That’s awesome! Argh, well the one here near us (still an hour’s drive, but near enough to try to get to) filled up immediately so not sure we can attend. My daughter did send an email to admissions asking if it would be possible to come, so we’ll see. We can’t make it to the admitted students day on 4/22, unfortunately. Maybe they will have more stickers there!
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Davis and Irvine are very very different. I have had kids attend both schools.
Davis has a more earthy, laid back, supportive, community feel. The university came first and the town was developed to support the university. The two have a very symbiotic relationship. The majority of Davis is made up of students, faculty or university employees. There are more bikes than cars. It is a very walkable town with mom and pop stores and restaurants. When you walk, or bike, around Davis, you are sure to run into people you know (think Mayberry). It is rainy during the winter and gets very hot during the summer.
Irvine, as @gumbymom mentioned, is a city with a university in it. A large part of Irvine is owned by the Irvine Company. This includes the shopping centers I linked to above as well as apartment complexes. Stores around UCI are more corporate chain stores and less mom and pop. When my UCI student lived off campus, the apartment complex was walking distance to UCI but at least 50% of the units were rented to non students. In my student’s experience, the students at UCI were a bit more independent, doing their own thing. Students are driven and are focused on their individual goals. While UCI students may study with a friend, there is less focus on creating study groups than at Davis. There is less of a college town, community feel. None of these are bad. They are just different. Irvine’s weather tends to be more consistent and temperate throughout the year.
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I always thought UCD would be a better fit for D as she’s very sociable and collaborative and would love more of the social aspects of group studies, but alas she’s waitlisted. Thank you very much for such a detailed answer. As a parent I would love both towns but I do gravitate towards very safe places for peace of mind.
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LOL! I made my daughter put on her Banana Slug headband/ears last night, promising not to take a photo! Then my son put them on, then me. We were wondering what a Banana Slug says!
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Hope that UCI CS and CS engineering programs will move up the ranks providing greater opportunities and resources to the students……with the recent announcement of one of the largest alumni gift of $35.5 million.
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Are any of the math concentrations impacted? So math major with either DS concentration or the one that is related to biology?
– you made my laugh. Whilst reading your response I was expecting it to say “My daughter did send an email to admissions asking if it would be possible to send some stickers”
It may not be the same, but last year during the on-site summer orientation, they let our kid change from undeclared to a specific major. That way they got priority registration for needed classes. At the time (again things change), they said people could change into anything EXCEPT business and nursing.
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Can someone list some cities around Irvine that are safe like Irvine for off campus housing purposes and relatively not too far of a commute?
Are you considering UCI for your kid for CS?
Your D will be OK at Irvine. UCI may not have the collaborative reputation that Davis has, but it by no means is a cutthroat environment.
My son has always been the independent type UNTIL he got into UCI for CS. In his junior year, four of them formed a group to contest in every hackathon they could find and won more than a couple. The experience and awards helped them land internships and eventually well-paying FTE offers, some of them close to a quarter million total annual compensation.
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That is so good to hear!!
Irvine is very big, and very spread out, especially to the north of campus. There are many, many apartments and condos in the area, ranging from cute, somewhat older complexes, to newer, slick buildings (none are walking distance). In the UTC/University village area which is basically “across the street” from campus, there are the UTC apartment complexes. There are also the ACC apartment/townhomes, which are considered on-campus housing, but are little further out on the “ring.” ACC isn’t available to Freshmen. (My daughter lives in one of these.)
The closest nearby cities are Newport and coastal areas to the south (very expensive), and Costa Mesa to the west, which also has many apartments, but isn’t as traditionally “planned” and cohesive as Irvine.
I lived in OC some years ago, plus we make trips to our kiddo at UCI, so I know the area pretty well.
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Irvine is pretty big. You probably do not want to go outside of Irvine for off campus housing, especially if you are looking for safe neighborhoods since the savings if any wouldn’t justify the commute.
To give you some idea of how much housing would cost, my son shares a two-bedroom apartment with 4 others in the area between University Center and Campus Plaza, closer to the campus than Mesa Housing so definitely within walking distance to everything. He pays a little over $700 monthly.
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Where do you live ?
And that includes rent and other things ?
Is Santa Ana considered too far?
Rent and utility included.
Two things:
- It’s unfurnished, so we had to make a trip to Ikea;
- It’s two (fairly large) bedrooms for 5 people, so it’s a little crowded. Still, it’s a huge upgrade from on campus housing at UCI and pretty much any other UCs.
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Santa Ana Heights, as seen on Google maps, is pretty close, and is considered a safer area. Santa Ana the city as a whole, is big, very diverse, has a strong Latino history and population. There are wonderful, safer neighborhoods, and very poor ones, sometimes right beside each other. It’s a little far from campus, probably about a half hour drive w/ traffic.
(A friend who went to UCI rented a house w/ a pool w/ friends in Santa Ana, but that was a LONG time ago!)
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I prefer not to get too specific here – within a 2-hour drive to UCI. 
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