Hey there everyone, here’s the last update!
about a week after my last post UC Merced reached out and gave me a very good financial award that I could not resist!
I decided to visit the school shortly after, and was insanely impressed! I talked with some current students there for my major and have actually connected with their CSE club that has connections with jobs etc!
So after rethinking, I chose Merced! The school has been super nice and I’ve met a bunch of fellow incoming freshman and I’m really confident that I will excel here!
Thank you all once again for helping me with advice and tips!
33 Likes
I think you made an excellent choice and will not regret this! Congrats and best wishes for success at Merced!! 
2 Likes
This cheered me up a lot this morning! Many congratulations and wishing you the best to take advantage of all the opportunities that will be available.
3 Likes
Man… Do I have some words for this school. It is a lie.
Most of the teachers, they show no care, and they show up late half the time, the food( we have had hundreds of kids throwing up over the food, I myself had had plastic in my food along with hair multiple times), the sports, there are little to none. I’m in water polo currently, but the school doesn’t even remember to schedule a supervisor to our practices so we can never even have a practice… the campus has no events ever, the students are all anti social. The administration suppresses all of our demands and even deletes Instagram comments about them. The gym is capacity is basically 40-50 and we have over 10k students…. Every thing here is under funded and left behind. There is no off campus life, we are in the middle of nowhere. The buses to get back into the city and out fit max 30 people and only 1 comes every 2 hours.
The school doesn’t care for its students at all… I wish I went to a CC before wasting all this money…
I have to live on campus, and I’m forced to pay for the meal plan, there are no exemptions to this sadly.
Clubs are scarce, I don’t even know if there are committee’s. Intramural sports only have volleyball, and I’m not interested in that.
Friday’s have no activities what so ever. There hasn’t even been a party at the school since I’ve been here…
CSE is okay, the work load is easy, I am just really bored and un happy here…
Might have you been placed “wrong”? Because CSE is far from easy. Could you be in the wrong levels of math (05 v. 021 v.022)? If so, is there still time for you to meet with someone and switch to the “right” class? Have you been to office hours to talk with your professors? What grades do you have so far?
Just checking: were you able to register for all your 1st semester credits? Are you enrolled in Calc1, Intro to Programming, College Writing, and a GE?
If there’s nothing but volleyball, here’s your chance: create a basketball or soccer intramural club and organize a “Residence Cup”, where the freshman residence halls compete against one another. 7X7 soccer, co-ed, is pretty easy to organize: sign up sheet in each residence’s entrance hall, go to each corridor meeting or knock on every door to let them know you want to crush Residence Hall C (or other hall, etc). I bet you can’t be the only one who’s bored and not especially into volleyball.
You can’t be the only one who finds the food horrible: see if you can all send emails or cards to the provider or to the caferia, outlining the problems, suggesting recipes/dishes/solutions for better cleanliness. See if you can organize a collective action, which will go further than if it’s just a one student complaint. Food issues matter to everyone. See if that could also get you elected to student government or whichever student body could have an impact on food provider choice or quality.
I am in all of my registered classes correctly for CS. I took CS throughout HS and UCM doesn’t let you skip CS classes, so the current ones I am in are extremely easy to me.
I currently have All A’s and a 105% in my writing class.
Because the school didn’t create enough housing for their students, their are no freshman halls… They added another bed to almost all the dorms and every hall is a mix of all classes. My residence area, which is one the smallest has a total of four freshman.
The issue is that the people here do not even want sports, so I wouldn’t be able to organize such a thing. also, there is no grass area to even play soccer… They all like to watch anime etc, which is fine. It is just not my interest.
The food has already been complained about to staff, and they don’t respond. We have petitions, we have parents email administration, and they brush it off. We even leave comments on their Instagram food page and they delete the comments!
I thank you for all of these tips, but I do not want to do all this work to get activities for a school that cares so little about their students…
Did you decide on a UC? I think @Lindagaf is familiar with CA colleges. She can probably offer some suggestions.
I’m trying to think of ways for you to have a better experience. I’m sure there are others who aren’t into anime.
(although, how can you not like Tokyo Revengers, ie., teen gangsta wars+time travel? 
Just kidding. As a compromise you may ask your anime-loving classmates to introduce you to sports anime. There are lots of them so you should even be able to dictate what sport you’re into. From waterpolo to basketball to soccer and baseball, there should be something that might at least hold your interest.)
Is there a basketball court? A pool? A track for running?
I see they’re starting day after tomorrow for Futsal, which is indoors soccer and a great way to make a team and exercise. Register now! 
(Registration deadline is tomorrow I think)
It’s not like you’ve got anything to lose.
https://recreation.ucmerced.edu/Intramural-Sports
It wouldn’t be for the school, it’d be for you - so you can make like-minded friends, be less bored, and have more fun. Out of several thousands there HAS TO be people interested in the same things as you.
What if you started study group for CS - you wouldn’t need it for CS skills but you’d meet people and develop leadership skills? Go to office hours, ask the professors if s/he knows whether you could formally be involved in tutoring?
WRT food: Well, time to start on these mad CS skills: any erased Insta comment automatically reappears.
Wondering whether the campus paper might be interested in writing an expose, starting with the cafeteria workers’ point of view, granting them anonimity in case of retaliation from the provider (how come there are food shortages? Has quality or quantity changed this year? Has your job changed? Do you have an explanation as to why the food is so bad this year? How would they solve the issues if they were in charge?), interviewing many students, etc. Then you all send a link to parents and/or to your hometown papers?
UC Merced has an 81% retention rate. That means it’s better than average and that most students stay. Given that the college is pretty new still, that isn’t so bad.
My relative is a senior at UC Merced. She is happy. Many of the things you are complaining about are most likely not true for the majority. I suggest giving it a bit longer. I am sure that covid is still causing issues, even if they don’t directly affect you: supply chain problems and hiring issues are creating all kinds of knock on effects all over the country. Many students everywhere, even at Ivy League schools, are complaining about similar things you’ve posted here.
Give things a chance to settle down. Focus on your work and making time for other things outside of academics. Volunteer, get a campus job. Those are great ways to meet people.
@austinmshauri , I’m not super familiar with CA schools these days. How about @Gumbymom ?
1 Like
There is a pool, as stated earlier I am in water polo, but we can rarely practice due to coordinator issue. There is lap swim, but I have to pay $85… and the hours contradict with my classes. There is no track…
There is a basketball court out near the new residence halls, but its 90-100 out everyday so I play sometimes but it just gets way to hot atm.
I am in a discord with fellow CS students and we collaborate a little bit.
I don’t think our campus paper could expose, because its controlled by our administration…
Parents are aware of the situation with the food and they have been trying to talk to the chefs. But no luck… 
I do agree that Covid is probably causing issues, but the school wont even admit any of this to us. They are leaving us in the dust atm so we have no idea what any issues are…
I have to give it more time anyways as I am not eligible to transfer etc. I guess I just don’t fit in with the majority of the students here? Most kids I have talked to are from Central CA and northern CA, and they all have the same interests: anime & video games. Though I do like video games, I would prefer not to be on them 24/7.
Sorry I missed the waterpolo issue. Could someone check and fix the issue? Could you practice without the coordinator?
(Ask the anime fans to introduce you to Re-main. I looked that up for you :D. They’ll have the anime and you’ll have waterpolo.)
Go see the campus paper, you never know. 
@LilFruch: Sorry to hear about all the issues you are experiencing at UC Merced. I believe that UC Merced like all the other schools across the country are experiencing problems related to Covid. I have seen many posts on CC about food shortages, shortened dining hall hours along with labor shortages at the campus dining halls. Major Housing problems have been highlighted in the news at UC Santa Barbara and also the UC San Diego campuses along with Off campus housing which is limited to due lower student capacity and lower inventory so again nothing unique.
You are a little over 1 month into the semester, so there will be so called “growing pains” as everyone acclimates into a new environment after a year of on-line/distance learning. UC Merced being more rural/isolated than many other schools may have more problems than some schools but as you stated, at this point you need to give it a chance at least for the semester or preferably for the academic year, then you can reevaluate and possibly consider leaving for a community college. I know of individuals whom have thrived at UCM (pre-Covid) and others that ended up transferring else where. I know it is difficult but stay positive, give it some time and hopefully everything works out for the best. Plenty of options if UCM does not work out. Best of luck.
6 Likes
