Ask a current UCSD frosh anything you want to know about UCSD!

atlantiz · 03-11-2007, 03:51 AM

Hey guys, lots of you guys will probably find out if you get into UCSD within a week or so, but I am sure many of you will have questions/concerns/comments about UCSD. Feel free to ask me anything..as long as it's clean. I am a pretty well balanced student. I am studious, but I have lots of fun too.

There are lots of misconceptions about this school, but it tends to be exaggerated badly. let me clear up some things first:

1. girls here are not ALL ugly. I have met many cute girls here, and no, I do not have low standards or the oh so dreaded "triton vision". anyway, my friends tell me that i have good taste haha. yeah, there is your share of "so-so" girls, but thats like anywhere else. You will see eye candy unless you go for supermodels..cus there arent many like that and if there are..they usually dress kinda slutty or arent worth your time.

2. THERE ARE PARTIES!!! UCSD IS NOT THAT SOCIALLY DEAD! Given that on the weekends, you wont see huge crowds, but know that half the students stay on campus b/c they are housed at school. What i have found is that most stay in their dorms and mingle with their suitemates or visit friends in their dorms on weekends.

Parties can be found, but more easily if you are in a frat/soroity or know anyone in it. I have seen pictures on facebook of ppl passed out, ****ed drunk, beer pong-ing, etc (i would not advise that you put that on your facebook..cus..ppl see it and may think differently about you).

There are lots of clubs on campus. Popular and social clubs are usually ethnic ones such as NSU (japanese), TASA (taiwanese), VSA (vietnamese), MASA (i think this is for all asian ppl). Non asian ppl can join as well although it is not as common. Lots of them have parties occasionally and do fun stuff together. I have gone go-kart racing, fine dining, mini golfing, laser tagging, etc with some of these clubs. ITS FUN!!! JOIN CLUBS UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A LOSER AND COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW BORING SCHOOL IS! here is a quick formula.. JOINING CLUBS = MEETING LOTS of NEW PPL = KNOWING PPL WHO HAVE CARS = OFF CAMPUS FUN!

UCSD also offers LOTS of recreation classes at RIMAC (really nice gym facility..one of the biggest "west of the mississippi". yeah thats a random fact for you). they have classes like hip hop dancing, bboy/breakdancing, bellydancing, etc and my friend recently signed up for scuba diving/ snorkeling.

AMC Movie theater is nearby and Price Center (the univeristy center) shows recent movies...in the past they showed casino royale, pursuit of happyness, the holiday, superman, etc. I usually go to some cus they are only THREE DOLLARS!

3. UCSD is kinda nerdy, but its not like nerd central. There are studious students. I would consider myself one since i am premed (GASP! just like 75% of the incoming freshman), but I have been pulling A/A-/B+s in classes. Studying is something that you will need to do if you are serious about grad school or something like that, but like me, you can have fun too (see #2 above).

There are lots of opps around here esp if you are in the science field. Med school has lab jobs open if you ask around. There are research institutes nearby you can intern/work at, job fairs on campus once a quarter for recuritment. Geisel Library stays open til 2am on weekdays.

It is EASY to be a nerd..i have met many who seem to just study 24/7 and are socially awkward, but I like to think I am well balanced, so you can DEFINITELY have fun if you want.

....

I am pretty sure i left out some other impotant stuff, so ask away if you have questions!!! i know for many ucsd may not be your first choice..for me it was ucla, but I am not crying a river here. I actually really enjoy and appreciate that I got into UCSD. if you go to ucla..expect triple occupancy in your tiny dorm rooms; there are some triples here, but thank god i live in a double. I work hard and play hard. Lots of available resources here if you take the initiative. Peaceful area, lots of nature (GREAT TRAILS FOR RUNNERS IF YOU ARE ONE LIKE ME :] )

COME TO UCSD! whooooo go tritons!!!! ASK ME YOUR QUESTIONS

wecandothis · 03-11-2007, 03:57 AM

what about lack of diversity?

dasherwinator · 03-11-2007, 04:22 AM

and another thing
is the beach like walking distance?
can u see it when youre in the campus?

atlantiz · 03-11-2007, 04:47 AM

for lack of diversity are you talking about RACIAL diversity? Because you will find that at many UCs, there are generally more asian americans than you are accustomed to seeing (unless you are from the Bay Area or somewhere where there already lots of asians). There is a significant Asian American population at UCSD...probably around 40ish%..not sure about the numbers. UCLA and Berkeley have similar, perhaps higher, % of Asians. UCI is heavily populated with asian students as well. At UCSD you will mostly see Asians and Caucasians with a few African Americans and Hispanics...but this is probaly the case at many UCs anyway.

Beach is walking distance for sure, but depends where you reside on campus. It is more convenient to go to the beach if you are from revelle, muir, marshall, ERC. Lots of kids go there on weekends to chill. You can see the ocean (you cant see the beach..like the sand part) at all these colleges, but it depends when we talk about the amount of the water you see.

At REVELLE if you live on the high rise dorms (6th floor) you can kinda see the ocean if you face it.
If you are really lucky and live near the top in the MUIR dorms, you can see the ocean even more clearly given your window faces that direction (i have seen really nice pictures of sunsets from muir dorms)
at MARSHALL, you can see the ocean from the their cafeteria, but its more like a strip of blue (its not a very fat strip, but not super small either).
ERC is located on the higher end of campus like the other 3 colleges i mentioned, so you should be able to see the ocean if you face that direction too i think.
Warren and 6th are on the bottom of the hill of campus..so its a longer walk to the beach, and no ocean views

On campus, you will not see the ocean b/c there are buildings and trees and we are a tad bit inland. we are not directly on the coastline, but we arent inland enought that you wont see the ocean. Pretty much if you go to a high rise, you can see the ocean.

yellowbusRYDAH · 03-11-2007, 05:22 AM

atlantiz which college are you in I got in for marshall

16399 · 03-11-2007, 05:52 AM

I'm in ERC and I have an ocean view from my balcony! It's pretty nice waking up to that in the morning haha

ajayc · 03-11-2007, 05:59 AM

hmm I think I should consider UCSD now anyone on my chances? Can I Make it?

atlantiz · 03-11-2007, 04:04 PM

im at revelle. a lot of ppl bag on revelle (OMFG so many GEs!!!), BUT you will meet some of the smartest and most driven students in revelle. there are plenty smart students other at colleges as well. i know a few who are here at revelle cus of regents/scholarships (one hs friend is here b/c of that..turned down ucla and berkeley) and my friend's suitemate got a free ride here. he is a genius..like seriously..but thats probably why he also got into stanford, mit, princeton and the like.

I personally dont think revelle sucks. im pretty satisfied and our college assembly puts on LOTS of free events (free pumpkin pie, BJs pazookies, arts and crafts projects, movie nights, etc) for our college; there are usually two a week. I belive revelle is one of the most well run colleges in terms of connecting its students. some of my friends dont have that much going on inside their college.

Ajayc: please dont ask for chances on this thread..this thread is just for questions and concerns about ucsd. i quickly looked at your stats..but then i noticed youre from MD..im not too sure about the OOS standards, but I know a girl here from MD..haha

ryanp1000 · 03-11-2007, 04:22 PM

Could you summarize up what the advantages/disadvantages to each college is? My counselor and even when I went to ucsd for a tour didn't want bias my opinion on what college is the best/worst. That would help a lot! Thanks!

Slorg · 03-11-2007, 05:28 PM

Revelle sucks. My Revelle friends agree with me.

ERC is the nicest.

Muir and Warren have the easiest GEs.

Sixth is somewhat isolated.

Azure326 · 03-11-2007, 06:16 PM

Which college are you in? Do you know what Muir College is like?

How's the temperature/weather?

How's the roommate situation? Is it so crowded that nearly everyone has to have a roommate, or do you have some freedom in this department? If you DO have a roommate, is there any conflict of interests/personalities? Do you have any control over what kind of roommate you end up with (Is there any interests survey that you complete, or is it completely random?)?

How are the dorms? How's the plumbing/bathroom situation?

dasherwinator · 03-11-2007, 07:04 PM

What is sixth like overall?

theantithesisof · 03-11-2007, 07:37 PM

Yeah, how are the dorms/bathrooms?

Do you get to request a roommate too?

strayhobo · 03-11-2007, 07:44 PM

is there a gaming scene on campus ie. LAN parties and such?

theantithesisof · 03-11-2007, 07:49 PM

Oh, I forgot..

You said UCLA was your first choice. Did you originally like UCSD's campus/atmosphere? I never really liked it all that much, esp. compared to UCLA.. if you didn't, did you get used to it/learn to like it?