Well, I wanted to post this because I feel it is only proper to let students know about my experience at UCI. For those proud Alumni of UCI, don’t get upset, it’s my personal experience so don’t get all offended. Ok, so now that I have experienced what I’ve experienced here I can say that UCI engineering is not so great for undergrad students, at least in my opinion. Well, actually many. I’ve heard it from the Grad students and many undergrad students here. Yes UCI looks pretty but looks are not going to allow you to be successful.
Problems:
Major problem: Counselors are flat out horrible. They have no idea about the coursework nor do they care to research how difficult certain engineering courses can be. For example, quarter one, I was signed up for Dynamics and Statics. Typically you take Statics then take Dynamics. In fact, Dynamics is the second half of the Statics textbook. For a transfer student, this can be rather difficult.
Tutors: A total of one tutor for the entire department. They just started opening facilities for engineering students to study in. Very small, cramped spaces that are not really proper to study in.
Professors: I cannot say I’ve had a prof that I have enjoyed thus far. They are mainly concerned with their research and don’t really care as to how you perform in their class. Actually, a good friend of mine went to ask a prof about why points were taken off of his exam because he solved a problem using two different methods, the prof then proceeded to argue with him and threatened that he could accuse him of cheating but he is trying to be nice to him.
Grad Students AKA TA’s: I’ve had a couple amazing ones, but my last one related to my major was not so great. My midterm was graded with “No’s” and was given no partial credit. So rather than showing me what I did wrong I simply had a 0 and a “No” next to it.
Coursework: It’s so bad, nothing seems to build on each other, the engineering department never seems to be moving in one general direction. It’s as if every new quarter is like going to a new school and experiencing a completely new learning atmosphere and methods. This can be good, but, if you consistently change your methods students can never solidify material or techniques.
Standards: Expect the typical UC standards from them. They will threaten to kick you out immediately if you do not perform well.
Quarters vs Semesters: Meh, 10 weeks kinda sucks. It’s short and you hardly have time to do anything.
The Curve: Well kiss that goodbye, even if you bust your tail. Why? Ah, because of this amazing drug called Adderall. Yes, the geniuses that take the drug illegally perform amazingly on exams. Guess what? They don’t know jack when it comes to actually applying the material. They also subject their bodies to some awful stuff. So, after committing their felony they go home feeling amazing about how well they did and forget how screwed they are when it comes to a technical interview. This is a problem throughout the country, not just UCI. It’s bad here though. Don’t let anyone fool you.
Prestige: Well, you are as prestigious as your resume shows. DO NOT buy into the bogus hype of the oh so prestigious UC’s. I know many people outside of the UC’s that work for NASA, DoD, SpaceX, and much more. Experience > UC
Tuition: 15K alone for tuition. After fees, housing, expenses, you’re looking at roughly 30K a year. So make sure that this place is somewhere you really want to go to.
Students: Competitive, boring, no one wants to work together.
The DEAN: He is focused on money and does not really care for his students. Here is an eye opener towards his vision:
http://engineering.uci.edu/news/2015/12/samueli-school-collaborate-china-s-dalian-university-technology
quote: “This partnership would create a clear pipeline of quality graduate students into our program,”
Again, he is more focused on foreign students so he can charge international fees when he has one tutor for his students and hardly any space for them to study in… Do your research. Top it off he wants to give the PhD seats out to “Quality graduate students.” I wonder what he thinks about his own students…
Career fairs: Complete waste of time. They hardly have any companies interested in UCI undergrads. Mainly electronics companies. If you’re gonna work in EE go to SJSU and land a job up there like nothing.
Overall: UCI engineering is a waste of time and is focused on money and research to increase rank. Typical UC stuff. If you want to learn, retain material, and eventually land a job, it will be fairly difficult coming out of UCI. I’ve spoken to a lot of seniors and they are more focused on going travelling instead of landing a job. Some don’t even have a resume built. The peer mentors are not even engineering majors, they are undergrads that work in the career center and apparently know more about landing a job than you do. They have no experience in engineering or even the coursework.
I am transferring out, I am much older than most undergrads and am glad that I am not wasting my hard earned money on this place. I have interned with NASA and in academia and am also being published in quantum physics. I just recently landed a job with the Air Force. This was all accomplished before coming to UCI. My application for the Air Force was sent in when I was attending community college. No one cares where you attend, they care about your background. So, when considering your schools, do serious research. Ultimately you should ask yourself, “Is the school known for engineering or not?”
good luck, and don’t get offended if you’re attending or have attended UCI. This post is meant to advise students to do their research before committing to any school.