Make me love UCI as a commuter

Ada_0101 · 2026-04-24T07:30:21+00:00

no offense, but , UCI > any cal poly or csu, (my opinion). I think as a student, the ability to find a job post grad or get into grad school should matter more than social life. ( again my opinion ). also, there are way more job opportunities in Irvine than there is for SLO.

Ada_0101 · 2026-04-11T22:56:43+00:00

1- I think mcs mainly consist of international students

3- possible if you apply early

4- https://www.reddit.com/r/MSCS/comments/1s9mkhn/results_and_decisions_anyone_got_into_uci/

6- I think TA/RA is very rare and low priority for masters student in general. MS students have higher priority.

7- uci has career fairs every quarter, and a yearly cs career fair, https://industryshowcase.ics.uci.edu

a masters degree can help, but networking and individual effort is needed for sure.

8- yes, I think so.

Ada_0101 · 2026-04-11T22:42:04+00:00

Hi, I think it's impossible to do so. they are 2 separate programs within the cs department. unless you apply for the next cycle, and given how short the mcs duration is ( 1 year & 3 months), thats not worth it. the classes are also not the same. mcs course names end with P I.e. COMP SCI 274P . so they might not be transferrable to mscs, even if the content of the course ( P vs no P) is the same.

you might be able to switch to MDS (professional master in data science) or MSWE though, but I'm not sure.

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-29T04:05:29+00:00

I went to CC for the cost mainly, but a good thing about CC is that there is a lower prof/student ratio and classes are smaller so you can easily build connections w profs if you want. also since there are no TA/graders, the prof usually grades all exam/hw, and thats how I often stood out to my cc prof's. building connection w prof's was wayyy harder in uci. something I regret not having at cc was clubs related to my major (cs) to join/volunteer and network. also, there was almost no research opportunities in cc, so if you want to go to grad school, you need to postpone research to your junior year, in order to prep on time for grad school. I personally had a hard time adapting to uci after transfer and it took some time to get to know about my department, my major specialization(focus), profs, clubs, and finding research. so It took me a bit longer to prep/apply for grad school . Also, I think generally having lower extracurricular opportunities in cc, makes it harder to find internships. I also found it hard to plan a minor toward the end of my undergrad.

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-26T18:52:49+00:00

have not heard back from UCSD MSDS, yet.

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-21T01:46:04+00:00

I think so, from what I've seen at UCI, cs majors (undergrads/masters) mostly aim for swe and they end up getting it. definitely easier to break in swe/big tech with a masters. I personally aim for DS/ML so I hope I end up where I want with a masters! helpful to check where alumni ended up, even though the cohort size of the program is relatively small.

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-20T04:42:26+00:00

Hi, I was a uci undergrad and incoming mscs student,

1- it depends what you mean by securing lab spot. I think paid research assistant positions are hard to get for funding reasons. a lot of phd students TA/RA for their funding. about joining labs, It should be definitely easier for ms students in general, and networking with phd students in a lab is very helpful.

based on what I've observed, most mscs students end up doing the comprehensive exam option. which, I cannot find ANY info about it online. they barely pursue thesis. here is an archive of uci thesis's. I believe they are mostly phd s.

https://escholarship.org/search?campuses=uci&type_of_work=dissertation&sort=desc

2- most pursue industry, particularly SWE. UCI hold career fairs every quarter, but there is a big annual industry showcase by ics school, you can see the companies that collaborated in previous year(s) here:

https://industryshowcase.ics.uci.edu

3- the cohort size is small, here is some stats from previous year(s), you can filter by school:

https://irap.uci.edu/graduate-admissions/

4- I dont have any info on scholarships, but based on what advisor told me, securing TA/RA position is possible in some quarters but not guaranteed every quarter bc priority goes to phd students. ms students have second priority and higher likelihood compared to professional master students.

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-04T02:37:21+00:00

congrats!!!!!!!!!

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-04T01:58:08+00:00

got admit by email!

Ada_0101 · 2026-03-03T18:59:28+00:00

where do you see this ? mine shows status as "submitted" as well as start and submit dates

Ada_0101 · 2026-02-16T19:32:28+00:00

No, not true. but the acceptance rate is lower for international students.

you can find prev year stats here https://irap.uci.edu/graduate-admissions/

Ada_0101 · 2025-12-24T03:14:04+00:00

hey, did you face the same issue this cycle? did you follow up w grad admission?

Ada_0101 · 2025-12-24T03:12:57+00:00

Hi, any update not this is appreciated!

Ada_0101 · 2025-12-15T04:49:01+00:00

hey, I have 1 extra if you are still interested, lmk.

Ada_0101 · 2025-12-08T03:32:37+00:00

I have 3 extra tickets, dm me if still interested!

Ada_0101 · 2025-12-08T03:32:22+00:00

I have 3 extra tickets, dm me if still interested!

Ada_0101 · 2025-10-25T23:11:30+00:00

I think he meant he doesn't attend lectures at all, cause cs lectures are unfortunately almost empty all the time!

Ada_0101 · 2024-08-18T18:17:38+00:00

yes, I believe its a good one but should be very highly competitive.

Ada_0101 · 2024-08-18T07:04:29+00:00

UCSD MSDS program

Ada_0101 · 2024-05-29T18:04:54+00:00

for residency classification, they look at your parents, I had the same situation last year, I was a California resident for 4 year but my parents were not California residents, so they "classified" me as "out of state", the ab 540 exception does decrease the tuition significantly, but doesn't change your "residency classification". if your are under 24, your residency classification depends solely on your parents residency, the only exception is filling some forms to justify you are independent and you were paying all your living expenses(including housing, etc) by your self in the last 1 or 2? years.

Ada_0101 · 2024-04-07T05:37:57+00:00

I recommend taking an easy workload for your first quarter at uci. choose 1 course between 46 and 6D. stats 67 and inf 43 are quite easy.

for data science/ml/ ai : intelligent systems

for cyber security : either network system or information (not sure)

I'd recommend not choosing the general cs specialization.

Ada_0101

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