Hi!! congratulations to all of those accepted! 
I am a current UC Davis student in my second quarter. Feel free to ask me your questions about Davis!!!
DD just found out she got into UC Davis and she is so excited. She wants to continue to play her cello but will not have time for a heavy commitment ensemble. Do you know if UC Davis’s symphony is the only ensemble available to a cellist? Or are there other ensembles for string musicians at UC Davis?
I was looking at dorms on the Davis website, and it says that an area right next to the tercero halls is under construction. How bad is it? Is it a large area, loud, lots of work being done a lot? Thanks!
@LadeeDi Hello, I do not know too much about our music programs but I do know that there are hundreds of clubs on campus that cover almost any interest out there. I encourage your daughter to look into clubs on campuses for musicians. I also encourage her to look into face book groups for the symphony and email the people in charge to ask about the commitment it takes. Davis offers so many opportunities that I’m sure there is a way for your daughter to be able to continue with her music. Also a very important note is, as a freshman DO NOT get into a bunch of extracurricular activites your first quarter! Maybe one is okay but it is most important to adjust to the quarter system and college life in general. Maybe your daughter could join the symphony her third quarter here or next year once she’s comfortable 
@ howtosaveuhlife Hi, I do not live in the tercero dorms but I have friends who live there and I’ve never heard them complain about construction. I’ve walked by there frequently during the day and I’ve never felt that the work was too loud or bothersome. It’s also really hidden and you won’t be able to see it from the tercero dorms.
^ @howtosaveuhlife‌
@LadeeDi I found this under clubs- Music Unplugged (MU)
Music Unplugged aims to establish a friendly, collaborative, and creative network of students who sing or play musical instruments. A club constituting those of all musical backgrounds, we hope to provide students with the opportunity to develop their skills and open opportunities for aspiring musicians.
Regarding Tercero, whenever I’ve been by there I haven’t heard any loud construction going on. I don’t live there (never did), but being as I’m a CS student I’m in that general area a lot for classes and working on projects.
For dorms in general, as a former Cuarto resident I’ll have to give a shameless plug for that housing area. You get private bathrooms with cleaning provided! You have your own living room, so you can kick out those noisy roommates! Your actual room isn’t right off the hall, so it’s a bit quieter in general! And seriously, people really overexaggerate how far it is. It’s literally across the street from campus, a smidge farther than Segundo; it takes a couple minutes to walk/bike there from Cuarto, and the light as you leave Cuarto is the main reason it takes longer.
More generally, third year student here so I can also answer questions…and there’s already a general ask a UCD student thread, though it seems to have gotten buried.
Thank you MysticSquirrel. I will pass the info onto my D.
How large/competitive are general education classes? I’m having trouble choosing between UC Davis and UCSD.
@indubitab1y: it depends on the GE subject matter, and whether they’re a lower division or upper division class. Pretty much any class at UCD can be used for GE credit. Generally, the science classes are the ones that fill up the fastest, no matter whether it’s a lower division or upper division course. The upper division writing classes fill up quickly, too. But in my experience, upper division courses usually tend to have lesser amount of students compared to the lower division courses.
Ahhh. I see. Did you personally find it hard to establish a close relationship with your professors? I’ve heard some don’t appreciate being contacted during office hours - they’d rather be researching or whatever.
@howtosaveuhlife Hi! I currently live in Tercero, in one of the new buildings actually. They just recently started the demolition of the old phase. It was slightly noisy during the day, but it wasn’t disruptive. However, they haven’t begun the actual construction of the new phase. I can’t be certain of how much noise that might create.
On the plus side, the new dorms in Tercero are the best! Everything is new and squeaky clean, I personally like the layout of the buildings, and the way the lounges are furnished a lot. The bathrooms are the best haha. Every bathroom has a shower stall for handicapped individuals which are extra large and convenient.
Tercero in general is a very nice residential area. Close to many of the lecture halls first years find themselves in. Close to the beautiful arboretum as well!
I am a freshman in my second quarter at UC Davis. Feel free to ask me any question! I’d love to help!
@Indubitab1y‌: Personally I’m a shy person in general so I don’t go to my professors’ office hours at all. The only professors whose office hours I went to were my East Asian Music professor to get her feedback on my final project and see if I was on the right track, and my Japanese Linguistics professor to consult on my midterm report. Not to mention, many of my professors’ office hours take place when I have other classes in session.
It’s true that there are some professors who give off the impression that they’d rather be researching than helping students, but not all professors are like that. It depends on who your professor is and what they’re like. But midterms and finals week is when you see lines of students out the professor’s doors during their office hour times.
Hi! I’ve just been accepted to UCD! I applied as undeclared in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies but I don’t really seek pursuing a major under that college. So I was just wondering, as an international student, how easy would it be for me to change colleges to college of Letters & Science?
Thanks so much!
Changing majors literally requires a couple signatures. Since you’d be switching colleges you’d need a couple additional signatures, but they wouldn’t be hard to get. I’m not sure exactly how it works for undeclared students, but changing majors in general isn’t a huge hassle. I believe they allow you to request the signatures online now, but don’t quote me on that.
@PhantomVirgo: yes, you can get signatures online now. My sister changed her major from East Asian Studies to Japanese and she did it all online. Students no longer have to physically get signatures.
@Indubitab1y I was in a class of 500 last quarter and went to my professor’s office hours quite often. They are set up for the students so don’t feel like you’re intruding. That particular professor actually can recognize me when he sees me around campus and says hi. Im in another class of 200 now and my professor made an effort to learn students names that came to him often so he knows me by name too.
Just got accepted to Davis, and I loved it when I visited. I’m highly considering it, but I’m just wondering if the small agricultural town ever gets boring, and if so, what do you do for fun?
@shebaleo3: Davis is about 20-30 minutes away from West Sac, an hour at worst if there’s really heavy traffic. It’s also about 2 hours away from SF. If you’re an outdoors kind of person and like hiking/fishing, Lake Berryessa is a 30 minute drive away. Of course, for those 3, you would probably need to have a friend drive you, since freshmen living in the dorms aren’t allowed to have cars (although Cuarto and I guess Segundo residents can get away with it since they can park on the street along Russell. Tercero residents would have a harder time with that). If you like Paintball, there’s a Paintball Center in East Davis. The L line is the bus line that drops you off close to where the Paintball Center is. Your RA, if you choose to live in the dorms (some freshmen opt out of living in the dorms because they want to be able to have their cars with them, or they have pets). may also host some fun events for your floor as well. And if you ever want to visit Berkeley, the Davis-Berkeley shuttle will take you there for $11. Keep in mind you would need to purchase 2 tickets, one for getting to Berkeley and one for coming back to Davis. The shuttle leaves for Berkeley at two different times: 7:30am and 4:30pm, and comes back to Davis at 11:30am and 6:30pm, all on the same day.