<p>So I got into accepted at UCI today after being waitlisted, but I SIR'd to Davis. Which should I go to? I got into UCD for Neurobiology, and UCI for Public Health. My goal in the end is med school. I live in SoCal, but the 7 hour difference isn't a problem for me.</p>
<p>If you plan on going to a grad school, undergrad won’t matter. But if you are up for the farm/cow life in UCD, go for it. If you like city life, choose UCI.</p>
<p>UCD has an actual college town and is far more than a farm/cow town. If you aren’t concerned about the distance and only want to go to med. school, choose Davis for the “college experience”. UCI is deserted on the weekends and is a commuter school (which is fine with some people), just a warning if that’s something you wouldn’t like. UCI does feel like home though after a while. The school is big (not as big as UCD) but it feels like a small community. Everyone is really friendly and if you take a trip around Ring Road, you are sure to run into someone you know. You’re just really confined to the school unless you have a car to be honest. </p>
<p>Both should be comparable in terms of academics. Being pre-med at UCI is no joke. It’s cutthroat no way around it but honestly, it’s all about time management. No matter where you end up going. I imagine UCD should be at around the same level. Anywhere, congrats on getting pulled off the waitlist! Hope you have a great time next year at UCD or UCI.</p>
<p>Theyre both good school. If you want to move far away from home for school then definitely UCD, if not then UCI… simple as that.</p>
<p>Purpletiger just seems to restate all the UC stereotypes he/she knows…
UC Davis is beautiful, it’s right by a forest, so it has lots of greenery.
UCI has lots of buildings and very little green on campus in comparison, but it’s near a lot of Asian markets</p>
<p>So I visited UC Irvine for the first time yesterday and I think I’m choosing Davis. My dad and I were unimpressed by Irvine’s campus. It’s very small (there’s a 1 mile circle path that brings you around the entire campus) and the dorms are quite unattractive, they were the biggest thing I didn’t like about UCI. They reminded me of motels and the kitchen and laundry room that we saw weren’t very clean especially compared to Davis’, but then again, I only visited middle earth. The atmosphere, however, seemed friendly because the campus was small, and my tour guide knew a lot of people while bringing us around, but it just didn’t make me excited. The buildings weren’t as nice as Davis’ (although I have to say the engineering building was very pretty). Overall, both me and my dad agreed that we liked everything about Davis better except for the location, which we agreed that Irvine was better because it’s closer to where I live and the LA. But that isn’t a big problem, since Davis is close to San Francisco anyway and I can still visit my parents more often than if I were to go out of state. I’m excited to be an Aggie next year!</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents… me and my son visited both. There are many things we didn’t like about Davis, so we chose UCI. First, no student cars are allowed on Davis unless you live off campus. Second, the off campus freshman dorms looked crappy to us. Not sure which ones you looked at there, but we were not impressed at all. Third, hope you like riding bikes and buses. Want to go to the city? Catch a bus. Come back to your dorm? Catch another bus. Also, we thought there were not as many places to eat in the Davis campus aside from the School Dining Meal eateries. One Carls Jr., one Taco Bell, and one “Pub” restaurant at the Silo. Maybe we missed something, idk. Yes, the buildings look nice from the outside, but have you seen the insides? Also, UCD has mostly Psychology majors - are you OK with that? The little town surrounding Davis annoyed us. Almost every traffic light is photo-enforced. Ugh, I hate those. The town was artsy and flat compared to L.A. living. And outside of Davis IS farms, so to get to Sacramento you have to pass 10 minutes of farms. Our tour guide was graduating this month and made a joke about “hoping to find a minimum wage job” after college. She was a double major, and although it was kind of a joke, she was also kind of serious. She started as a Bio major. And please, no offense to UCD students, but we have never seen so many 20 year old males with beards before. I mean, what’s up with that? Is it cool to be 20 with a beard nowadays? Sure, it makes you look older, but I say, enjoy your youth while you can!!! Take it from an old guy like me.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we were not overly impressed with UCI’s layout, like you. But we found the students to be more like what we are used to here in L.A. (Not so many beards!!!) More places to eat. Yes, Middle Earth isn’t for you if you don’t like living next to your classes, but my son really liked Mesa a lot (we toured both) since he says he feels like he won’t be at school when he is there. And you CAN have a car at UCI, albeit expensive for a permit (about $600 year???) so you can go to the beach, San Diego, L.A., Disneyland, or even home to have Mom & Dad do your laundry and cook you a nice meal. Most of all, we were impressed with the enthusiasm of the students at Celebrate UCI day, and how my son felt those kids were more like him than the ones at UCD.</p>
<p>But it is your decision, I just wanted to give my thoughts hopefully before you make your final decision. Good luck either way!</p>
<p>Just a quick little point…I felt the “enthusiasm” displayed on Celebrate UCI day was really artificial…I’ve been here two years and that’s the most people I’ve ever seen on campus on any one day and the most active anyone has ever been on campus. Of course, nothing wrong with that as they are trying to bait students into choosing UCI after all.</p>
<p>@teenthainy: I was in the same exact boat as you and I ended up choosing Davis as well. </p>
<p>Irvine seemed really dull to me, despite being in a city. I didn’t feel as if the campus and its student body were welcoming. The transfer day thing wasn’t exciting either, and I felt as if Davis really sold itself on that part. Overall, I just didn’t feel that vibe I felt at Davis. Sure Davis is in “the middle of nowhere”, but I’m a city girl, always have been, and I appreciated what they had to offer. They also have a lot more restaurants than the ones mentioned.</p>
<p>in terms of campus size, UCI and UCD are comparable.</p>
<p>If you’re citing size as a PLUS, I highly suggest you THINK about what you’re saying… a bigger campus means a longer walk. I miss the small size of the community campus I came from. Size should NOT be a factor. Whether or not you like the layout on the whole is another thing altogether though.</p>
<p>Academics are comparable at both schools. Public health is generally an easier major than neurosci from what I understand though(PH has a few bus admin courses mixed in and bus admin courses = easy)</p>
<p>Whether or not you ENJOY life or not depends on how you approach things. If you’re involved on campus, things will be much more enjoyale. Join a club(or two or three) and become a leader on campus, strive to do well in your courses and be active and productive.</p>
<p>Which school being right really depends. I personally wonder if I would’ve enjoyed Davis or LA or Berkeley or even SD more than UCI, but it’s a little late at this point. I did enjoy myself but at the same time I wonder, mostly because I’ve always lived in the same area, I’m only a few miles from home.</p>