UCSD vs Cal Poly SLO vs UCLA

DoctorP
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:14:06 +0000

Man I don’t know where you get the idea that most of us are miserable at UCSD. We can be a cynical lot, and a lot of unhappy folks lurk on CollegeConfidential and Reddit during finals week, but it’s really hard to be truly sad when you’re here. San Diego is one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and UCSD is filled with some of the brightest, most driven people I’ve ever met. I’m personally extremely offended by that UC Merced comparison, so I’m going to put in the effort to correct your misapprehensions about this campus and its atmosphere.

Did a lot of us not get into UC Berkeley or UCLA? Yes, I can’t sugarcoat that. Did most of us expect to? Definitely. I sure did. Your stats are awesome and very similar to mine (2400 SAT, 800/800/770 subject tests, all 5s in APs, top 10 class rank in NorCal). It stings for the first few weeks after not getting in, and then you get over it and use it to drive you to do better. Almost everyone I’ve met in that situation holds on to it, but it’s like a collective chip on our shoulders to prove that we’re good enough. In my opinion, that’s what drives a lot of us to identify our weaknesses and improve while we’re here. My classmates are doing great things, unbelievable things. I know a guy who started a tech nonprofit and secured thousands in grants and research funding, works in three labs, will be interning at Harvard this summer and won a biotech hackathon last week. I know a guy who turned his class project into a biotech startup that has been funded for years to come. I know a dude who designed and deployed virtual reality cloud-based genomics software and built a company around it. I know a girl whose research team discovered that oncogenes can be found on extrachromosomal DNA. I know people who will be working at Apple, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, VISA, Booz Allen Hamilton, Genentech, KPMG, Kaiser, and tons of other top firms. I’ve met people who have gone on to top grad schools and med schools. These people aren’t the exception, they’re the norm. I thought when I got here I’d still be the smartest kid in the room. I am never the smartest guy in the room anymore, unless it’s just me and my girlfriend (don’t quote me). But like everyone else, I’m learning and growing to be a better version of myself.

But I didn’t really address your concerns. First of all, the campus. Some people like it, some people hate it. I personally love it, but I had to learn about it first. It’s easier if you think of it as ten different campuses (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, ERC, Sixth, the Village, University Center, School of Medicine, East Campus). Marshall and Sixth are pretty ugly ngl but the rest of them are elegant examples of open space influencing the built environment. It’s not as conventionally attractive as many colleges at first sight, but you learn to appreciate little things like how the sun lines up with the Rady School on the solstice or the way it looks setting over the ERC roofs and Pacific Ocean.

I’ve never met a professor who didn’t care about her/his students. Pretty much every professor I’ve had has seemed open and friendly and will guide you during office hours or after class if you have a question. I don’t know what your brother’s experience was like, but the profs here seem excited to be able to impart a little more knowledge to the next generation. That doesn’t mean they’re not busy or brilliant–one of my professors made news last year for developing a biochemical test on a tattoo and another runs a research group of nearly fifty people, but they always make time to show they care about us. The work they assign feels relevant. I had a project due last night that required me to digitally model an entire red blood cell and simulate the effects of a certain drug on Alzheimer’s patients versus healthy patients. The material is very current and while some lower-division classes were a drag, for the most part learning feels exciting and essential.

It’s not all sunshine and daisies. I wish we had Division I sports–they’re on their way, but I’ll have graduated and even then there won’t be football. I wish there was a frat row–obviously there are always parties but you can’t just hop between them like you could at a real party school, they’re more spread out and you have to talk to people to hear about them. I wish there was a little more hand-holding for freshman and more guidance towards tutoring programs and extracurriculars because they’re all there but not everyone knows they exist. I wish classes weren’t so damn hard, although it’s easier because the atmosphere feels more collaborative than cutthroat competitive. But they’re freckles on an otherwise beautiful girl. UCSD has been the most unbelievable three years of my life and I don’t regret coming here in the slightest. It has all kinds of people and all sorts of quirks and histories. I guess what I’m getting at is don’t ever compare us to Merced Community College ever again