Not at all impressed

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

<p>I just got back (about 10 minutes ago) from a trip up north to go visit Davis. Before i begin, let me tell you all that I went to davis already loving it. From what I had heard, I was looking forward to visiting a well-rounded, serene, all around campus. Let me also tell you that my decision (before visiting) was narrowed to UCSB, UCD, and Cal Poly SLO. I had already visited UCSB and was EXTREMELY Impressed (side note - I went into UCSB already with a bias against it).</p>

<p>I arrived at davis, and it was an all-around desolate place. It WAS a saturday though, so I wasn’t expecting there to be very many people. Upon walking about I quickly came to realize that DAVIS - IS - HUGE. It is noticebly the largest UC Campus and getting from one side of hte campus to the other is quite a walk, but the layout for biking paths is very smart and would definitely make it easier. </p>

<p>The welcome day was very lacking. I got the feeling that Davis is overextending itself a bit, and a lot of the majors and departments are suffering because of this. I don’t doubt that the things that davis is famous for (Veterenary school, Biology, General Aggie-ness) it excells at, but the rest of the majors seem very lacking.</p>

<p>Example:
I am a Computer Science major. When the time came to separate into your respective department and talk with representatives at different stations, i was greatly disappointed to find that the representative from the computer science department was not even present. I therefore had no questions answered, and my 6 hour drive up to Davis was in vain as far as finding out about the department i was going to spend the next 4 years of my life in.</p>

<p>In comparison - at the UCSB Welcome day, there was not only a representative from the Computer Science department available at a booth during the browsing time who was available the whole day, but there was also an entire seminar for computer science majors. The Head of the department led a one hour presentation that presented the entire curriculum and there were 7 or 8 representatives of the department present through the entire meeting. There was even a panel of students availbel for a question and answer period. Afterward, they all stayed arond and I was able to talk to each and every one personally.</p>

<p>Again - The person from the computer science department did not even show up to the davis welcome day.</p>

<p>So i’m obviously biased - and i can’t say that davis is bad because It’s a wonderful - beautiful - scohol with a lot to offer other departments. If you’re a biology major I have no doubts youll be treated well at davis. If youre in engineering, i was left with a very bad impression. </p>

<p>Furthermore - I found the layout at davis to be rather inconvenient compared to UCSB, then again none of the buildings were even OPEN like they were at UCSB - so i have no idea how parts of the school even look.</p>

<p>Guess i’m looking into SB and SLO</p>

2

<p>Sorry about your bad experience. Like I always say "Visit the campus and make your decision." You did so, and I respect that. Good luck at the school that you decide to attend.</p>

3

<p>Though I disagree with your claims that Davis is "lacking" in majors not associated with biology or animal/environmental science, I wish you the best of luck as you look into SB and SLO.</p>

4

<p>I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. I went on Saturday and my first impression was yuck, after never going and already loving it. The weather changed and time passed on and it seemed sooooo much better. I think also college students don't get too active on the weekends until like 11 haha. I remember staying in the dorms at calpoly and even at 12, NO ONE was awake in the WHOLE building, haha. So weird.</p>

<p>Maybe something happened to the person you were supposed to talk to. I talked to two of those informative people about history and polisci and hot damn they knew SOOOOOO much. it was crazy. They impressed me so much.</p>

<p>Good luck though on your college search. Impressions have such value. I do agree that the welcome day seemed kinda screwy.</p>

5

<p>Heh, I had pretty much the exact opposite experience. First of all let me address the dead campus. For some reason EVERYONE went home this weekend. On my floor alone, out of fifty students, maybe thirty went home. I, too, noticed that no one was around but I shrugged it off knowing that it normally isn't this way. I mean, it is Easter weekend, people want to go home before midterms begin and especially Picnic Day next weekend. I don't think you should take that too seriously. If you want to see for yourself how it feels to be amidst 23,000 students, the most of any UC, come on a weekday and you can feel how it is to not be able to walk across a street without waiting for fifty bikes to go first. This campus is bustling, that's a non-issue in my eyes. </p>

<p>About the representative whom you keep making a big deal about. Perhaps you should have visited SB on Easter weekend, the first big holiday after Spring Break, when many people go home to spend time with their families and seen if their representative was present. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure that huge panel of students, the big presentation, and the whole tour in general would not have been the same. The point I'm trying to get across is that we have been having tours going on for the last couple of weeks, I have seen HUGE tour groups slowly rolling across campus every day and I doubt that any school can keep everything it requires for a good tour date in order for every tour. ESPECIALLY on Easter weekend. Perhaps you should have booked a better date. </p>

<p>Moving on to your qualms about the building layout. First of all, let me say that our ARC, which is usually open from 5am to 1am everyday was closed ALL day today. That should tell you something about Easter weekend at Davis. I can't imagine our faculty keeping every building open for no reason on Easter Saturday just for the few tour groups who come around to be able to walk inside. If you had come on a weekday when classes were in session not only would you have been able to enter the buildings, but you could have also stayed for a class and then even talked to the professor afterwards, as well. Again, perhaps YOU should have scheduled a better date.</p>

<p>Have fun at SB or SLO.</p>

6

<p>I went to the welcome day on a Friday, so students were very active. I really enjoyed visiting the campus from the second I drove onto the roads. I visited uci, ucsd, ucla, and ucb also. Because I am from norcal, I really felt comfortable at Davis. </p>

<p>Now, about the engineering department... I really want to go to Davis for Electrical Engineering. My uncle graduated from Davis in the past and really contributed to the rise of Intel's microprocessors. Today he holds over 10 patents. On the day I came, Beth Floyd (advisor of electrical and computer engineering) was at one of the tables to answer questions. I talked to her over the phone before, but I missed her on admit day because I tried to find her in Kemper Hall. Anyway, she is really nice and informative (I think she is one of the top rated advisors there). She gave me insight about the working field and the oppurtunities given at UCD. Your advisor might not have been there because of many reasons, so don't get too down about it. Try getting a hold of them over the phone! Also, a nice description of the course can be found on their CS website.</p>

<p>As for UCSB, this school emphasizes engineering more than Davis, as you know. It isn't a suprise they had a nice welcome for your field. My dad, who works at Cisco, told me about a building they placed on the UCSB campus to offer some oppurtunities for the engineers there (UCSB has a nice name for engineering). </p>

<p>I'm really sorry about your experience on admit day, but I would like to emphasize that it was a Saturday. UCD's engineering fields are seriously underrated. The Computer Science major in the Engineering School seems to be quite competitive. If you read the beginning of this article, you can see a little humor about the engineering students at Davis <a href="http://www.daviswiki.org/Kemper_Hall%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.daviswiki.org/Kemper_Hall&lt;/a>. The computer science students LIVE in the dungeon =]. I walked into Kemper hall and checked out the classrooms in the dungeon and in the ECE floor. Compared to UCLA and UCI, they weren't much of a difference... UCD should have state of the art equipment for the engineering department, since engineering is big in most UCs (a lot of engineering majors are impacted). For one, the computer cases used by the CS students at UCD looked nicer than UCLA's (even though it doesn't matter, haha). </p>

<p>Lastly, there are plenty of oppurtunities as an engineer at Davis! Davis is known for their large number of undergraduate students in an internship. Sacramento is only a 15-20 minute drive away, and you can probably get an internship at Cisco Systems. An internship will really (and I mean really) help your future in terms of getting a job or getting into graduate school. My dad, an electrical engineer at Cisco, works with people from UCD, UCSB, UCI, UCB, Cal Poly, and SJSU. Right now he is a product manager so he coordinates a lot of people. After 30 years of being in the engineering field, he tells me undergraduate engineering is the same at any school. If you want to expand your education, you can get an internship or find books to read on your own time (I'm sure UCD has a great inventory of books). Because I love Davis a lot, I hope this information gives you the urge to give UCD another try. You might be missing out on the college-town experience which could be perfect for you! Oh and BTW, teamwork and leadership is overlooked out there. Because it is a college town, establishing relationships through clubs and projects (like the micromouse project) dedicated to engineering would be easy at Davis since the students stay on campus. You can grow as a teamworker/leader with the incredible community and student government Davis has to offer!</p>

7

<p>I'm a litle surprised that people are taking the position that it is MY fault for coming to find out about davis on a day that it was barren because i should have known how the school is run on certain weekends? I'm sorry but that doesn't make anys ense.</p>

<p>UCDavis should know their OWN campus and if they're seirous about giving people the true davis experience, they should schedule THEIR welcome days on a day that they know people can get the most out of. How am I asupposed to know a schools schedule when im going to find out about it?</p>

<p>Even if Davis was empty that day, you would think they would have some sort of BACKUP for the department. It's somewhat disrespectful to have someone drive 6 hours to your school to make a smart decision about the next 4 years of their life and not have anybody there to talk to them. The point about having an entire seminar for computer science - I got the impression that the chair of the comp sci department would have made it their responsability to make sure there was backup if they couldnt be there. That's just common sense?</p>

<p>I'm getting some hostility from people but please remember im not trying to promote any college, i went into this process blindly like the rest of you. In fact, if i had any bias it was towards davis, but i was severely disappointed. It's too bad that the open house tainted my view, but the point of those days ARE to have a small group represent their departments and I cant judge the school on anything more than the information i know.</p>

8

<p>I went to the welcome day on Saturday and it really confirmed my decision to go to Davis. I guess I just don't understand your reason for posting this message in the first place if you didn't want people to defend Davis. I personally like Davis, not because I have the way they ran the welcome day but from researching it and talking to students who go there. If your that upset at Davis for how they ran their welcome day maybe it is just not the right school for you. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Hey neobonzi, I'm sorry sir/madame; I'm not very conscious about being offensive. Trust me though, I'm extremely optimistic and I respect your decision. I have 0% intent to exert any hostility on you. I just want to inform you more on the school I really love =]! Your remarks belittling UC Davis were justified from what you've seen, but I would shed more light on UCD's aspects to persuade you.</p>

<p>The people who work at UC Davis are humans too! We all aren't perfect, right? There aren't exactly classes during the weekend too, so it shouldn't have been a suprise. Easter weekend is a huge part of many religion. I myself attended church today. This day holds great importance, such as the end of Lent. I hope you can see the importance of Easter weekend so you can relieve UCDavis of those remarks. Many faculty members should be out. I have to admit, though, UCSB really emphasizes engineering. My very close cousin is majoring in CS at UCSB too! He is really proud of his school and the oppurtunuties it provides for his education. I'm pretty conscious of all the UCs, and, I must say, engineering is the first thing I think about when I see UCSB. I strongly recommend you read UCD's website for further information on the school. I also recommend you attend picnic day, which is the 21st or 22nd (this is also an admit day). The micromouse competition takes place on this day. For more information, go here <a href="http://www.daviswiki.org/Micromouse%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.daviswiki.org/Micromouse&lt;/a>. I hear the best teams have the most computer science majors. You can definitely find some of the CS students to question. Knowing the awesome environment of UC Davis, they should be willing to help you out. (Oh yea, ask those with the aggie pack t-shirts because they hold great school spirit, and they are just cool =D). Anyway, for your major, as much as I like Davis, you will get more attention and emphasis at UCSB. But, as my dad says, undergraduate engineering is great anywhere so find a great campus.</p>

<p>I hope I didn't offend you too much. I really would like to help you in your decision for schools. I am actually limited to only UCI and Cal Poly right now...long story... Pick the greatest school in your eyes though!</p>

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<p>jas0n, I believe he was referring to me, so no worries man. </p>

<p>I realize that I came off offensive, but in my defense you were bashing Davis for pretty baseless reasons. A school is more than just the welcome day you come to. If yesterday completely changed your view of Davis then I'm pretty sure you never would have liked it in the first place. If you can't see past a not so great welcome day into the heart and spirit of a school then it's your loss.</p>

<p>Hopefully the reasoning in my post can justify some of the problems you had with welcome day. But trust me, if you stick with Davis and come to Summer Advising you will have one of the best times in your life and not regret your decision. Summer Advising will probably be to you what welcome day wasn't ten fold. Good luck..</p>

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<p>hey neobonzi...it's pretty funny how you came in the davis forum and said all these mean things about the school and then expected no one to be offended. if you don't like the school that's fine. but i don't blame megathunder , who i'm assuming goes there, to try to defend her/his school. obviously she/he knows more since she/he's been there for so many years and you've been there...what...a day? it's alright man. but hey don't be bitter. just move on and be happy that your choice bt college selection is narrowed. most people at this davis forum have already selected davis or are seriously thinking about it. there's no need for negativety here. personally i enjoyed welcome day. i thought the little tour guide dude was funny. and the band....they made my day.</p>

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<p>Btw didn't Calpoly have their welcome days the same time as davis? My brother is a student there and he stayed there and honestly he said the school is deserted. Hes like one of 5 people left in the building! I wonder why the colleges plan their welcome days during easter time since honestly everyone leaves.</p>

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<p>Where did you guys get OFFENDED? I never said i was offended? I'm simply posting an idea about davis in the DAVIS forum, im fine with people sticking up for their school but the forum does say "uc Davis" not "Only for people who have good things to say about UC Davis". You guys are blowing thigns way out of proportion. I'm not at all "offended" - to be offended i would have ot be hurt or upset by what youre saying, and im not.</p>

<p>"I realize that I came off offensive, but in my defense you were bashing Davis for pretty baseless reasons." - Bashing? how is saying htat I felt disrespected by driving 7 hours specifically to go to find out about davis only to be told that the lady "isnt there"? Thtas not bashing, in any situation i would feel disrespected by that.</p>

<p>"hey neobonzi...it's pretty funny how you came in the davis forum and said all these mean things about the school and then expected no one to be offended." -haha, sorry but what? Which post did you read - i never said "i hope you dont get offended" i just recognized were getting hostile jsut because I had a different opinion. The whole point of my follow up post is that I wasn't trying to <em>bash</em> davis. </p>

<p>You guys have to admit that if theres only one person that represents a department and they dont show up to one of the most important prospective student days it makes the incoming students wonder about how they would be treated at the school. $22,000 and many many years of debt is a lot of money to bet on giving a school "the benefit of the doubt".</p>

<p>Just so you know that im not biased - I did find mayn things about the school positive. I thought the students were very nice and welcoming, the campus was beautiful - I thought that all the graduate work really gives people a lot of opportunities they wouldnt have elsewhere. As i said, its a great school, and i know a lot of people in different majors found it very informative. But I am very dedicated to my major, and after looking through their offered courses and comparing it to other schools I found it lacking.</p>

<p>For those of you who are assuming im "bitter" and "offended"...stop - because I'm not. I'm a senior trying to decide where I'm spending the next four years of my life, and if i can offer perspective to people in the same position as me I think i should be able to - even if it's negative. Theres comp sci majors out there who couldn't make it out to davis and maybe they want to hear both sides? thats "The Point" of my post ladies and gentlemen.</p>

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<p>Why don't you email the comp sci people? Better yet, call them.</p>

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<p>ALRIGHT! I would like to call an end to all of this. This is the Davis forum you guys! Where are the Principles of Community?! Anyway, I would love to strengthen your view towards UCD with what I know about the engineering world and the department at Davis. I would like to say again that UCSB is known for their engineering department. But UCD can definitely keep up with UCSB in terms of undergraduate education. If there are any things you need cleared up or anything you want to know, please ask me! I am willing to help. i have a cousin in CS at UCSB so ask away! I also have a cousin that graduated at UCD with a CS major (I may not have any contact with him now...but I know he works at Cisco too haha)! Yes, I have a big family. Anyway, let's get some productivity going on here.</p>

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<p>I dont think that Davis has the right feel im looking for in a school - i'm not being close minded just beacuse I had a bad experience at welcome day. I am going to call the department tomorrow to talk to them about the day and maybe get more info out of them, but i didnt really feel like it was the right fit for me. I hope it wasnt just because of my bad experience.</p>

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<p>Now that you've said it didn't give you the right feel, I strongly urge you to lean towards UCSB or Cal Poly. The feel you get at each campus makes a huge difference. However, I know people who were originally indifferent about UCD ending up loving it.</p>

18

<p>neobonzi
6 hrs < 4 years
Easter with family > campus tours</p>

<p>I have read many of your posts and I do believe that you are truly seeking to find the right campus for your college experience. It is unfortunate that you visited Davis during the Easter weekend, but I know that you would have experienced the same situation at any of the other campuses this weekend for the same reason. I'm not excusing the missing individual for CS; whoever it was should have been there. It is quite possible that there was a schedule mix up, or someone was ill. It is hard to know for sure, but still disconcerting considering you traveled so far to visit. I do agree that although it is a bit of a distance for you, it would behove you to come back for picnic day if at all possible. Good luck to you whatever you decide. :)</p>

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<p>A little bit more so you guys dont think im THAT much of a jerk:
I was excited about the infamous "college town". I foudn the town very quaint and accessable, but no more of a collegetown (depending on your definition) than Santa Barbara. If you call something colelgetown only if it is mostly inhabited by college students, then i agree, davis is very much a college town. But Santa Barbara is extremely similar in style, layout, stores - except on a grander scale.</p>

<p>Also, after living so close to santa barbara for awhile, I have noticed a lot of startup companies begin in santa barbara and end up getting bought out by larger corporations (kinda a rich area - possible a product of that). Because of this, i know plenty of people who say they have little problem getting work around santa barbara at these smaller companies. At davis, it doesnt seem theres a lot of action as far as companies going and coming, its all very stable. Whether thats valuable or not, i dont know, but i would think it pretty cool.</p>

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<p>Yea, my cousin was defending UCSB once when I was praising the college-town at Davis. It seems pretty nice over there, but I don't like the party factor at UCSB. That's just my preference though =]. Anyway, pick the right college! I, for one, do not believe you are a jerk at all.</p>