<p>I'm just wondering, why is UCR looked down on so much? I know a few other threads have been made about this topic, but i don't fully understand why.</p>
<p>As a fourth year Business student concentrating in Finance here at UCR, I'm going to list some reasons why I think UCR sucks:</p>
<p>1) Professors, what can I say? I don't understand my professors who have thick accents. But it's not the accent that bothers me the most. It's the fact that most of the Business professors/lecturers that I have encountered have little real world working experience they can bring to the classroom. What you get is a very dry, textbook type of lecture. Why can't I be inspired like Warren Buffett was by Benjamin Graham? Coupled with huge classes (200+ students for upper division courses) means very few opportunities for group projects and collaborations. TAs for the business classes are mostly international students enrolled in the UCR MBA program. A few have been good and helpful, but a majority of them have very poor English skills and cannot relay the information in a coherent manner in which students will gain a better understanding. So I'm confused after a professor's lecture and a TA's discussion...that leaves me with the textbook. A majority of my upper division summer school courses were taught by TAs as well. </p>
<p>2) Lack of activities at night. Sure you can always go to a party and get drunk, but there's no decent clubs or restaurants open very late unless your up for 24/7 mexican hole-in-the-walls. Gas costs go up for me because I have to drive to LA, LB, Irvine, Costa Mesa, or Rowland Heights to have some fun. I'm from Northern California so weekends are very boring for me. </p>
<p>3) The Atmosphere is conducive to stress. Seeing so many homeless people asking for money makes me feel guilty if I don't help. If your a driver, expect a 10-20 minute wait to find a parking spot. Either they issued too many permits this year, or they simply don't have enough spots to accomodate the new wave of students each year. Also, I have yet to see a clear sky in Riverside. All of Southern California's smog seems to just congregate and chill in good ol' Riverside.</p>
<p>4) Lack of recruiters at UCR career fairs. As a final year student, I wan't opportunities to find a decent job with opportunities for growth and promotion. If your into Accounting, there's Delloitte, Ernst & Young, and numerous smaller accounting firms. But for Finance, don't expect to see any Investment Bank show up. You might get Scottrade or a regular bank to show up at career functions, but no big name investment banks offering Financial Analyst positions. There's many opportunities for places like Target or Pepsi, but don't we all want a job in corporate?</p>
<p>5) This school has such a bad reputation already, it just perpetuates and gets worse. It's like the snowball effect, and I know I'm not really helping it stop either. UCR's campus tour people will tell you how this is such a great school and all that, but don't buy the crap they try to feed you about the Business program. UCR is under staffed with what I believe to be truely qualified professors teaching in Accounting or Finance. One of the decent professors of Finance from Wharton might be leaving soon, so all I can say is good luck to you finance lovers if that happens. </p>
<p>However, in spite of all these negative sentiments I have toward UCR, I do not regret coming here. I have met and established great friendships with people from diverse backgrounds, something I don't think I would have gotten had I chose to attend UCD or UCSB. I have gained a lot of indepedence and responsibilities I wouldn't have acquired had I chose UCD (I'm from Sacramento so going back home every weekend was likely). I have experienced Southern California life and love it. It's quite a change from a Northern California climate. I think if there's any advice I can give, it is to go to a place you think will help you grow as a person and enjoy the company of others. Get outside your comfort zone. Although I won't be staying in Riverside after I graduate, I will cherish the time spent with friends that I know I will see in Southern California after I graduate.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Professors have thick accents at every UC. </p></li>
<li><p>I can assure that that parking is worse at UCLA.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That's true, I'm sure the parking at UCLA or UCSD is way worse. The thing about professors at all UCs having thick accents is also true. I guess for those who ONLY got accepted to UCR, the bigger question is whether to attend UCR at all or settle for a state college in a prime location with internship opportunities.</p>
<p>The thing about any school is that you get what you put into it. I haven't had any trouble finding an internship and accepted one at the IRS assisting with audits. As long as you participate in extracurriculars, do well in your classes, and make connections with students/alumni/teachers you shouldn't have a problem doing what you want to do. However, I'll add that you would probably have tough time getting into a career field such as investment banking, as the competition for that is so fierce that positions would probably only go to the top few business schools (i.e. Wharton). But honestly don't take my advice on that too much as I've never tried to get into investment banking and have only gone off the knowledge that it's extremely competitive.</p>
<p>I have friends at UCR and they really enjoy it. You should go check it out for yourself. As for parking yeah it's horrible everywhere and no matter where you go your going to meet people you get along with. Besides UCR is still a UC so it honestly cannot be that bad. You are going to find people in every school who do not like it no matter how great the school is.</p>
<p>Of all the UCs I've visited (only 6, never been to SC/M/LA), UCR has the worst parking. UCR is my local UC. I've been there for MESA competitions, done some research with a professor (who did have a thick accent), and visited their museums (the Museum of Photography is pretty sweet, but the Sweeny Modern Art Gallery is the reason why people hate modern art). It's located in the historic district of Riverside, but unfortunately for visitors, we're limited to the streets, which means we usually end up parking 2 or 3 blocks away. I don't think it's <i>that</i> bad, but their rolling admissions policy puts them with Merced. I like it because it's local, but I don't think I'd consider going there after high school.</p>
<p>For job outlook, which UC you go to abeit, UCLA/CAL it doesnt matter a whole lot. They just want to you you got a decent education. It all comes down to what you know. </p>
<p>-LIFE-
UCLA - STRESSFUL HARD COMPETITVE
CAL - STRESSFUL HARD COMPETITIVE
UCSD- STRESSFUL HARD
UCD- RELAXING, MODERATE HARD
UCSB - RELAXING, MODERATE HARD
UCI - STRESSFUL, MODERATE HARD
UCSC - RELAXING, EASY
UCR - EASY</p>
<p>Just to get it out there; UCR is definitely not easy, at least to get a high GPA in. In fact I dont think any of the UCs are in that regard. Cruising through with a 2.0 GPA is a different think though.</p>
<p>Take it from a student who transferred to one of the most difficult colleges in the country.</p>
<p>just wondering, wouldn't all the courses in UC be the same in difficulty? UCB UCLA seem harder is because they do the curve right?? and since there's more highly qualified students thats why it's more competitive?</p>
<p>well there are curves, but you also have to note the difference in average GPA. <a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com%5B/url%5D">www.gradeinflation.com</a> notes that during their study the only institution in the nation that was deflating was UC Riverside. Compare its 2.74 in 2000 to Cal's 3.0+.</p>
<p>Now, when you mention difficulty there are two ways to interpret: difficulty in passing and difficulty in getting As. In terms of just passing classes I would say that Cal, UCLA, are more difficult than the others, simply because if a professor fails too many students its just bad for everybody. However, in terms of getting an A there are enough top students at UCR to make that a challenge. My roommate during my first-year actually had Caltech as an option, but went to UCR for money reasons (like me). However, when it came to some classes he still had difficulty outscoring the other people who were getting As in their own majors (he was math). Also, there are certain professors that actively try and make UCR difficult to get good grades in. I can think of a few who claim UCR isnt a Cal-state so they shouldnt expect to breeze through; and thus pound us with work. And then there are professors that just throw away the curve all together and give you a grade as if it were taught at Cal or whatever. These include some common classes; in MV calculus II next to my A the 2nd highest grade in the class was a B (my roommate). He just nuked the class with his exams, though as mentioned before he tweaked the bottom grades to make it so decent number of people passed. </p>
<p>And as for how well they distributed information; I was VERY easily able to transition into Harvey Mudd; so they put it out for everyone. Its up to you to pick it up.</p>
<p>Note: these are science and math classes I am referring to. I could imagine humanities/arts being completely different.</p>
<p>thank you for your info Seiken. I guess it's hard to get As everywhere, it's just that UCB/UCLA has the name.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at UCR and I can tell you that it's not at all the crappy school it's made out to be. Sure there are some downsides to the school as listed above, but I like the diversity, people, and the campus to some extent (they're building a ton of new buildings gearing up for a new Med school by 2012). I submitted my UC transfer application but if I don't get in UCLA or Berkeley, I'd have absolutely no problem staying here. I met a lot of tight people here at the dorms and made many cool friends (at the A&I dorms).</p>
<p>UCR does not have bad parking. Just because it takes a few minutes to find a parking spot or you have to park in a further lot does not mean it is bad parking. Try leaving for a few minutes in isla vista and come back to nothing at all and having to search for an hour. </p>
<p>UCR doest have the best career services. If you arent happy with the current on campus career opps, do something about it. I know people that have gone off to apple, several to google, rbc, etc. It is possible and it takes some effort on your part. UCSB, UCI and UCD are only slightly better.</p>
<p>People should treat UCR with more respect; afterall it is still a top 100 US college!! It's only looked down upon particularly more in California, seeing that there are many other state schools better than UCR. Otherwise UCR is actually pretty good comparing the rest of the state schools in the country.</p>
UCR is a great school but it cost too much, especially for grad school, there is a professional fee. I will see if it pays off with my 100k in student loans.
Location, location, location.
UCR is in the boonies, nowhere NEAR the beach, and some people just can’t handle that. It is in southern California.
Definitely begins with the location. Riverside is very hot. The summer is unbearable and the first few weeks of Fall quarter and the last weeks of Spring quarter are usually above 85°. The rest of the year the weather is great. Usually between 65° and 75°. The next problem lies in the UC Reject stereotype. Though we did have a very high acceptance rate in the past, that is no more. This wasn’t UCR’s fault though. The UC system made UCR a referral school for those that didn’t get into any other UC but were in the top 9% of their class. UCR no longer has that status and can control how selective they are. UCR’s acceptance rate this year was 56% and will likely continue to go down due to more and more students applying every year and UCR having to accept a certain maximum amount of students each year. UCR should have an acceptance rate lower than 50% by the 7-9 years. Sadly UCR’s ranking has dropped in the last couple of years in US N&R but the vast majority of the time UCR is a top 100 school ranked in the 90s. Honestly, the perception of UCR would change drastically if you simply put the university next to a beach. California has a wide range of schools with great locations such as UCSD, SDSU, UCLA, UCI, UCB, Stanford, Pepperdine, UCSB, and UCSC that seem much more interesting. I feel its unjust to put UCR down for its location though. There are many other great universities in the US that are in the middle of no where and students still have a great time and the majority of students who come here do enjoy being there.
TL;DR- UCR is a great school that is only seen as bad by factors it can’t control. Put effort into your education and social time and UCR will give you many great opportunities in job outlook and college life.