Yes, in summer with a presentation and self-guided tour. But the superior reputation has gotten to her head over the superior (IMO) campuses at SDSU and USD :). So we want to go back and maybe visit with students. I really think campus layout contributes to your happiness and sociability, and she’s pretty shy. But she will likely do some club or intramural sports that could help. She’s also interested in UCSB and we only did a brief summer walk-through there.
Office park is such a good description LOL.
Yes!! We will be there, so excited! Son will be at 7th college in the fall, now about yours?
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It’s a fantastic campus. I was a student there, and once you get the gist of where things are, it’s not hard. Now parking - that is hard lol. As far as location, The kids can hop on the trolley right at the edge of campus and head down to SDSU, downtown, and many other places. It’s amazing.
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There are so many restaurants and places to go right near UCSD. Yes, more planned community ish as opposed to city vibes but lots of places to eat and shop nearby. UTC mall is now fancy and I see students there all the time. The area just south of campus has grocery stores, shopping and restaraunts too, and walkable from campus. Buses and trolley as well so you can easily access the city or Uber/bus to the beach.
Muir. She hasn’t committed btw, still deciding among a few schools.
@mmkkmmkk thanks. Have to make sure she checks those spots out, at least the stuff within walking distance. Looks to be about the same distance from campus as the outdoor mall in Charlottesville is from UVA. (Still wish there was more stuff right there, but this is her decision, not mine!)
How is the Safety and Security in the campus for kids. Insights please.
Hi guys! Has anyone attended the admitted students receptions before? Not the Triton day, but the ones they offer in different cities for those who can’t make it to Triton day. Is there an opportunity to talk with faculty or alumni?
My daughter who is a first year hasn’t mentioned anything at all with respect to concerns about safety and security. Large college campuses are of course always subject to some concerns, but the location itself (La Jolla) is particularly safe. And my daughter (who granted had a lot of practice navigating urban spaces and public transit, etc. growing up in Berkeley) gets on the trolley regularly to go into San Diego/to the airport/etc. with no issues or concerns. She feels very safe.
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UCSD is probably one of the safest campus anywhere. I used to work there and crime is probably the last thing on my mind. Outside the campus, crossing La Jolla Village Drive you are more likely to get run over by a Ferrari than getting mugged.
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It seems that the biggest crime issue (not safety) is stolen bikes and electric bikes. That, unfortunately, happens everywhere. My suburban kid feels safe on and around campus.
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I believe that there are 2 virtual sessions, one of 10th and the other on 11th. I called admissions office yesterday and the details of the webinar will be sent out 2 days prior to the event.
Who attended Triton Days? How was it? Any insight for future applicants?
Where exactly is the area with shops and restaurants walking distance from campus? We visited and couldn’t find any area like that
Yhanks
My spouse and son did (aka the duo). I had made the cross-country trip to Purdue the weekend before, so my wife took this one on but provided a fair amount of insight/detail post-Triton Day.
Full disclosure: We have already visited USCD for a solid day, including a prospective student tour, and have participated in virtual sessions. UCSD also hosted an admitted students event in Sacramento on 4/5, which we attended and got additional insights and questions answered.
The short of it—it was a solid event. Beforehand, UCSD did a great job communicating and promoting Tritan Day. If you have been part of their communication stream, you will know what I mean. Between emails, support material on their site, virtual sessions, etc., it was clear what the open house would entail, and the resources were available and delivered. Students, even those not tied into Triton Day, were engaged and helpful. Willing to talk and provide insights. Bravo.
The duo’s day started at 8:15 a.m. with the earliest First-Year welcome session. It lasted roughly 45 minutes and provided a good overview of the community and area where the campus is located. This was good as it was not covered as well or in depth through the other sessions attended. From there, they generously hit the academic departments set up along the library walk and programs throughout the town square, stopping at his admitted department’s booth.
“Vibe” wise, my son can see himself going there. UCSD is solidly in his top three universities. Now, we work on getting the list down to one!
Side note: The duo hit ERC to see the college, talk with students, and measure other factors. My son was initially concerned with its 1) humanities focus, resulting in additional GE requirements, and 2) he would not be around other engineering students. Over the last few weeks, this settled a bit with some solid discussion about taking a few classes during summer, demographic data showing 500+ STEM majors in the college, and the fact he does find some of the subjects interesting. While the concern lingers, it is doable.
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So we dug into this pretty specifically and it turns out the answer is: it’s not really very close as compared to stuff adjacent to other college campuses. If you check on Google Maps, look for e.g. Philz Coffee. It’s in one of two adjacent shopping centers. You’ll see all sorts of shops and eateries right around Philz and then in the plaza just to the south.
Unfortunately it’s not really all that walkable in the grand scheme of things. Philz is something like 1.2 miles from Muir for example per Maps. So sure, you could walk the 20-25 minutes each way. But you’re not grabbing a quick bite or coffee between classes. Same with UTC, the mall, which is even further at 2+ miles away. Kids take the trolley or public transit (or Ubers).
I mean I’m sure kids get used to it, but it’s a very different vibe in that regard as compared to some other places we’ve visited.
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We did with our son. For transparency: This was the third time on campus (first with our oldest during COVID in 2020, then last year we took a campus tour when we visited SoCal and now Triton day). Son was admitted to ERC college and we really wanted to check out the places we hadn’t been on the tour. We toured 1. Geisel library extensively, 2. did the Ridge walk (checked out every college up there) from the Salk Institute all the way to the Theater area, 3. attended the first Welcome session and lastly, 4. had lunch at Ventanas (ERC) and 5. spoke with the ERC provost. I admit, son always liked the trees, beachy feeling/vibe and the modern architecture of the campus. He had a chance to hang out with some ERC students, saw an apartment/dorm for freshmen and attended his department session (~30 min). School feels very safe and we loved the focus on academics (I know, the Socially Dead thing, but that fits with our son’s personality). The only negative we (as parents had), was that we weren’t able to see the actual departments/labs or speak with professors to compare to other universities we had visited earlier.
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It’s more like a (free) bus or trolley ride to the UTC than walking distance. But it is a very large and thriving mall.
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I am curious if anyone on this forum has compared curriculum across different colleges. Is there an easy way to look at courses offered and compare?
You mean the GE requirements for each residential college?
You can compare 3 colleges at a time here: http://compare.ucsd.edu/