Who attended Decision UC Davis? What did you see and do? What did you find interesting and informative? What dorms did you tour? What departments did you tour and what did you find interesting?
First thing I did when I got there was check in of course by the ARC and got breakfast at Starbucks inside the ARC, then while people were settling in to see the welcoming session in the gym I got in line to pick my tour time. Once I was in the gym the welcoming session started and they just had people speech about the school and then the marching band came and they were pretty cool. I stayed for the Spanish open house for chicanos and saw hispanic dances and they gave us food for free which was cool. After that I went to the gift shop and bought a hoodie and shirt and then stood outside the segundo dining commons to wait for our tour guy to come. He showed us a small portion of the school since the tour was only 50min allowed but I got to see most of the segundo area of the school so basically the ARC, segundo’s dining commons, residence halls, fire station, and other buildings. After that I went to see a dorm tour of segundo hall and the halls were pretty narrow but I liked the dorm room (we only got to take a look by the door and not actually enter the rooms since students were there.) Lastly I ate in the segundo dinning commons and had lasagna which was pretty good. That was it. I found the big parking lots of bikes interesting as well as the squirrels, and all around friendly atmosphere cool. I’m going here for sure I liked the campus even though I saw a small portion of it. I didn’t get to get much information about the departments but i’m ok with that.
Here are my notes from our event. This school has made my D’s final list of 2 choices (other is Purdue). Still waiting for her decision. We made this trip the weekend after visiting UMN and Purdue.
Decision UC Davis 4/8
Arrived in evening – got rental car and checked into Holiday Inn Express in evening. Ate dinner at Dos Coyotes. This was pretty good food. It was raining and rental car wipers weren’t the greatest.
In morning ate included continental breakfast. Drove to campus.
Parked in structure which was free for decision guests. Traffic was starting to back up and an attendant on the street persuaded a few waiting cars to follow him to an adjacent lot.
After parking we followed the crowds of pedestrians to check in at ARC Pavilion. The lines were long but moved quickly. A student with a mobile phone checked us in before we got to the table where we got some swag and agenda sheet.
Campus tour - another long line to receive our tour tickets for our desired time. The line moved quickly and it kept the tour group sizes manageable by assigning folks to specific groups for their desired tour time. We chose the 9am and headed right over to the grassy quad to wait for the tour start. Our tour guide was an upbeat first year freshman and mostly interesting. Even though she carried megaphone/mic she was difficult to hear at times as she labored with her breathing from the rigor of walking backwards quickly. We tried to stay close to her. Note to fact check: she claims Davis has the most engineering students of any UC. She pointed out buildings/halls on or near our path. Many buildings she advised were beyond our site through the trees (“But trust me. They are there.”) There were no landmarks of interest that we could see from this tour. It was green with lots of trees. If you like nature this campus could be a good fit for you. We didn’t get to see inside any of the buildings – not even the student fitness center (but we were told it had a great rock climbing area and it was free to students) or bookstore. At times the streets we walked on seemed more like a neighborhood than a college campus. After about 45 minutes we arrived back at our starting point (quad near ARC pavilion).
Eng info session - With our tour over, my D and I headed to Kemper Hall for a designated event starting at 10:30 – info session on Engineering. Our path was clearly marked with signs with arrows. The hall had general info table as well as other tables set up for each type of engineering. The banners for each (General, Mechanical, Chemical, etc.) were at the base of each table. The Chemical Eng table had the department chair and some current students to answer questions about the department. My D was able to ask the 4th year senior student how she liked the Chem Eng program. My D enjoyed hearing her personal insights about the program, student life, and job opportunities for Chem Eng. Each type of engineering had a specific engineering session scheduled for different times throughout the day. I surmised folks wanting to attend multiple specific eng sessions could do so. Our Chem Eng session wasn’t until 1:30 so we had time to further explore campus.
Lunch - We set out to lunch at the dining common. For $20 total we got admission to nearby Tercero DC. We got to see some interesting residence halls in Tercero that surround the dining common. A new building is being completed and will be ready for the upcoming Fall session. We liked the different painted (orange, yellow, green, brown) buildings and etched glass windows. Roads/paths for bikes only are prominent throughout including roundabouts just for bicyclists. The variety of food at the dining hall was impressive and ingredients at salad bar were fresh. We liked how all the different types of food were spread throughout the dining area to help manage congestion.
Residence Hall tour – We quickly registered for a residence hall tour and walked right onto the tour before heading out to explore a hall in Tercero (Mahogany?). We had two knowledgeable guides for a group of about 15 people. The halls were open and sunlight filled. My D said the room for 3 was spacious enough and clean. She also toured the women’s bathroom and saw it was clean and close by. She liked the separate study lounge. Finally, we saw a residence adviser center where students can get counseling with any problems (such as roommate compatibility).
Chem Eng session – small traditional lecture hall with department chair, Chem Eng professor, about 10-12 student panelists comprised of first year through senior students. This was only slightly structured with a quick slide presentation. The presentation showed the goals of ChemE and starting salaries and mid-career salaries compared to other engineering graduates. Professor Tonya Kuhl led most of the presentation. She is very articulate and stressed the importance of developing well rounded engineers who will get plenty of chances for public speaking during their college career at Davis. She talked about how students are admitted directly into the major. We asked about co-ops, career day, activities the panelists did when not studying and also what they did during the summer. Many of the panelists advised they take CC courses to stay ahead, work and volunteer at labs.
This session was also a good opportunity for parents and students to ask questions to the panelists. After a few minutes the professors left the hall to let panelists field and answer any questions. Those questions were about difficulty in registering for classes, size of classes, possibility of getting high marks, study hours required, etc. One common advice from professors and panelists was for students to attend office hours even if they knew the material.
Chem Eng lab tour – Professor Kuhl brought interested students and parents on a tour of chem engineer lab and also the lab/class where the coffee engineering class is taught. Class has 12 stations with room for 3 students at each station. Apparently designing efficient ways to brew coffee is a popular elective and the more intense ECM5 for ChemE students exposes them to principles early on (2nd quarter freshman year) to help ensure student interests are aligned with their major at an early stage.
Afterward we walked to the University bookstore to purchase a shirt for D. It took a little effort to find as that area is being remodeled. We saw lots of open green grassy areas, trees, ducks, and squirrels before departing.
Thanks for your post @mayralg35 and @Banker1. It sounds as if you got a lot done considering it was a rainy day.
As you know @lkg4answers we were there for decision day 
Coincidentally @lkg4answers and I sat right behind each other at the beginning welcoming reception in the gym!
Our first stop had to be the ARC recreation center to check out the rock climbing area, one of my daughter’s passions. There was a girl climber there who was happy to answer all my daughter’s questions and the rock wall passed her inspection…whew! She told us there is also a rock climbing gym in town that many of the climbers go to and trips for outdoor climbing as well.
During the torrential rain, we hung out under the tents while my daughter spoke to various representatives and professors from some of the majors that were there. Her major, Geology, wasn’t there but she enjoyed speaking with other science and environmental type majors which sparked her interest in exploring more options. Petting the horses was a highlight.
We started our tour of campus while it was still raining but luckily the rain subsided and we got to complete the tour relatively dry. We liked our tour guide, he was very informative and seemed like a bright student who took advantage of many of the opportunities afforded him at Davis. While we didn’t enter any of the facilities, we were impressed with the beauty of the campus, it seemed well maintained and I liked the large grassy areas where students could congregate. The buildings were, for the most part, nondescript looking…not the stately or collegiate look you might find at many private schools, but they seemed serviceable. As I know from experience, the look of the buildings do not determine the success of the college student or their ability to enjoy themselves. There were so many chained up bicycles, I tried to imagine what it would be like when everyone was rushing to class and how they managed to get there safely. Our guide mentioned that bike theft was the number one safely issue on campus and my hope is that bike crashes are not number two!
We had lunch in the Segundo dining hall. Wow…it was a madhouse! Long lines and time constraints kept us from trying many of the options, so I kept to the salad and fruit bar. My daughter got a hamburger and my husband tried the pizza. There looked to be plenty of options both healthy and not. Our tour guide told us that Cuarto had the reputation for the best food. The dining halls combined with the other dining options on campus looked to be adequate. The fact that the town is an easy walk with lots of restaurants and shopping makes me feel as though my kid will not go hungry.
Next we checked out the open house at the Geology department. Unfortunately, we were told the Earth and Physical Sciences building was so far away that it would be best to drive. I feel for my daughter having to get there for classes. There was a cool rock garden surrounding the building. The interior had typical science class type rooms and there was an advisor and professor to talk to. My daughter enjoyed talking to the professor who seemed knowledgeable and approachable. I spent some time with the advisor while the rest went on a tour of the building. She was young and easy to talk to. She made some suggestions of different ways to satisfy requirements while exploring various interests and going in directions my daughter wanted. I was a little discouraged to see only one other student there, but it is a small department with only about 90 students.
We wanted to take one of the dorm tours, but it was late and the last one was leaving. My daughter preferred to meet up with a friend instead while we sat outside at the Starbucks by the ARC.
All in all, a very positive Decision day experience. My daughter loved the school and filled out her SIR as soon as she could. She is very excited to attend UC Davis and has been wearing her UCD sweatshirt ever since.
@Banker1, I just sent you a PM; wondering why your daughter decided against UMN. Our daughter will be a ChemE major, possibly at Davis, as well!
You did a great job summarizing the day’s events, BTW! We skipped the tour as we did it on our last visit, but attended all the same engineering events that you did.