lala91

do you think the large class sizes hurt you? i've been really leaning towards east coast liberal arts (bates, colgate, bowdoin, middlebury, wellesley and more) but lately i've been feeling like staying at home in california (i live like an hour away from ucsd) i just really worry about not getting enough attention or having no research opp. like i would at a small liberal arts college

astrina

I really don't understand why large class sizes would hurt anyone -- regardless of how many people are in it, college is largely an independent-study experience. You'll have to make the effort to get help when you need it, you'll have to talk to the professors that you're interested in working for ... it's not about getting stuff handed to you anymore.

That said, I think the array and quality of research opportunities at UCSD is so impressive that it blows any liberal-arts school out of the water. And since you're in-state, you're getting a good deal financially as well. It depends on what's important to you -- you might like to pay $$$ for the small-college experience, which is fine if that's what's important to you and it won't put you in the poorhouse. But I guess my point is that it doesn't matter in the end; I'm at graduate school at Columbia right now and I have classmates from Harvard and Cambridge and UC Irvine ... and you know what? It doesn't matter where one went for undergrad, we're all in the same boat now.

I guess I"ll address your specific concerns and how I managed to get through it:

- academics: I wasn't premed, and therefore I wasn't quite so paranoid about grades. There were many occasions that I would just think "screw it" and quit studying to go fool around with my friends. But whenever I needed help, I'd first check with my classmates and friends, if they didn't understand it either we'd go visit the TAs or the professors, and that always worked.
- research: I was deciding between two labs and emailed both professors to talk. I only had gchem and one quarter of ochem under my belt, but both were welcoming and offered me spots in their lab. I eventually settled on one, started working the summer after sophomore year, and kept going for almost three years. Even now, those lab members are still like family to me (one moved out to New York the same time I did and we still hang out!).
- teaching: not everyone does this, but it was a big part of being a chem major for me. I TAed 12 out of my 15 quarters at UCSD, and getting started was as simple as filling out a form on the chem department's website. I was happy in the classroom as well as out of it -- I had lots of advice for my students and got to know a lot of professors as well. (they're not as scary as you think -- I've grabbed beers and gone surfing with them!)

ChristianWu

Finally took the time to see each picture! And WOW Astrina, those are great pictures showcasing UCSD and what it has to offer.

Coming from South SD, I never seen most of those things! That says a lot XD.

I'm even MORE excited to attend UCSD now!

andyyy

Try Google Street View

astrina

Haha I wish I could update the photo album more; a lot of stuff's changed since I've been there. But hopefully going back in a month and a half, we'll see

ninjashayna

Does the college your in have a heavy impact on your major? Like, I'm in Sixth and the curriculum is odd and seems like I have to go out of my way to take classes outside of what I want to focus on. How would it work if I wanted to major in a science [engineering/chem/biochem] or focus on studying sciences for pre-med and am in Sixth?
I know you were in Revelle, but was it geared more toward pre-med and science majors than Sixth is?


EDIT: Although, I don't even really understand the college system. I have to schedule the classes the college requires along with the classes I want to take?

astrina

generally a college is considered "major-friendly" in the number of its GEs that overlap with the requirements for your major. so revelle, having plentiful math and science GE requirements (one year of calculus, one year of physics or chem, etc), would be considered more lenient on science majors than, say, a college that required one year of interpretive dance or whatever.

it's not the kiss of death if you get placed into a college that has more extraneous GE requirements than your major; some people appreciate the opportunity to learn about other things. but it's because of the colleges' GE requirements and difficulty in transferring between colleges that makes me stress to people to RESEARCH YOUR COLLEGES IN ADVANCE. (and while you're not guaranteed your first choice, chances are better than if you ranked them haphazardly)

as for class scheduling, ALL undergrad courses are open to ALL undergrad students with the exception of your college's writing classes (and maybe an honors seminar or two). so if you're in sixth, you won't be able to take hum with the revelle kids (but why would you want to? ick.), but if there's a part of you that would wither away without that, you can go ahead and audit the classes if you want.

each college has its own stereotypes, and for the most part they're true, but by no means are they exclusive. so while revelle does have a higher concentration of neurotic science premeds than other colleges, it's not to say that they exist in revelle alone. (and beyond your first two years, college affiliation doesn't matter AT ALL. you'll meet lots of other people all over the school.)

dcmoose

I'd like to add to your post astrina (which basically hits all the bases!) that even if a college's GE's are punishing towards your major (ie Bioengineering at ERC) then it can be possible to switch to a different college. The usual burden to be met to switch majors is usually demonstrating that it's impossible to graduate in four years.

astrina

The criteria that I've been hearing for the last few years is that you must prove you can graduate at least two quarters earlier if you transfer colleges.

The fault that I'm finding with the finish-in-four idea is that somebody would change their major just to claim the "I can't graduate on time," get their transfer granted, then revert back to the original major. Some majors, assuming the student enters with zero transfer credits, just aren't designed to be completed in four years with sanity intact.

But of course, all this is hearsay. The UCSD administration doesn't exactly applaud transferring between colleges (because Revelle would be loads nerdier than it already is), so I don't think they publish any "guaranteed" reasons for transferring.

dorkO

Hey Astrina,
I'm an incoming freshman to UCSD this year, and have recently visited the campus. I would have to confirm what many have said about the campus being socially dead. It was so big and empty, and the surroundings were are nestled in trees. The structures are beautiful, but now I'm starting to worried whether I made the right decision to go here. I've also heard stories from some of my friends currently attending the school who've felt very isolated and didn't really have the best time of their lives. Besides the education, I'm looking forward to an breathtaking college experience since I'm going to be there for 4+ years; I guess I just need to be reassured. Any advice you could offer me?

dcmoose

Fair enough! I'm just glad I don't have to worry about switching colleges to graduate earlier. I'll agree too that some of those majors are ridiculous. One of my friends has been taking about 5 or so classes a quarter ever since she started sophomore year she can graduate in 4.

astrina

@ dorkO -- without going into a long-winded spiel (because i have a massive paper due in 12 hours), i offer one advice/theme that rings true in all our commentaries as well as one question:

- college is what YOU make/want it to be.
- and i may have missed something, but if you think ucsd is socially dead and only admire the architecture, why did you choose to come? i applaud your decision and hope that you'll find the school as awesome as i did, but judging from your post, it's hard to deduce what you're looking for.

read these while i go do my homework
Anything good about UCSD?
Why should I choose UCSD?

SDTriton

we really can't stress this enough.

YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN EXPERIENCE.

Worried about parties and having a bomb-ass social life?

THEN GO OUT AND SOCIALIZE! All the parts are there... It's just up to you to take advantage of them. There are ~20,000 undergraduates here. Look at all the threads here made by people worried about the social life. What do you think happens to them? They don't go here and decide to study 24/7. There's obviously a desire to party across the board... put in the effort and you'll be rewarded.

kmzizzle

"proud ditcher of the Hum sequence"
whats this mean?
I just got accepted as a transfer to Revelle as econ (probably try to switch to Warren if I attended)
Also how does the spanish/lang req work out if I took 3 yrs in HS (no ap test)?

astrina

i didn't take the entirety of the hum sequence at ucsd (and damn proud of it)

take the placement test