Hey everyone, I was recently admitted into UC Davis (Aerospace Engineering), UCSD (Revelle, Physical Science), UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine but am having trouble deciding which to choose. I have somewhat narrowed it down to UCSD for its academics and UC Davis for its academics/social life, but I am certainly subject to change. I want to major in some math and science major, preferably engineering, and am fairly confident that UCSD is best in terms of education. However, I was accepted into Revelle, which involves a great deal of work compared to that of the others. I also hear a great deal about the lack of a social life at UCSD and the prevalence of “triton eye”, especially in Revelle. College is meant for education and getting a good job, as well as giving students an opportunity to grow as a person and I am not sure UCSD will give me this full opportunity. Although I am going to school to simply party, being able to be surrounded by people who I am able to communicate with and be involved with is certainly a necessity. UCSD has great academics, but the workload and lack of a social life are deterring me away from it and more towards somewhere like UC Davis which has a balance of everything. I would greatly appreciate your inputs!
I think that in such large UC schools you shouldn’t give too much thought to these stereotypes. I know someone who went to UC Davis and seems lonely. I’ve visited and asked what they do on a Friday night and several people told me that the only options were either staying in and watching a movie or going to a frat party far away. It’s so big so it’s hard to get close to people. It’s hard to find basic social events because they happen in niche groups.
In contrast, the person I know from UCSD joined an academic sorority and is having the time of her life. She is involved in student government and has a close group of friends. She doesn’t party, but she is very entertained.
Basically, I think you can find your niche wherever you go if you set out trying to find social people. In a school of 30,000+ people, you will find people with vastly different experiences.
You sound like you’re leaning toward UCD.
First, Physical Science and Engineering are quite different, so you may use that as a differentiator. Look at the majors and their flow charts.
UCSB is equal to UCD, so what if you added that into the mix - what major did you get there?
Revelle is challenging as hell, but the Humanities sequence definitely helps you grow as a person. Also, Triton Eye is definitely least prevalent in ERC and Revelle nowadays. The social life at UCSD is what you make of it, but whenever people hear that they assume that means it sucks. No, if you go in expecting it to suck and just wait around for parties to show up, it will suck. If you can talk to people and make friends, you’re going to make friends, find parties, and have the time of your life. If you have a chance to tour both/all four schools, definitely do so (or preferably attend their admit days). That’s the best way to decide which stereotypes are myths and which campus environment you like best
Thanks for the replies! Btw, MYOS1634, although I sound like I’m leaning towards UCD, what college do you personally suggest? For UCSB, I have been admitted into “Mechanical Engineering major in the College of Engineering for the Fall 2016 quarter” and am probably going to switch to the engineering program at UCSD. If UCSB is compared to UCSD, which do you prefer?
UCSD engineering is impacted, so it may be hard to switch into an engineering major there.
What do you mean by impacted? Isn’t transferring based off academic performance such as GPA? If I do well in the math/science courses, would I then be able to switch?
http://maeweb.ucsd.edu/sites/mae.ucsd.edu/files/Thinking%20about%20Switching%20to%20Mechanical%20or%20Aerospace%20Engineering.pdf indicates that a minimum GPA of 2.5 is needed to apply to change to mechanical engineering at UCSD. However, this does not guarantee admission; applications are ranked by GPA to determine who is admitted to the space available. Note that you have only two chances to apply, according to http://maeweb.ucsd.edu/undergrad/ugadmissions .
You may wish to ask the department directly what the GPA thresholds for admission actually were in the recent past.
If mechanical engineering is important to you, admission to the major at UCSB is more attractive.