Official UCR Thread.

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

<p>I know when I came to this board last year, I heard a lot about UCR from people who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. I ended up going to UCR (on a scholarship and the honors program) so now I am in a better position to answer people's questions.</p>

<p>So, if people have any questions about UCR, the Honors Program, city of Riverside, student life, the dorms, etc etc, I'd be happy to answer them.</p>

<p>I might as well dispel some myths/pre-emptively answer some questions.</p>

<p>*If you recieved the Chancellor or Regent's scholarship, you for sure got into the school. You are also pretty much gaurenteed a spot in the Honor's Program if you want one.</p>

<p>*The town of Riverside really isn't that bad. There is plenty to do all around Riverside. There are plenty of restaurants, dance clubs, movie theatres, malls near campus. The best part though, is the proximity to other towns/cities. Two weeks ago we went gambling at the largest Indian casino in SoCal (only need to be 18), this weekend I went to a concert on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Disneyland the first week of Feb, and Knotts Berry Farm for Halloween. Vegas is like 3 hrs away, snowboarding and the ocean less than an hr as well. Note: You should bring a car.</p>

<p>*Not everyone here is a commuter student. I'm not and neither is my roomate, girlfriend, and most of the people I know. There a plenty of people from all over the country.</p>

<p>*I read on here some bad comments about the Honors Program. Think whatever you want but it gets you priority registration, classes taught by the best professors, a $2000 yearly housing scholarship, and a peer advisor who helps you with your schedules, information about campus, grades etc etc. It's not 4 classes in two years, it's 7. You take 4 Honors Courses (2 seminars and 2 sections) as well as 3 Colloquim. The latter is a series of lectures and discussions with distinquished faculty. It's also a nice way to meet people--even if most of them are incredibily strange.</p>

<p>*What you see is not what you get at UCR. For some reason, the people in charge of giving tours of the campus are retarded. They show you all the old buildings, the crappy dorms, etc etc. Most of the campus is brand new--especially the science buildings--and they are in the process of massive contruction and expansion. I left my inital tour incredibily dissapointed, only to return in the summer, walked around campus and found an entirely different side. I'm not saying its the greatest layout in the world, but its not as bad as it seems.</p>

<p>*Anyone who tells you the smog is horrible, is an idiot.. I come from Sacramento so I know about smog. It's really not that bad. The worst months are the summer, and guess what? You're not here then. You don't notice it, it doesn't affect your breathing and you can still see the blue sky everyday. The weather is amazing. I heard bad things, but unless you're born in Hawaii, you really can't complain about 70-80 degree weather everyday. I think its rained like 3 times all year--and to me thats a good thing.</p>

<p>There's a ton more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. If you have questions feel free to post.</p>

2

<p>So, a Regent's scholarship's $6700 will come with an additional $2000 Honors Program housing scholarship automatically regardless of financial need? That is almost $9K total!</p>

3

<p>It depends, I know you can for sure get it with the Chancellors but Ive heard mixed on Regents. Right now to get it you must live in the dorms, but next year you can live anywhere. They are changing it and are likely to include Regents scholars</p>

4

<p>I'm planning to go to Riverside this fall. The two things that worried me are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The city is not supposed to be very safe. How much of what you hear about this is true?</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of the stuff I've heard is that most people who go to Riverside don't really want to be there.. I'm concerned about being surrounded by a lot of people who aren't particularly excited about the whole thing. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Can you talk about what the people is like there?</p>

<p>Thanks : )</p>

5

<p>Riverside isn't that bad.</p>

<p>UCR - <a href="http://www.police.ucr.edu/securityreport/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.police.ucr.edu/securityreport/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Some randome statistics (don't have a source) - <a href="http://riversideca.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://riversideca.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>What did you choose the UCR honors program over? And are you happy about your decision?</p>

7

<p>I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's like Pleasantville, but it's not dangerous.</p>

<p>The campus is safe--even if you're scared there is an escort service--and so is the surrounding town. If you go a few miles down University it gets kind of sketchy, but only at night. And what town doesn't get less safe at midnight? There are plenty of police--theres a station on campus--and plenty of streetlights. </p>

<p>As far as lazy students, every college has its share. To be honest, as first some of those people bothered me, but then I realized it had no impact on MY education. What matters is that the professors are incredibily dedicated, and care about the students. You'll find thousands of students on campus who are super-driven, hard working and want to be there. </p>

<p>If I didn't like the school I wouldn't be here posting, I'd be working on a transfer app.</p>

8

<p>Sorry Cardinal, I didn't see your post.</p>

<p>I chose the UCR Honors program over UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. I don't regret my decision at all, in fact, I'm ashamed that it took me so long to come to it. I got dragged into some of the negativity and ignorance that ravages this site and allowed it to cloud my vision. Luckily in my case, someone gave me a more intelligent view of the school and I got my head straight. I'm hoping to do the same.</p>

<p>A lot of people are stuck in this mindset that the college they go to defines them when in reality, they define the college they go to. It doesn't matter if you go to UCR or UCLA because your achievements at either school far outweigh any notions of prestiege. </p>

<p>I'm not saying UCR is perfect for everyone, but for me it is. If you're looking for that huge campus feel then maybe UCR is not for you. But if you like a smaller learning environment then maybe it is.</p>

9

<p>Hmmm Interesting...</p>

<p>So tell me, what is the UCR honors program like? and what kind of stats does it take to get into it? What are the benefits of the honors program in terms of grad school? </p>

<p>here's some background for you, I applied for transfer to UCR but I am still waiting for their decision. Though as you have said, many people have discounted UCR as the bad UC or whatever, I am considering it no matter what other schools I get into as it is the only university in Cali (other than stanford that I know of) with a pure creative writing major...</p>

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<p>You can send me a PM or an AOL IM if you'd like RyanClarkHoliday.</p>

<p>The Honors Program is basically just a way to take some cooler, more advanced classes and then beef up your transcript. They make you do stuff like community service and other campus activies that ultimately look very good for jobs and grad school.</p>

<p>I'd just check out the website <a href="http://www.honors.ucr.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.honors.ucr.edu&lt;/a> and I think its got a section on stats</p>

<p>I'm not going to lie, there are some strange ass people in the Honors program, but it's not like you have to be friends with them. The professors all support it a lot, and it gets a lot of funding.</p>

<p>What more do you want to know?</p>

11

<p>As for the Creative Writing thing, I'm planning on minoring in it, I just haven't declared it yet. A couple fairly well known authors teach in it, and I've met them. I did a story for the newspaper about 2 months ago on a student in the program who had just published a children's book.</p>

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<p>Is the honors program invite only? Or can you apply once admitted?</p>

13

<p>You apply here: <a href="http://honors.ucr.edu/application.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://honors.ucr.edu/application.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I applied after I found out I got my scholarship. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to apply before you get your admission notice. Worst Case Scenario you filled out an unnecessary form.</p>

14

<p>I'm going to bed now, let me know if you have any more questions.</p>

15

<p>Wow thanks Theregicider! I'll probably end up filling one of these out. I wonder how stiff the competition for these spots are.</p>

<p>I just wish UCR would make its decision already! I'm also eager to know whether I got any merit scholarships of any sort as recieving a nice scholarship package would definitely sway me from the other UCs I applied to: La, Cal, UCD, UCSB, UCSD (assuming I got into some of them of course)...yeah, I heard UCR is really generous with the FA and scholarships.</p>

16

<p>I don't know when they are going to post for you guys, but i got the chancellors scholarship back in late feb and it was posted march 1 that i was accepted, and hopefully if you guys are right, i should get a spot in the honors program...oh well, we'll see</p>

17

<p>Well, allow me to retort.</p>

<p>"The town of Riverside really isn't that bad."</p>

<p>It's a god-awful place, I'm sorry to say.</p>

<p>"There is plenty to do all around Riverside. There are plenty of restaurants, dance clubs, movie theatres, malls near campus."</p>

<p>Restaurants - yeah, like fast food and Denny's.<br>
Dance clubs - sure, if you like guys/gals wearing overalls and chewing on straw
Malls - they're mostly hick-malls
Movie theaters - I'll give you that one. </p>

<p>"The best part though, is the proximity to other towns/cities."</p>

<p>Exactly. Cuz you just want to GET OUT of Riverside.</p>

<p>"Two weeks ago we went gambling at the largest Indian casino in SoCal (only need to be 18)... Sunset Strip in Hollywood, Disneyland ...Knotts Berry Farm for Halloween.... Vegas is like 3 hrs away"</p>

<p>Those are all great places, actually -- too bad they're all at least 1.5 hours away.</p>

<p>"Not everyone here is a commuter student. I'm not and neither is my roomate, girlfriend, and most of the people I know."</p>

<p>Not everyone....just 70% of the campus. That is, only 30% of students stick around on the weekends, according to US News.</p>

<p>"There a plenty of people from all over the country."</p>

<p>Yes, but most students are from the Inland Empire and went to poor-performing high schools in lower income ares.</p>

<p>"I read on here some bad comments about the Honors Program."</p>

<p>The Honors program isn't bad...it's just not that great either.</p>

<p>"Think whatever you want but it gets you priority registration"</p>

<p>Too bad the course selection is so limited at UCR (compared to other UC's), it's like having first pick at the McDonald's menu.</p>

<p>"It's not 4 classes in two years, it's 7. You take 4 Honors Courses (2 seminars and 2 sections) as well as 3 Colloquim. "</p>

<p>Guess what: Colloquium isn't really a class. You don't actually do anything. You just sit there and socialize. Alternatively, you can sign in and leave.</p>

<p>*What you see is not what you get at UCR. For some reason, the people in charge of giving tours of the campus are retarded."</p>

<p>...and to think...they chose the elite students to give those tours.</p>

<p>"They show you all the old buildings, the crappy dorms, etc etc. Most of the campus is brand new--especially the science buildings--and they are in the process of massive contruction and expansion."</p>

<p>On the contrary, most of the campus is old and depressing-looking. Only a few buildings are new. Of the new buildings, 100% of them are ugly.</p>

<p>"Anyone who tells you the smog is horrible, is an idiot.. I come from Sacramento so I know about smog. It's really not that bad."</p>

<p>Too bad, depending on the study, Riverside ranks anywhere from #1 to #4 in the NATION for air polllution. Furthermore, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that polluted air, including that found in Riverside County, can damage lungs in children.</p>

<p>UCRGrad</p>

18

<p>1.5 hours away?</p>

<p>Casino--> 30 min
Disneyland-->45
Knotts Berry Farm-->50</p>

<p>I'll respond to the rest later tonight.</p>

<p>You're an idiot.</p>

19

<p>"1.5 hours away?</p>

<p>Casino--> 30 min
Disneyland-->45
Knotts Berry Farm-->50"</p>

<p>Woh, I guess you've never heard of traffic, or you're driving around at 2 am. </p>

<p>"I'll respond to the rest later tonight."</p>

<p>I'm looking forward to it.</p>

<p>"You're an idiot."</p>

<p>Typical intelligent response from a UCR student.</p>

<p>UCRGrad</p>

20

<p>UCRGrad, why did you stay all four years? i made a horrible decision after highschool and ended up at R, but i'm trying to get the hell out.</p>