^actually, there are shady/secret ways of getting in. my friend transferred from econ to EE by talking to the Revelle provost at Triton Day (to be fair, he’s also a regents scholar)
Is it possible to live off-campus as a Freshman if you’re not from the SD area (I’m from out of state) or do they have a policy of forcing freshman to go into dorms?
Secondly, how is pre-Med as UCSD? Is it as cut-throat as everyone makes it seem?
@oknads you can live off-campus, but you’ll have to go the extra mile to make friends
premed is competitive in the sense that classes are hard. but because everyone knows they’re screwed it makes for a collaborative environment rather than a cutthroat one
I live in the La Jolla area near UCSD as does my D who is a junior. I wouldn’t recommend bringing a car your first year unless you need it to drive to work. Parking is expensive and can be hard to come by. My neighborhood is full of UCSD car parking. It is not too hard to find a place off campus, but I would try to find somewhere not far from school so that you can ride the bus. My D keeps her car parked at our house since she doesn’t use it often during the school week. If you decide not to live on campus as a freshman I would suggest looking into clubs to join so that you can meet people.
Thank you for the advice! I will definitely take that into consideration. I was originally wanting to live in a dorm but I don’t think I’d be very happy in a triple, which a majority of freshman are forced to be in due to housing shortages. Would getting an on-campus apartment also make it difficult to make friends?
@oknads I’m in an on-campus apartment this year as a freshman and personally, if I could do it over, I would choose a res hall over an apartment, even if it meant landing in a triple. Not going to lie or sugarcoat, it is difficult to make friends in the apartments, especially as a first year, because there aren’t that many social opportunities. My friends in the res halls, on the other hand, have made plenty plenty of friends with people on their floor and they’re all planning to get an apartment together next year. The res hall HAs plan many social events for freshmen in the res halls, from outings to the Cliffs to playing Assassin during the school year.
Pros to living in an apartment: probably won’t have triples (depending on the college), stove/microwave/fridge available, definitely quieter (fewer parties and late night events are held in the apartments, most of the times upperclassmen go off campus for parties), more privacy
Cons: not as many opportunities to make friends (don’t underestimate this con)
@bjartstal speaks the truth. 80% of my close friends at school are those I met while living on campus… I would encourage living on campus for a year. Just my two cents.
How much free time would you say you have? It’s pretty likely that I will be attending Muir college, and one of my favorite parts about it is that it is walking distance from the beach, but how often are you able to take advantage of that, anyways? How often do you find yourself hanging out with friends? Not even just partying, which I’m not too interested in, but just hanging out with friends in general?
I’m sort of hoping I’ll have more free time than I do here in high school because of the less classes throughout the week etc., but I think I might be fooling myself and I’d rather be prepared. I’m planning on taking the minimum required units for full-time student my first quarter, and maybe getting an on-campus job (are those easy to come by?). My major is pre-Human Development but I’m considering changing it to Psychology.
How hard is it to get into desired classes? Is it likely that I will end up taking classes in the morning on a Friday, or will it be possible for me to get classes with decent teachers on a desired schedule? I’m very new to this, so is there any way I can plan out which classes I want to sign up for right now? Or do I have to wait for some day to see what the possible classes are?
How common is it that you will get in a dorm that is not part of your college? I kind of have my heart set on the Muir dorms… Is it possible to apply for housing before submitting my SIR? (I’m waiting for stanford and usc, although they are unlikely it’s better to be safe than sorry) Can you preference for your roomies, or are the roomies randomly selected? Or the dorm halls co-edw or single gender? I was looking at the Muir dorms and it looks like they have sectioned “suites” with about 6 bedrooms or so in their and a shared bathroom and a little study cubby at the end, is that about right? And are those little “suites” co-ed?
How is the gym at UCSD? I want to take advantage of it, but frankly I’ve never really been to a gym and I’m wondering if it is very crowded? I feel like I’ll make a fool of myself haha.
Can you explain dining dollars a little more in-depth? Is it hard to maintain your dining dollars until the end of the year? What are the perks of dining dollars over buffet-style besides the less likely chance of a freshman fifteen? lol
I feel like I’ll have tons more questions between now and my actual attendance at UCSD so this is just the beginning hahaha… sorry.
@missjantastic I lived in Revelle (slightly longer walk), but I’d still end up at the beach at least 5 times a quarter last year. Even if you don’t feel like walking, there’s a campus shuttle as well as a city bus that takes you there. I’d say I hang out with close friends almost every day; there’s a lot of time spent studying, but not having class from 8-3 each day gives you a lot of downtime. On-campus jobs are super easy to get; look into dining halls, markets, shuttles or the bookstore.
A small percentage of students are overflowed between colleges each year. The floor above me last year had Sixth students, and other Revelle dorms also housed ERC and a few Muir freshmen. In your second year, you might be shifted to Warren or Sixth apartments. You should apply for housing ASAP whether or not you plan to SIR, to get priority for the housing you want. You can select your roommates, and if you don’t they’ll be assigned. The Muir halls are coed on each, but the suites are single-gender. There are four suites per floor, with one men’s suite and one women’s suite on each side. The floor plan you described is the right one.
RIMAC in ERC is an awesome gym, and was once the largest facility on the west coast. The way to not make a fool of yourself is to not worry about it, just go lift stuff and get in shape. It’s pretty full from around 11-7 each day, but there are also gyms in Muir, Warren, and North Campus that you can usually use.
Dining dollars = you pay $3,100 (or however much) to buy 3100DD, then spend it over the course of the year. I bought $3,800 and ran out around mid-May. I’d recommend buying the minimum, though, since in spring quarter you can buy them off of other students at half price. Apart from that, though, dining dollars have no perks and are a way to scam unsuspecting freshmen out of money. Any extra DD you have can either be sold for half price or spent on something at the markets, like food or a blender.
My friend is giving me a personal tour of the campus this weekend. What would be some good places on campus for us to see that aren’t covered in a typical tour?
@sbrapunzel my favorite place is the Glider Port, which is just off campus.
Aside from that I’d spend some time checking out study places, and maybe poking in some classes. What’s your major? Would also be a good idea to see some major-specific places.
Public health which I think has some overlap with the School of Medicine.
what do we get at triton day?
What points does the questionairre for housing cover for roommate compatability and such?
How do you read class info for offered courses? If there’s a lecture and discussion do I need to take both?
You should attend both lectures and discussions. With that said, like most students I usually attend only the lectures.
So teachers make discussions mandatory (one class had quizzes during discussion)c while other discussions are incredibly beneficial and you would be dumb not to attend. So it really depends on the class.
So you need time for each type of class section? (i.e. Lecture, Discussion, etc.)
Yep. Discussion times can change / be different from what you see in the schedule.
It seems difficult to manage, but I haven’t had a single conflict in my two years here so far.
@stevoleeto Looking for some advice here. Just like you, I got into as Computer Engineering/Muir.
What’s the difference between CE in ECE and CSE? I got into CE under CSE and what difference does that make?
I’ve heard that EE courses are extremely difficult and time consuming. How much time/effort do you usually spend on ECE courses? Are you able to focus on CSE courses at the same time?
Any general advice for Computer Engineering majors would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
@cyan96 the difference between CE in the ECE and CSE department is literally nothing except who you go to for advising. CSE has a much better advising department, so you’re in the better of the two.
ECE classes are tough… Not too time consuming, but the material is tough. I average an A in my CSE courses while I maintain a B- average in my ECE classes.
I love the major, it is very rewarding and got me an internship exactly in the kind of stuff I love doing.