<p>After researching the web for countless hours, I find myself unable to decide between going to San Diego or Davis. At the moment I am leaning towards Davis but my preference has been switching back and forth between the two colleges. I have been admitted into UCSD as a biochemistry and cell biology major and UCD as a biochemistry and molecular biology major. However, I am not certain that I want to keep this major and I might be interested in switching to an engineering major such as bioengineering, computer science, or computer engineering. </p>
<p>So far, I've checked the rankings of the two colleges and have compared them using many different websites. It appears that UCSD is slightly more prestigious and has a better engineering and bio program. However, I've learned that UCD students tend to be more generally happy, friendly, and the academics aren't as cutthroat. UCD seems appealing to me because I'd receive an education that is almost as good as UCSD while also having a supposedly better college experience. </p>
<p>Another issue that I have with UCSD is that all of the engineering majors are impacted which makes it extremely difficult to ever switch into those majors if I ever decided that I wanted the change. However, UCSD has one of the best engineering programs in the nation and if I were able to switch into one of those majors, I would be receiving a top notch education and would possibly be exposed to more resources, internships, etc. </p>
<p>Lastly, UCSD is notorious for being "socially dead" and when I visited for Triton Day 2014, I did notice that my college (Warren) seemed pretty empty and dead. I feel that I would thrive more in an environment where everyone is friendly and out and about. I've also heard that students at UCSD are very competitive in sciences and engineering and they may try to sabotage each other.</p>
<p>With all this in mind, I'd like to get some advice and suggestions about the two colleges. Personal experiences would be extremely helpful. Also, I would appreciate any debunkings or confirmations of my knowledge of the two schools above. I understand that my information might be incorrect because most of my information comes from other students or people rather than actual data. Thank you for reading and taking the time to help me with my decision.</p>
<p>I think you might mix up UCSD and UCB regarding the sabotaging part. UCSD is very friendly, my daughter has not had experience with sabotaging.
But go where you feel you will be happy, there is a good chance you will do well there.</p>
<p>You sound like a UCD student to me. My son - also admitted to Warren - noted that the students in general seemed very stressed. We didn’t see a lot of smiling or interaction other than (interestingly) around Warren. We visited mid-week rather than on Triton Day, as he wanted to get a feel for the actual students. We also thought the campus had a kind of “Industrial” feel to it. </p>
<p>It is very VERY difficult to transfer into Engineering at UCSD. The person who gave the talk before the tour basically said as much. </p>
<p>There certainly are also positives to UCSD as well. But I think you should go with your gut and accept UCD. It’s a wonderful school.</p>
<p>@ruggedcrocodile I appreciate your findings and post . . my son is trying to make the same decision: UCD vs UCSD. He likes them both equally (a lot!) at this time. We were also at Triton Day on Saturday . . and I noticed how quiet it was immediately after it was over. It’s like you hardly knew there was just a big event there. We will be attending UC Davis on Friday (so we can see a “regular” day) as well as for picnic day on Saturday, where I’m looking forward to “Battle of the Bands”. It should be fun (at Picnic Day) and I hope it helps my son decide. Good luck to you in your decision too! </p>
<p>P.S. At Triton Day . . we heard prob. 3 or 4 times . . how severely impacted ALL the engineering majors are, and that only by “rare exception” would a student be able to switch INTO engineering. But that switching to other majors seems likely/doable. So if you truly want engineering (but didn’t get into it at UCSD) then I’d recommend looking into UCD, to see how easy it would be to get into engineering there. When we toured UCD on 3/31, I didn’t hear of any mention that engineering was impacted (vs. I repeatedly heard that at UCSD Triton Day). </p>
<p>Thanks @Cris1234. If possible, please let me know how your son feels about the two schools after picnic day. Unfortunately, I may not be able to visit Davis anytime soon as I live in Socal. I’d really appreciate it if you could fill me in on some of the highlights or lowlights of the campus after your visit. </p>
<p>@calla1, yeah I was able to talk to some students at UCSD and they told me the same. Engineering is tough to get into at UCSD. I was wondering if UCD engineering is far inferior compared to SD or is it not too bad. I know that Davis isn’t particularly known for engineering but I was hoping that their programs might be good as well.</p>
<p>My son’s roommate at UCSD applied for engineering, but was accepted into the school as undeclared. He was able to transfer into engineering during his 1st quarter this year. I don’t know if that is the norm but he did not have any problems. As for the socially dead part at UCSD, I had better call and let my son know, as he is having the time of his life there. Seriously, he does not have enough hours in the day to do all of the things he wants to do. That being said, they are both great programs but very different atmospheres. Davis is more of a college town so that may be a better bet for you.</p>
<p>I think starting this year they are trying to reduce the Computer Science/Computer Engineering(CSE) freshman class from 2200 to 1500. For strength of progam, I know UCSD ranks(#11 for Computer Engineering and #15 for Computer Science) vs UCD ranks #34. </p>
<p>I don 't remember which website for specific, but you can google them either US News or CC. Just try to remember these rankings are coarse rankings, give you an idea where it stands not the exact standing. Perhaps it was on UCSD Jacobs engineering.</p>
<p>We did go to Picnic Day and it was very busy! Lots of people and lots going on! It was a sunny and gorgeous day and we got to see the band play (which was one of my goals, as it is something my son may join) and they played very energetically and with lots of spirit! Dogs (on-leash) are allowed, and so there were many families, and their dogs there. It was a very nice, upbeat, active place; felt very family friendly and relaxed. Lots of people hanging out on the lawns in front of the MU (and many other places); it felt 100% like its name: Picnic Day! Just a fun, positive, friendly vibe. I liked that.</p>
<p>Btw: While we were at Triton Day on April 5 in San Diego, UC Davis also was having their “Decision Davis” day for admitted students (I would have loved for us to attend this . . if only UCD and UCSD presentations could have been on a different days!) . In case you didn’t see it . . I just noticed that they posted the video from the Welcome on 4/5: <a href=“University of California, Davis”>http://webcast.ucdavis.edu/llnd/3f291bc5</a> </p>
<p>My son is still thinking on things; no decision as of yet! Best wishes to you, as you make your decision! </p>
<p>we went to Picnic Day at UCD too. they had lots of Booths, food booths, various groups were doing fundraisers, so you were able to meet lots of students, we were able to pick up info on housing and on Davis, too. the parade was cool, the UCD tour guide participated and walked backwards and their sign was backwards too, so funny. We watch the frisbie dog competition and the Doxie Races in the pavillion, hysterical! there was so much to do, the academic departments had activities, passed on all the insect ones. There were about 75,000 people they estimated. . Loved it. </p>
<p>I’d like to add that I will probabpy stick to biochemistry and molecular Bio at UC Davis and change to Molecular Bio at UCSD. I was wondering what school would be better for premed or pre dental. I heard alot about the competitive nature of UCSD for premed. Any experiences would be helpful. I am currently leaning towards UCSD because it is much closer to home. I’m just afraid that I will be swallowed up by yhe competitive nature. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>@collegevetting, I’ve heard alot about Davis being a great town with a great atmosphere and good vibes. Sadly, I wasn’t able to visit the campus so I don’t really know much about it other than what people are saying. </p>
<p>Echoing other comments…it is very difficult if not impossible to switch majors at UCSD. If you are not certain on a particular major, I would be careful you do not get into a situation where you are stuck in a major you are not interested in, or have to withdraw because the major you want is not available. Good Luck with your decision!!</p>
<p>My son was also deciding between UCD and UCSD. We visited both and both are beautiful campuses and everyone we met at both places was great. Having to choose between 2 great schools is tough, but also such a happy and fortunate problem to have. </p>
<p>In addition to the location (beach vs. inland) I think both campuses do have a different “feel”.</p>
<p>By design - UCSD is a “distributed” design (ex: 6 colleges w/in UCSD - their goal is to give it a “small college feel”, ex: 24,000 students / 6 colleges = roughly 4,000 in each), and built on hillsides, so it can feel dispersed; whereas UCD - tries to pull students “together” (ex: “Aggie Pack” promotes school spirit - pulls people into something larger than themselves; found quote it’s largest school organization w/12000 students.) and while also being a large campus - it is flat and has a 100 miles of bikes roads on campus and into Davis . . which can make it seem both larger (ride bike off campus and into Davis) yet also more connected.</p>
<p>I guess I’m trying to describe a feeling I got, from our 2 full days of tour/visit on each campus: UCSD is large and can feel dispersed, yet UCD feels large, sometimes much larger - yet feels more “connected”. </p>
<p>As my son is basically undecided on major - I think UCD is more flexible in regards to exploring options and changing major. So for him, this is very important for his selection, and he is likely choosing UCD. I also like all the support and tutoring (at the dorms - til late night) and feel that will be a good, supportive environment. The biking, the band, the school spirit at UCD are all happy bonuses to a great education. Yet important, because he’ll be living there for 4 years - so I think it’s best for him (or anyone) to be where he (they) can work hard AND enjoy himself (themselves).</p>
<p>Best wishes as you weigh your priorities and options. They are both great choices.</p>
I wonder if you’ve chosen? Because I was faced with a very similar problem, I am enrolled as Biological Sciences major for UCD and Gen Bio for UCSD, and I visited both schools and I definitely feel the difference in the environment. But I’ve also heard that social life isn’t dead at SD it just depends on how you make it, I have quite a few friends who have a thriving social life there. I was leaning towards UCD until this week, when I got to talk to more students and I think I might go with UCSD even though it seems more intimidating. I think college is really what you make of it so just follow you heart.