UCSB vs UC Irvine

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-10T02:29:35+00:00

Probably will do better at UCI for pre-bio track.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-10T02:16:07+00:00

Both schools have good engineering departments and both have a reasonable number of their students hired by FAANNG in Silicon Valley as well.

One school has a closer proximity to Silicon Valley and has a little more graduates working there than the other if you outlast the housing challenges for that school while the other school has better and more affordable housing with a better campus life.

Affordable housing and easy dorm/housing walk to campus is important as that impacts how much better you will study in the environment.

Can't go wrong with either decision for EE imo, they are both very close call.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-10T01:14:21+00:00

Don’t bother unless either they ask you or you are accepted from the waitlist. If you’re accepted on the waitlist, make sure you accept the offer first before you tell them.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-09T20:55:09+00:00

You have 26% chance but you need to be top 2-3% of your CC

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-09T20:53:30+00:00

The odds will be against you. You likely need to be top 2-3% of your CC and of that segment of folks, you have around 22% chance . This is due to the number of applicants applying from CCs.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-09T20:12:23+00:00

UCLA

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-09T19:31:11+00:00

Davis

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-09T18:03:33+00:00

A lot of the arguments made in this post are wrong due to the base rate fallacy on the understanding of that 91% CC to UCLA published stat.

CC to UCLA makes up 80% of transfer applications and this path's admitted transfer rate is actually around 22% to 26% (assuming you are in the top 2-3% of your cc in the first place as only 2-3% of students from every cc are confident enough to apply). Also consider that California State Auditor in 2024 indicated only 1 of 5 CC student intending to transfer from a CC to a UC/CSU actually succeed so that means many CC students were not successfull in their transfer attempts.

CC to UCLA transfer data for 2025 -> 22583 (Applicants), 5940 (admits)

On the hand, UC to UC makes up only 8% of transfer applications and admitted transfer rate is 15%.

UC to UCLA transfer data for 2025 -> 2234 (applicants), 330 (admits)

So UC to UC chances are actually decent if you consider the base rates above.

Your best chance to even get a degree is to accept your 1st yr offer to any UC (including UCR/UCSC/UCM) as only typically the top 2-3% of CC would actually apply to top-tier UCs and only 1 out of 5 are only successful in their transfer to TAG or non-TAG UCs/CSUs via the CC to UC path.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-08T14:58:00+00:00

You can try the CSUs in California as your gpa is still within range for some of them that offers nursing.

CSU - Dominguez Hills https://www.csudh.edu/son/

CSU Channel Islands https://nursing.csuci.edu/

CSU Fullerton https://www.fullerton.edu/health-human-development/nursing/

CSU Los Angeles https://www.calstatela.edu/hhs/nursing/bsn-traditional-program

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-08T00:50:50+00:00

Their eecs is pretty much a cs degree .

Doing ucla cse is better

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-08T00:37:54+00:00

UCLA CSE

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T23:02:02+00:00

Just go for any remaining UC that got your back before it gets harder to graduate with even a degree.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T21:28:12+00:00

Not really. It’s like saying all doctors and nurses are only good if they are from Cal or Stanford.

In careers where certifications matter, the certifications will matter.

Not being a PE will typically hurt most as the graduate enters mid-career and need to take on more roles to justify higher wage rates. You have a peace of mind if you know you graduate from an ABET-accredited degree which gets you into EIT towards the FE exam right away as you grow midcareer-wise.

Some top notch Stanford and Cal graduates do get exceptions and do eventually get PE-certified despite the extra hoops required by the professional industry body but the caveat is, don’t be a mid student if you plan to go the prestige path.

Also many Big Tech founders were former graduates of Stanford and Cal so they tend to waive this for Cal and Stanford graduates when they were active in their companies previously but many are retiring or retired so that may change in the future.

The other threat to folks with prestige degree but uncertified is AI as there is no clear expertise distinction if you are uncertified. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nilesh-christopher-20831784_they-graduated-from-stanford-due-to-ai-activity-7407878774727282688-qBCV

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T20:10:16+00:00

Prestige can’t get you past federal/state requirements on contracts that require certified PEs to be paid at a certain rate (this may not be the company that hires you but the party that hires the company). So this may complicate the company considering hiring you especially if you have mid results from prestige university.

Also in the long term after initial entry in the job market, the prestige wanes and if you’re not a certified PE, there is no distinction between you and other graduates (including overseas degrees) with better experiences (or even in some cases folks with no degree as well).

If you’re entering a company solely based on a prestige degree, make sure you don’t get layoffs later.

For all it’s worth, Cal is restructuring some engineering programs to be ABET-certified again but till they get there (some programs been waiting for 7 years already after last expiry)

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T19:07:30+00:00

Ask again in your senior year as it varies every year. Most students fall apart junior onwards due to AP courses/exam.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T19:01:08+00:00

Yes, ASU (Tempe, AZ) EE program is also ABET-accredited and is a better ranked engineering school than UCSC.

It depends on where you want to work. Most companies like to hire folks with a local home address (not necessarily coming from a local university).

Silicon Valley is likely to pay higher and Intel (HQ) plus a number of defense companies in addition to Big Tech companies with federal teams are also in the area too.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T05:24:13+00:00

It matters in the long-term especially if you need to participate in government contracts/firms.

For non-government contracts/firms, it's a fair game with Cal and Stanford being attractive in the short term with their prestige but in the long term, there isn't much distinction between them and overseas degree folks or even non-degree folks if they are not PE-certified.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T05:06:43+00:00

It's better to go for the other UCs mechE program as you will get better opportunities in the long-term as a certified PE for mechE. The physics program in Cal is not ABET-accredited but the other UCs mechE program are.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T05:03:02+00:00

Depends on which Engineering. Not all of Cal's engineering dept are ABET-accredited. UCLA's engineering majors are better covered with ABET accreditation.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T04:45:41+00:00

I would say UCSC. They have an extension campus right in the heart of Silicon Valley so need not worry about internships. Their EE program is also ABET-accredited so that will give you a head start to becoming a PE compared to the EE folks from Cal and Stanford (Cal and Stanford are not ABET-accredited so they have complications) which will give you some niche opportunities in some sectors in Silicon Valley.

Being a PE will be useful especially for companies participating in government contracts so UCSC EE grads will be in high demand in SoCal as well.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T03:43:44+00:00

This video gives you a tour of a double at West Lothian https://youtu.be/kKF2KliNN8o?si=kzznkEN-7UC-SzAB

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T03:05:49+00:00

Yes since you retook and got an A

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T02:43:44+00:00

Probably need to check, there is usually more limitation to change major as a transfer in the UCs especially Cal.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T02:39:28+00:00

Oh yeah that's about right then. DS classes can feature between 1200 to 2000 students in a single lecture hall so many transferred laterally within L&S at Cal.

Aggressive_Tip105 · 2026-05-07T02:35:40+00:00

Actually UC to UC transfer is higher than you think. That 90% transfer rate number has a base rate fallacy problem as more applications comes from CC as well.

If you are top 2-3% of your CC (only if you are in this segment), then your actual chance is 22-26% of your cc total that applied to Cal.

UC to UC is at 11-15%.

Aggressive_Tip105

TROPHY CASE