UC Davis Class of 2028 Official Thread

Colleges & Universities University of California - Davis
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Hi UCD perspective parents and students:

For those of you who don’t have perfect scores- don’t despair! Not all is lost. Not everyone who gets into top UCs are 4.0 or “almost” perfect. I used to spend hours combing through CC- your child will be placed into where they are supposed to be.

My D24 received 2 Bs her sophomore year and a B and a C her junior year at her large public HS in Sacramento and still got into UCB, UCI, UCSC, UCSB, UCR, UCD, CalPoly, San Diego State, USF, Biola, Masters and waitlisted at UCLA and UCSD. She was accepted in Political Science.

**I believe it was rigor of schedule, extra CC classes, volunteer at variety of places

D24 Accepted

Major: Political Science

UC Unweighted GPA: 3.82

UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.1

UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.2

ELC (top 9% CA HS): YES

Comments about course load (including senior year): 5 APs (10th/11th) and 4 APs (12), 4 CC classes done in the summer (ECON, SOC, PSYC, STATS); she only got 4s and one 3 on AP tests.

Number of a-g courses: 26

Number of UC Approved Honors courses:

SUBJECTIVE::

Extracurriculars: Lots

Job/Work Experience: part time job at optometry office

Volunteer/Community service: Mentor/tutor title 1 school, mental health workshops,

**GIRLS STATE; GOLD AWARD GIRLS SCOUTS; CA STATE SEAL OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (11th)

DEMOGRAPHICS::

State/location of HS (if domestic applicant): in state - Public- Sacramento

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We visited on Aggie Day and enjoyed it. I found the campus to be laid back and very friendly. My daughter is undeclared social sciences and found the panel discussions to be informative. She is also excited about the research opportunities. We sampled a few eateries in the little town and I just found it be charming and relaxed. My kid is not quite sold though and I think it’s partly due to so many WLs, including her top UC choice. She just feels unsettled . We are going to look at the housing options this weekend and I am hoping she warms up. I think the whole vibe of the campus actually fits her quite well.

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Just went to Picnic Day yesterday and had an absolute blast. I’m not normally a parade kind of guy, but the parade was great (really loved a community … punk marching band? … called Noise Violation), the Doxie Derby, and a number of exhibits / tours / open houses during the day.

The highlight for me was the Battle of the Bands, where pep bands from UCD, UCSD, UCSB, UCB, USF, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly Humboldt, and Stanford “competed”, in a pretty amazing showcase. Essentially, the bands were set up in two facing rows of four bands each, with the audience in the ~30 foot gap between them. The audience would stand in front of the left-most band of one row, watch them perform a song, then collectively shuffle one band to the right, and watch them. When the audience got to the end of the row, they would all turn around and watch the now-left-most band of the opposite row, and so on. (This went on for … apparently … eight hours?) Band members would often hop over to join “competing” bands, and one particular rendition of “Louis Louis”, hosted by Cal Poly Humboldt, probably ended up having 40 different soloists from the various schools stepping in to perform. It was really excellent. (My favorite was UCSD, with CPP behind them.)

If you’ll be heading to Davis in the fall, look forward to Picnic Day next spring. It’s a real treat.

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What did you guys ultimately decide on? We enjoyed Aggie Day too.

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Just an update to this thread - S24 SIR’d to UC Davis for Physics and declined the acceptances to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly SLO.

Below was S24’s thought process shared on the 2024 Parent thread.

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@TrojanDadD24S30 @boo1

Best wishes on your kiddos’ decisions!

Just a heads up that UC Davis Housing Deadline for freshman housing guarantee is May 18. I thought I read somewhere that it may take 1-2 days for student accounts (e.g., email) to be created after students SIR and complete action items.

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Is there a thread on housing recommendations? So many options! Thanks in advance!

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Freshmen are assigned to Tercero, Segundo, or Cuarto. Students used to be able to request which community they wanted. Now the university assigns it.

Have you looked at the Living Learning Communities?

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As noted you cannot choose a specific residence hall, you can only request a single, double or triple.

Just FYI most freshman are housed in triples regardless of what you request (70% were triples last year).

You can also request a Living Learning/Shared Interest Community but these are not guaranteed either.

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@TrojanDadD24S30

I joined this private Facebook Group UC Davis Parent Forum (UCD) | Facebook It is set up by former Davis parents in 2011. Contributors are current and former Davis parents and they have been helpful in answering questions from parents of incoming Freshman and Transfers.

I also follow the official UC Parent Facebook page UC Davis Parent Network | Davis CA and the In the Know newsletters here: One Aggie Network More info re: the Davis Parent & Family program is here: One Aggie Network - Parent and Family Program

My S24 filled out the housing application with one of his friends from HS who also SIR’d to UC Davis, and they both requested a double with the intent of rooming together.

We passed on the $160 GradGuard renters insurance since our HO policy will cover kid’s stuff in dorm. UC Davis announced during Aggie Day that they no longer require a housing deposit (in addition to the SIR deposit).

I had to be guarantor on the housing contract since S24 is not yet 18. That is the extent of my knowledge re: housing. I defer to @lkg4answers @gumbymom and the UC Davis Facebook pages.

I hope this helps!

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Really a great parent FB page. If you have a question, there are lots of parents willing to jump in and help. Very little debate, politics or arguments in that group. I think it is a good reflection of the Davis community.

There is a smaller offshoot of that Davis FB group for people who live in southern California. UC Davis - So Cal Families It is more for arranging rides home and that type of thing.

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You might also be interested in following Davis City, Davis Downtown, Davis Fire Department, Davis Police, UC Davis Police and Chancellor May on your social media site of choice.

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@TrojanDadD24S30 One more thing - I found the Facebook Group helpful in sorting out the meal plan options. We went with 5 day Mon-Fri vs. 7 day. Can change meal plan after the quarter, but feedback was students were going out to eat downtown or doing GrubHub/DoorDash for weekends.

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We did 7 day the first quarter and told our child that we were going to cut back to 5 day the other quarters. We figured 7 days the first quarter gave him time to get acclimated so he didn’t have to go hunting for food. However, I think this past year they only opened the Segundo dining common on the weekends. I didn’t keep up with whether or not they eventually opened Tercero and Cuarto as well. If it is just Segundo and your kid lives in Tercero or Cuarto, that’s less convenient.

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We went with 7 day to start just to make sure she is covered but once she settles in and makes friends we will likely cut back to 5 because I am pretty sure she will want to eat in town.

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Does anyone know whether the “quiet housing” tends to be located in a certain freshman dorm/area? My son is completing his housing application and would prefer the quiet dorm. He was just accepted off the waitlist yesterday!

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The quiet housing has been located in Regan Hall (Segundo area) but the location can change based on the number of students interested.

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Thank you! I’ll let him know.

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@jkiwmom - Yay for your S24 for Physics! Hope my S24 will meet yours in the Fall!

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I hope they do! Congratulations to your son too!