Questions about UCSD answered here

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

<p>Hello! I had a pretty amazing time at UCSD, but I remember the millions of questions I had before I attended. I will do my best to answer your questions, or point you in the right direction. </p>

<p>Some Background</p>

<p>I am the first in my family to complete college, fourth to even attempt it. I did receive full financial aid and scholarships. I transferred to UCSD from the Bay Area. My first year, I lived off campus. Second year, I lived on campus at The Village and was a Resident Advisor (yay free housing!). My third year (yup, took one of those), I was an RA again and stayed at The Village.
I now have my BA in Psychology and was in Muir College, which I hold near and dear. However, given that The Village houses all colleges, I know quite a bit about all six. </p>

<p>Stuff I Did
This by no means is an exhaustive list.
Some of my favorite highlights were:
- Studying abroad in Greece (with a UC teacher and upper division major applicable courses)
- Alternative Breaks, Nicaragua - international trip over Spring Break
- Being a Resident Advisor for two years
- Conducting research in Autism and Visual Development as an undergrad, eventually landing a fulltime paid position upon graduation
- Starting a club, which still exists
- An impromptu Vegas trip with a bunch of friends, which became one of many. Fun fact: going with econ majors meant that I paid a whoppin $200 for the whole weekend, all inclusive.
- Got published after some serious leg work
- Going into my graduation behind a bunch of kilted bagpipers because Muir.
- Lectures by Bill Clinton, the 14th Dalai Lama, Conan O'Brien, Tim Wise
- SunGod
- Met amazing people who really did change me for the better</p>

<p>And the tough stuff, because college is college (Note: I graduated with a competitive GPA and have great prospects for graduate school):
- Utilized on campus resources for depression, anxiety (PMs are fine if you don't want to ask on the forum)
- Met with my college Dean (in the same day, I may add) about difficulty completing a quarter due to health
- Had to retake a course. And retake another course. (screw you, bio).
- Not embarrassed to say it! Cried like a baby when my dad kissed me goodbye and left me 550 miles from home.
- Had to delay graduation due to petitions and transfer red tape.
- Had a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE suitemate for an entire year. Not even going to get into this one. Got to the point of police, college deans, all the residential life staff, and student psychological services getting involved. Bright side: the other girls I lived with were so amazing, we lived together the next year too.</p>

<p>At the end of all that, I graduated, got a job in my field, and am now being hosted (ie paid) at prospective graduate schools. More importantly, I'd do it all again (without having to retake bio).</p>

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<p>Does sixth college really suck that bad</p>

3

<p>@TritonAlum</p>

<ol>
<li>How easy is it to change majors (or add a minor)? Is it really as simple as doing it online?</li>
<li>Can you elaborate on Muir room mate process? I was reading on the website and it stated that “Any roommate request must be mutual and we will not house two individuals requesting to live with each other with a third unknown roommate. So, it is best to request two <em>additional</em> roommates!” Could you elaborate on this? (Would I have to request 3 roommates in total? That’d be 3 people + 1 so 4, but isn’t a dorm 3 people? The ‘additional’ part of the sentence is throwing me off. haha) <a href=“http://muir.ucsd.edu/reslife/room/room_assign.html”>http://muir.ucsd.edu/reslife/room/room_assign.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
<li>What would be your advice to incoming freshman?</li>
<li>Where was your favorite place to hang out at UCSD?/ What did you like to do in your free time at UCSD?</li>
<li>How did you become a RA?</li>
<li>How abundant are the jobs campus-wide? (Work-study)</li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you for doing this! Sorry for the many questions haha!</p>

4

<p>How much do you get paid for being an RA? How was the experience? (I’m interested in becoming one).</p>

<p>How did you get to study abroad?</p>

<p>I know you went to Muir, but how’s Sixth College? I got into the college but have little info about them.</p>

<p>Met any people who are UCLA-admitted, but went to UCSD instead? Any of them regretting it?</p>

<p>How is the cognitive science department? Are the people majoring in it in UCSD happy?</p>

<p>Are research opportunities common for undergraduates?</p>

<p>How are the professors? (real general question for a real big school but…)</p>

<p>What type of room did you get during your experience in the dorms? Any you particularly prefer over the other?</p>

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<p>@batsheep I don’t want to hi-jack TritonAlum’s thread so I’m just going to poke my head in and comment on one of your questions. I was admitted to UCLA and UC Berkeley but chose UCSD instead, and I knew several other students who did as well (it was fairly common among the top students at UCSD). I never regretted it and would do it again, especially after the stories I heard from my friends at UCLA. None of my friends who went to UCSD over UCLA or UC Berkeley regretted it either. But it all depends on what you want.</p>

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<p>@Collegesplz haha sixth doesn’t suck. They have the Chocolate Festival, which was one of my favorites. If you aren’t into chocolate, there is the Kuncocshun dance event. Also, since they’re new, they have a lot more flexibility over the other colleges. Their Practicum requirement is pretty easy to do and even though people swear that the apartments are way too far, it’s really close to Price Center. Annnd a waffle bar at Foodworx.</p>

7

<p>@krickadoodle

  1. I didn’t change my major, but as long as you do so before you have too many units it shouldn’t be too difficult. Occasionally there are department restrictions so ask your counselor or call the department (Protip: calling the department can get things resolved way quicker. Example, I had to get a calc class from sfsu approved and my college was slow about it so I called the math department and they approved it on the phone and changed my record immediately). There’s an online portal to ask these questions to your college advising department. All of my questions were answered in 1-2 days and my petitions were approved between 5-14 days. Records take longer.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I think that’s just saying that a) you can’t request someone without their consent and b) you need to request 2 additional people which would be yourself +2 others = 3. </p></li>
<li><p>Gosh, there’s a lot of advice so keep asking this question to people! I am a pretty introverted person and before UCSD I had a few close friends and didn’t like to join in things much. I took a big risk and started joining in with stuff. Some clubs weren’t really for me, but I met cool people to hang out with doing other stuff. I went to dances, went to Spirit Night (high school me would have never), went to class study sessions, and housing events. Suddenly, I had thousands of pictures and became a much more well-rounded individual. Don’t be afraid to attend an event. You can always leave if you don’t like it. Also, professor office hours are really helpful, especially for your upper division courses. If they tend to be too crowded, ask your professor for an appointment.</p></li>
<li><p>My favorite place to study was the sixth floor of Geisel. The library gets increasingly quiet as you go up, so the sixth floor is perfect. Also, amazing views. Hanging out would be Muir Woods coffee shop. They have the cheapest drinks (tho no dining dollars), which are amazing. The couches are sleep-inducing. Another one would be slightly off campus at the cliffs/glider port.</p></li>
<li><p>I only interviewed at The Village, which if I could do it all over again, I would have also interviewed at Marshall, I-House, and Revelle. Muir has House Advisors and they’re a little different. There is an application available around the end of Winter Quarter that you fill out. Go to an Info Session. The process after that depends on the college, but I did a group interview (so happy I got to practice that before the real world) then was invited back for an individual. I made sure to facilitate discussion in my group interview and looked up a lot of other schools’ job descriptions and scenarios. If you’re interested in this kind of work, I’d also look into being a tour guide or orientation leader, another thing I would have loved to do if I had time!</p></li>
<li><p>I never had a problem getting a work-study job. I would not recommend the dining halls. I worked for Mail Services, which is ridiculously relaxed. It was an awesome way to get to know that campus and I met so many secretaries and department heads on my routes that when I needed help expediting records, getting transcripts, or dealing with financial aid, I knew people. Most of these jobs let you have extra time off around midterms and finals if you talk to them. True story: my friend crashed one of the mail trucks behind the library. Was not fired.</p></li>
</ol>

8

<p>Hello, I just have one question for you. I was admitted to Sixth College with the intention to major in CS, but unfortunately got in as undeclared. Are you allowed to transition from Undeclared to a non-impacted major before you even start at UCSD as a freshman? Thanks in advance.</p>

9

<p>@batsheep</p>

<p>How much do you get paid for being an RA? How was the experience? (I’m interested in becoming one).
I was paid in room and board. I think I got like 1800 meal plan points and 1200 Triton Cash and a single room. Compensation depends on the college. The experience was amazing, difficult at times, and rewarding. You develop a strong sense of self. For me, it was just the push I needed to do better academically and grow socially. However, if you go into it just for the free housing, you’ll hate it. It’s a lot of work. The Village has a lot of parties so I dealt with a lot of obnoxious partiers and weird, like really weird, situations. You bond over these with your fellow RAs, but it becomes a big part of your college experience. My friends would introduce me as “the RA” sometimes, which was annoying when we were out in PB and no one cares. I did feel like I had a huge support group though and some of my best times were with other RAs. Kind of like being in Greek life, but with more accountability.</p>

<p>How did you get to study abroad?
I researched a lot of programs on my own. I didn’t want to deal with petitioning courses or taking classes outside of my track. I found that program and applied early through the International Center. My steps for how to do bigger things at UCSD are as follows: 1) ask financial aid if it’s feasible or can get more aid for it; 2) go to academic advising office to make sure I have everything in order; 3) run last questions by whoever is in charge of the thing I want to do. </p>

<p>I know you went to Muir, but how’s Sixth College? I got into the college but have little info about them.
I liked Sixth and it was my third choice. See @Collegesplz’s answer. I forgot to add that some Sixers take their college spirit pretty seriously. </p>

<p>Met any people who are UCLA-admitted, but went to UCSD instead? Any of them regretting it?
@baktrax has a good answer about this. Ultimately, this is your decision. To answer your question though, I never heard anyone saying they regretted not going to UCLA. Personally, I didn’t even apply to UCLA and UCSD was my top choice. UCLA was not the environment I wanted. </p>

<p>How is the cognitive science department? Are the people majoring in it in UCSD happy?
This question would be best asked to a cog sci student/grad. I have taken a few CogSci classes and participated in their research, as I thought I might minor in it. Met some impressive faculty and the courses were stimulating. There is opportunity to do research as an undergrad if you go for it. I didn’t meet anyone unhappy with that choice in my classes.</p>

<p>Are research opportunities common for undergraduates?
This depends on what kind of research you want to do. After graduating, I now run the lab I volunteered in. This is not super common, but is possible. When I look for undergrads to help in my lab, I want them to have researched the lab first and be committed. Chose a research opportunity wisely as this will be where you have the opportunity to publish. Every grad program I have talked to wants to know if I’ve been published and it makes me way more competitive against other applicants. Places to start are with your favorite professors (so don’t apply your first term), with your department, and with the AEP Office <a href=“https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/_organizations/aep/index.html”>https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/_organizations/aep/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>How are the professors? (real general question for a real big school but…)
Yeah, sorry that really depends on the professors. In general, with the psych department, they have been impressive, well-educated, and helpful. I have had bad times with adjunct professors and TAs that primarily teach courses instead of the professor. </p>

<p>What type of room did you get during your experience in the dorms? Any you particularly prefer over the other?
I had a single in an apartment both years (this is not a usual experience, but due to being an RA). The dorms in Sixth that I saw were all pretty similar. If you have a choice, I’d shoot for one of the rooms that is on a corner instead of bordered by two other rooms. Don’t bring too much stuff at the beginning of the year and bring up problems early instead of letting things get out of hand.</p>

10

<p>@JD1327 Not totally sure on this. Coming in as undeclared won’t affect you much. If you want to get this resolved before you come in, call/email your college academic office (they may tell you to wait). You could also try the CS department, but they might not be able to change it. Remember to write down who you talked to in case you need to call back. However, when you have access to MyTritonLink, you can change your major online quite quickly.</p>

<p>Edit: Looking through the other threads, this seems to be the result of impacted majors and a common occurrence. Most likely, you will be focusing on GEs to start off anyway and getting into an impacted major will eventually sort itself out as students switch around. Still a good idea to stay in touch with both your college and dept tho.</p>

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<p>@TritonAlum Ah, I see. I e-mailed admissions and they replied with “New incoming students and current students may change their major themselves to a non-impacted major using the Major/Minor Tool on MyTritonLink after they have enrolled.” So I should be okay with changing majors after I enroll, but I’ll be sure to contact my college academic office like you said. Thank you again, I appreciate your help!</p>

12

<p>@TritonAlum, thanks so much! Your answers are awesome! I have one more.</p>

<ol>
<li>How would you describe the transition from high school(or community college) to UCSD? Is it a lot harder?</li>
</ol>

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<p>@krickadoodle If I had come in from high school, it would have been a lot harder. My CC worked out a lot of my bad habits, but going from a semester to only 10 weeks was a sprint instead of a marathon. The nice thing about the quarter system is that if you’re hating a course, it’s over before you know it. You really have to be self-motivated to do well. No one is going to check up to see if you learned the material or did the reading. You don’t always have the cushion of homework for extra points. I was the best and the brightest at my CC, just like every other top student sitting around me. This makes for excellent study partners, but also the groupthink of studying the same way you did in high school. You may need to make some changes. Some things were review for me, but it took a few quarters to really understand what I needed to do to make the grades I wanted. Realistically, the A’s I got (and there is a +/- system) resulted from notes, lectures, readings, and meeting with professors early to ask questions. I’d go to office hours/review sessions to hear other students’ questions. Get used to college by taking GEs first so you don’t mess up your major GPA. Learn about Pass/No Pass grades. I used this Quarter at a Glance calendar (<a href=“https://students.ucsd.edu/_files/oasis/quarter-at-a-glance.pdf”>https://students.ucsd.edu/_files/oasis/quarter-at-a-glance.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) and put <em>everything</em> from my syllabi in it. Then I color coded it like crazy. Remember that you deserved to be accepted, but you have a long road ahead. </p>

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<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE: “Ask Me” threads are not permitted on CC. Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.</p>

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<p>They can be pretty informative though, wouldn’t you say?</p>

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<p>@TritonAlum
Thank you so much for your answer (and your link!)!! You’ve been super informative and I honestly can’t think of any more questions haha. I have a really good feeling about UCSD. :)</p>

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<p>@MaineLonghorn wasn’t meaning to imply that anyone else couldn’t ask or answer.</p>

<p>@SoCalDad2 Thank you, I was just trying to be helpful!</p>

<p>@krickadoodle, you’re welcome and enjoy the next few years!</p>

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<p>Keep it up TritonAlum, I am enjoying your answers (my son was accepted to UC San Diego).</p>

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<p>Thanks ucanthrograd. Congratulations to your son!</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for doing this! I was wondering what you thought about Marshall, the pros/cons. Thank you thank you thank you!!! </p>