Ask HN: UCLA or UCSD for Computer Science?

14 points by s_baar 17 years ago | 30 comments

I've visited both campuses and looked at the course descriptions and catalogs of each, and am stumped. I know an equal amount of people going to each, each confident in their choice, and an equal amount of students already there at each, telling me how great it is there.

If anyone here has any experience with their CS or life there, and wants to help me out, I would really appreciate it. As for criterion, I'm not 100% sure, but I'd like to meet people who would be interested in, say, something like YC.

hbien 17 years ago |

I'm a recent graduate from UCSD CS program. You'll hear a lot that the UCSD campus isn't very social, it's true. This has to do with the focus on "academics" so we don't offer any scholarships to athletes and we don't have frat houses on campus (no parties on campus). On weekends, the campus is pretty much dead.

If you do go to UCSD, I hope you picked Warren college. You'll live right next to the computer labs. It was pretty awesome, I lived @ Black Halls which was a 30 second walk to the CS building & labs.

The CS classes are pretty easy, I managed to graduate in 3 years by taking 16-20 units a quarter and I know a guy who did it in 2 years.

I never met anyone who was interested in YC or doing a startup. The mentality seemed to be get a good job in the corporate world. I regret not meeting more CS students, especially looking harder for people who want to do their own startups. Luckily, I live in Silicon Valley and there are a lot of us here =].

A lot of the CS professors are pretentious, I got the feeling that they didn't care about teaching students. There were some awesome teachers though, like Rick Ord who teaches assembly and compilers. Plus there's a great "Games Class", where you're given a quarter to make a 3D network game.

If you're interested in getting some real world experience there's AIP (Academic Internship Program). They will hook you up with an unpaid internship but it counts towards your credits.

Also, the sweetest jobs in the world are at ACS (Academic Computer Services). It really helps when you have a full course load to have a job where you can study most of the time.

s_baar 17 years ago | |

Thanks.

mkinsella 17 years ago |

I had to make this exact same decision (among others) five years ago.

Background: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, living less than 20 minutes from UCLA. My mother attended UCLA and my father works at UCLA as an accountant. As you can see, we were very tied to UCLA and LA.

I chose UCSD and am very happy I did.

A major factor for my choice was location. I wanted to get out of LA and didn't like the UCLA area at all. Visiting UCLA always makes me feel frantic and a little unsafe in areas. I absolutely love San Diego, though. There is a lot to do and I unfortunately don't have time to write a detailed post about the social life. As a quick note, though, I have decided to stay down in San Diego and hope to live the rest of my life here -- it's really that great.

As for academics, UCSD and UCLA are very comparable for Engineering and Computer Science. I would personally rank UCSD higher because many of my engineering high school friends that went to UCSD have started successful careers while a few UCLA friends have had trouble, but this is only a small set of people.

Finally, everyone will tell you UCSD is not a social school, you'll have problems meeting people, etc, etc. I was a pretty anti-social guy in high school and was a little worried about this. As for my actual experience, it couldn't be farther than what everyone said. UCSD seems to offer a much more casual, relaxed social experience while UCLA (from my visits) offered a much more party-like atmosphere. Personally, I prefer the former and never had a problem meeting new people.

Overall, I am very happy I chose UCSD. It gave me a great education, I met a lot of wonderful people, and I have a great career ahead of me.

If you do choose UCSD, go to Marshall (for the best on-campus housing and dining at OVT and pretty easy GEs) or Muir (for the easiest GEs but crappy on-campus housing)

a5huynh 17 years ago |

I'm currently a UCSD comp sci undergrad, and overall my experience here has been great.

Academically, our curriculum is one of the best (although, IMHO it is getting a bit dumbed down, focusing more on Java than C/C++ as it did when I was a freshmen). We're in fact one of the few schools that requires you to take the compiler construction class, which is perhaps one of most grueling (yet intellectually stimulating) classes in the CSE curriculum. We've also got Dasgupta, the guy who practically wrote the book on algorithms, teaching algorithms here (http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~dasgupta/book/index.html). For research we've got Calit2 (http://www.calit2.net/about/buildings/ucsd/index.php) which has a bunch of cool projects going on at all times (just pop on in and ask around, people there are always happy to show you what they're doing)

Socially, I'd have to admit that if you're the "bustling" city sort of guy, La Jolla doesn't really cut the cake. But if you like the laid back "chill" attitude that comes with being practically right next to the beach, then we're pretty much the place to be. Picking the right college is also an essential part of the equation. For comp sci (and engineers in general) Warren seems to be the best choice, and basically surrounds you with students in similar majors, which really helps when you're on those late night study/hacking sessions because they'll be people across the hallway doing the exact same thing.

As for students with interest in YC, I think there's plenty. In fact I'm one of them. The trick is getting into the right circles, talking to the right people. Joining orgs on campus that have especially dedicated/passionate students is the best way by far. I recommend orgs like TESC (http://tesc.ucsd.edu) for engineers in general or CSES (http://cses.ucsd.edu) for comp sci. Both these orgs are filled with people who like doing what they're doing, and usually have fun projects/events that enables you to meet the right kind of people.

Now, I don't really know what life is like at UCLA, but hopefully my post gives you an idea of what its like to be a current comp sci undergrad here at UCSD.

kyro 17 years ago | |

It was actually a UCSD cs professor, his name was something like Rohan Preturi, who introduced me to YC!

I think at the time, my friend and I were probably the only two at that school to know about YC, but it's great to know a little community over there is sprouting. SoCal YC'ers need to get together.

Email is in my profile if you guys wanna chat!

stames 17 years ago |

I was a double major in CS and Mathematics at UCLA, finishing in 2004. The campus is fantastic, Westwood is awesome, but the school of engineering administration left me with a nasty taste in my mouth. They were the most bitter, unhelpful academic counselors I have ever encountered. It started when I attempted to change majors into CS from a major in the letters & science school, having to apply and appeal to the dean more than 4 times, despite being extremely qualified and doing everything I was asked. It continued on well through my fifth year, due to bad advice I was given by a counselor regarding credits needed to graduate (I could not graduate as scheduled due to that).

It very well may have been that I got unlucky, but I can't in good conscience recommend the school of engineering to anyone.

iamelgringo 17 years ago |

I lived in LA for 2 years, and attended meetings for the LA chapter of ACM Siggraph. They really have some kick ass presentations in graphics. When I was there, pretty much every month, there were VFX supervisors talking about the effects done on a movie that was just released.

It's a great resource if you want to learn about graphics, and cutting edge parallel processing environments (huge render farms). There's a lot of great graphics/CS work that's done in LA. If that's the route you're interested in going in, it's a great option.

It was those meetings + Hackers and Painters that got me to switch from being a design/animation geek to studying software engineering.

charlesju 17 years ago |

I just finished my CS degree from UCLA a few months ago, and I have to say that it's a much better choice.

College is not all about the academics, it's about the complete package. UCLA has a crazy sports history with lots of school pride, there are a bunch of activities to do everywhere, and LA is much more fun the SD.

With that being said, the curriculum at UCLA is rigorous and be ready to pull a lot of long nights finishing projects.

And if nothing else, UCLA is ranked higher than UCSD. Why sell yourself short?

Here are some tips:

1. ALWAYS look up your professors on bruinwalk.com

2. Get out of engineering, do more with college.

3. Do NOT get a gf.

s_baar 17 years ago | |

None of those seem difficult; in fact, I'm doing one of them right now.

carterschonwald 17 years ago |

UCSD has much better theoretical computer science folks, on the other hand, UCLA has awesome applied math and math.

I'd say figure out what style of socialization is best for you, where you'd find that, and also where in the blend of engineering, theory and math you're intellectual style is, and go with the blend that you know you'll be happiest with. Err on the side of the school which has more classes you'd definitely take, all other things being equal

mark-t 17 years ago | |

Full disclosure: I'm a math PhD student at UCSD.

UCLA is probably better overall for math, but UCSD is better for graph theory and combinatorics in general, the most likely kind of math CS students would be interested in.

In my opinion, there will be very little difference between the schools in terms of education, quality of peers, or job potential upon graduation. I would choose based on which location I like better. Personally, I hate LA, although UCLA's campus is beautiful. There's probably a lot more to do there, too, depending on what activities he enjoys.

UCSD has a great zoo, Sea World, and Lego Land nearby, but not much for drinking establishments. Many CS and math majors go to the pub on campus regularly; I haven't heard of anything else.

apsurd 17 years ago | | |

no drinking establishments??

Downtown San Diego is packed with nightlife spots... too many to count ....

Then there's that street that Pacific Beach is on ...

Tacomanator 17 years ago |

I'm a computer science undergrad at UCLA nearing graduation. Although it may not be much help to you for deciding, but I must say you will probably be happy with either choice from an academic standpoint. I think the UC system has done a fabulous job gathering talent and creating an excellent and competitive curriculum at a very affordable price.

Now let's get a little more practical.

I've never been to the UCSD campus so I can't speak about that, but I can tell you that I've been very pleased with my experience at UCLA. I'm from Northern California and, to be honest, was very reluctant to come down to LA. In fact, I kept telling my friends and family that UCLA was my last choice simply because of that. I was mistaken.

The campus is not the most beautiful I've ever seen but it definitely has its charms, and it's in a very nice area. I used to live near the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Westwood Blvd, and I had problem walking home from school (about 40 min walk) late at night, even with my backpack and computer. Some may call me crazy but I honestly never once felt unsafe or threatened. Now I live in Brentwood which I also really enjoy. If you're interested, here are some pictures taken at the UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden behind UCLA in Bel-Air (you can walk there from campus): http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacomanator/sets/72157614068382...

The Santa Monica bus system has been really great, and you can go to a LOT of places for 25c (regular fare is 75c, but UCLA students ride for 25c). Anywhere you can't go on the Santa Monica buses, you can get to on metro for a little bit more. There are a TON of things to do around here. My girlfriend and I often walk down to Santa Monica and the beaches around there, there's lots of interesting places to go inland, and you'll never run short of places to explore.

I have not forgotten you plan on studying computer science, but please do at least consider getting out of the nest every once in a while ;)

I can also tell you that overall I've had a very positive experience at UCLA in terms of classes and academics. There have been a few black sheep, and bad classes, but overall positive. At the undergraduate level, I honestly don't think you will be able to differentiate the schools too much, except that perhaps UCLA is a little more well known. I may be biased, but I've noticed UCLA's name come up in quite a few articles posted to Hacker News even in the last few weeks, but I only recall seeing a few for UCSD. Of course, I think this is perhaps a superficial comparison at best.

Whatever choice you make I hope you have a great time and make the most of it. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know :)

jacoblyles 17 years ago |

UCSD has a nice 5 year master's program.

I get the feeling that the social life is a little lacking for undergrads. The campus is in La Jolla, a rich suburb removed from San Diego proper. It is not a college town.

San Diego does have some cool places, but you will want to have a car to get to them.

The hacker spirit (i.e. open source and entrepreneurs) isn't very strong at the grad school. I think the undergrads do more. There's an iPhone programmers club and a CS organization that has, among other things, built a Lisp RPG.

kyro 17 years ago |

I went to UCSD for my first two years, majoring in biology, and transferred to UCI, not because it was tough, but because I HATED the school.

Please, please, please consider campus and social life. I held the belief prior to entering college, one probably inherited from my traditional familial roots, that social life and location really doesn't matter - it's all about the academics and doing well. It's not true.

I was admitted to UCSD's Sixth College, and I was even given a student apartment, which as a freshman was pretty amazing. Problem was, I got it in some forrest-like part of the school. I felt like I was going hiking every time I'd walk to the bus stop. I started off on a bad foot.

I tried looking past that, though, and tried to find the social scene. The school is very very disjointed, having 6 separate 'colleges,' all with their own dining hall, etc. You don't feel like you're part of one big amazing school. Come 6pm, the campus is pretty empty, as the main hubs where students are supposed to be hanging out are quite far from their dorms. Everyone hangs out in their dorm building. It's depressing. Very very depressing.

Sure, La Jolla is a beautiful city if you're a 35+ moderately wealthy individual who likes to kick back on the patio of an Italian restaurant and watch the waves go by, or if you're a surfer. Me, I'm a city guy. I wanted a bustling city, where there was always something to do. The closest 'city' to La Jolla is downtown SD, which is nice, but you won't find yourself hanging out there too often. La Jolla just isn't a college town.

I couldn't bear it any longer after two years. Home was an hour and a half drive away, all my friends were at UCI, there were more things to do in Orange County and at UCI, and at UCI, I just felt like I was part of one proud campus. Although I do commute from home now, I often stroll into campus with my friends late afternoon, and attend lectures, free movies, etc., that are always happening on campus.

My brother, and good friends attend UCLA and from what I've experienced there, the social life is quite amazing. If anywhere you feel proud of the school you attend, it's UCLA. You're a Bruin. And although I hate the school and everything about it, due to some residual hatred from being rejected, I can say that UCLA/Westwood, compared to UCSD/La Jolla, is magnitudes upon magnitudes more bustling, exciting, and social.

I can't speak to the CS part of your question, but I can definitely give you some info on campus life with respect to UCSD. I had such a crappy experience, and really advise people not to go unless they are that type of individual that enjoys the laid back, surfer type lifestyle.

Campus and social life matters. Big time.

BTW: Since some SoCal HN readers seem to be popping up in this thread, we should really network and maybe throw a little get together. I've been trying to find people on here from SoCal for ages, but no one really responded to any of my inquiries.

hiteshiitk 17 years ago |

In computer system/networks field, nothing good at UCLA these days, apart from LA itself.

s_baar 17 years ago |

Thanks everyone. I'm going to UCSD.

soundsop 17 years ago | |

Care to share how you decided in the end?

octane 17 years ago |

I went to UCSD and did a shitload of drugs and lost my sexual innocence and had a great time for 4 years.

Just remember there are no campus parties at UCSD, but plenty of house parties thrown by campus orgs. You probably won't go to any until 2nd or 3rd year. In the mean time, steal liquor from the 24 hour Ralphs supermarket by campus and sneak them into the dorms. If you want to go to campus parties just drive to visit your friends at UCLA.

Every quarter there is an on-campus festival where everyone gets SHIT faced drunk on campus. Sun god festival is one of these - honestly I've never seen anything like it at any other college. It's kind of ridiculous how far people take it since they don't get to party on campus. There are 2 bars on campus though if you feel like getting a beer. Make sure you have a real good fake ID though.

The cliffs by Blacks beach is a good place to bring a girl at night. Just don't fall into the ocean. If you get kicked out of the dorms for smoking pot or drinking, don't worry, it's not a big deal. They can't even tell your parents. I had a friend who got kicked out so far into the year he just didn't even move out, they refunded his money too. He bought BBQ for everyone for the rest of the year.

Teach yourself CS on your own time and major in something that is less demanding academically. Learn how to surf. Use RIMAC to work out so you don't get fat. Spend your meal points at the convenience store in warren instead of the dining halls.

Here's a tip for when you live off campus: instead of buying a parking pass, park in the Ralphs parking lot and ride the shuttle 2 stops to the top of the hill. They may have started cracking down on this.

One more thing - STUDY ABROAD FOR HALF A YEAR.

I'm getting sort of choked up writing this post.

ddemchuk 17 years ago |

My girlfriend is a Bio Engineering major at UCSD, I go to SDSU. There's definitely much more of a social life at UCLA than at UCSD. She's in a Sorority at UCSD and always says that without that, it would be very hard to socialize at that school. Academically I think they're relatively equal, UCSD might even be a little higher, not sure though.

UCSD is a 10 minute drive from Pacific Beach, where I live, where pretty much everyone in San Diego goes out once they're 21. Plus, there's a good Ruby Programming Club down here that meets at UCSD.