So my husband’s planning on transferring to a UC Fall 2016. He’s working on his application, and we’re having a hard time choosing which one to TAG to. So this would be our backup UC. Does anyone have any advice? We’re thinking Irvine or Davis
He’s major is Mechanical engineering, and he wants to get his masters directly after. He has good stats, but one of our concerns is the programs and the area. We have 3 children, all will end up being school aged. We are unable to visit at the moment, so any advise about the programs and surrounding areas would be great. Thank you!
A few things you might want to think about, not just for these pair of schools.
Since he is planning on a MS, it would be a big plus to find a school with a 5-year BS/MS program. UCSB has one, I couldn’t see on the web if these two do but you can contact them to find out. Finishing a MS in 1 year instead of 2 saves not just the cost of school but the $65K+ salary that could be earned. You’d also need to check if 5-year programs are offered to xfer students. And check around to see if there are MS programs that just take 1 year. That some schools offer a 5-year combined program suggests to me that it may take longer than 1 year if you enter a school as a MS student (otherwise what is the advantage?) but I could be wrong here.
Strong job applicants often have internship experience. So you can start by trying to find out how much help the school gives in finding these, and what recent rates of participation have been. He would be able to do 2, one after junior year and one after senior. People typically get a job offer after graduation from their intern employer, since they had a chance to see them work for a summer instead of just talk to them for a few hours. I’ve heard that sometimes they even offer to pay for the last year of school provided you agree to work for them for a specified time. Most kids just rent an apt for a few months to do this, but you may want to favor schools in locations with potential employers so that he can live at home.
Its also worth looking into what the schools offer for family housing, which may differ significantly between schools.
UCSB doesn’t have TAG for their College of Engineering, which is where Mechanical Engineering would fall under.
Something to consider. I’d suggest researching and tagging to either UC Davis or UC Irvine because of their strong Engineering programs that work with TAG.
Thank you for your information. Another thing we are trying to find is on-campus family housing with 3 bedrooms. We care for my sister also so that makes six people in the family, although a 5 year MS program would be ideal.
I’m TAGging Davis as well and was looking into family housing as well. I know they have Russell Park apartments for graduates and families and their 3 bedroom is $1780. http://russellpark.tandemproperties.com/floorplans.aspx
Although one of the appealing things about going to UC Davis (other than the great school that it is) is how affordable it is to live in the area or in Sacramento.
That’s what we were thinking too, but Russell Park is a private owned property that’s considered “on-campus,” my only concern with this is I don’t know if they run month-to-month for families like other on-campus housing or not. They are owned by Tandem properties which like to run on a school year calendar so you HAVE to move in on September 1st, whereas on-campus housing owned by the UCs generally allow you to choose from available move-in dates prior to Sept 1st. Davis is really nice though, we saw turkeys walking the street last summer.
I am also a Mechanical Engineering student hoping to transfer Fall 2016. Personally, I will TAG to Irvine primarily because I am from SoCal and the only school that will I would move far away from home for would be UCB. I also don’t think there is a lot of difference between the two programs, they are generally ranked about the same. It all comes down to personal preference and finding the one that offers better family housing.
I just finished two years at UCI and one thing I can confidently say about the area is it is extremely family friendly. I am not familiar with the amenities offered for family housing, but I can say a bit about the surrounding area. Irvine is a great residential community with one of the greatest public school systems in the country, not to mention being consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the U.S. There is so much to do for families and kids not only in Irvine, but in the surrounding areas of Orange County as well! If my experience of the city wasn’t so tainted by my dislike of the school, I would definitely have Irvine at the top of my list of places to settle down with a family when I get to be that age, lol. But you should definitely look into it!!
@boxandwhiskers Had gloomy atmosphere to me, no one was really happy about being there. I also felt like the buildings looked like a prison lol. There’s a little more to it, but I don’t wanna get too personal. Just my opinion, you’ll meet people who will feel the opposite.
@fncrane Sounds a lot like UCSD haha minus the buildings looking like a prison. If you could have one really good thing to say about the school what would it be? And vice versa?
@CalDailey gosh I don’t know… I guess that it’s in a really safe area, and the professors are very well qualified to teach. There’s a lot of cool research going on there, not sure that its really open to undergrads.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the people are really rude lol. Not just students, but employees and staff. I had to go to the registrar’s office a lot to get stuff straightened out for transferring and they never gave me the right information and always made me feel stupid for doing what they suggested I do. Just an example but it happens a lot. Someone else on here said she had the same issue when she visited the school and it made them look really unprofessional.
Thanks for all your detailed feedback @fncrane I think we’re leaning towards irvine to tag, but it’s a shame that the people on campus tend to be rude. If we’re lucky he’ll just get into his top pick lol