UC Merced?

I am planning on attending UC Merced this fall and will be visiting the campus very soon. I’ve heard many pros and cons about attending Merced, however I would enjoy hearing what it’s really like from current students? In regards to academics, living in the dorms (which dorms are more convenient to freshmen students), campus food, social life, even the weather there, etc.

Try this thread for Q&A about UCM:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-merced/1758039-uc-merced-q-a.html#latest

Merced is decently hard to get into, you must really smart to get admitted.

The OP posted that they would be attending, this past fall. Please use old threads only for research.