I wanted to add a note to new admit parents starting to think about Parent’s Weekend. You may want to go regardless but from a “been there, done that” perspective, you may want to skip it. There really wasn’t anything that was ‘for parents’ or anything “parent-y” at all. For sure, it was a fun time, but I think overwhelmingly in my Parent’s Facebook Group for the class of 2026 – we determined that Parent’s Weekend wasn’t really worth the hype and it would be OK to miss. I won’t go again. It’s SUPER busy, crowded, packed, and hard to get around. Seeing the kiddo, having lunch, and seeing the football game was great – but it can also be done on nearly any other weekend when it isn’t so crazy and when you can actually enjoy being in Davis more — just food for thought.
Picnic day is coming up – which I am going to – but worry it’s going to be the same.
Question regarding Aggie Day this Saturday. Is it really necessary to be there at 8 am? While we don’t want to miss anything important, we have about a 90-minute drive that morning to get there. If we arrived at 9 rather than 8, would that still work? And how is the parking? Also wondering if it is worse or better to arrive at 9 rather than right at 8. Thanks!
Thank you! I still peek in here and there a bit. I am so glad to see that the review is still helping people and have had a couple of people reach out through DM about it. I still think so solidly that UC Merced is such a great school and opportunity, offering a fresh perspective.
Davis has gone really, really well for my son and he’s happy. It truly was the right fit – and what happened is exactly what was supposed to happen (despite the panic at the time haha)!!
I just wanted to come back and say that my son SIR’d to UC Davis. He was really torn between UCD and UCSD but he really loved the college town vibe of Davis.
He would definitely have picked UCD over the other UCs where he was accepted, if he hadn’t ended up going with a different OOS school. Loved the students and professors he talked to!
Congratulations and cheers to all the kids and families choosing Davis
Davis is the UC I’ll have the hardest time letting go of among the ones my daughter was admitted to. I love it a lot! Wish she could pick multiple schools!
Thanks for the update. My daughter is torn between UCD and CalPoly. The main issue is the near beach location of CalPoly. She was focused on UCSB, but when she did not get in, CalPoly became her first choice because it is close to Avila and Pismo. Then, she got off the UCD waitlist and is now unsure of which she wants to attend. Tough decision for her as both are great options.
That’s a tough decision. Cal Poly is a great school…it was my son’s first choice but he got waitlisted. I assume he would have gone there if he was accepted but who knows…I was surprised he turned down UCSD.
My DD still hasn’t decided and is torn between Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, and UCD. I think she’s leaning toward UCSB (she’s doing this all very celebrally by weighting and ranking all these different factors on lists), but embarrassed that her HS classmates call it a “party school.” She visited all 3 and the different “vibes” didn’t help her decide much (except she did consider the CP SLO classrooms were “too small, like high school”). We went to Aggie Day and while it was REALLY great meeting professor and student representatives from her Dept/College, unfortunately the campus tours were filled up by 9:30 am. Had I known there would be no tours available, I’d have skipped Aggie Day and just done an admitted students tour instead. I snagged one for tomorrow. I’ve decided Admitted Students Tours are much better than Admitted Students Days (if students can only pick one). She couldn’t really get the “vibe” of UCD because UCD is normally not like Aggie Day. We saw barely any bikes for example.
Yeah, the tours are actually really helpful, given the sheer size of the UC campuses! I could not imagine doing a self-guided tour there!
I think open houses are worth checking out too since the schools showcase some of the programs and classes offered as well. I also was admitted to Cal Poly, but I have friends there who say that the major changing process is really difficult, which is something I’m worried about. I didn’t really think too much about Davis at first, but when I visited the campus I ended up really liking it, and my tour guide, despite being a newer tour guide, was probably one of my favorite ones I’ve had! Definitely worth it to check out even if you don’t go; they have a good grad school if your daughter is interested in that route and the college town vibe is a nice outing.
We toured during Aggie Day and the tours were crowded and rushed. DS said he even noted that as the worst part of the day. Good luck with your decision!
We had planned to do Aggie Day but ended up going to UCSD’s admitted students day (same day) and opted instead for an admitted students tour at Davis and I’m so thankful we went that route. I think the admitted student days (at least at the UC’s) are way to crowded and overwhelming. I have a feeling she may have a different feeling about the school if she does the admitted student tour.
Adding my voice to the chorus. My son skipped Aggie Day so that he could attend Triton Day. He did an admitted students tour at Davis. Lo and behold, Davis moved up and UCSD moved down.
Same exact experience for us as well. I think Davis is the right fit for him so I’m so happy he skipped their admitted student day as I think it may have been a turn off.
Agree about Aggie Day. we found it chaotic , crowded, and it almost put my son off UCD. We could not get a tour so just walked around ourselves and went to Engineering dept sessions, but even those were not great. Wish we just visited on a normal weekday.
Anyway, the disappointment of Aggie Day has worn off, and UCD is his favorite among the admitted schools so he signed SIR today. But is on waitlist for Cal Poly SLO, UCI and UCSD and would consider those if the WL came through.
