Source
r/UCSD•
odwall

The worries of a potential CSE major transfer

As a senior, I applied to UCSD without thinking too much about my major and wow, what a costly mistake. I just chose some random engineering that sounded decent. And now I'm trying to switch into CSE, amongst many others.

Now with the amount of people trying to transfer in, whether it be from the mass amount of undecided majors, Math-CS majors, or others, the GPA cutoff is bound to be really high. It's a fact that not everyone's going to get in. I can't help but think of how much better of a situation I'd be in right now if I had ticked the box that said "Computer Science B.S." a year ago on my application. I'm fairly certain I would've gotten in due to the selectiveness of my current engineering major. But now I'm fighting among the masses how many ever few spots that will open up in the near future for transferring majors.

Granted that I've done well in the pre-req classes so far, I can't help but think that one slip-up at any time during this quarter, or any quarter for that matter, will seal my chances at a degree in CS. Mess up on your midterm & final? See you later.

I've heard people say "You can always fall back on Math-CS." , but not everyone wants to take extra math courses when they really want a pure CS degree. I'm not paying tuition to get 3/4th of what I seek in a major.

It's just that the stress builds at times when I'm thinking about the aftermath should I not be able to switch in. Did I end up attending the wrong college? Did I waste a whole year of tuition trying to switch in? I honestly haven't been able to see much of San Diego, do fun things while trying to do well in classes. I'm by no means a genius, but I'm no slouch either. It's just that here, right now at this moment, I feel so alone at UCSD, trapped in my own worry about the future.

If you've read all of this, care to share any thoughts or have any advice for me?

Hopefully I'm not the only one that feels this way.

TLDR; Fucked up not coming in as CSE major, major life crisis ensues.

Posted Feb 6, 2016, 4:36 AM UTC

1117
howyoubinh•

You're not alone. Talk to your major department and figure out what possibilities you still have. Don't get too worked up on graduating with an engineering degree and not a C.S. degree. It shouldn't stop you from reaching your career goals.

3
ecemisip•

Math/CS would be a good combo if you're trying to do data analytics/machine learning

2
odwallOP•

Would you say that the mathematic courses taken with that degree would be useful to CS? Like more often that not useful, as I don't expect EVERY upper div math course to correlate directly with CS.

1
ecemisip•

What I mentioned isn't solely a CS field, its a mix of Math and CS; math that is relevant to machine learning includes probability, stats, linear algebra, real analysis.

2
tornato7Physics (B.S.)•

Take math CS and supplement it with more CS classes of your choosing, you don't have to be a major to take classes in that dept. Also most if not all CS classes have an ECE/COGS/MATH equivalent.

When I look at résumés for ML/Big Data people I am not too concerned with what major they are as long as they have some experience or personal projects to show.

1
ashkon91•

You only have to take 5 upper division math courses with math CS. One is basically a harder version of cse 20. You just have to take extra Cs courses for fun and not graduation credit.

1
gyr05•

Ehh, I'm the opposite. Doing pure CSE is kind of annoying, I really don't enjoy like half of the required courses I'm taking. You may find that too with pure CSE since it is incredibly varied.

2
odwallOP•

How far are you into your CSE courses? I'm finding the intro courses very interesting.

1
gyr05•

I'm almost done with the major upper division requirements, and a handful of electives. I really don't enjoy classes like the 140/141 series as I have literally no interest in them and same with 131/120. I enjoyed courses like 105/101/100/130/110 which are areas in CS I like much more and want to get much better at, 101 in particular as its the most interesting and beneficial course I've taken in this degree thus far.

1
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1
epicwisdomComputer Science (B.S.)•

I'm taking 151 with Chaudhuri right now, it's not as technically or mathematically challenging as I would like, personally, but it's all interesting stuff, and they at least don't hold your hand for the math/programming. If you want to try a class about AI/ML, I'd recommend it (based on what we've gone through so far).

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0
TheChuMasterComputer Science (B.S.)•

it's only easy if you're CE in the CSE dept. If you're CE in the EE dept, it's just as hard as coming from anywhere else

3
epicwisdomComputer Science (B.S.)•

Don't trust anybody except CS advisors when it comes to details like that. They have the final word.

1
TheLogicErrorComputer Science (B.S.)•

Yes i just talked to an advisor who told me it was pretty much automatic approval since im already in the CSE department.

1
tangoshukudai•

Seriously it doesn't matter, just take as much CS courses as you can and you will eventually get in.

-2
odwallOP•

Are you sure? There's a huge flood of people trying to do the same. It's impacted like crazy man!

1
tangoshukudai•

They are not going to stop a student from graduating with CS if they finish as much course work as they possibly can. Trust me they have the power to squeeze you in, you just have to be that squeaky wheel.

1
epicwisdomComputer Science (B.S.)•

Well, if you actually manage to take all the CS courses you need, even if you're not a CS major, they wouldn't deny you if you petitioned. There'd be no point. The major is impacted because they don't have enough class space, but if you're already done with all the classes, the "major change" is nominal.

The hard part is getting into classes if you're not a CS major. It mainly matters for fall quarter, from what I've seen, since they reserve seats for freshmen/transfers, and prioritize CS majors after that, leaving some non-CS majors to wait another quarter if they don't have an early enrollment time.

1