An insight into one of the top public schools in the USA!

Applied to 16 universities: Rice (Rejected), Emory (Rejected), UCLA (Rejected), UC Berkeley (Rejected), USC (Rejected), WashU (Rejected), NYU (Waitlisted, Rejected), Georgia Tech (Rejected), UNC Chapel Hill (Rejected), UCSD (Admitted, chosen), UW-Madison (Waitlisted, Admitted), UIUC (Admitted), UC Davis (Waitlisted, did not continue), UMass Amherst (Admitted), Penn State (Admitted), Case Western Reserve (Admitted) Factors that influenced my decision: location, weather, safety, community (friends and family), quality of education, student life, rankings. Admission process: I submitted the UC application by the date and then simply waited for the acceptance. The application asked for a lot of general info about myself and I had to write 4 essays. I did the SAT and got a score of 1530, but the UCs are test-blind so they did not see my score. I also got to skip the English requirement but they accept the TOEFL and IELTS (min score unknown). My overall admission process was quite tedious. A lot of colleges asked for the same information and I had to write a lot of essays. I applied to some colleges early decision, some early action, and some regular decision. The college that I eventually chose was one that I applied to regular decision. The full admission process took about 10 months from the time I started the applications (Aug), to the time my last decision came (May). I began by filling in simple information like my name, birthday, general education. The last thing I did was the essays, but this took the most time.  ...Read More

It is a reputable STEM school that also specializes in healthcare. It also provides lots of opportunities for my academic career. It is also close to home so it would be easier for me to go home and back....Read More

"Location - san diego has the best weather Course Curriculum - structured well with lot of electives Job opportunities in California - tech hub Ranking of universities on various websites Alumni database "...Read More

I have really enjoyed the research opportunities at UCSD along with the funding that I get thanks to it being a public school. Because of this I will be able to complete my MS in less than 4 lakh INR. The courses were also very engaging and I really appreciate the flexibility in curriculum which made this an enjoyable experience. Placement support could have been better and maybe more affordable food and housing options nearby would be welcomed....Read More

SoP was mainly about what got me interested in the field of VLSI Design and how I took steps to develop my understanding of the subject further. The primary factors were the great reputation and moderate prestige associated with the program. Second was the location of being in California, and picturesque San Diego....Read More

I chose this university bcz of it's location and program strength - it is top 15 in the US for CS and top 10 for data science. I chose this program because of its utility, high earning potential + capacity to get into business later. As mentioned, what I liked previously....Read More

I applied to the following- UCSD - admitted UIUC - admitted University of Bristol - admitted Edinburgh University - admitted UCLA - rejected UC Berkeley - rejected LSE - rejected I believe that i was rejected from these largely because of my grades. My predicted grades in particular were less than I would have hoped for and I believe this held me back. My main choice was between UCSD and University of Edinburgh because of the programmes I got into - I chose UCSD largely because of the location. The admission process involved filling the common app for UK schools an the UC application for the UCs. These needed at least 2 essays, 2 letters of recommendations, and SAT scores. I don't remember the minimum requirements but I got a 2140 in the SAT. I applied to the fall 2015 in take and the application process took about 3 months - not counting my study time for the SAT. I studied for about a year for the SAT and then based on my score I decided which schools I could apply to. It took me 3 months to finalise my essays after starting, and I heard from the school in another 3 months. The school reached out in mid March to inform me of the acceptance.  ...Read More

I liked the environment - both physically and academically. Research opportunities here are abundant. Faculty and staff are phenomenal and friendly, yet professional; more so, the has a good reputation in terms of STEM majors which made me choose UCSD....Read More