How was UOP?
That’s too bad about the wind. I couldn’t tell from the pictures above.
What activities did you participate in? I saw on IG that they had a model dorm room set up somewhere. It looked odd to me but I guess it let people see what type of furniture is in a typical room.
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The model dorm room was odd and not very helpful. No walls, no closets since it was set up in the middle of a larger community room. If you’ve seen dorm furniture on other campus tours, it’s basically the same.
The wind was a non-issue for us, except for the pollens. It was a northern wind, which I understand from a local who has lived in Davis for ~30 years, is less common than the southerly winds that can come and cool the area on warm evenings.
The best way to get a feel for dorm rooms and space is to watch some of the Aggie Abodes videos. The halls were built in clusters, so 3-4 halls have the same layout. If you read the description below each video, it will tell you which halls have the same layout as the room in the video.
Cuarto was recently rebuilt. The newer rooms/suites opened last year and don’t have Aggie Abode videos.
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Yeah, the wind was disappointing and I’m sure it affected some of the planned activities. When we arrived at 8:30 am, they were already dismantling some of the tents - I’m assuming for safety reasons.
Yes, we saw the mock dorm room setup. The student that was giving the presentation was great and very knowledgeable and helpful regarding student housing. The setup was in a large room, so the layout looked larger than it actually was, but it was a good representation of what incoming students could expect.
We attended several of the indoor welcoming presentations as well as the college specific outdoor meet and greet. The outdoor event was a little chaotic because of the wind. We also went on an abbreviated campus tour which, again, was disrupted because of the wind - it was difficult to hear and the dust and debris made it difficult to see.
Overall, it was nice but we enjoyed Cal Poly’s welcome more the day before. Of course, the weather was nicer in SLO which probably made a difference. But the way Cal Poly’s event was organized was nicer and more informative. For example, they had a large general welcome event followed by a smaller college welcome event which was held in the newer beautiful performing arts center. Then they had a department specific event where parents and students could ask questions. It worked out well.
We’re off to Berkeley this week and then it’s decision time. It’s going to be tough.
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Burying the lede on the last line, I see. Congrats on committing to Berkeley 
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HAHA! How quick you are! Well, I’m glad you had a successful visit to UCSB! Has your son decided yet between UCSB or Berkeley? Decisions, decisions, decisions!
It’s going to come down to the wire. The visits so far have largely confirmed our priors without really moving the needle in any significant way. I won’t be surprised if S22 decides on May 1st 
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Did not got to Aggie Day as was still in SLO. Guess, we could have swung both but sounds like we didn’t miss too much. Plan on just doing a tour during the week to see what campus life is like. Cal is other choice as well. Top 3. Will be interested to hear where you land. Best wishes on such tough choices.
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Thank you and best to you as well. We’re thinking about going back to Davis for a mid-week tour as well. We didn’t realize that we saw only a tiny portion of the campus during Aggie Day which was pretty crazy with the wind and throngs of people. Would be nice to see the campus on a normal school day. I feel for our kids having to make this momentous decision.
We are at Davis right now. You can tell it was extremely windy, there was tree debris everywhere!
We have an admitted students tour today. So far so good, my student loved the arboretum and having so many ducks everywhere.
Important question: do you get to see the cows as part of the tour? We don’t want to miss them, and will drop by on our own before the tour if not, but will wait for the tour otherwise. 
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The dairy is located next to the Tercero dorms so head to the west side of campus. Tercero Area Map | UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services
They are pretty friendly and like to come to the fence for a pet.
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We liked the Aggies Day, it was a good experience though it was windy. We enjoyed the Biological sciences mini lecture and pre-health related sessions. Beautiful and friendly college town. We liked the down town too! My son will likely commit to it.
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My daughter loved it, as we have expected/hoped. She is planning to double major in Biology and Japanese, and she really enjoyed getting one-on-one time with the very welcoming Japanese department. She also loved the town, 11 greenhouses, super friendly students, undergrad research offerings, and overall feel of campus.
We’re from Seattle, so my family thought the weather was nice, if a bit windy. Lol! Photo of Seattle weather on the same day as Aggie Day.
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Yes Aggie Day was super windy but we did take a walking tour of the campus, sat in on the housing/dining and College of Letters & Sciences presentations which were informative. But for us the deal clencher was being able to talk to representatives & faculty at the Majors fair. They were so helpful and provided great insight about her double majoring in Design & Cognitive Science or Science and Technology. She can even add a Comp Sci minor which is really hard to do at other colleges given how impacted that program is. The fact that they are so supportive of interdisciplinary learning across multiple majors in the same college which is important to my daughter solidified her decision. She committed on the spot 
We also attended Cal Poly’s open house the day prior but while their event was a bit more cohesive we felt her studies would be much more limited there. Also felt that the Graphic Communications major at Cal Poly seemed behind the times (focusing so much on print) in comparison for someone wanting a cutting edge program in UX/UI Design and AI. My daughter also preferred the large campus, more people and proximity to 2 large cities that Davis offers. She can deal with the cow smell since she rode horses for years and loves all animals lol. I was also impressed with the emphasis on sustainability of Davis overall. Go Aggies!
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No, they are not usually part of the tour.
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We literally had to seek the cows out to take a photo of them:). Contrary to how so many people portray Davis, there aren’t animals everywhere lol - and it is 15 minutes to Sacramento so basically a suburb
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I called the UCD campus tours office last week to reschedule our admit tour since I didn’t see any future availability on the website. They seemed very flexible and said they were well staffed and had a lot more capacity for tours now. So if you are planning a visit - I would call campus tours directly and not assume they are full like the website may still indicate.
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Aggie day was great. We especially loved the access to faculty, staff and students. DS and I chatted with the CS advisor for 10 minutes. he answered so many of our questions and my son picked up a sample CS schedule, mapping out 4 years of courses. ( also available on the CS info page). We visited several booths at the Engineering club fair - DS connected with several of the students - with invitations to join the club discord groups now - and invitations to attend the startup competition and the Hack a thon. When I asked the 3 freshman at the Google Development club table what they liked most about UCD so far - one responded - she liked how kind and collaborative everyone was- the rest agreed. Seemed like a very supportive environment. Also, Construction is just finishing on a huge new student maker / start up/tinker space at Bainer Hall.
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Congratulations! Welcome to the Aggie family!
I know your daughter had a somewhat unique combo of majors in mind and I’m glad that she can see a path to doing it all at UC Davis.
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