<p>I would love to go to Cal given the opportunity. However, I feel there are so much negatives as well: i got into undeclared major, hard to get into wanted classes, intense competition w/ weeder classes and hard to maintain gpa, stressful life, a lot of competition in the impacted majors. But also a lot of positives: intellectual environment, prestige, good location, good weather, opportunities w/ the brand name (although not sure how many considering this is undergrad and i plan to go for grad) 
Davis, however has a friendly more laid back environment, people are happier, less stressed out, very strong bio program (i might possibly do pre-med), invitation to honors program which comes with the best dorms (miller hall), cheaper, and PRIORITY registration for classes. Cons include bad location, bad weather, lack of prestige, some departments are just lacking
GAH this is so hard. I wish one school had it! But unfortunately one doesn’t. I know there are other topics on this, but I couldn’t find any that matched my worries exactly. ANY suggestions will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Davis. Your reasons are very similar to mine 
The location isn’t bad at all, whereas Cal is located in an unsafe area. Even though the rainy/windy weather may be a deterrent, there are multiple modes of transportation. Prestige is up to you. If you personally like UC Davis, you will value the college more than its ranking. If you value the ranking (which I personally would not), go to Cal. Davis will give you a great education in an environment you seem to really like, and priority registration is a huge plus. If you are going to grad school, Cal’s name won’t really help you out in the long run, and since it seems to be the only reason you want to go to Cal, I think you are leaning inside towards Davis ^^</p>
<p>it looks like your gut is telling you Davis!!! Go with your gut!!! :)))</p>
<p>thanks guys i think i’ll probably head to Davis then! But one last question so I won’t regret anything, the programs/majors at Davis - are they as good as the ones SD can offer? I know Davis’s programs aren’t as good as Cal’s but how are they compared to SD? :/</p>
<p>So Berkeley is deemed a good location and Davis is deemed a bad one… interesting. I’d pick Davis, but that’s just me. And honestly, since I’m guessing not too many people have been to both Davis and SD, you probably aren’t going to get too conclusive of an answer on that one. I don’t know.</p>
<p>you posted in the Davis section so you will probable get a biased answer saying that you should go to Davis if you posted in the Berkley section you probable get a lot of pro Berkley answers</p>
<p>I have to decide between the same two schools, but I’m a transfer, so I have 'til June 1st to decide.</p>
<p>Here were my pros and cons though: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/920637-choosing-your-uc-weighing-pros-cons.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/920637-choosing-your-uc-weighing-pros-cons.html</a></p>
<p>I’ve pretty much decide on Davis…I think…</p>
<p>I’m surprised that you think Davis is a bad location. Davis is one of the few genuine college towns left in the state, with a great atmosphere and great people. It’s small, but at 60,000+ people, it isn’t “too” small. It really isn’t as boring as some people assume. And you always have Sacramento (10 minutes away) and San Francisco (an hour away). </p>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t say that Davis suffers from a lack of prestige. Lack of prestige relative to Cal? Probably. But it’s sort of like saying Cal is less prestigious than Harvard. There is a gradation of prestige, but as long as you’re at a certain level of academic quality, future employers and graduate school admissions will not care.</p>
<p>As someone who has gone to both SD and Davis, I would say that the quality of the departments are identical (the departments I’ve had contact with, anyway). UC Davis, in my opinion, also has some departments which surpass UCSD’s. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that most of the competitive rankings between schools are at the graduate level. I honestly think most undergraduate programs throughout the UC system are fairly similar in quality.</p>
<p>andrew2011 just curious which departments have you had contact w/ at SD and Davis to base that comparison?
@collegeguy that is a really good point about prestige x]
btw anyone have anything to say about davis’s weather? I guess I was right on that one then :p</p>
<p>I have something to say about Davis’s weather. It’s not as bad as everybody says it is.</p>
<p>Davis’s warming and cooling trends tend to mirror the Bay Area’s. The actual temperatures are a little more extreme (e.g. right now the highs are 7 - 9 deg F higher–lows are about the same), but during some weeks they’re all pretty similar.</p>
<p>It’s kinda rainy here during winter/early spring, though I found that when it rains here, it’s usually raining back home in the Bay as well. I won’t deny that summer is HOT here. Overall, when the weather gets warmer, Davis heats up a lot more than the Bay Area does because it’s inland.</p>
<p>Let me just say I find it interesting how many people consider Davis’s weather to be particularly “bad”. I question how many of these people have ever left the state of California. 90% of the US is in a deep freeze in the winter while Davis’s temperatures are easily in the 50s during the day. Tons of people across the US wish where they live got to 50 in the winter. Tons of people across the US wish it got to 30 because that’s a warm day to them! So there you go. I now await everybody’s vehement disagreements.</p>
<p>so what did you end up choosing? : )</p>
<p>I would have went to Cal.</p>
<p>Well in the end, I chose Davis. I want to go to a school where I can be more happy and discover myself rather than go through a stressful environment like Berkeley without any direction. Besides, an undergrad degree from UCD and UCB aren’t much different. I’m looking towards grad school or maybe even med school. Well, can’t look back now :]</p>
<p>Congratulations on making a decision! You can finally stop worrying about where to go, and finally on how to make the best out of your college experience. I’m sure you’ll love it here like the rest of us :)</p>
<p>Whoo whoo!!!~~~</p>
<p>YEAH! GO AGGIES WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO</p>
<p>haha hope to see you on campus!</p>
<p>Good choice! </p>
<p>I need to make a decision between these two schools as well (Transfer).</p>