I’m probably going to SIR here but I’m just curious why do you think UCSD is considered “Socially dead”? What about this one school makes people “anti-social”? Rationally, it makes no sense to me how this one school attracts all these supposed anti-social people. Just want to hear some opinions.
When people start to consider questions like that they start to realize that it really can’t be all that antisocial…which is because it isn’t
It’s obviously not a party school in the way SDSU is, nor will it have ragers like UCLA. But to suggest that it’s “dead” is pretty unreasonable. You can party hard if you want to, you can play league if you want to, you can study all the time if you want to. It’s really up to you, and if you still can’t find a party or something to do, go greek or join an org
That’s not to say there aren’t issues though. Things that suck:
- Few Division I sports means less school spirit overall
- No public frat row (Regents Rd is pretty much Greek only, closest thing is Village or I-House)
- Size of campus means everyone’s pretty spread out
UCSD’s physical campus set-up, with the different colleges, kind of lends itself to no cohesiveness with the whole student body.
The student’s aren’t the problem; they aren’t anti-social, it’s just that nothing seems to bind them together in large groups for school spirit. The big team sports are non-existent. The benefits, however, of this system is that you will work hard and graduate without the distractions of the other universities:
No UCLA-like Bruin walk.
No flatland, park-like environment with 40K bikes like Davis.
No eclectic neighbors like Berkeley.
No beach scenes like Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.
No common area like Riverside.
No united student body near the Sierra’s, like Merced.
Even UCI has more access to world famous locales and beaches.
UCSD sits a mile up the cliffs, from the beach, so there are hundreds of houses between the beach and the university. It does have Price Center where students grab a bite to eat.
There are a lot of things to do in San Diego, and people go off-campus to do those things. Including heading down Torrey Pines Road, by car to La Jolla Shores or Torrey Pines.
SDSU is right across town; it has the greek system on fraternity row, amazing team spirit for its nationally ranked teams (being part of The Show and band is big on campus). The university fosters school spirit with its many large school activities, school colors and commons’ areas as well as through its alumni activities.
Again, it’s not the students, overall, it’s the school that just doesn’t lend itself to be socially accessible. There may be pockets of dorms that actually do things together, but overall, besides a bunch of protests, nothing much goes on. My 3 different-personality kids all got into UCSD but they immediately felt the vibe and said and emphatic: “no”. Their friends got in, and have done nothing but complain about the lack of social action on campus. They note the internet and Facebook photos of my kids, having a great time at their schools, and wonder why they don’t have that same spirit at UCSD.
I often joke about UCSD because of the acronym. My fun loving kid lovesUCSD since day one when we toured all local colleges. She didn’t get out of the car at UCB. Was humha with UCLA, not quite in awe, but not quite dislike.
So my post is to say to each his own. Everybody has an opinion. Don’t take these opinions seriously. Btw, I don’t agree with post #2, in fact I rarely agree with this poster because everything this person posted is the opposite of my kid’s experience.
However, my kid did say it’s a very good school to study.
@aunt bea I’m sorry your kids felt that way about UCSD but I’m glad they’re having a great time at their schools. However, I think your critique of UCSD which doesn’t seem to be based on too much experience with the campus might be a little brutal and/or imbalanced. For example:
“Bruin Walk” - UCSD’s Library Walk is always popping
“Beach Scenes” - 3 of the country’s top 25 beaches are in La Jolla alone (6 in San Diego, LJ Cove ranked #6) and I don’t know that a ten minute walk to the water is that bad
“No common area like Riverside” “No united student body” - I don’t even know what this means
“It does have Price Center where students grab a bite to eat” - implying there’s nothing else to do on campus? really? No RIMAC, no vibrant counterculture, no canyons and parks, no bars or pubs, nothing?
The problem aunt bea may be perceiving is that the campus lacks the “big school” mentality of other examples. And that’s true, because it’s composed of more intimate residential colleges. But that doesn’t remove school spirit, it just changes the dynamic. There are still big events like the college music festivals, Spirit Week, Founders’ Celebration, Unolympics…then there are the huge ones like Sun God Festival and Hullabaloo. We also get a lot of artists on campus because there aren’t as many venues to compete against in the SD area—Tech N9ne played Porter’s Pub at the Student Center last week, The Hush Sound played Revelle admission-free two weeks ago, Magic Man and Lemaitre are headlining a free show in PC tonight, We The Scientists has a free show in Muir tomorrow, and this is just an average month. I’m not even counting Snoop Dogg, Jhene Aiko, OK Go, and STRFKR in 10 days at Sun God.
We can at least agree that there are lots of things to do in San Diego and that of course people go off-campus to check out those things, because it’s a waste living in one of the most beautiful cities in California if you’re gonna confine yourself to any university campus. You don’t need a car to do many of these things, although it helps when you’re picking up awesome Mexican food at 2am or hanging around Pacific Beach. As for La Jolla Shores, I don’t know anyone that drives there (it’s walking distance from Revelle or a 5 minute campus shuttle). There’s also Torrey Pines State Reserve just off campus, Mount Soledad, and Mount Woodson for even better views and scenery
If there aren’t enough parties for you, rush. 20% of students are involved in Greek Life and they definitely have fun. But my non-Greek roommate finds a party or two every weekend. Also, while the guys and girls don’t look like the UCLA/SDSU student body, Triton Eye is not a thing to worry about.
As DrGoogle said, though, to each their own. If aunt bea’s kids’ friends aren’t finding something fun to do every day, maybe they need to look a little closer. Also, as mentioned UCSD rounds it off well with some of the best academics in the state. At any rate, I wouldn’t let the stereotype hold you back.
The OP asked why people thought that UCSD is considered socially dead. I gave my opinion of why I thought it was labeled as such. I wasn’t trying to argue with anyone, just what my experiences have been and people did not seem to understand that I was trying to explain why I think its been labeled as such.
It is “common knowledge” that this is a socially weak university. You can highlight all of the activities and try to prove myself and others wrong, but the general consensus is that it has been labeled as a socially dead campus for a while.
I gave my opinion based on my kid’s friends who attend or attended, neighbors and colleagues who graduated from UCSD; this wasn’t just from one child or daughter, we’re local so I am invested in this community and unfortunately, that is the common opinion. I also stated that there may be pockets of social activity within the university that are active, so that’s why I assume the university gets a bad rap socially.
Because I am a native San Diegan, @groverrohan please note that there aren’t too many of us around, I remember when they were building it. I remember when they had the first watermelon drop and when they started some of those traditions. I applied and received a full ride there, but the school hadn’t been built out yet, (just Revelle and Central Library were the main parts of the campus) so I declined the offer. So you, trying to tell me what I don’t know about it is really funny.
But the great thing is that the students do well there. My husband did his undergraduate studies there; he met, bumped into Roger Revelle often, and shook his hand at graduation. My husband is glad that he went there because he said there were no real distractions to impede his progress and grades. So if you go there, you will do well.
@doc325, you wanted opinions and I gave mine. Go ahead and SIR. I need to reiterate, that the students are not anti-social, it’s the set up of the school, that’s why I think it gets a bad rap.
@aunt bea Fair enough, I definitely shouldn’t have been as argumentative and I apologize. I felt obligated to try to dispel some of the stereotype but ended up attacking your familiarity with campus, which was not cool. Sorry about that.
@doc325 You’ve heard a little bit about why the campus stereotype exists and why I think it shouldn’t. I hope you have as much fun down here as the rest of us do!
I just wanted to say that I never really paid any mind to what other people say about the school being socially dead. You can be as socially active or as socially inactive as you want to be. There are always things to do and always places to go. I actually know people who had trouble finding friends who wanted to do other things than party or go club hopping. But of course, there are also lots of other things to do. You just have to seek them out, rather than expect them to come to you. The only people I knew who were unhappy with the social life were the people who stayed in their room all day and didn’t do anything. I didn’t know anyone who was “anti-social.” But perhaps, I was just friends with people who were more active and involved.
The only people I know who believe and perpetuate this “common knowledge” or people who never went to UCSD. Stereotyping a school does not mean that it’s the truth, nor does it mean that you won’t have a different experience (which is a good lesson for everyone about all stereotypes). But perhaps, I’m just an anomaly.
OP, like with any big school with lots of opportunities, it is what you make of it. If you take the time to be really active and involved and seek out whatever opportunities that you want, then you will find them. If you don’t take that initiative, then you won’t.
Well, I just SIR’d a day ago. Very insightful opinions and advice. It’s nice to know that it’s only socially dead if you make it socially dead. Thanks guys, these responses got rid of some doubts. I think UCSD students get a bad rap for being anti-social, when that clearly is not the case. I suppose every school has their stereotypes no matter how ridiculous they are. Hopefully, one day peoples’ opinions will change and UCSD won’t be thought of as boring. Regardless, I’m still attending and hopefully I’ll have 4 bomb years.
Great decision. But honestly, no school can be socially dead with 20,000 plus students between the age of 18-20.
I am glad aunt bea gave her unvarnished opinion, which I also concur with. At the same time, I also think UCSD is a wonderful university, and I continue to recommend it over others to many students. I also turned down UCSD many years ago, for some of the same reasons she iterates. None of those make it any lesser of a school, and students who choose to attend should be proud of what UCSD offers, and what that bodes for their academic future. It simply isn’t the greatest place to attend for a vibrant, integrated, spirited social life, but that doesn’t equate with no social life by any means.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think it is great to compare it to many of the other UCs, even though the in-state applicants understandably need some kind of baseline comparison. For example, I didn’t even bother applying to UCLA, because I didn’t like the location, or the style of social life it represents. When I toured UCSB, it was idyllic, but felt way too lax and party-ish, whereas UCSD’s serious academic climate was very appealing for those who really want to make something of their academic achievements. And I think it is sometimes unfairly diminished in favor of UCLA and UCB for certain disciplines where UCSD excels. So enjoy La Jolla, and make the most of it – it is a great school for what it is, not for what it isn’t.
Post #10, perhaps your experience and aunt bea’s experience have been outdated. I went on reddit to get more flavor of the university from current students.