After a recent visit to UC Merced I decided to come back here to report my own true impressions of the school for future readers who like me, may be struggling to find unvarnished opinions and experiences of UCM uninfluenced by the school’s PR.
The long and short of it is everything I’ve read on the internet - the good and the bad - about UCM turned out to be true! But what was great about the visit was now I know how I felt about it being true and what weight to give each factor - that part is definitely an individual thing.
Btw, I really get annoyed by the saying “college is what you make of it” when someone describes a college. What exactly does that tell anyone about the college??
I mean, one could just as well say “Life is what you make of it”. Just as true. But so what??
Does that mean it doesn’t matter where you live? Where you work? Just live and work anywhere because “life is what you make of it”?!
Anyway, if you are someone who thinks that way just know this reviewer is coming from another place. And this review is just one opinion of many out there so give it that appropriate weight. I think it’s good to gather as much info as you can about a school you’re seriously considering as you figure out what matters to you and where you want to go for the next 4 years and this is my attempt to contribute to that information store for you.
UC Merced is a beautiful campus. I was pleasantly surprised it was nicer in person than on the internet. It is a quiet, peaceful campus with no noisy construction going on. They are done with their hectic building for now.
The weather when we went couldn’t have been more perfect. Lovely mild sunny weather, light breeze. We were warned it gets VERY hot in the summer. Every person we met, student and administrator was kind, friendly, considerate and happy to be helpful. I spoke to well over half a dozen students while I was there, (probably about 10) some in depth in the dining hall, some for only a couple minutes. We also went on a couple guided tours and sat in on a lecture.
Feedback and impressions from students:
Academics: Strong. UC curriculum. Tough classes. Academic probation is a thing. Math second semester is hard. Physics and Chemistry classes are tough. There are resources to help you out though. Teachers are a mixed bag. Some are there just to do research and teaching is something they have to do - you can definitely feel it. Some take their teaching seriously. Almost all are willing to help if you approach them. A few just don’t care. “But it’s like that at every college”. (see “school is what you make of it” above).
Reasons they attended: Close to home, financial aid package was generous, it’s a UC, plus engineering or STEM seemed strong here.
Research: All said research is something that is definitely available if you go after it. But all but one were not involved in research. A number of the students said they know a friend of a friend who is doing research so it’s definitely available. But they personally did not get involved in research. All said they probably could have but didn’t. Apparently although available it requires a lot work to pursue it and it is competitive. It was somewhat unclear to me why something the school touted as very available was so little pursued.
Internships: Once again students said they were out there. Of the sampling of students I talked to, none were participating or had participated. One or two knew of someone who managed to pick up an internship out of state for the summer.
Things to do on campus: Cowchella was mentioned. Some activities by dorm RAs. Mostly find your own friends and hang out. Overwhelming majority were local so when they needed a change of scene they went home. Approximately once a month if they were local. More often if they were local and it was their freshman year. 
Those who lived more than 2 hours away said it was an adjustment but they eventually adjusted. And yes, it’s real easy to just stay in your dorm and not meet a lot of people and be lonely. Hang out places are 1) ground floor of library (with cafe) and 2) well… not much else but dorms maybe although people tend to keep to themselves in dorms.
Clubs/Orgs: Almost all were members of pre-professional orgs. Those gave great opportunities for travel and networking. Not any mentioned fun ones. Was told they were busy and orgs require investment in time and they had joined some but they required work or weren’t active so they stopped.
Food: It was just fine! However, didn’t seem the healthiest. Cooked vegetables were sweetened, for example. There is a salad bar although one in our party got digestive issues after eating a meal made up from the salad bar. The rest of us ate cooked food and were fine.
Vibe: Quiet campus. Didn’t see people out and about gathering together outdoors on a regular day basis. Don’t see people sunning themselves or on blankets on the lawn, etc. Flyers for activities posted may or may not be active. Example: Art gallery flyers inviting viewing at art gallery in back of campus was posted various places. Looked exciting. Chased it down to a bright generic room absolutely empty of anything. No sign saying it was between exhibits or anything. Later I saw on instagram the last exhibit was March 23. It was quite a disappointment. Other disappointments along those lines made us realize the school is still growing and not able to offer as much as other UCs just yet. But will no doubt get there with time and continued investment.