Life at UCI for current Students Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Irvine
1

<p>I want to go there but I'm curious about a few things.</p>

<p>What's it like for a black girl going there and I don't mean black I mean full on African with the weird name and everything? How accepting is it?</p>

<p>What's dorming like for freshmen is it true twenty people share the same bathroom?
Any interracial dating? Will guys be turned off because I've never been kissed or had a bf. </p>

<p>How hard is it to get into? </p>

<p>English Major or is it only Lit and Journalism?</p>

<p>Best housing for freshmen?</p>

<p>Party scene really bad or what?</p>

<p>Rape/Date Rape paranoid how often does it happen and by whom close friends strangers etc...etc..</p>

<p>How are roommates picked? What are the rooms like?</p>

<p>Is it true that everyone there is like super good looking? How about the guys?</p>

<p>How expensive is it to live on campus and off campus?</p>

<p>Anybody that got accepted with a small amount of ECs, average GPA, but high ACT/SAT and good essay?</p>

<p>Sorry about all the questions</p>

2

<p>Having a full on African name is awesome! The community is generally accepting to anybody. The BSU (Black Student Union) is pretty active if you are interested.</p>

<p>Dorming-- depends on which side you are in ME MESA and what kind of phase your building is, etc. but be prepared to share bathrooms with 10-20 yeah.</p>

<p>Interracial dating is very common at UCI. And no they won’t be turned off.</p>

<p>I guess its adequately hard to get into…? There’s a lot of factors that come into play here, and hard is subjective.</p>

<p>Yes, an English Major exists along with those two.</p>

<p>Best housing for freshmen… subjective again but if you’re going to be a humanities major then Mesa is probably better for you.</p>

<p>Party scene is what you make it.</p>

<p>Rape/Date Rape happens anywhere… but UCI is generally pretty safe, just make friends with the right people.</p>

<p>Roommates can be random or you can request. Rooms depends on which ME/MESA, phase, etc. but MESA rooms are considered more spacious.</p>

<p>Not even going to answer this question…</p>

<p>On-campus is more expensive (esp. dorming), but there are also cheap on-campus housing options (e.g. Campus Village)</p>

<p>I’ve seen ppl get in with high EC’s and low SAT/GPA.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for answering my top choice is UCSB and UCI is a close second wish me look in applying</p>

4

<p>People at UCI are, generally speaking, very open and accepting towards students from all backgrounds. Most of the students at UCI are really friendly, and won’t discriminate based on race and such things. African names are not the only weird ones out there that’s for sure, and this isn’t elementary school, so you probably won’t be made fun of because of your name. Somehow, despite what I’ve personally observed, UCI has been making a name for itself lately as a somewhat racially insensitive place to be…these two unsavory cases occurred within weeks of each other:</p>

<p>[UCI</a> fraternity suspends status after ‘blackface’ video controversy | abc7.com](<a href=“http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9087571]UCI”>http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9087571)</p>

<p>[Second</a> racial incident at UC Irvine roils campus - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/11/local/la-me-ln-second-racial-incident-at-uc-irvine-roils-campus-20130511]Second”>Second racial incident at UC Irvine roils campus)</p>

<p>Of course, these incidents don’t define the school as a whole, but if I were African or African American, I’d be concerned over the potential unrest that comes out of these situations…it might feel awkward…like you always have to be on the defensive or something. </p>

<p>As for the dorm situation…are they making 20 people share a bathroom now? I lived in ME as a freshman and only had to share with like 8…my building was quite old. Not sure about the dating thing but I have seen so many interracial couples at UCI…it shouldn’t be an issue. </p>

<p>UCI is a pretty competitive school to get into. When I was a high school freshman UCI was everyone’s backup school. Nowadays you should feel very accomplished to be admitted to UCI. </p>

<p>I know UCI has an English major but I don’t know anything about the other two…</p>

<p>I recommend living in Mesa Court. Looking back, I can’t for the life of me remember why I even picked ME. I probably would’ve been more comfortable in Mesa Court. Mesa has nicer rooms/furnishings (opinion based on visits to friends’ rooms) and a quieter community. </p>

<p>Party scene? If this is a factor of high importance, you can just forget UCI and apply for UCSB. </p>

<p>Irvine is the safest little bubble of a city you can find. I’d be more concerned about being attacked by squirrels and bunnies than being raped. </p>

<p>Roommates are assigned randomly unless you indicate a specific person you want to live with on the application. This is not guaranteed but most of the time, people are able to live with those they’ve requested. Rooms are small…the difference in size is negligible IMO. Mesa seems to have the bigger rooms…but then again, it really depends on what specific building you’re living in. Again, Mesa has nicer furnishings IMO. </p>

<p>Can’t really say if everyone is good looking…too subjective.</p>

<p>It’s quite expensive to live in Irvine. Dorms cost a fortune because of the mandatory (crappy) meal plan. You can see more housing rate info here (they have a much nicer website now hmmm):</p>

<p>[Housing</a> Rates](<a href=“http://www.housing.uci.edu/rates/rates.html]Housing”>http://www.housing.uci.edu/rates/rates.html)</p>

<p>I got in with few/not very impressive EC’s. I’m not being modest at all; literally I only held a member position in each of the 3 clubs I was in. Other than the mandatory community service required for me to graduate from my high school…I had no other notable accomplishments. My GPA was also on the lower side (slightly), but my SAT was slightly higher than UCI’s average at the time (only by 100-200 points). It’s possible.</p>