<p>I am currently at a fork in the road and to make a long story short, would you suggest going to Irvine or Davis? What are your thoughts? I am planning on taking up aeronautics engineering or physics.</p>
<p>Here are things to consider:
Davis–
I have friends already there and also close friends planning to go there
Near home</p>
<p>Irvine–
Superior academics (?)
I am concerned about Irvine being a “commuter school” where many students go home for the weekend
Same laid-back atmosphere as Davis</p>
<p>ucirvine no doubt my n!g. dont trip about irvine being a commuter school doe. go hit up ucla if you got homies there ;) or that asian garden mall spot is always hot</p>
<p>davis is str8 up boring 24/7. but i'll understand if you gotta go to davis cause your parents wont let you go too far. ON A LEASH!</p>
<p>UCD dude no doubt
At UCD you get a school that is fun and the students actually live there. at UCI you get a commuter school with no parties stuck in the middle of suburbia where everything shuts down at 10:00. davis is a college town and there is always a huge choice of stuff to do ie., the ARC, biggest intramural and internship programs in the nation, the Mondavi center, great greek system right on the edge of campus, great parties and hot girls. davis has a huge engineering program, and it is very well respected. there are plenty of high tech companies near by to do internships and gain needed experience. UCD has D1 sports and is on the rise.....most importantly of all at davis you get the aggie pack and FOOTBALL in our brand new kick butt football stadium. go to davis. you will never regret your choice, you will be too busy getting a top education AND having a blast.</p>
<p>If a social life is your concern, i'd go where there would be a guaranteed chance of having that perfect circle, UCD. More than likely, you're going to have to find a good group of buddies at UCI which may be something easy or difficult for you, depending on your standards.</p>
<p>Just in case you didn't see this in the UCD thread:
Davis has the superior reputation over Irvine in BOTH science and engineering. Whoever told you Irvine was better than Davis in engineering is flat out wrong.</p>
<p>Davis has higher rankings over Irvine in ALL engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>Davis has a HUGE engineering department and one of the largest engineering student population in the UC system. Science (bio) and engineering are 2 of UC Davis's strongest and most notable fields. I'm not even sure what UC Irvine is even distinguished for. Their science and engineering programs are decent, but they are nowhere on the same level as Davis. Davis is trying to catch up to UCSD in both science and engineering while UCI is trying to catch up to UCD in both these fields.</p>
<p>Aeronatical engineering:
Davis ranks #22
Irvine ranks #27</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering:
Davis ranks #21
Irvine ranks #39</p>
<p>Chemical engineering:
Davis ranks #27
Irvine ranks #54</p>
<p>Civil Engineering:
Davis ranks #17
Irvine ranks #24</p>
<p>Computer Engineering:
Davis ranks #34
Irvine ranks #34</p>
<p>Electrical Engineering:
Davis ranks #33
Irvine ranks #42</p>
<p>Environmental Engineering:
Davis ranks #13
Irvine ranks #34</p>
<p>Materials Engineering:
Davis ranks #28
Irvine ranks #45</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering:
Davis ranks #28
Irvine ranks #36
source: US News Premium Online Edition</p>
<p>UC Davis is the 17th best engineering school among public universities in the nation.</p>
<p>UCD=
Largest internship program in the country
Largest intramural sports program in the country
Largest campus spirit group in the country west of the Mississippi
Largest of all the UC's
D1 Football in a brand new stadium
The brand new ARC (The 155,850 square foot building -- slightly larger than Recreation Hall, to which it's connected -- offers amenities including a juice bar, a pro shop, a computer lounge with PCs and wireless services throughout most of the building.)
The ONLY UC with all 5 graduate schools
The brand new world class Mondavi Center for Performing Arts
Academic rigor (with 100 undergraduate majors and 86-plus graduate programs)</p>
<p>When it comes down to UCD or UCI, its a personal choice. They are quite different environments and usually attract different type students. I have a lot of friends at both and hear the social life is not so great at either. I've been to both many times and am really glad I don't go to either.</p>
<p>So far, this thread has only attracted a very devoted UCD student, so it would be helpful if someone from UCI would bring their perspective into this as well. Irvine is a really nice neighborhood that you can really consider settling in after college, not to mention that if you're doing aerospace, it's nice to be near the defense industries, which are more SoCal based.</p>
<p>There have been too many threads devoted to "UCI vs UCD--FIGHT!" and they all end up being shouting matches littered with mindless bashing. I had the choice between Davis and Irvine and I visited both. I ended up choosing Irvine because it felt like a fit to me. Being closer to home while still being able to live on campus was a big plus. The people here are so nice and laid back. The buildings are beautiful. I would say the academics are pretty good so far. Yes there's a huge Asian population but it doesn't bother me too much because everyone is still different and unique. And sheesh the weather is gorgeous. I've lived in SoCal all my life but even at my "real" home the weather was not as consistently sunny and clear. UCIrvine is obviously attracting students so they are doing something right. </p>
<p>The bottom line is to VISIT THE SCHOOLS. However, if there are any SPECIFIC questions feel free to ask. I'll try my best to answer and I'm sure current anteaters will join in.</p>
<p>blinkblink is right. There are countless UCI vs UCD threads. </p>
<p>I was in the same position and chose UCI over UCD. Neither was my first choice and I am sure I would have been as happy at UCD as I was at UCD. At times, I wished I had chosen UCD, but overall I was very happy to have stayed at UCI and become part of their history. UCI literally transforms itself (for the better) every 5-7 years. On the east side of campus is the enormous Vista Del Campo housing complex which opened its doors in 2005. This whole area is new with pools, etc. and is on a hill with nice views of the campus and the new student center is opening for fall 2007. (pub nights on thursday nights were great.)</p>
<p>UCI is also on the forefront in stem cell research, green technology (it opened the first fuel cell gas station in california) which are all hot topics now and they are also opening a law school in 2009 and some guy from UCI is frequently interviewed on CNBC during the day talking about China.(I work in financial services).</p>
<p>While UCI lags behind UCD in the college-town department, you might find other things (like I mentioned above) about UCI that might float your boat. And while UCI does not have a football team, its sports teams generally do ok and draw a decent crowd compared to similar schools like UCSB and UCD. Either way, both are great schools.</p>
<p>I have friends at both and have been to both schools 3 times (each). The administration at UCI is much better than Davis. My friends at Davis don't feel like they are getting their money's worth.</p>
<p>Davis is a real college town, but it's not a great one. There are a decent number of off campus house parties, but there isn't much else going on. Like Irvine, it's kind of a boring town. Unlike Irvine, it's a lot less safe and the weather is much worse. Sacramento is close to Davis, but who cares? Sac Town is a dump of a city. At Irvine, you are 15-20 from Newport Beach and about an hour from Los Angeles. While it is a commuter school, there are still a lot of people on campus during the weekends (the school has 25,000+ students). A large number of people at UCI are from Northern California, so they don't leave on the weekends.</p>
<p>Both schools are good socially, but in different ways. I guess you can say that Davis is more of a party school than Irvine because house parties are more common and Davis has a larger Greek Life (which isn’t necessarily a good thing). If you are even semi-social, you will make a lot of friends at both schools and shouldn’t have a hard time finding parties.</p>
<p>I would choose Irvine based on the weather, location, academics (slightly better than Davis), and the beautiful campus.</p>
<p>Nope, Davis is much better academically than Irvine, especially in the most important and respected field, science, specifically all things bio related. Irvine may be better in maybe art or music, or something like that.</p>
<p>Irvine should worry more about Riverside coming up. They just got approved for a medical school and will be moving up fast these next few years. UCSB and UCD have better reputations than Irvine.</p>