<p>@NorthCAMom I have been studying in between all of these posts for a class that I should be getting an A in, so I’m doing fine. Thanks for the concern.</p>
<p>And congratulations to your son, that is AMAZING! About the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, they are actually not the same school. They are merely counterparts. They are both under the same name because Henry Samueli (the co-founder of Broadcom) made HUGE donations (like 20-30 million dollars) to both UCLA and UCI. Thus, they both named/renamed the schools in honor of his contributions.</p>
<p>As for the BME program, I don’t know too much about that major, I am a sociology major, but I do know that the science programs here are HIGHLY competitive. This school is a research based school. And I have come to the understanding that most of the professors here (especially the science based professors) are researchers at heart and teachers by profession. Thus, I have heard that they are not the best teachers in lecture because they don’t understand teaching, they would rather learn themselves. However, I personally don’t know, I personally took a chem class and my professor (it was her 1 year teaching) was great and focused on the students own benefits! But because he is in a science program, he will get the best out of this school (best supplies, resources, connections, etc)</p>
<p>Congrats to your son! I hope he loves UCI as much as I do!</p>
<p>Yes, UCI is definitely one of his top choice. Just like everyone else, he is waiting for the UCLA decision to come out on friday 
We will be visiting UCI during his spring break to tour the facility and find out more about the BME program. Thanks!</p>
<p>@UChalpz I have no idea about financial aid! I am sorry.</p>
<p>@NorthCAMom The campus and surrounding areas were the deciding factor for me! I loved the campus, it is so green, clean, open, and built specifically so you could get to every single class within 10 minutes regardless of its location. The surrounding areas are so safe and equally as beautiful and kept clean. Also, everything that I need (grocery stores, quick little food areas, etc) are within walking distance or shuttle distance, which is so nice people who don’t have a cars here. Enjoy the break, the weather is getting progressively better here so maybe take a visit to Newport beach? I study there sometimes on warm days! Best of luck to you both.</p>
<p>@moonstars</p>
<p>This may be completely off topic but…</p>
<p>What are the cheapest dorms at UCI? And what are the nicest? :o</p>
<p>UCI is my #1 choice but my mom won’t let me go until she finds a reasonable place for me to live…</p>
<p>If yiou mean cheapest rent? Then I would say Arroyo Vista- Freshman Experience. It is cheaper then living in the actual dorms on campus, but I must say that it is a different experience. Its not the same because the houses surrounding you are not going to be all freshman, a majority of AV is second and third years I would say. Most expensive would probably be the actual dorms on campus becuase they make you buy a meal plan with it.</p>
<p>You should look at this page [UC</a> Irvine Student Housing - Housing Rates](<a href=“http://www.housing.uci.edu/rates.asp]UC”>http://www.housing.uci.edu/rates.asp)
and look at the AV Theme housing, the campus village undergraduate, and the residence halls. That will give you exactly all of the information you need!</p>
<p>How are UCI sport events? Are there any hyped up spirit or celebrations during sport seasons like USC or UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>@curious Our sports seasons are definitely NOT like UCB or USC… they go wild with their sports. We are definitely more restrained. So far though in the past 6 months, I have seen the attendance at the basketball games and energy in general go up A LOT. I know the greek community really supports the teams, there have been tailgates recently before the games put on by the greek community. The support has definitely been increasing and at the same time the sports teams have been doing better in general. Maybe in a couple of years, we will have the same energy as UCB or USC, but for now we are slowly progressing there.</p>
<p>Right now I am deciding between attending UW Seattle and UCI. I live in WA so going to UW would be much much cheaper than the OOS tution at UCI but I really want to live in Cali like I did before. UCI seems like a very nice campus and I just want to get away from this rain up here in Seattle. However, both schools are very good but money is such a big factor in this!</p>
<p>@moonstars
When did you find out that you got in off the waitlist?</p>
<p>I found out about my admission in May I believe, or end of April.</p>
<p>@moonstars</p>
<p>You said that the form to appeal the waitlist is included in the letter, but I cannot find it. Do I just fill out the appeal form that is for rejected students?</p>
<p>Agh UCI is such a nice, welcoming campus I do not see why people call it a commuter school. There is such beautiful scenery. Trees surround the buildings and pathways. Huntington Beach is not to far away and I see mountains that are nearby.
What do you like about UCI in regards to its location?:)</p>
<p>@moonstars</p>
<p>Hi Moonstars, I got accepted into UCI with a major in Chemistry just a few weeks ago, and I have been considering this school as one of my top choices. One concern I have though is the rumor that I will not be able to get all my classes within 4 years and I would have to go on a 5th year. If not that, I’d have to take a bunch of courses over the summer. I understand that you are in a field of sociology; however, do you have any feedback on the availability of classes from any friends of yours within the sciences specifically chemistry/biochemsitry?</p>
<p>Hi Moonstars! Thanks for responding to my housing thread! Didn’t see this thread until now! I’ve got a question about meal plans. For the 100 block+75 flex dollars plan, do the 75 dollars refresh every quarter for a total of 225 for the year, or is it 75 for the year? Also, I live a couple hours away from campus, meaning I could bring food from home. Would my stuff be safe in the communal kitchen fridge or should I get a mini personal one in my dorm?</p>
<p>To FoReIgnMoLe:
I’m not moonstars but I’ve taken several chemistry classes at UCI. You shouldn’t have problems graduating in 4 years. Most of the upper division chem classes have lots of empty spots. Organic chemistry lectures and labs can get packed though - a professor sent us an email last year telling us to take organic chemistry during the summer to avoid overcrowding (I did this - it’s not easy). However, there are plenty of spots available right now for organic chemistry classes - the catch is that they’re at 8:00 a.m.</p>
<p>You can go here:
[Schedule</a> of Classes](<a href=“http://websoc.reg.uci.edu/perl/WebSoc]Schedule”>Schedule of Classes)
and check how many people are in various classes. Just select CHEM next to the drop down box right next to “department name” and change the term to see what the enrollment in various chemistry classes is at various times (compare the number of people enrolled (Enr) to the max allowed in the class (Max)).</p>
<p>@aldfig0</p>
<p>thanks so much for the reply. I’ll go look at that link when I have some time. Just another question though to anyone who has been in the sciences at UCI, how difficult are the classes? I know this is such an arbitrary question, but in a general sense how did you feel the professors were and how the class was?</p>
<p>cheers!</p>
<p>How long is school at UCI for an average incoming freshman?
To specify:
Do we have some classes on some days and others on another, or is it like high school where we get all the classes in one day?
How much classes do freshmen take and how long is each class usually?</p>
<p>@FoReIgnMoLe
I felt that the science classes are doable if you put in enough effort to understand every single concept presented. How much effort this would take really depends on the student’s ability and background as well as how the rest of the class performs and the professor. I can’t give exact numbers because there are so many variables but for this ranged from very little studying to several hours per week. For some classes I didn’t study until a few days before the final and for other classes I studied and did problems almost daily.</p>
<p>@astudent1234
You choose your schedule, so it depends on what you want. Chances are you’ll have classes every day though. Each class is 50 minutes per day for the Monday-Wednesday-Friday lectures and 1 hour 20 minutes per day for the Tuesday-Thursday lectures. You’ll probably take 3-4 classes at once. Each class also usually has a discussion section that’s 50 minutes once a week. If you have science classes you might have to take labs as well that last for hours that meet once a week. You can use this information to calculate how long you’ll be in classes - you’ll definitely spend less time in classes than in high school though.</p>
<p>@foreignmole as far as I know about chemistry, UCI has specific requirements for the general chem class in which you are required to finish the first chem series (chem 1a, 1b, and 1c) in one year, so either from fall to fall, winter to winter, spring to spring… you cannot divided them up, you must take them back to back without skipping a quarter. I think if you study hard enough you will be able to finish in 4 years (if you use your summer school classes for like GE classes). Hopefully, you can finish in the time that you would prefer, but UCI is such a nice place, you will probably never want to leave and end up staying a 5th year… Anyways, best of luck to you. and CONGRATS ON THE ACCEPTACE WOOHOOOO :)</p>
<p>@Harrywins first of all congrats on being accepted thats amazing! Also, the 100 block meal plan refreshes every quarter, so you get the 75 meals for fall, then 75 for winter, then 75 for spring. Good thing your bringing food from home, because those 75 meal plans really run out fast! Getting your own personal mini fridge is SO MUCH EASIER! Personally, in my hall we have never really had a problem with people stealing our food… But I have heard other halls having problems. The way to fix it? Put your food sneakily in containers that don’t look appetizing… Put your delicious homemade food in a container that was originially for spam or something (make sure you clean it out first!!!) If it looks disgusting from the outside, no one is actually gunna take time to look inside to make sure it is really disgusting… Best of luck in the dorms! ITS SO FUN!! (ps sorry if you like spam, i just personally dont)</p>