you will be watching what the graduate student does and just learning about what they are doing. The graduate student and your advisor will probably not trust you well enough at this point anyways. So I don’t think you will be given an independent project until you are a junior or senior. Even then, those experiments will be well controlled (maybe the apparatus already built by a graduate student). </p>
<p>My advice is to enjoy your first year unless you are very into the research environment.</p>
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Yes I agree with this. If you are interested in UCLA graduate school, your GRE verbal score doesn’t matter much (I know people with 350 who get in). For quantitative, you should get at least 700, but I think a full score is not difficult to get. For schools like MIT and Stanford, verbal score becomes important. I think you will need at least 650-700 for those schools (guess).</p>
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Isn’t it uncommon for undergraduates to have publications as first author? I don’t think these publications mean much anyways at this point. I also don’t need any prior research experience (although recommended) or publications to be admitted in a PhD program. </p>
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I recommend this as well, but just know that your advisor would really dislike you for the decision to leave after taking a MS. </p>
<p>Most people will know if they like the research environment (and desire to get a PhD) after the first year. For some students, the decision is easy because their experiments don’t work they get frustrated (then they quit).</p>
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Yeah, it is pretty uncommon, but having a publication of any kind (first author or not) is a way to really set yourself apart in the admissions process, especially for top PhD programs. I read a document by a member of the Berkeley EECS committee some time ago saying that roughly 30% of graduate applicants had some kind of publication (usually a conference paper).</p>
<p>Since UCLA’s Aerospace is slightly stronger, would you think it’s worth it to take a risk and attempt to transfer from CL&S into HSSEAS knowing that there’s a 10% admit rate, and that most spaces are reserved for JC transfers or is it better to just stick with UCSD’s Aerospace program, which I am already enrolled?</p>
<p>I’m going to be a freshman in electrical engineering in fall 2011, i was wondering what classes i should be taking? According to the website, i should be planning what classes to take before orientation? or some kind of schedule of classes planner before signing up for orientation? <— can anyone clarify on that? </p>
<p>I’ve taken Calculus AB AP and got a 5, English composition and Language: 3, and Chemistry AP: 4. What would do you recommend? Also, how do i go about looking up on what individual courses are available for freshman? Like descriptions of courses. Can anyone clarify on what steps i should take from this point, after I’ve submitted SIR? </p>
<p>Btw, is it likely for freshman in electrical engineering, like me, to have research opportunities? I want to have a more hands on experience at UCLA. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Thank you for posting the information about graduate school.<br>
Can any of you elaborate how to select a graduate program beside talking to his current graduate counselor. Is ranking important for graduate program related to his field?
If he wants to start graduate program in 2012 Fall, when should he take GRE and when should he start applying? Do you have to start graduate program in Fall or are you allow to take 1 quarter/ semester for a break after your acceptance?</p>
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The best thing your son can do is first target an area of interest. If he is interested in graduate school, I assume that he already has a reasonably good idea of which EE concentration he would like to pursue. Once he’s established that, I recommend that he speak with one of his UCLA professors (ideally from that concentration) about targeting graduate programs. Professors go to lots of conferences and are familiar with major journals, so they have a good idea of which universities have strong research. I spoke with my undergraduate faculty advisor about targeting CS graduate schools, and he was a great help.</p>
<p>Rankings do matter to the extent that the top ~4 schools are generally better than the top ~16-20, while the top 16-20 are generally better than the ones outside the top 20. Within those tiers, there isn’t too much of a difference. This is in terms of quality of research and, to a lesser extent, quality of available courses.</p>
<p>However, it’s important to research individual departments, their course offerings, and their research. Also, if you can find it, something to look at is how well-funded your son’s target labs are. If your son finds a school that seems like a good fit based on those factors, he shouldn’t hesitate to select it even if it’s not the highest ranked.</p>
<p>I applied for Fall 2011, and I took the GRE right before school started in September last year, and I thought that was a great time to take it. Most graduate programs have deadlines in mid-December, and so he should probably start his SOP by October and ask professors for letters by early November.</p>
<p>Most graduate programs require students to start in the Fall; I know UCLA’s EE program does for sure. However, you can ask individual schools’ graduate admissions offices to see if taking a break is possible.</p>
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<p>That is a very helpful information about grad school application process which I have been wondering about. Can I ask you more about letters of recommendation? I am a third year CSE major planning to apply to CS graduate programs this December. I am already worrying about how I’m going to get three recommendation letters in the Fall. I don’t know any CS professor that well. It’s especially because being a CSE major I’ve taken many more EE upper div classes than CS so far. For example, even now, I only have one CS class. My questions are:</p>
<p>1) For the one CS class I have right now, what can I do this quarter to facilitate getting a decent recommendation later from him later? </p>
<p>2) For the two more letters that I will need, do you think it’s possible to ask a professor for a letter of rec in the fall quarter while I’m taking his or her class? Is this uncommon?</p>
<p>3) For the courses that I completed with an A but never talked to the professor personally, is it completely out of the question for getting letters of recommendation?</p>