<p>sorry for the redundant topic...
how cutthroat is ucsd in academics compared to the mid-tier ones like davis and irvine??? i know sd is the "nerdy" uc and i also heard that sd wants to step up their game to become more competitive like ucla and cal. i just dont want to drown in books for the next four years. i really want to enjoy my time. </p>
<p>im a 4.0 student and im really dedicated to getting good grades but i want to have fun and let loose once in a while. will i be able to achieve a good balance of the social and academic life at sd or should i attend davis for the more laid back atmosphere?</p>
<p>in my opinion, ucsd is really laidback and i dont think it's that cutthroat, but it probably is more competitive than davis and irvine. but if what you say is true, then i think you should be able to balance the academics and fun because that's what i've learned to do. i love to have fun but i also want the good grades and ucsd is pretty perfect for that since it's not party central but also not as boring as it's hyped up to be.</p>
<p>thanks for the response collegefasho...can anybody else tell me what they think about the academic atmosphere? is the quarter system really that bad? i have a friend at davis who says that it seems like they have midterms every two weeks.</p>
<p>No, the quarter system isn't bad. It doesn't feel really short, and there aren't midterms every other week. Don't listen to the people who think the grass is greener on the semester side.</p>
<p>I love the quarter system. You have a lot of midterms and finals, but they're covering less material so you have to study less for each one, and I personally think it's easier to get good grades. The pace isn't nearly as fast as people exaggerate it to be, either.</p>
<p>And I personally think UCSD is easier than high school, although I did go to a very competitive high school. It's not nearly as competitive as high school was.</p>
<p>for some classes i feel the pace is really crazy..</p>
<p>but there's no real crazy competition like you would find at berkeley though, however the academics are still pretty tough..but if you put in your work there's no way you can't succeed here IMO. it's not too bad but other than the easy classes you probably can't get by w/o studying</p>
<p>I'm actually planning on working full time so that I can get into a good business school. Do you think the classes are easy enough such that I can be able to study and still work? (It sucks.. I'm not even working for the money XD;;... "is going to work at Wells Fargo") Btw, my major is Electrical Engineer. And yes I know, people wouldn't think they fit very well.. but trust me XD;; I have a list of 100 applicants that got admitted to Wharton for Business Grad, and like 40% of the people were Engineers no joke. So anyways, ball help? ^__^</p>
<p>For some majors I would say that working fulltime is manageable, but for an engineering major I doubt you would be able to live through it... Engineering majors tend to be intense (Bioengineering is crazy...). But you have the work ethic, you could probably do it.</p>
<p>And UCSD is anything but cutthroat. Everyone's extremely relaxed (I find it annoying sometimes...), and the only really stressful thing is the abundance of exams (midterms every 3-4 weeks). But as long as you stay on top of things UCSD is very manageable.</p>
<p>UCSD is not cutthroat at all. I think most colleges aren't. In fact, I think UCSD isn't cutthroat enough. People sometimes help eachother on take-home quizzes that are supposed to be done independently.</p>
<p>This is just speculation, but i would think that the impacted majors and the sciences, to a lesser extent in general, would be where the competitiveness is.</p>