UCSD (math+cs) vs Purdue (CS) vs UCI (EE)

[bronze depot]

For context, I’m an aspiring CS major who wants to work with software but also in EE settings (EECS would have been perfect lol). I applied to CS for all but I didn’t get it for UCSD and UCI, so I’m trying to weigh my options.

UC Irvine
Pros:

• 10k/year scholarship
• good neighborhood
• ability to switch majors?

Cons:

• still more expensive than purdue (50ish a year w/ scholarship)
• didnt get my major
• lowest avg income out of the 3

UC San Diego
Pros:

• REALLY good CS program
• Best location, in my opinion
• ability to switch into CE or take advantage of other CS opportunities

Cons:

• Most expensive (60k+/yr)
• Would have to go in as a Math major and then switch?

Purdue:
Pros:

• cheapest (40k/yr)
• got my major!
• good job placement, highest avg income

Cons:

• in the middle of nowhere
• i dont want to live in the midwest/settle there
• dorms are iffy

[lofty granite]

I don't know anything about Purdue, but if you're comfortable with math then UCSD

You should ask UCSD students how CS differs from CS+Math, and decide whether you're fine with taking additional math classes

And I believe you already know that switching into CS is easier at UCI while a lottery at UCSD

[arctic nimbus]

UCSD is the best option for in state students, but it can get expensive for you

Math/CS at UCSD is mainly a math major with a bit of cs unlike other schools

if you're fine with that and can afford the additional cost I'd go UCSD tbh

also starting in your year UCSD no longer allows switching to CS

[lofty granite]

Yeah I saw a guy on Youtube from UCSD and he was a math+CS major talking about CS so I figured that the major isn't the worse for going into CS if you really want to

[arctic nimbus]

yeah but you have no reg priority unfortunately

if you want to do cs for electives

[bronze depot]

yeah i heard,, but UCSD is lightyears ahead of irvine so idk if its worth the risk?

[bronze depot]

ohh its more like math with a little CS as opposed to math AND cs?

[bronze depot]

yeaaah id have to switch to CE

[arctic nimbus]

No, actually your chance is 0% starting 2023

[bronze depot]

ohh right yeah

is CE even remotely similar?

otherwise id have to just take the L

[arctic nimbus]

yeah

[bronze depot]

ahh

[arctic nimbus]

If you love Math, UCSD is fine, but otherwise you might want to just take UCI

[bronze depot]

im like okay with math but its starting to turn into like random ass symbols instead of numbers

[arctic nimbus]

even though you will lose out on the research opportunities and job networks of ucsd I'd say it's better

[bronze depot]

thats when i start to like

get iffy

[bronze depot]

uci over purdue for sure?

or is that mainly taking into account location and preference

[arctic nimbus]

that is for CA students

oos then 60k for a mediocre school isn't worth

uci isn't popular for anything, it's just a plain university

if you're not instate then Purdue is probably better.

[bronze depot]

uci is mediocre yeah

hmph

yeah purdue is 10k cheapee than uci a year

[arctic nimbus]

only 10k?

are you not instate for either?

UCSD Math+CS requirements by the way

[bronze depot]

i got a 10k scholarship

[arctic nimbus]

due to no reg priority it's not always easy to get CS courses

[bronze depot]

no not in state for either :/

[arctic nimbus]

ah

[bronze depot]

oh that sucks actually

i live in hawaii and

well

idt u can name any universities in hawaii LOL

[arctic nimbus]

UHawaii Manoa

[bronze depot]

oh aow

u actually know it?

[arctic nimbus]

not known for its academics though lmao

[bronze depot]

damn thats actually crazy i didnt think people knew it existed

yeah LOL

i got a full there but like, i wanna do CS so theres no way i can stay here

[arctic nimbus]

also Purdue is snowy. Like very snowy and cold

so if you're from Hawaii gotta consider that too

[bronze depot]

ah yeah, so ive heard

[bronze depot]

that is a very big point

[arctic nimbus]

another good idea is to do a california community college online for 2 years. But this is not very fun

[bronze depot]

yeaaaah. idk how thatll go though

id rather not ig? is it that much easier to get into SD LA or cal

from cali cc

[arctic nimbus]

no, there is no transfer admission guarantee for these 3 due to being the most selective and desired

ik the cs admit rates are:

UCLA: 2%

UCSD: 15%

[bronze depot]

oh thats kind of gross

[arctic nimbus]

UCB: 4%, or 14% for other majors then switch to cs

[bronze depot]

yeah idk, im trying to weigh my options alr cuz like the way i look at it is that im probably gg for berkeley

so

atp i gotta choose smt

[arctic nimbus]

i'd say it is tossup between purdue and ucsd

[bronze depot]

i heard UC admissions can be random but if uci wont even give me CS then fuck bruh idk

[bronze depot]

def no irvine tho yea

cuz its lowkey mid-ish

(?)

[arctic nimbus]

yeah, if I had to pay 60k, I would only take SD and above

[bronze depot]

i also have slo software engineering but thats also 50k

so idk how to feel abt that

if thats better than the options ive laid out so far

[arctic nimbus]

slo is not prestigious but it has decent job placement

[bronze depot]

mm

[arctic nimbus]

also chronically underfunded due to being csu

have heard of people taking long times to graduate due to filled classes

[bronze depot]

yeah ive heard

also the same for berkeley L&S CS

[arctic nimbus]

for oos I would not say it's a good idea

[arctic nimbus]

that's not underfunded, it's just the way Berkeley works

those who can't meet the cutoff will do DS instead

[bronze depot]

rlly? like having a really shitty student to teacher ratio

if anything ig overcrowded is a better word

[arctic nimbus]

they artificially restrict the class by GPA capping to declare

[bronze depot]

rather than underfunded

[bronze depot]

ah

damn

thats ass

eecs has it good then

idk. dyt ive got a chance for EECS if i got denied LA and didnt even get SD CS

[arctic nimbus]

not totally sure why Berk does this though. I mean the DS people will end up in the same courses

[bronze depot]

ah

[arctic nimbus]

maybe increase the major prestige?

[bronze depot]

i think thats possible

do they game that though?

[arctic nimbus]

wdym

[bronze depot]

the prestige like

do that js for prestige

game the prestige

like game the rankings

[arctic nimbus]

oh

no I doubt a public school would do this

[bronze depot]

yeah

[arctic nimbus]

for the rankings that is

[bronze depot]

oh yeah

prestige is a diff story(?)

[unkempt palm]

same

[lofty granite]

UCSD is def better, but it's not "lightyears" it's definitely not Berkeley levels of difference and people wouldnt be screwing themselves if they chose UCI over UCSD

I go to UCI and yeah, ig you're not wrong to say it's midish, but it does what it needs to do well it's not like you won't find a job about graudating

but if you already don't feel to strongly about UCI then it is what it is I'd still save UCSD over Purdue but it really depends on how you feel about being in the middle of nowhere and math

[pliant robin]

UCSD
ability to switch into CE or take advantage of other CS
opportunities
ahahahahahahahaha

I would assume you cannot declare CS at UCSD and you could get prioritized out in terms of registration

[arctic nimbus]

yeah you can't

this is the main issue with sd. Your other options would be CE and DS

[pliant robin]

how much does the cost difference matter for you here? $10k from purdue to UCI might be affordable, maybe not. same for the extra $10k from UCI to UCSD

it sounds like you are leaning away from Purdue's location, which imo is understandable. so an important question to answer then is whether or not you dislike it enough to pay an extra $40k

[rancid wadi]

the math-cs major at UCSD won't hold you back whatsoever from becoming a software engineer. you can still take plenty of cs courses however the only downside is that you don't get priority registration. I'd definitely go with UCSD

[arctic nimbus]

yeah, that requires the effort to self learn

there are also required math courses which can make it a little harder for people who are bad with it

[rancid wadi]

every cs major must self learn. simply showing up to class won't get you too far. if you're a math-cs major who works on side projects and grinds out leetcode questions, you will be perfectly fine

[arctic nimbus]

yeah I mean for math

of course anyone can be a swe/ds with enough effort

math+cs is one of the best majors to do that if not cs

apart from maybe DS

[rancid wadi]

yep 😄

math is also a nice complement to have with cs. it definitely helps improve your problem solving abilities

[arctic nimbus]

yeah, not my fav though lmao. I'm struggling in multivar right now

not struggling to get an A but struggling to understand the concepts

[rancid wadi]

ahhh yeah I feel ya. keep doing practice problems and I promise you'll eventually get it

[arctic nimbus]

are you a triton btw?

[rancid wadi]

nope I go to uc berkeley

[arctic nimbus]

damn

l&s cs?

[rancid wadi]

yep

[arctic nimbus]

wish I could go there for the clout so I can brag lmao

I don't like the toxic declaration process though

[rancid wadi]

yeah it's not fun

[arctic nimbus]

ik the kids who miss the cut declare DS instead

sort of a dumb way to artificially degrade the name of the major

[rancid wadi]

data science is still a great option

[arctic nimbus]

because now Berk kids associate it negatively

[arctic nimbus]

ofc it is

it's pretty flexible too

unlike many other ds majors

[rancid wadi]

yeah unfortunately most students here are very pretentious and stuck-up which is annoying af

[bronze depot]

wait yeah thats why i meant CE

[bronze depot]

10k isnt ideal but its doable? if that makes sense

[distant geode]

As far as I know at UCSD switching into CS is near impossible but CE is there in the ECE department as well as the CSE department at UCSD. The CSE CE is near impossible as well but the ECE department CE is based on GPA and is more doable (all this assuming you prefer CE over Math + CS which doesn't make insane amount of difference to get on the CS path depending on which CS path you wanna take). From the Math + CS majors I've talked to they've all said it's definitely likely you'll end up in a software job at the end but you won't be guaranteed CS classes at UCSD and if the cse department is your make or break for SD then you should probably not come SD.