Our experience touring with D22 was shaped by COVID, and so we only ended up going to see four schools, all but one within a 90-minute drive. Everything worked out well, but we’d like to do some more on-site tours for our 2025 twins.
We’ll be focusing on the UCs, and I was wondering if there were any guides — sort of a mix between the Fiske guide and a Rick Steves-style guidebook — for visiting the different UC campuses. Ideally, a little bit of “here’s what the vibe is like here”, “these are the strong academic programs”, “check out Dorm X if you’re interested in specialty housing options”, and a little bit of “if you can get a reservation at Hotel Y, it’s positioned well for walking to most of campus” or “be sure to check out Coffeeshop Z … a popular spot for students to hang out during finals week” or similar travel-guide-y topics. Fiske covers a bit of this, but each campus only gets a few pages; I’d love something with more substance.
Besides CC, are there any websites or books that give that type of overview for the UCs? I’d love to buy a book to help with the logistics of planning, as opposed to cobbling together Yelp reviews, notes from the “colleges that moved up/down your list” thread, and so on. I haven’t found anything like this, so my guess is that there isn’t anything like it, but with the vast number of people applying to (and visiting) the UCs, I thought maybe someone’s created a resource in this vein. Anybody know of anything like this?
I don’t know of a book but you might look at DayTripper for suggestions on UCLA and Berkeley
This will be good centralized thread for suggestions from CC members.
UCLA has a hotel on campus. It is pricey but convenient. UCLA Hotel | Luskin Conference Center | Los Angeles, CA
I would recommend the info session and regular tour. If your student is interested in engineering, make sure you take a tour of the engineering school as well. @10s4life is an excellent resource for UCLA engineering if you have any questions.
UCLA used to give dorm tours but I don’t believe they do anymore. Regardless, walk over to the Hill and check out freshman housing.
Westwood is adjacent to campus so take time to walk around town. Visit Diddy Reese for fresh baked cookies.
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The campus I am most familiar with is UC Davis.
The on-campus hotel is the Hyatt Place and they offer bicycles so you can explore campus on your own time.
https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/california/hyatt-place-uc-davis/smfzu?src=adm_sem_crp_chico_crp_ppc_NAM-UnitedStates-CA-Davis-HP-SMFZU_google_Evergreen2022_e_hyatt%20place%20uc%20davis%20ca&gclid=CjwKCAjwkaSaBhA4EiwALBgQaGL_QV8IV5qh-RzeMjN2HnEzlILeMI5mNEIzYg1Yz4pexi5vuIkcPhoCJLgQAvD_BwE
Some impressions of Davis and Student Life:
UCD is a biking campus and has a great bus system which gets you around campus and town. The quintessential small town feel but only 20 min to Sacramento airport and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from Lake Tahoe, San Francisco Bay Area and Napa/Sonoma wine country.
UCD is large campus surrounded by rural farmland and Wildlife wetlands near by. They have a huge arboretum with bike and walking paths throughout the flat campus. The arboretum is located behind the Hyatt Place hotel. The walking/bike paths will take you into downtown.
Socially, UCD is more earthy, laid back and friendly but there are students who drink and party if you like that scene. It also has four seasons so rain and cold during the winter, a beautiful spring and then a hot summer. UCD students work hard but tend to be more collaborative vs. competitive. Undergrad research is available especially if you find a professor with your area of interest.
Downtown Davis has many specialty shops, plenty of restaurants and cafes. Costco and Big Box stores (Home Depot, Best Buy, Target, etc.) are in Woodland which is 15 minutes north of town, by car or bus, so everything you need is relatively close. There is a Target just east of campus and some kids bike over to that shopping center. Some restaurants to check out is Crepeville and Sophia’s Thai along with Mishka’s Cafe.
Campus sites of interest: The Egg Head sculptures, the Raptor Center and the “Death Star” Building
https://localwiki.org/davis/Social_Sciences_and_Humanities_Building
https://crc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/
I recommend the student walking tour which will give you a good overall view of the campus then plan to explore on your own.
https://daviswiki.org/
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We toured several of the UC’s this summer and 100% agree w/Gumbymom’s comment - you can learn a LOT on the student led walking tours, especially if you’re not afraid of your kid dying of embarrassment while you pepper the guide with all of these kinds of questions (vibe, dorms, academics, etc). All the guides we had were VERY willing to tell you the ‘real deal’ -you will REALLY learn a lot! LOL
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Additional suggestions for UC Davis.
If they still offer an info session before the tour, make sure you attend both. The tours leave from the Welcome Center which is a short walk from Hyatt Place. Warning, Hyatt Place sells out quickly if there are events on campus. I’ve stayed at the Aggie Inn and Hyatt House as well. Hyatt House just opened in 2022. It is a little farther from downtown but is a newer hotel. The Hilton Garden Inn is close to the train tracks so some people complain about noise from the trains.
Things to see: Visit the Memorial Union which houses the bookstore and Coho (Coffee House and food court). There is both indoor and outdoor, dining. Check out the arboretum, the Tercero cows, Davis Farmers Market, Shrem museum. I think the coffee center is open for visitors now as well.
Places to eat: Burgers & Brew, Davis Creamery, Ali Baba (breakfast burritos)
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UCSB has a good general info session before their tours.
Both the College of Engineering as well as the College of Creative Sciences offer limited tours. Contact those departments far in advance if you are interested. CCS is a very small department and, in our experience (pre-pandemic), it was very difficult to receive a response from them regarding visiting.
UCSB is a biking community so it is difficult to find parking on campus. The center of campus is all bikes, skateboards, scooters and pedestrians. If you want to drive, you’ll be driving around the perimeter and leaving campus on the eastern edge of Isla Vista. Your best bet is to park for the tour and then wander around campus on your own before driving into Isla Vista. The bookstore is located in the UCen (University Center).
Definitely visit Isla Vista. It is where the vast majority of students live. If you are driving or walking, watch out for bikes as they definitely have the right of way. There are several restaurants on Pardall Road, between campus and Embarcardo del Mar where you can grab a bite to eat and sit outdoors and people watch. Sams to Go is a popular sandwich shop. Freebirds offers giant burritos. Del Playa (aka DP) is the street closest to the ocean and is were many social events are held.
If you are a fan of The Habit, the original location was on Hollister in Goleta. McConnell’s ice cream also originated in Santa Barbara. I believe their original location was at Mission & State but now their ice cream parlor is located at 728 State Street in Santa Barbara.
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Thank you all for your suggestions on this! I’m bummed there isn’t a centralized resource, but glad to have all of you weighing in on it, and will be sure to check out some of your recommendations when we start touring.
If anyone else has ideas to help with UC touring, please don’t hesitate to share them!
What year is your student? Where (approximately) do you live and which schools are you thinking of visiting?