<p>I got denied everywhere else and I deserved it, I got a 2.58 unweighted GPA (got denied for CAL GRANT A) Left my extracurricular empty (accident i swear) and i took 10 AP classes and i slept in every single one.
Should i go to MERCED and chill in the corn fields or hang out with my boys at Fullerton.</p>
<p>Well do you want to stay at the university or do you forsee a transfer? If you want to transfer, then community college. If not, then CSUF. Drove through Merced and talked to people on campus at UCM, what a dump. Theres only one movie theater in Merced and its in the ghettos. The “shopping mall” is just a small block of WalTargetmarts. The food is terribad and the campus is the small (although it is growing, slowly). If you don’t care about the environment and plan to focus on studying, then UCM is alright. But for the price, it is definately not worth it.</p>
<p>To Sephorazn18: If you’re basing your college choice on where the movie theater is located, perhaps you should rethink going to college. Oh, and by the way, there’s two movie theaters that are roughly 5 minutes away from each other located in a nice part of town. </p>
<p>Additionally, I don’t really see how a school can be a “dump” when it is less than 4 years old. All the facilities are new and nice. And if you were talking about the town, sorry to break it to you, but every town has a ghetto side. Just use common sense and not go out alone when it gets dark. Simple.</p>
<p>However, you are right about the food, although it is getting better (probably due to the anticipated arrival of more mouths to feed). Even though the food isn’t as good as other dining commons’ food, there is enough variety to eat decently. </p>
<p>It’s really disheartening when people talk bad about UCM without really understanding it. Oh well, people can assume. </p>
<p>And if you were wondering, I’m not exactly a UCM fanboy either. I WILL be putting in transfer apps when the time comes and will hopefully be attending another UC for the remainder of my two years. I’m not totally in love with UCM like other users on this forum, but just tell it from my honest perspective. </p>
<p>To IhateMyselfALOT: Sephorazn18 was right in asking what you want to do. If you are looking to go to graduate school, UC Merced may be a good choice due to the lack of competition on campus, various research positions open, and the UC label. </p>
<p>However, if you are looking to get a Bachelor’s and move on, you may want to reconsider other, more “prestigious” campuses (i.e. Davis, Berkeley, etc.). If you are going down that path, a JC transfer would be your best bet.</p>
<p>I would NOT recommend going to Fullerton. If hanging out with your friends got you where you are now, maybe it’s time to get new friends. At the end of the day, you’re the only one you have to answer to. </p>
<p>I might be going off on a tangent, but forget about what you did in high school. You now have a fresh start to take full advantage of.</p>
<p>My friend’s son SAT 1950 and High School GPA 3.8. He is now a freshman at UCM. She said that her son first semester’s final grade GPA 2.58. Her son said that he’s studying hard and still not getting good grades. Her son’s friend transferred out after first sem. because her son’s friend frustrated with low grades inspite of studying hard. My friend and her husband wants their son to transfer to SJSU but Fall 2009 application passed already. Her son can’t get in SJSU now and has to go to community college then transfer to SJSU for fall of 2010. Should they have their son transfer out ? She said that they are not qualified for any financial aid. They are not willing to pay that much for their son to be getting GPA 2.58. They said they don’t mind paying if only he is doing well there. Is it really that hard at UCM?</p>
<p>^^^^^I thought it’d be easier to get better grades at UCM compared to schools like UCSB,UCLA,UCB,etc.</p>
<p>To AZQN: It’s as hard as you make it. College is obviously way different than high school. In high school, GPA was basically based off of everyday assignments and multiple tests. However, in college, your grade may ride on only 2 tests and a final…or 1 research paper and a final. It’s quite possible that the son did not transition well from the high school style to the college style, and got bad grades in spite of being smart (on paper, at least). </p>
<p>For example, I’m the type of student that does well on tests and papers, but not really good with doing assignments everyday (read: I’m lazy). I love college and its structure, but it’s a different feel for everyone.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily say that the courses are difficult, but they do live up to the UC name. Just because Merced is new and looked down upon for now doesn’t make the classes easy. </p>
<p>To KoreanBoi92: Theoretically, you will get better grades at UCM compared to the other UCs. This is because of the lack of competition on campus to actually make a demanding curve. However, by the time you graduate, the student population at Merced may be a sizable amount that there probably would be a curve instated for most classes.</p>
<p>Thanks fusionall.</p>
<p>BTW, do you know what GPA most UCM students get, particularly the freshmen?</p>
<p>CSUF,
Is Merced’s degree even worth anything ?
No offense to students who go here</p>
<p>To amby262roy: Depends what you major in. ;)</p>
<p>We are receiving accreditation this year so yes, degrees do mean something. </p>
<p>To AZQN: I’m not quite sure of the overall GPA of freshmen here, but most of the people I know are above a 3.0.</p>
<p>I’ve read the other threads about UCM from last year, competition still not big at UCM?</p>
<p>To AZQN: About 5% made Dean’s List 3.5 or better</p>
<p>My vote is for UCM…but I am obsessed with that school so it might be a little biased. Fall '09 finally I get to go there! lol</p>
<p>You can actually look that information up either online or at the college registrar. The average GPA is almost surely, average… meaning around 2.0 (Maybe a tad higher because Freshmen tend to do better than the overall student populous). Your friends may have above a 3.0, but that is because you are likely to get along with people who do well in school if you do well in school. </p>
<pre><code> And, it doesn’t really matter that much what the average GPA is at any one college. You are going to have the people that work hard who will get above a 3.0 and also the people that could care less and get below a 2.0, no matter where you go. The good thing about college is that YOU choose which group you are in.
Unless you are majoring in the sciences (physics, chemistry), you should not be worried about ‘passing’ classes with a reasonable amount of effort. To get a B, it usually takes a bit more effort… ie: read the book. To get an A, depending on the class, it takes quite a bit more effort and an ability to test well.
</code></pre>
<p>Thanks everyone for the infos</p>
<p>To IhateMyselfALOT: Pick UCM. Hanging out with boys will not help your studies since they can distract you from being successful. I myself live in the bay area and got into Cal state East Bay along with UCM. I choose UCM because I know that I will not get any studing done being next to my friends and parents. You will not being going to the movies as much because studying comes first in order to keep up with your classes. If you want to have fun its 30min North to Modesto or South to Fresno or 2.5 hours North to San Francisco.</p>
<p>To AZQN:
Just to let you know if your friend’s son is planning to go to graduate school they request all of the transcripts of all the institutions that he went to before graduating. I.e. UC, USU, and community college. He’s not failing so he should move on at UCM. Study habits changes for everyone in the UC as time progresses. Also, he should of use the available resources in UCM: student tutoring, professor’s office hours, and teacher assistance office hours for help. Student tutoring is free by the way and office hours helps A LOT. Don’t be discourage to talk to the professors and TAs. Use them. An ‘A-’ in a UC is 3.7gpa and a ‘B-’ 2.7gpa by the way.</p>