<p>I read some student reviews on **************.com. many students said that the quality of education is terrible, school spirit sucks, professors are arrogant and rarely teach, people are snobby and anti-social, and a lot of them wanted to transfer out right away. UCSD has always been my dream school, but now i'm afraid i won't like it. is it really that bad?</p>
<p>^the website is studentreview</p>
<p>it depends on who you meet and how open-minded you are to those kind of people.</p>
<p>i personally didn’t expect much at SD because it wasn’t my first choice, but surprisingly enough, i’ve grown to really love that school. Yeah, the TAs give you the grades and pretty much run the course, but it’s not so bad. if you take time to meet the professor, you’ll find out that they’re really welcoming :)</p>
<p>our school spirit sucks because we don’t have a football team. yeah that’s the downside of SD, but it’s not so bad when you get used to it.</p>
<p>not everyone’s snobby and antisocial!! those people are probably the shy kids on campus who don’t talk to anyone anyways. </p>
<p>don’t worry SD’s not that bad.
it’s all about what you make of it!</p>
<p>HAH. the people who wrote on that website are clearly the ones who have no friends and sit in their dorms 24/7. That review is actually laughable. I remember reading that stuff last year and getting kind of nervous but I have not regretted my decision for a second! I think if you’re optimistic, you’ll end up loving it!</p>
<p>what have been some experiences that you really enjoyed at SD? like an event, a class, a college tradition, a professor, surrounding area, opportunities (research/job/internship, academic, social/clubs)</p>
<p>Yeah, some of the reviewers seemed arrogant and moronic, haha. I think I’ll fit in, though.</p>
<p>I loved it, but since I’m still posting on this forum, I guess that’s kind of obvious. The people I met (friends, TAs, and professors alike) were all easygoing and happy to help out when needed. There must be something in the ocean air that makes for happy San Diegans 
Plus I really enjoyed the challenges from my major (chem/biochem) and the fact that we could learn and talk about things without some premed constantly interrupting about whether something would be tested (a common occurrence in lower-division premed courses like the chem 6 series).
Work wise, there’s nothing better than doing what you love and getting paid to do it. I had the chance to TA extensively for the chem department (gen chem, biochem, plus labs) and really enjoyed that. Plus, it gave me more motivation to pay attention in my own classes.
Off-campus, San Diego has a lot to offer – I got into surfing during my last two years and would join friends (and even my bosses) out at Del Mar and La Jolla for early-morning and post-work surf sessions. There’s cheap water sports/lessons available through the Mission Bay Aquatics Center, and the recreation program offers lots of classes too (I did SCUBA). The city has lots of awesome food, especially Mexican (something that’s sorely lacking in NYC), and LA is only a drive away. </p>
<p>So yeah, that’s just a short summary of what I love and miss about San Diego. New York (where I’m currently settled for grad school) is a great city too, but really … after SD, it’s hard to handle a six-month winter.</p>
<p>^You did everything I aim to do, haha!!! I think I’m going to love it there!
I have a question: about how much free time did you have with what number of units? I’d love to spend time exploring la jolla and doing recreation/sports/clubs, but I don’t know if I have time for everything.</p>
<p>Well as you’ll find with ALL other colleges, college is what you make it. No one else’s experience will be your experience. UCSD certainly doesn’t have as much to offer socially as other colleges, but if you want to do social things it has enough that you’ll be just fine. I’ve met plenty of people who would submit similar reviews to the one that you posted above, but those are the same people who reject offers to actually leave their dorms for some fun…</p>
<p>I took anywhere between 12 to 24 units a quarter, but was one of those students who didn’t study until days before the midterms … 'cause panic makes for the best source of motivation :)</p>
<p>Just add an activity at a time and see how it works out with classes. Most aren’t binding, so you can always add/drop to suit your liking.</p>
<p>I’m kind of the opposite of astrina. I used to be the 12-16 unit student who did homework/studied the night before back when I was a CSE major. My grade tanked and I had a 2.7 GPA first year.</p>
<p>Switched out to Math/Econ and Psych and have been taking 18-30 units and working my ass off to be in a similar post-bac situation as her. Sometimes I feel like I can do fine just going back to one-night studying, but then I convince myself that’s how I ended up the way I did first year.</p>
<p>There are so many things I want to do, but I guess I have to do them one at a time!
Thanks for your responses!</p>
<p>Current students:
How would you guys rate your stress levels? And also what’s your college/major?
I heard from someone that some of his daughter’s friends went to UCSD and they were always stressed and weren’t very happy. =(</p>
<p>They need to HTFU.</p>
<p>Weeks during no midterm stress level: 4/10. Week during midterm stress level 6/10. Finals Week stress level 10/10.
Stress level can also fluctuate by the amount of classes you take. Took 4 classes during fall quarter and suffered, took 3 classes lass quarter and I raped every class.
Majoring in Electrical Engineering: ERC</p>
<p>eric:</p>
<p>what if i keep myself at 6/10 the whole way through? then my finals week wont be so bad right? or… do people just cram?</p>
<p>Admittedly, I had low expectations coming in, because of reviews like those that you posted.</p>
<p>They’re all wrong, you’ll have fun. Except the part about school spirit – a university as academically competent as UCSD should have more school spirit, I agree. No football team sucks.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>I would much rather go to UCSD than UCSB (currently deciding between both), but I hear of so many people getting so sick of it at SD and wanting to transfer out. I personally think I’ll like it… just kind of worried about getting stressed out.</p>
<p>It’s pretty stressful–just make sure you STAY ON TOP OF YOUR WORK THROUGHOUTT. this is very important, because consistency throughout the year will significantly decrease stress levels during the last week…</p>