<p>There are several current UCI members here that I'm sure are willing to help for questions from incoming freshmen students that might otherwise not be notable as thread. So ask away :D</p>
<p>Just a background information about me:</p>
<p>Year: Class of 2011 (freshmen)
Major: Math & Physics (will declare double major tomorrow)
Housing: Mesa Court</p>
<p>Yeah I'll answer some too.</p>
<p>CHP C/O 2011
Biomedical Engineering: Premed
Mesa Court (Loma)</p>
<p>are there a lot of research opportunities for freshman?
for theme housing, i can choose whatever correct? doesnt have to necessarily correlate with my major?</p>
<p>For the placement tests, where do we take it? Do we take it during the SPOP? Or before?
Are there specific times we have to be there for SPOP?</p>
<p>Jhuscla: From one of the professors I spoke to, you should focus on your academics to start a strong portfolio for professors/researchers to consider you in research. From the other people I talked to, including the assistant dean of physical sciences, trying to land a spot in research as and undergraduate before junior year seems to rely on an ad-hoc method: Asking professors if there's any available spots for you, proposing your idea to the person that overseas research in his or her department, or some other process I have not yet learned. </p>
<p>There's a formal channel you can look into here: UROP</a> - Opportunities
You can also propose your own research project I believe. For more info: About</a> UROP</p>
<p>Don't be confident you'll go into research as a freshmen. One mathematician I spoke to said he never recruited an undergraduate freshmen or sophomore in his research projects.</p>
<p>There's a nationwide program called Research Experience for Undergraduates by the National Science Foundation that are held during the summer. So even if you couldn't participate research as a freshmen in UCI, you could still apply for research in other universities that are taking part in this program:</p>
<p>US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site</p>
<p>Note that you will need faculty recommendations and the deadlines for most REU projects are in between January and March during your freshmen year. Some universities offer on-campus housing and many even pay you during your research experience (I would've paid them instead :D)</p>
<p>=====</p>
<p>You can choose whatever theme housing you want, but some require essays such as one dorm in Middle Earth that focus on UROP (undergraduate research).</p>
<p>=====</p>
<p>Cszeto: You take your placement tests during a specific date within the university. You CAN take it during SPOP if the dates of the placement exams coincide with your SPOP date, but I wouldn't recommend it since both would be distracting to each other. The registration system for the placement tests and SPOP may prohibit you from doing so. I never tried. </p>
<p>Almost all, if not all, placement tests are held during the days when you are allowed to move into the campus. </p>
<p>To check the dates and register for your tests, login into here: UCI</a> Testing Office</p>
<p>Yeah, when I talked to Ceracera, or however you spell his name (he's the dean of social sciences) he said that you shouldn't really delve into research until you reach your upper division coursework, because you're still acquiring basic skills as a freshman and sophomore. </p>
<p>On top of that, during your first year, it'll be hard enough to keep up your academics. He said that your first two years should be focused on making connections on campus with the facility and students though clubs and other organizations. </p>
<p>But I have some very vague questions. </p>
<p>Looking back, is there something that you would've done differently?
Is there time for a girlfriend, and would you reccomend waiting until you're settled to get one?
Overall, how are you liking UCI?</p>
<p>Is there a way to request a non-smoking hall? Other than a wellness one?</p>
<p>Looking back, is there something that you would've done differently?</p>
<p>Realize that there's a GPA difference between an A and A- (4.0 and 3.7, respectively). I didn't know that for my first quarter so I would sometimes slack off mistakenly knowing that A- = A. </p>
<p>(A+, despite having the same GPA as A, seems to be a mark of perfection to your peers)</p>
<p>I wish I learned sooner how hard exams would be without having to take it first, even though I knew the material well. </p>
<p>Is there time for a girlfriend, and would you reccomend waiting until you're settled to get one?</p>
<p>Depends on what you are studying, who you are, and what you want to achieve in the future. For me, undergraduate education and performance are really important for me since I'm planning on going into graduate school. I'm also a gamer that plays games 28 - 30 hours a week normally. Therefore, not only do I not want a girlfriend (distraction from my studies and hobbies and another reason typed below), I won't have enough time for her. </p>
<p>I'm also the guy that doesn't want to have a girlfriend just for the sake of it. The only time I'll ever try to have one is when I already liked/loved her to begin without ever trying/searching. </p>
<p>Overall though, follow your brain first, then your heart. If you do this, you'll know whether or not there's time for her once you two become committed. To make it short, you'll find the answer yourself. </p>
<p>Overall, how are you liking UCI?</p>
<p>I'll answer this later, lunch time.</p>
<p>Pamplemousse25: If you applied for on-campus housing, the office will send you an application packet in which one of its questions will ask whether or not you smoke and whether or not you wish to have a hall that allows smoking (if such exists).</p>
<p>In my hall, no one smokes within this building, or at least they shouldn't be smoking. In the housing application, said I didn't smoke and wanted a non-smoking hall (if such question existed).</p>
<p>@jhuscla</p>
<p>I am involved in research right now (started end of winter quarter) in the school of bio sci (though I am not a bio major). I have friends that have started earlier than me and I have even more friends that haven't thought about research yet. To get freshman research, take the initiative and talk to professors whose research you are interested in.</p>
<p>@pamplemousse</p>
<p>Smoking is not allowed in any residence halls. My hall is an academic excellence hall and we don't have any smokers. I have friends in other halls and they say there are some smokers.</p>
<p>Oh ok. That helps. Also, for Mesa, I'm kind of being a nit-picker in trying to decide. Does an extra 12 feet make a big difference? (I'm looking at Academic Excellence halls versus Broadcasting or Wellness). And do the hall themes really make an impact on where you stay?</p>
<p>OH, and class sizes. For the school of humanities, how big are classes?</p>
<p>about placement test....
i took ap chem and got 3 on the test...and lets say i really did bad on the placement test(i forgot everything)...would that put me in really elementary or unnecessary class??</p>
<p>Birdkiller:
I am majoring in physics..can you give me a little background on the major (good teachers, studying habits, sample schedules?). thanks!</p>
<p>Background on me:
Class of 2011--first year here at UCI
Major: Business Economics
Housing: Mesa Court </p>
<p>at pamplemousse25:
School of Humanities class sizes vary. Your lower division writing classes will be extremely small, typically 15-20 students. Humanities Core is in a big lecture hall so expect 200-300 people. Most of the lower division classes and intro classes will be big. My lower division US History class this quarter is like 300-400 students. However, I took an upper division history last quarter that was 35 students so I really got to know the professor and TA which was great. I sort of like the big classes as you can screw around on your laptop or skip class entirely without consequences but the small classes are nice too.</p>
<p>Now onto that extra 12 feet of space. I'm in a general interest hall in Mesa and it's one of the older halls so the rooms are the smallest in Mesa. To be honest we have plenty of room for everything and it's not too cramped. We've got a TV, Xbox 360, fridge, and more and it's fine. If we had more space I'd just leave more **** lying around everywhere creating more of a mess. I wanted one of the newer halls with extra room and newer bathrooms but I actually love my hall. The older halls are closer to campus and commons (food) so you don't have to walk quite as far. And the older halls only have 50-60 residents while the newer ones have 70-80.</p>
<p>At cszeto:
Someone asked about placement testing and yes you can take them during SPOP are they are offered throughout the spring as well. I'd advise you to take them BEFORE SPOP so you know which classes to register for at SPOP (no waiting for placement test results). You can find a schedule of the placement tests somewhere on the UCI website.</p>
<p>At merc4hire:</p>
<p>Is there time for a girlfriend, and would you reccomend waiting until you're settled to get one? </p>
<p>There is time for a girlfriend. I've got quite a bit of free time, enough time to work 10 hours a week, go to the gym 3-4 times a week, party on the weekend, play videogames, and take 16 units. Granted, everyone is different, but it seems like most people have A LOT of free time. It all depends on how well you manage your time. If you get your reading done and stay on top of school it really isn't too bad but the minute you slack off for a few weeks it's a ***** to catch up. Make sure to balance your time between your school work, friends, and girlfriend. I know someone who is with his girlfriend every waking moment of the day and he doesn't manage his time very well so it's not a very good combination. If I had to say I'd recommend waiting until winter quarter so you're all settled in and used to college life and what it requires. </p>
<p>Overall, how are you liking UCI?</p>
<p>I love it. I chose UCI over Cal Poly and towards the end of the summer I was having second thoughts about it but not anymore. The location is great, we're practically in Newport Beach. The campus is nice and there's a ton to do. I joined a fraternity and that's been a lot of fun as well. As far as classes go they really haven't been that hard. Other than math all of my classes have been fairly easy. I like being an hour or so away from home so I can go home once a month if I want. All in all, UCI is really what you make of it. If you go in with a good attitude and open mind you'll have an awesome time. I've had so much fun the first two quarters and I haven't regretted my decision once.</p>
<p>Hope this helps all of you!</p>
<p>jb98021781: I've taken Physics 7B (momentum and energy) and 7E (fluids, optics, and wave) so far and both of the professors I had were great and knew how to teach the concepts. Both posted their notes on their website just in case some students wanted to review or missed their lectures. </p>
<p>My Physics 7B TA seemed to be a foreigner from China and god damnit he seemed more to be explaining equations than physics. TA for Physics 7E however was better and even shared some of the frustrations of some of the concepts involved, she was really responsive to our questions and detailed in her explanations. </p>
<p>As a Physics major, you'll be taking physics courses that are reserved for students with physics major only, at least for the first 3-4 physics courses you'll be taking (Physics 7A - 7D). This means the class size for your physics courses will be relatively small (30 students max) compared to physics classes for non-majors (200 - 400 students max).</p>
<p>The physics course I'll be taking for this quarter (electricity and magnetism) will be the class reserved for physics majors (my first such physics course). The professor that'll be teaching this course is the chair of the physics department. The previous courses I took were all for non-majors since I could not declare double major until I met course requirements.</p>
<p>If you want to see the class sizes for physics courses, first check what physics courses you must take here:
2007-08</a> UCI Catalogue: Physical Sciences</p>
<p>Then go here:
Schedule</a> of Classes</p>
<p>-Under the Department name option, scroll down to "Physics"
-Select Display Web Results
-Find the required physics courses
-Search the letters "A&L" or "L" under "Rstr"
-Search the numbers under "Max" and "Enr"</p>
<p>If you cannot find a certain course, select a different quarter:
-Go back to the selection options
-In the term option, scroll down to other quarters and school years
-Repeat the steps again</p>
<p>Max. is the maximum number of students that class may have
Enr. is the number of students who attended that class throughout the entire quarter, as in those students who did not drop out.
A&L means that the class is reserved for students with the respective major only (L) and fulfilled the course's prerequisites (A).</p>
<p>Is it possible to switch majors before my freshman year starts (switch it within the school of humanities?) Or do I have to wait a year?</p>
<p>Also, do students generally have Mac or PC computers?</p>
<p>*Sorry for bombarding you lot with questions, I can't help it lol</p>
<p>jb98021781:</p>
<p>You will almost no doubt be taking the physics placement exam. Here's some caution though:</p>
<p>If you pass, that means you can skip Physics 7A for the Fall quarter and enroll into Physics 7B. However, in my Fall quarter, there was no Physics 7B class dedicated for physics majors (There was for Physics 7A). The quarter after that (Winter), since there was no Physics 7D (Physics 7C does not exist) I took Physics 7E which also didn't have a class dedicated for physics majors (There was for Physics 7B). However, this quarter (Spring), there is a class for Physics 7D that is dedicated to physics majors which I'll be taking. </p>
<p>For better representation:</p>
<p>[Quarter]: [Physics course I took or am taking] | [Physics courses that had a class dedicated to physics majors]</p>
<p>Fall: Physics 7B | Physics 7A
Winter: Physics 7E | Physics 7B
Spring: Physics 7D | Physics 7D</p>
<p>Ultimately though, the progression of your physics courses will be in sync with those who took Physics 7A (either because they failed or didn't take the placement exam) during your sophomore year. So the ultimate question is:</p>
<p>Do you want to get some early head start and/or some breathing space by skipping Physics 7A or better lectures even though you know the material of some, if not all, of the courses?</p>
<p>PampleMousse: At SPOP, during the introduction of the orientation, I believe students had the opportunity to change majors so long as their current and desired majors were in the same schools. I never did.</p>
<p>Since you're a freshmen, you can still take the courses that correspond to your desired major. In fact, you will most likely need to take those courses to change to that desired major. </p>
<p>Change of major requirements:
UCI</a> Change of Major Criteria </p>
<p>====</p>
<p>It seems a lot of students here use a Mac laptop while does who use desktops use PC. It really won't matter which OS you'll be using...generally.</p>
<p>Well I feel like I am pretty good at physics..solid A in AP physics B, and I understand the material extremely well, but I never took AP physics C so probably the more extended lectures.</p>
<p>As for studying habits:</p>
<p>During my first quarter, I made the mistake of underestimating the difficulty of the courses in Math and Physics since I already knew the material. I got a B+ in Calculus and A- in Physics but I was quite disappointed at myself. </p>
<p>Last quarter, I dropped every social interaction and entertainment starting the week before the exams and studied at the science library in most of my days. I did better on the exams and would've gotten a perfect score on my physics exam had I had known that ultrasonic meant the speed of sound at high frequency <em>raises fist</em> (I suspected it to be the speed of sound, but then I wondered "what's sonic and supersonic then?")</p>
<p>Let me also say that you MUST take your quizzes and homeworks seriously as if they too were exams. One screw up could easily make you slip your final grade down by a level (like from an A to A-) or two. My fatal flaw for last quarter was this. While I did well in the exams, I did not do so well for the quizzes since I took them lightly.</p>
<p>So now that I got kicked in the balls twice from exams (first quarter) and quizzes (last quarter), I don't have any more balls to be kicked so I'm looking forward to straight As this quarter :D</p>