#UCLA vs UCSD

9 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

brazen cave
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Context: I'm a first-year transfer admitted to both schools for political science. I have no math pre-reqs done outside of the first stats class and Calculus 1, which I'm taking over the summer. I really want to double major in a STEM field because of my interests in programming and data, as well as employment prospects.

Schools: UCLA and UCSD
Majors: UCLA: Public Affairs and Statistics - UCSD: Political Science, Data Analytics and Data Science (domain emphasis in social sciences)
Similarities: Similarly priced, both massive schools, need housing for both

UCLA

Pros:

  • Close to home, really great surrounding area for someone without a car (Westwood at least)
  • Public Affairs allows me to explore urban planning, a big interest of mine
  • Statistics major is short (19 classes), allowing a more relaxed double major
  • Two-year housing guarantee, as opposed to UCSD's one-year

Cons:

  • I don't know how much I enjoy Statistics, and there doesn't exist a Data Science major (Data Theory isn't appealing to me, I want as little high-level math as possible since I enjoy programming most)
  • I don't hear about the academics as much as I do the social scene, weather, surrounding area, prestige, etc. which worries me -- all these are great but academics are my top priority
  • Employment data seems to be pretty miserable; I'm already very concerned about job prospects as a polisci major
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UCSD

Pros:

  • Data Analytics is the only B.S. in political science out of the whole UC system, the major is really interesting and seems better for job prospects
  • Data Science is a really great major, aligns with my interests for the most part, allows me to specialize in polisci and urban planning
  • I like San Diego as a city
  • Better study abroad offerings
  • More academically-focused students (for better or for worse?)

Cons:

  • Data Science is long (28 classes) -- would make a difficult double major
  • The campus is pretty far from San Diego, and I wouldn't have a car
  • Slightly less well-known abroad, arguably less prestigious (however much this would matter in the long run, I don't know)
  • Could very well burn out with the amount of STEM classes I'd need to take
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Tie-breaking considerations: I'd really like to pick UCLA out of convenience, but I can't convince myself that the academics are what I want. If I'm able to go to UCLA with the confidence that I'm set up for employment post-graduation, on top of working on hard skills outside of school, while also exploring topics I'm really interested in (data analytics, urban planning, public policy), it'd be hard to turn down.

stone lance
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Ucla! Sounds like you’d enjoy it more

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Plus beautiful location and campus

lavish berry
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If I were you, I’d go for ucla and try to design your stat major such that you focus your electives on data analytics and social statistics

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Though if you are severely concerned about the job prospects of cs and ended up not doing anything in the poli sci department then ucsd would be marginally better

dapper talon
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mainly, you're also right that poli sci employment is harder due to that the field is pretty small and the supply of polisci majors exceeds demand