<p>Great questions, mermaker.
The closest point of UCSD’s campus to the beach, from Muir college, is about a 10-15 minute walk, distance-wise about three-quarters of a mile. So we’re close, but we’re not UCSB. Our campus isn’t right against the beach. There are housing communities and some cliffs between campus and the beach. I’ve only been here in San Diego, I’m originally from LA, since the end of September up until now, February. It’s been relatively cold thus far, so not great beach weather. That said, there are a number of clubs and organizations on campus that hold events on the beach – bonfires, cookouts, etc. During welcome week, the first week of fall quarter, there was a big welcome event at the beach with what had maybe had 300+ students. That was pretty cool. There were free surfing and kayaking lessons, volleyball, free stuff. It was an overall good time. But whether, people just randomly go out and hang out at the beach, I haven’t really experienced that thus far. But, that might have something to do with the weather. I’d expect a lot more people going down to the beach between April-September. </p>
<p>I would say the whole six college system is completely overstated for transfer students. Generally, most transfers are going to be living in the Village (on campus transfer housing) where you get a mix of students from all the colleges and those are going to be the people who you will likely hang out with. However, if you’re a freshman I can see why you might only hang out with people in your college given that your dorms are going to be located there and you’re required to take college specific GE’s (transfers complete most of them with IGETC). That said, your classes will likely be located all over campus, so you should get a decent amount of interaction from people from all the colleges. Also, keep in mind each college has about 3000-4000+ people, so even if you just hang out with people in your college you shouldn’t feel lonely just because of that. That said, my situation is kind of unique because I live off-campus so the people I meet are kind of by chance or through class. I can also say, with my schedule there are parts of campus that I rarely, if ever, visit. As a Biology major a lot of my classes are in Revelle/Muir and I never really see ERC or Sixth college because the campus is so big (the largest among the UCs). There are common areas that everyone goes to though, the library is right in the middle of campus as is the Price Center, which are two places everyone is going to go regardless of their college. </p>
<p>Academics, I would say most classes (not all) are definitely a step up from CC. The curves tend to be a bit more competitive, especially when you get into upper division classes. Biology is a bit unique in that we have a lot of pre-med students, so everyone’s serious about their grades and the curves tend to be fairly competitive. Regardless though, it’s all manageable if you put in the effort. Never at any point in my time here have I felt completely overwhelmed or burnt out or inferior to my peers because I’m a transfer. I would say, you’ll likely have to study a few more hours a week than you do in CC to maintain the grades you had coming in, but you’d probably expect that. Personally, my study habits are terrible. I’m not even going to pretend like they’re great. I generally leave things for like the week before to start taking them seriously. I’ve left big 10-15 page lab reports until 2-3 days before to start them (don’t do this!!!). I really should read ahead more and review things consistently, but I typically just cram for a week and take my exams and I’ve done relatively well. Exams can vary significantly. Like in CC, it really just depends on the professor and the course. I’ve had some exams which are extremely conceptual, where it seems like no matter how much you study there’s nothing you can do to completely prepare for the final. And I’ve had others that are multiple choice, where I’ve thought to myself “this can’t possibly be a college-level exam” (lower div physics). So really it’s all pretty relative. Expect to study a little harder than in CC, but you should be fine. Also, one thing to get used to is that in big lecture classes, it’s kind of hard to get any significant personal interaction with your professors. Even if you go to their office hours, there tend to be a lot of students. It’s not like in CC, where you’re in a class of 30-40 and if you’re a good student your professor is going to notice you. Also, one thing that’s been weird getting used to for me, is that your TAs grade EVERYTHING. Your professor rarely grades anything, usually just re-grades if you want to dispute your exam grade. Sometimes, the grading can feel a bit unmethodical because of the TAs. </p>
<p>Last quarter, I took 15 units and this quarter I’m taking 14 units. For me, I’ve been working in a research lab on campus since Fall, which I commit about 12-15 hours a week toward, so taking more than 15 units would be a bit much. I would say if I had no outside commits, I could easily take 20 units per quarter and manage everything. That’s something that’s also fairly subjective though. Obviously, how many units you can handle depends on your abilities as a student and the difficulty / time commitment of the classes you’re taking. </p>
<p>@Hopingtoxfer
I only attended UCLA for summer session in 2012 and I was a commuter so I can’t really tell you much. As far as housing, I was pretty impressed by the dining hall at De Neve the few times I ate there 
But, I really didn’t spend all that much time at UCLA. I took one course during summer and spent some time washing glassware in a lab and then I would go home.</p>
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