Life at UCI?

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

I was recently admitted to UCI as a philosophy major, and I just have a few questions that I hope can be answered by those who have previously, or is currently attending this school. Thank you in advance!

  1. Is it difficult for freshman (non honors program) to select their classes?
  2. What are the classes generally like? Big lecture halls? Or smaller classrooms?
  3. What are the professors like? Are they willing to help out students and build connections? Or due to the large class sizes are they distant/not caring.
  4. What is the campus vibe? (Are students willing to help each other out, or is it very competitive)
  5. is it difficult to transfer majors?
  6. What are some opportunities UCI provides for students in preparation for life after graduation?
2
  1. It depends on the class. Core classes for your major will be easy to enroll into, as they are locked to your school/major. GEs will be more difficult.
  2. Lower division classes are almost exclusively have large class sizes. For upper divsion classes, it can go either way. This, of course, depends on the class, but this is generally speaking.
  3. Totally dependent on your professor.
  4. I've frequently heard UCI described as "chill", so I'd say it's not very competitive.
  5. It's relatively easy to switch majors within your specific school. To transfer to a major outside of your school, it's going to be difficult, as you'll need to complete prerequisites before switching (it's hard to get into the classes), AND you will need to do well in those classes.
  6. The Career Center offers a variety of resources to prepare you for your future career. Read more here: http://career.uci.edu/
3
  1. Core classes easy; GEs can be hard to get into at popular time slots.
  2. Both. However, even the big lecture halls are quite small compared to what I’ve seen at other schools.
  3. Upper div, all my professors were great and incredibly helpful. Lower div/GEs, they don’t and shouldn’t care.
  4. I’m in a relatively small and incredibly hard major so we all help one another and suffer together.
  5. No, as long as you meet all the requirements. Transferring into eng can be hard.
  6. There are clubs/honors societies for every major. Mine organizes networking nights with local employers several times a quarter. UCI is a research school with a lot of research opportunities to prepare you for employment.
4
  1. Nope, the hardest one to get is probably writing. However it wont put you behind if you wait a quarter or two for this class.
  2. There are both. My freshman year I had classes as small as 20 and large as 400. The bigger ones do have discussion in a smaller setting though which is nice.
  3. Depends on the professor, however I have had some really good and bad. Luckily in the not so great side of professors, I usually had great TA's willing to help me.
  4. Competitive, yes. But this doesn't stop people from helping each other, in fact people usually get together and study in groups.
  5. Depends on the major. Ones such as engineering and nursing have stricter requirements, but still possible.
  6. There are a ton! I have made so many connections and had so many opportunities while at uci. Definitely will set you up for a good future.