<p>Hi! I am looking at the two compared to biology and chemistry–eventually I want to do medicine, but NOT med school (nursing/PA). I know that Davis is ranked higher in general, but Irvine is a better location and closer to home. What are some advantages to either school? Thank for any help!</p>
<p>Davis is better academically across all fields.</p>
<p>As a parent, I haven’t gotten too much into UCI. I like it, and have read good things on here about its pre med departments. However, it is out of the running for both my kids who have different stated reasons for ruling it out except in a worst case scenario where they don’t get in somewhere they really want to go. I find none of their reasons remotely persuasive – I think it is just a matter of being too close and familiar if you want the truth. For one of them, ‘Orange County is too plastic and conservative’. (The other has no problem with conservative, nor with nice areas.) However we knew nothing about Davis except that it was ‘in the middle of nowhere’ as we saw it, at the time. (I had graduated from the UCs undergrad myself but that was a different world.)</p>
<p>We toured Davis though, and I recommend you do that. I still think it is in the middle of nowhere, but not in a bad way. In the middle of a city a college can get lost, and UCLA was virtually a commuter school when I went there as a result. Davis is very much a college town and the town there reminds me of a slightly more organized Isla Vista (where UCSB is.) It is very much catering to students. The best way I can describe that is to say that it is like being a senior at your high school, rather than a freshman, sort of what your world will turn around. Students own the place and the businesses cater to them. Irvine is never going to give a University that pivotal status.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the tour was great, the facilities were very nice (the rec center is awesome) and it is an easy drive to skiing and white water rafting and Yosemite, all nice things for four years. And they have regular buses to Berkeley. I suspect that the REASON they do is because you are going to outgrow the town (I transferred from UCSB to UCLA after two years in small part for that reason, with Isla Vista and Santa Barbara starting to feel a bit small). Having SF within easy reach is a good thing.</p>
<p>BUT it is flat and will get hot and I think it is very much a personality thing which one would better fit. They both seem like good schools for health related careers - but you can find out about that from someone else, since neither of my kids are going in that direction.</p>
<p>I will say I was very pleasantly surprised with our tour of Davis, coming from Southern California, and for my personality, and given my preference for ‘college towns’ when you are at college, I’d pick that one. Both seem like pretty good options, though.</p>
<p>As a parent of a freshman at UC Davis, I am very partial to the campus. I think both UCD and UCI have great programs. I am really not big on rankings. As stated by Collegevetting, Davis may seem in the middle of nowhere but you are only 20 mins from Sacramento. The local Yolobus does a loop between Sacramento and several surrounding towns including Davis and the cost is $1 for students. Davis is the ultimate college town and that was one of the deceiding factors for my son. He was also accepted at UCI which I believe is a great campus also. His major is Environmental Science and did a side by side comparison of the classes involved in both campus programs. For him, UCD had the better program for what he wanted to accomplish in Environmental Science. I am sure he would have been happy with UCI.</p>
<p>Yes, Davis it is hot in the summer and much colder in winter than OC. The campus is flat but very peaceful and green. Bicycling is the preferred mode of transportation and everyone I have encountered on campus has been friendly. I made it a point with both my sons, that they had to visit every campus that they wanted to apply. YOU will be the one spending 4+ years at the campus, so YOU need to be happy.</p>
<p>Take a campus tour and check out the downtown (many shops and restaurants) you may pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>As a current Davis student, I won’t comment on which you should choose…both because I’m biased, and because as others have said you need to see the campuses and decide for yourself. However, I will comment on my experiences a little bit in case that’s helpful at all.</p>
<p>
Firstly, I want to expand on this. If you’re considering Davis, definitely practice your biking before you come here. Biking is a huge part of campus culture, and you can get anywhere you need to go within town on bike. If you don’t bike for whatever reason, Unitrans will get you anywhere you need to go – and all you need to do to use the buses as an undergrad is show the bus driver your ID card.</p>
<p>The campus is pretty spread out too; from what I understand Irvine is less so? I haven’t personally visited to say from experience. It takes me about 5-10 minutes to walk between each of my classes scattered around the central area of campus, to give an idea. Longer if the class happens to be somewhere other than the general central area of campus; for instance, one of my classes my first quarter (and this quarter, actually) is out in the boonies compared to central campus and takes me about 20-25 minutes to walk to from the main library…which is why I just take the bus to that area, but I digress. Walking across campus takes about 20 minutes or so depending on your speed. This is just to give a general idea of campus size; for me personally, I love having things more spread out and can start feeling cramped if they’re not. It’s something to take into account if campus size is a big factor for you.</p>
<p>Hopefully some of that can help you get a better idea of the school. Again though, make sure you visit if at all possible before you make a decision.</p>
<p>Wow thank you all for the replies! I am probably leaning towards Davis because of academics, atmosphere, demographics, etc:)))</p>