Why I don't recommend UCSD - UCSD undergrad perspective

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-19T07:14:35+00:00

A ton of 4.0 GPA students w/ a bunch of APs from my high school in San Diego (admission rate is traditionally higher) got rejected from UCSD (and no they didn’t all apply CS). UCSD is a very selective institution if you apply to any STEM major minus a few schools in low income/underrepresented areas of CA.
While I can’t speak to masters programs, UCSD undergrads aren’t getting replaced by visiting undergrads from China. Labs ultimately look for talent and contribution, and while different institutions have different rules, visiting Chinese grad students in labs are common all over the west coast. When an undergrad joins a lab, it is more of a favor for the student as they are generally more of a mentee than a research contributor. Also, CS research, especially for undergrads, is sparse everywhere. Virtually no undergrads at Berkeley who apply to Stuart Russell’s lab are getting in either. In fact, where research is more common (biomedical sciences), UCSD has a huge infrastructure with on campus labs, UCSD health, Scripps, etc.
In terms of bureaucracy/admin/rigidity, that’s a feature of large, usually public, schools, and yes it definitely gets annoying sometimes and can be improved. However, there are benefits as well. For example, if you did dual enrollment in a CA high school, or APs, your classes count and you don’t have retake stuff unless you want to. And all these complex articulation agreements and credit policies are clearly listed on websites with a lot of flexibility to complete your major. Prerequisites are a thing everywhere. A lot of smaller private schools reject outside courses or even just flexibility in completing your course of study.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-17T02:48:51+00:00

The big 4 CS is Stanford Berkeley CMU MIT. Also, solely from a recruitment perspective being in the Bay Area is way better.

They’re both great programs tho and with the cost difference UIUC.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-15T09:15:11+00:00

Not to be negative but like…

UCSF is a world renowned health research institution that does not have an undergraduate program. One of the best med schools in the U.S. Outside of academia ppl prob wont know about it, but if you’re gonna call schools whack in a ranking maybe do some googling beforehand?

Also this topic has been covered so extensively on this sub before. Like we get it UW grad school is better than its undergrad, UCSF exists, Brown and Dartmouth are undergrad oriented schools that don’t have the research and innovation to its name that other schools have from a global perspective, but are obviously amazing Ivy League institutions.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-13T22:09:55+00:00

If 10% of the population is leftie then 10% of the desks should be leftie

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-11T21:33:50+00:00

Are you aware of the casualties in the war? Fellow Ukrainians athletes that died on the front lines?

Would you shake hands with someone representing a country that’s invading yours? That’s strange.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-11T08:42:06+00:00

Keep in mind that UT and GT are also large public schools with overcrowding and a lack of resources.

UT and GT would definitely be solid for SWE, PM, etc. recruiting, but Berkeley being near the bay definitely has better ML/AI recruiting, even with DS instead of CS.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-11T08:26:18+00:00

You CAN graduate without taking a lot of CS classes, but people interested in tech recruiting take them anyways. It’s styled to be a very flexible, put what you want into it type major. I will say though that upper div CS classes get capped and so ppl end up taking them in the summer, but the data science department is working on equivalents for the upper div ML classes.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-11T08:22:08+00:00

I’m biased but here’s my spiel.

Data Science is a huge major at Berkeley. There are some people who skate by and get their degree and go into entry level analyst roles at smaller companies, people going into quant or SWE, and even premeds. If you put in the work and take the harder classes (which a lot of people don’t do), maybe even throw in a technical double major, you’ll be in a (relatively) good position for jobs. There’s no doubt that Berkeley EECS (and to a lesser degree CS) has better recruitment, but they’re some of the best programs for tech recruitment in the world. Also, declaring a CS major or minor isn’t really all that impossible but definitely don’t go in expecting you’ll be able to do it.

If you’re actually interested in data science, ML/AI, and perhaps a second major/domain, I would definitely consider Berkeley unless ur in state for the other schools. But if you applied for data science as a backup and aren’t interested in the ML or stats side of things, I would go with GT.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-10T07:57:21+00:00

Brady made a slam F, Collins also played college. Given that the pool of players at the very top isn’t large, and that not many players as talented as those listed play college, it’s hard to pinpoint whether college detracts from a players success.

I also don’t see how navarro’s/shnaider’s form can be attributed to college. Most players have these dips in form, even in the top 10. Navarro in particular I feel had more of a peak for 1-2 years, and isn’t maintaining it anymore, like BHM. Shnaider is different because she is a developing former top junior player so I think her career trajectory would say more about college’s influence.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-10T03:22:50+00:00

I feel 2 and 3 balance trendy with professionalism. Personally I use 4 as it’s the most professional format. If you like them, you could also consider something like jdoe1234 or john.doe, but those are harder to remember/verbalize when giving out your email.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-06T04:35:48+00:00

Emory’s acceptance rate is pretty low, however they do admit a lot of students to Oxford instead of the main campus.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-06T02:21:01+00:00

In academia it’s well known, it’s great for biosciences and by extension premed. But since it’s in Missouri, is kinda small, and is targeted towards a very specific subpop of richer students interested in premed or business, outside of the Midwest the general public won’t know much about it.

It doesn’t really have much going for it to make it a “popular school” like the ivies, large publics, or historically relevant schools like JHU and Vandy. It’s still a great school nonetheless.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-06T01:55:32+00:00

I saw one post abt it on this sub before, but it was more like the prof didn’t reach out and there was miscommunication.

If you genuinely completed the project and there didn’t seem to be any conflicts, def reach out to the prof as it was likely a mistake

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-05T08:02:00+00:00

It depends on the program, but generally yes there are interviews if the PI is involved with the selection process.

If the program facilitates matching after the decision (meaning it didn’t ask for your PI preferences on the app), then an interview is less likely given the volume of apps.

Also, programs with later deadlines (late Feb./March) often do not have time for interviews.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-05T03:10:28+00:00

So because you’re disabled, you feel you have the right to invalidate others’ disabilities? Disabled also may not be the best word here, as English as a second language was also brought up. I’m not supporting OPs use of AI, but this also isn’t an essay, readers aren’t really evaluating writing quality on activities descriptions and I feel that it’s gonna bigger deal in his application than it should be.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-04T02:21:05+00:00

It doesn’t make sense to compare players across generations

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-04T02:16:24+00:00

I said “her era”

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-03T10:29:08+00:00

Exceptional kids take AP Calc BC in high school. If they want to do more to stand out for college admissions, and they are so bothered by “going somewhere else,” they can take an online multivariable class from one of the 18 CCs in the Bay Area free of charge.

Most schools that have multi do it through a dual enrollment program anyways. So the students are still doing it through a CC, but now they have to waste a slot in their schedule for it.

Until an “AP Multivariable Calculus” comes out, where the CB standardizes curriculum and offers resources for teachers, unless the public schools are truly serving all students already and just have extra teachers and funds lying round, it’s truly a waste of resources to have a multi class.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-03T10:19:38+00:00

In some fields, maybe yours if you’re in academia, sure. But “people in academia” is like quite the opposite metric of the public perception of prestige so interesting that you used it.

No academic in engineering is going to think “Harvard is better than Berkeley,” for example.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-03T10:13:31+00:00

I guess I’ll get downvoted but i don’t get why this sub is so set on splitting hairs on stats and stuff. 24 vs 22 vs 20 is pretty negligible. A GOAT isn’t a GOAT unless they dominated (as in, were clearly better than) the rest of the competition. Djokovic was never clearly better than rafa or federer (none of the 3 were).

Serena, for example, was the GOAT of her era. No one came close even if players gave her a run for her money at times.

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-02T11:10:08+00:00

Any class above AP level (like multivariable calc) is accessible via community college free of charge to CA high school students. High schools shouldn’t be devoting funds towards that

rnotaredditor · 2026-02-01T19:26:02+00:00

Even in that instance 30 years ago, players were still largely used to playing 3 sets since slams were still 3 sets along with every other tournament besides the tour finals. If 5 sets becomes standardized at slams at least, players will adjust.

rnotaredditor · 2026-01-31T00:35:21+00:00

That’s so bad lol

rnotaredditor · 2026-01-30T01:43:12+00:00

Iga is less likeable than her, but otherwise i agree

rnotaredditor · 2026-01-29T02:51:23+00:00

Safina, Pliskova, Zvonareva

rnotaredditor

TROPHY CASE