Thanks. Since I can’t visit many in person wanted to know others’ opinions.
(Context: I’m interested in: Cal Poly SLO, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Pepperdine, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Emory, Rice, Vanderbilt, WashU, Claremont Mckenna, Stanford, +interested in exploring more)
Thank you!
Wesleyan.
Very dingy area, lots of vagrants around, and the stench of weed permeated most of the area (at least outside on the day I went).
None you listed - but my daughter had a strong dislike for GW…just very urban so you haven to want that and no dining halls…it’s all in restaurants.
But others love that setting.
Pepperdine was a little too religious for our kid.
Claremont McKenna was a little too granola like for our kid.
I should add…the Pepperdine tour guide was dressed in a Lily Pulitzer dress which was not something our kid thought OK.
The Claremont McKenna guide looked like she rolled out of bed to take us on the tour. Again…not the impression our kid wanted.
Our kid disliked USC because the guide was WAY too sports oriented, and their perkiness was way overdone. My kid found the yelling "Go Trojans!’ at every group of students with USC logo to be annoying.
we were at Georgetown recently. Not a big fan. Campus felt crowded and small to me. there is the one picturesque quad but outside of that it felt claustrophobic and dark to me (I’m a parent, not a student).
(On the other hand, I liked GW more than I thought I would. it lacks much of a campus but the area still felt lively and I saw plenty of kids playing spikeball on a lawn.)
I’ve visited most of the campuses multiple times. This is my quick opinion so take that for what it is worth.
SLO - Cute small town that is somewhat at odds with an expanding university. Very pretty location but the campus felt like a concrete jungle. Students seemed to use their dining swipes at on-campus fast food restaurants rather than at the dining hall. Students stated that dining hall wasn’t a social gathering area as it is at other schools. Lots of hiking and outdoor activities. Students seemed happy with their choice. Not as diverse as other colleges in CA.
Davis - I have a student who attends Davis. Definitely get off of the freeway and explore the campus and town. Flat campus that covers the largest footprint of any UC. Arboretum with a river and lots of greenery running through/around campus. Large grassy quads that serve as congregating spots. Surrounding college town partners with the campus creating a very close knit college community. I don’t remember the statistics but something like 80% of the city of Davis is affiliated with the university (students, faculty, staff, etc.). More bicycles than cars. Earthy, environmentally conscious students. UC Davis is more collaborative than competitive.
Irvine - Compact campus with buildings around the circumference of a central grassy park. University town center is across the street with Target and other chain stores and restaurants. In our experience, each college operates independently and it is more difficult to take courses in other departments than at other universities. Definitely confirm this for yourself rather than taking my word. Housing shortage this year and many sophomores who weren’t on campus last year weren’t told until July that they won’t have housing. Off campus housing is expensive. UCI is very quiet/empty on the weekends. Those that stay in town over weekends form close relationships but don’t expect a big social scene.
UCSD - Large spread out campus with 7 (soon to be 8) residential colleges. Lots of tall eucalyptus trees. We were disappointed that there was no real center of campus and not a lot (if any) grassy quads. Each residential college has different dorms and different GE requirements. You can state a preference but aren’t guaranteed your first choices. Strong STEM but definitely more competitive than collaborative. Some majors are impacted and they ask you to select a second choice major if your first choice is impacted. Regardless of selecting a major, some students are admitted as undeclared and asked to find a major after they enroll. Major housing shortage this year.
UCSB - 90% undergrad and 10% grad students so the focus is on undergrads. Three colleges - engineering, creative studies (very small and select) and L&S. Since almost every major is in L&S, it makes it easy to take any class you want and very easy to change majors. A biking campus on the beach. Neighboring college town of Isla Vista is a beachy rundown student community. While at Davis you would have professors, TAs, etc. living, shopping, dining in the same community as the students, at UCSB, Isla Vista is mostly undergrads and SB community college students. Beautiful location, close knit community but definitely more partying than at other campuses. Where UCI is quiet on weekends, UCSB has a lot happening on weekends.
USC - One of my children attends USC. Significantly more expensive than the UCs. Smaller class size than the UCs. Strong school spirit, large Greek system, many (but not all) very affluent students. USC has the Trojan Network of alumni which helps when finding internships and jobs, especially in CA. More customer service at USC than the UCs but email communication is worse than at the UCs. Emails are sent to some students and not others and departments (ex. housing, rec sports, hospitality, events) don’t seem to know what is happening in the other departments. Urban campus with beautiful brick buildings. Relatively large dorm rooms with no triples. Surrounding neighborhood is not safe. USC provides security within a certain zone and provides free Lyft in the evening.
Berkeley - Urban hilly campus. Buildings have an older east coast look. Very competitive, sometimes unhealthy, academic climate. Very large classes. If one doesn’t take the initiative, it is easy to feel like just another number at Cal. Major housing crises for several years. Some students go Greek just to ensure housing close to campus. Surrounding college town with a dirty grungy feel to it. A little farther out is not safe and similar to USC. A student needs to be aware of his/her surroundings. Lots of homeless in surrounding community.
UCLA - Beautiful urban campus with adjacent town of Westwood. Dorms have some of the best food in the nation. I believe two years of housing are still guaranteed (triples). Rigorous classes but not as cut throat or competitive as Cal. Lots of competition for internships, jobs, etc. but if one takes initiative, there are lots of opportunities. Lots of school spirit. Basketball is on campus but football games are played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena which is approximately an hour away depending on traffic.
Stanford - Beautiful campus. Lots of biking. Surrounding community is expensive, affluent Palo Alto and not a college town. Most students live on campus or in a Greek house for all four years. If you have competitive stats, apply but make sure you evaluate it for more than the name before enrolling.
Additionally, we’ve toured LMU, SCU, USD and SDSU. We’ve visited UCM and CMC without tours.
Sounds like you’ve gotten some good input about the UC’s. My D applied to Rice, Vandy and Wash U. All are fairly similar in some ways but this was her thoughts/opinons:
Vandy - One of my daughter’s top choices. She loved the location and thought the campus was beautiful. Fairly big Greek system which was a negative for my daughter. All the freshman live and eat in “Ingram Commons” which is a cluster of “houses” (dorms) and eat in the same cafeteria. Has quite the southern vibe with girls wearing dresses and cowboy boots to football games.
Wash U - Very pretty, self-contained campus in a largish city. Another campus that has somewhat self-contained housing for freshman. Not a ton of “school spirit” in regards to sports. I thought this was a perfect fit for my daughter but for whatever reason she just didn’t completely connect here. They talk a lot about their “collaborative” atmosphere but she has heard from friends it can be quite competitive - not sure how accurate that is. My daughter was bothered by the lack of obvious off campus hang outs, restaurants, etc for students. There is definitely an area nearby but I think she would describe it was a little “sketchy” - at least the walk to get there. It might have helped if she’d seen that area when school was in session.
Rice - My daughter ended up here so we are little biased. It’s another pretty campus in the middle of a large city. Rice has a true residential college set-up meaning students are randomly placed in a college their freshman year and it’s their home for 4 years. They don’t have to live there for 4 years, though MANY do, but it’s definitely the center of your social life for 4 years for most students. It’s sort of like a fraternity or sorority, but co-ed and there is no real sense of elitism since placement is random - none is “better” than the other (though all say theirs is the best). Has a very collaborative atmosphere - kids are competitive with themselves, not each other. There are tons of study groups for each class and students help each other. Upper classman in each college serve as academic fellows/tutors for different subjects/classes. Definitely the smallish of the 3 schools - currently about 4000 undergrads but increasing to 4800 in the next few years. School is across the street from the largest medical center in the country so there are tons of opportunities for research, etc. Not a lot of school spirit, though the kids tend to support some of the smaller sports because they usually make friends with athletes in their residential college. School is located in very upscale area of the city (similar to Wash U) and there is a nice area within walking distance for shopping and food. I would say the social life on campus, especially for underclassman, is ON campus for most kids and not so much at off campus bars, etc.
Good luck to you!
And yet almost exactly one month later the situation is, shall we say - much more nuanced: