<p>@enderbean - Yes, please post. I’m considering UCI for PSB or Film & Media.</p>
<p>Enderbean- did you get in with tag? If not what were your stats? Did you have all your pre reqs done? That’s the major I applied as.</p>
<p>@deanzatransfer
I don’t know any transfers who changed their major once here, but from what I’ve heard it isn’t that hard. As long as you have the unit room, you can submit a change of major form. However, I’m sure it’s more difficult to change majors if it would make you hit the unit cap.</p>
<p>@enderbean
Are you a fan of Orson Scott Card?</p>
<p>@Ella89 Yes I believe I got in with TAG. I signed it, but haven’t sent in my IGETC Certification (don’t forget to do that!) so my course requirements/transferred courses look weird on the academic advisors’ computers. I had a 3.01 GPA overall (6 years, 5 different community colleges in 3 districts), and completed all my prereq’s with a pretty good Psychology lower-division GPA.</p>
<p>@michellaneous Yes I love the Ender’s Game/Shadow series! I’ve read all the books in each series 3 times! 
I’ve also read Treason which was awesome :D.</p>
<p>I didn’t read in detail through all the posts so far. I mention this because there were some questions that I could answer but I believe that michellaneous did well answering the questions so far; however I’d be more than happy to answer any questions so don’t hesitate to ask!</p>
<p>As I mentioned I have a long, drawn-out community college background that (to spare you the details) started out rough and I picked up my GPA in the last couple years. UCI was the only campus I applied to because I love the campus… and my girlfriend at the time had gotten in with Regent’s so I was in the area :P</p>
<p>Orientation for me was different than most in that my parents don’t live in the area and couldn’t come to visit. It was pretty exciting though, there’s so many opportunities I didn’t know what to do with myself, but the one piece of advice that stuck out above everything else so far is: Get involved but DON’T overwhelm yourself. Take it slow and easy, but do keep going and looking for more things to do if you think you can handle it. Understand all the time that a certain engagement will require before agreeing to dedicate your time to it. </p>
<p>I live off campus so I can’t really speak for on-campus living, but there’s the $95 year-round OCTA bus pass that is pretty handy to have. Main drawback about that is that OCTA bus system is fairly infrequent. But if you live on campus that won’t be a problem. If you have any questions feel free to ask! :)</p>
<p>I was a little worried about the 10-week system as well, but I had elected to take two Summer Session I courses (5-week) to get used to a faster-paced, more rigorous system. At the time couldn’t get time off work so I worked 30 hours per week, but managed a 3.65 out of those classes so it’s doable. I agree with michellaneous in that I prefer the shorter quarter system because you really don’t get burned out from a long semester of classes. It’s more like boom-bam-pow-finals-sleep.</p>
<p>I started this quarter with just 12 units because I wanted to take it slow and see how well I fare in the full-on UC quarter. The load is pretty easy compared to working 35+ hrs/wk and going to community college full time, for those of you that have that experience. My thing is that I do my best not to memorize material, I try to actually learn it, so that I don’t waste time memorizing things twice (once for midterms and once for finals). Having been studying for finals for the past week I’ve found that it’s really helpful, I just gloss over the stuff that was on the midterms and focus on the second half of the material. Definitely, definitely stay on top of the readings, it saves you the pain of falling behind in classes, and makes you look better if you speak up in class because you know the information. (I know many of you probably already know that but I didn’t at first in community college.)</p>
<p>One thing I just noticed about my books is that the first chapter (which you should read before the first class session, even if it’s not required) is highlighted about 15x more than any other chapter. I suggest to read the first chapter so you know what you’re getting into, then when you’re in class get a feel for how the professor approaches the material. One of my teachers followed the book heading for heading, and another teacher skipped a bit of book material in favor of alternative lecture material. They’ll usually tell you what they’re going to do, but since instruction also starts on the first day it’s good to be prepared with some information (from reading the first chapter before the class session).</p>
<p>I had a variety of different testing styles, each class was different. My classes were as follows:</p>
<p>Spanish 2A
Health Psychology P103H
Research Design SE10</p>
<p>Spanish had a quiz every other week and a test on opposite weeks from quizzes. I speak Spanish fairly well already but I want to study abroad in Mexico which requires two years of university classes. I did an interview placement with a humanities professor and he put me at the 2A (beginning of second year) level. The class was pretty easy, the class average on most quizzes and tests was a B. There was one quiz that everyone bombed and the teacher was nice enough to let us all retake it. The class was going to have an elected day off (I think she said because we were ahead of schedule on the syllabus or something) and she gave us the make-up quiz in lieu of that, dropping whichever score was lower. The final was cumulative but she gave us a pretty comprehensive study guide/practice exam that helped immensely in preparing for the 100-question final exam. I don’t know how the other professors/instructors are in their classes so I’m hoping I didn’t just get lucky with this teacher :). Extra Credit was offered in a variety of options for a maximum of 1 point (1% in this class’ case).</p>
<p>Health Psych had one midterm and one cumulatve final, in addition to two 3-4 page papers. I find it pretty daunting to have the whole grade weighted so heavily on 4 assignments, but from what I understand that’s pretty much average. I did ok on them, I have the final to take in a few hours, but so far I have an A-. Extra Credit was offered in this class for 10 points (275 points total possible for all class assignments; therefore 285 possible with EC). My suggestions are to start early and talk with the professor or TA’s whenever possible. Even just coming to them and running your idea past them with no specific questions can be a life-saver, if you think you’re on the right path that’s good but having their feedback really points you in the perfect direction for success.</p>
<p>SE10 (Research Design; school req.) had two midterms, the lowest score of the two was dropped. There were also four homework assignments and a cumulative final. I did poorly on the first midterm (38.5/50) but studied a bit more for the second one and did better (44/50). The homework assignments were fairly easy. I should have talked to the TA’s and I would have done better. I got about 85% average on the homeworks, but I have a friend who talked to people and the TA’s every time and I think she got more like 90-95% average on the homeworks. The final homework was a 3-4 page paper that we have yet to receive the grade for. The final was pretty tough I think, but I’m trying to focus on my Health Psych class to keep my major GPA up. Again in regards to studying, I found that I glossed over stuff that was on the midterms, and only really had to focus on the material covered after them.</p>
<p>I really hope that wasn’t too much information about the classes! But I was pretty worried about workload and having so few assignments to keep the grade high. I guess I did pretty well, so after all that, I say don’t worry too much! Just stay on top of things and you’ll do fine :)</p>
<p>Like michellaneous I did not make many friends at community college (any of them :P). And none of my acquaintances transferred to UCI. I also did not participate in sports or clubs. So I knew it was time to get started. The first club I found was Public Health Association, which worked out well because I’m minoring in Public Health. I really enjoy being a part of it, and I also applied and was accepted to intern as an officer for PHA. I later joined another club called Active Minds, which did not take a ton of my time. I “tabled” (stand out at a table trying to recruit people to come to meetings and be a part of the club) with AM a few times, which was pretty fun. Later still (like I said, take it slow with commitments) I joined another club called Uncultivated Rabbits (a spoken word/poetry performance group). I didn’t know I’d be into that but I saw them perform and decided to give it a try. I ended up doing an event with them, which doubled as an event for another club and I just stuck around for the night (it was a homelessness awareness sleep-out). That was also really fun and I met lots of cool people. Even more later (:P) I started a club for Free-Running and Parkour, so if anyone has any questions about starting a club feel free to ask! Also don’t hesitate to ask about anything else!</p>
<p>Next quarter I have 22 units. I had a hard time signing up for classes, I think I had to take my second/third choice classes two or three times. I plan to study abroad in Mexico, and I’m not sure exactly what classes/grades will transfer back smoothly (though an academic advisor told me not to worry too much about that, ask me if you’re interested) so I’m trying to get as many courses out of the way as possible so I can enjoy my time and maybe take some elective classes there. I’ll probably back off on the club participation in favor of shooting for my goal of a 4.0 GPA 
I’ve never gotten a 4.0 GPA before. I’ll probably stick to the officer internship in PHA and focus on recruitment/development of FRPK (the club I started), and I might participate in some events with AM or UR if I have spare time and the events fit into my schedule.</p>
<p>I don’t know how many of you work now or plan to work while at UC, but I do so I can talk about that. Like I mentioned I worked 30 hours per week during summer because I couldn’t get time off. This quarter I still worked 15 hours a week so that I didn’t have to accept the unsubsidized part of my financial aid package. I qualify for Blue and Gold, so that helps a lot. My EFC was around 3,800 or so. I’m 24 this year so I qualify for the independent FAFSA application, which is why my EFC is so low. I work as a line cook, so there are no outside of work obligations. I found it pretty easy. Luckily they were understanding and gave me the schedule I wanted. I went to school Mon-Thurs, and worked Fri-Sun. It was nice because that gave me four whole days that I could focus on school and academic endeavors, which allowed me to participate in clubs and keep my grades up.</p>
<p>Next quarter I’m going to work less, which is going to make food/gas scarce, but I’d much rather do well in school. And luckily I have some good friends that won’t let me go too hungry! Heheh. I’ll probably be working 5-8 hours per week (one day).</p>
<p>Yikes that’s a lot. Hopefully I didn’t bore anyone! 
I know I said it like 10 times but feel free to ask questions! Not that I think any of you would hesitate anyways ;)</p>
<p>As if I didn’t talk enough already…</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I applied and was accepted for Alternative Winter Break which will be done through Habitat for Humanity. We leave tomorrow at 6AM so I’ll respond today/tonight but any questions that come after tomorrow morning I won’t be able to answer for a week. Again, any questions about anything let me know! :)</p>
<p>I just finished my first quarter at Davis myself. I didn’t have any trouble getting into any of the classes I wanted/needed both times I registered. Like you, I fell in love with the campus and chose Davis over UCI and Berkeley. I liked that I could change my major or add a major if I wanted. Davis seemed to really be more flexible/accomodating to transfer students, even having guaranteed housing this year. I really love it here and I am glad that I chose this place. I must admit I am spoiled by the free bus and the close proximity to cool restaurants, not to mention the CoHo. </p>
<p>I really didn’t have a problem with having only 10 weeks of classes, in fact I think I prefer it. I didn’t get the burnout that the OP mentioned. I took a science class this past quarter on a topic that I had no prior experience with It got intense because it was a plant science class (much different from biology) and before taking this class I had only a vague idea of plant biology and metabolism. I learned a whole lot in 10 weeks. No homework, all my grade was based on was two tests, two discussions, and a paper. In my stats class, I learned two new computer programs and their languages, SAS and R, and I became a research assistant in my professor’s lab where I met a majority of my UC Davis friends (the other friend was made while I tutored her in the science class at the professor’s recommendation lol). Though I only came here for a quarter I feel like I have been here longer and I feel comfortable here. As for the out of high school crowd. . .I made a few friends who came to Davis out of high school and they admitted they were a little jealous of transfers. The reason for the slight jealousy is because their classes were full of hundreds of people and they didn’t get any real time to ask questions of the professosr in the GE classes. They also mention that the professors are so focused on their research that teaching comes second which is different from cc instructors who place their emphasis in teaching. One guy friend mentioned that transfers seem to know the material a bit more because they were able to learn from “teaching professors” while they had “reasearch professors”. Admittedly, the science teacher I had would lecture and would go on without noticing that some couldn’t comprehend. He would go on and start mentioning all sorts of things at once in a somewhat confusing manner, using large chemical names and strange notations. Many would pretend they understood but I had no problems clarifying the points with him and I think he respected that (somehow he associated that with me being smart?).</p>
<p>Wow, this is getting really long. I could go on about how much I enjoyed my first quarter at Davis and making new friends but I’ll save that for some other time. By the way if anyone thinks about or is going to attend UCD I highly recommend going to Yolo Berry; a totally awesome frozen yogurt place that looks like a cute yellow house across from Central Park. Completely self serve with lots of topping options :P</p>
<p>@Michalleaneous: Because you are married you can live at Solano, Orchard, or Russell Park. These apartments are “graduate” apartments but really they give priority to students who have children or who are married REGARDLESS of year in school
Priority:
1.)Students with children (regardless of year in school)
2.)MARRIED STUDENTS (regardless of year in school)
3.)Grad students
4.)Undergrad students</p>
<p>The units are small BUT the rent is CHEAP for Davis and you live on campus (free cable, fast internet, water, cheap PG&E). I don’t think the list is that big because the people who live across from me are unmarried graduate guys who room together (you would have more priority over them 'cuz you’re married).</p>
<p>@flwrgrl
My question to you like michellaneous is why you chose to go to Davis instead of Berkeley. (I’m currently a Davis student considering of transferring to Berkeley)</p>
<p>Why did I choose Davis over Berkeley? I really liked Davis for their flexibility in major changes. I have different circumstances than the average student as well and Davis met my needs on that account. I am a student who is also a parent. Davis has excellent highly ranked elementary schools, whereas the schools closer to Berkeley aren’t as highly ranked. Davis has on campus family housing close to my kids’ school. There is a unitrans bus stop right in front of their school, in fact. If thre were an emergency I could just hop on a bus and get there quickly, for free. I didn’t have that at Berkeley. Berkeley family housing and my kids’ school would be in Albany while I would be in Berkeley. While the cost of living is high in both areas, Davis is more manageable. One HUGE factor as well was the UCD childcare grant which basically pays for my children to go to daycare at their school until 6:00 pm. That grant is sponsored by UCD and the city of Davis to allow parents to go to school without worrying about $. Childcare in Davis will set a family back over a 1800 a month just for after school care. Of course nothing beats being able to walk from my house to my classes. In my circumstances, it was a no-brainer after I weighed the pros and cons. </p>
<p>My circumstances are different and I had to think about more than just myself when making my decision; not only do I have to have a good quality education, but my children do as well. I and my children love it here because everyone has been so nice to us. I have made friends, I became an RA in one of my professor’s labs, and I am academically challenged. In fact, this quarter (my first at Davis) I got a 4.0 GPA. I feel confident that I can do well here and be prepared for the rigors of Graduate school. Getting the 4.0 made me realize that I should start thinking of Grad school. Also, contrary to what a lot of people say, I’ve seen UC Davis students get accepted to very elite schools for grad and professional schools (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc.) and I’ve met a couple of students from those elite schools go to UCD for grad (go figure). UCD MUST have SOME international recognition because there are a lot of people from other countries in my housing unit (a lot of grad students) from South Korea, China, Japan, France, Spain, Uganda, England, Russia, etc. </p>
<p>What it boils down to is that I feel comfortable at Davis and they have met all of my needs financially, academically, and emotionally. We (my family and I) love it here.</p>