Forum Champion Note: I have merged two different threads that are basically asking the same question about chances for direct admit admission into CS and CSE programs.
UCD has CS in the College of Letters and Sciences and CSE in the College of Engineering. CSE is a direct admit into the College of Engineering. CS is a direct admit but your admitted by division within L&S so you need to take the foundation courses before continuing onto the upper division courses.
**One of the most common questions students ask advisers concerns the difference between the Computer Science (CS) and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) majors.
Actually, the two majors
are almost identical in terms of computer science core material,
including digital circuits. The difference between the two
curricula is that CSE also covers microprocessors, analog circuits
and electronics, while CS offers greater flexibility via large
numbers of free electives.
An important advantage of CSE is that the student sees the entire
machine, from top to bottom, insight that is highly beneficial in
developing software for today’s high-performance applications.
On
the other hand, CS is attractive in that it facilitates
supplementary study in another field as a minor or even as a
double major.
Graduates of the two curricula tend to go into the same kinds of
jobs, or focus on the same research fields if they attend graduate
school. In either case, success stems overwhelmingly from the
depth of insight gained in school, rather than the specific
major.**
UCI admits first into the University and then into the major, so you can get a direct admit into CS if you meet their threshold. However, if you do not, then you are admitted with your alternate major or undeclared.
UCSC admits with a “proposed major” into the College of Engineering and then you need to take the foundation courses before officially declaring the major. However, if you cannot get admission directly into the College of Engineering, you will not be able to change into the CS later.
UCR has a direct admit into the CS major but do consider alternate majors if you do not meet the direct admit thresholds.
You look like a competitive applicant, so I do not think you will have any issues with getting a direct admit into the majority of the schools.