<p>I'm am stuck with this decision that has been stressing me out lately, and wanted to see what others would do in my situation. I want to hear from others their experiences with UCR and UCD. Im going in as an B.S. in Psych. Planning to full fill my premed requirements as well, and eventually go to a med school. I have been trying to find pros and cons. I currently live in orange county. </p>
<p>These are the major factors that are making it difficulty to choose, as i believe both are great schools, even though UCR has a lower reputation I still believe academically it's a great school education wise.</p>
<p>So far for UCR:
Close to home
But reading reviews Riverside is not an ideal place to live; smog, crime, homeless population, gangs
I understand crime is every where, but i was kind of sheltered as a child. I am not afraid that much, but i am afraid of having to be worried about some one hiding behind the bushes with a gun. i also want to be able to know i can sleep at night without some one breaking down my door.</p>
<p>UCD:
Pros:
ranked higher then UCR
has a pretty good college atmosphere
Cons is that its too far from home. Boring atmosphere. </p>
<p>I know college is what you make of it, i just wanted to get some insight of how both of these colleges are. I will be visiting them. But i want to know living wise how was it for you guys? and how are the professors? also students.</p>
<p>I’d go with Davis. It’s safer, great college atmosphere, far from home will make for new experiences and you can join clubs to get involved. Better program I think as well. GO FOR DAVIS!</p>
<p>No one is going to be lurking in the dark at with a gun at UCR. Sure there is crime but there is also crime in every city in america. You are correct that UCR is still a great school but people are so spoiled in California with great schools. Also take into account the cost associated with living in each city. People rarely take cost into account when picking which school to attend.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Wonder if they would have said the same about Virginia Tech or Columbine?</p>
<p>^ In that case you could say the same thing about UCD or any other school in the country.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input; yes I understand the concept in which crime is every where in CA, but after reading reviews of livin in riverside it just scares me a bit. People have just been saying it’s not the safest place to live. Things like you shouldn’t probably be walking after 6pm by your self and etc shake me up.</p>
<p>And as for cost; I have taken that into account. And both factors I would be living in either a dorm or rent and apartment. So the cost would be some what close to each other. Just that riverside gives me the chance if I want to go home on the weekend since it is only an hour away. </p>
<p>I am not trying to bag on any school or city’s. Just getting perspective reviews of other individuals who went to riverside or Davis</p>
<p>If you’re premed, I’d highly consider UCR. Its medical school is opening in Fall of 2013 and they have a great program where you study at UCR for the first 2 years and then at UCLA for your last 2 years of med school. I know that’s med school and not undergrad but I think I’ve heard from several sources that they give preference to alumni when it comes to med school admissions.</p>
<p>If your only concern is crime, then all I can say is, do not worry about it, really. I live about an hour and a half from riverside, and my only reason to not go to school there is the weather. I’m tired of this damn heat! It’s about 95 degrees right now where I’m at.</p>
<p>Personally, if those where my only two options I’d choose Davis over Riverside in a heartbeat. And this is coming from someone that actually chose to go back to CC instead of attend Davis last year so I’m not particularly biased in Davis’ favor. Davis will more than likely provide you the much better education and will look significantly better for medical school. Not just because of their rankings, the rankings are actually way overblown by many here on CC, but Davis has a reputation of having a strong life sciences department and they also have an already established, well-respected med school so their quality of pre-med courses should be much better. UCR maybe be getting a medical school in a year and half, but it’ll take a long while to build the reputation and achieve what Davis’ has done already. Also, Riverside is by no means known for their life sciences, psychology, or pre-med program and is generally a stronger option if you’re considering business or social sciences. Also if one of your big negatives about Davis is that it is boring, comparing it to Riverside, you’re not going to find much more to do in or around Riverside than you will at Davis. In fact Davis is only about 15 miles from Sacramento, which should offer plenty of opportunities to go out and have fun and about the same distance from San Francisco as Riverside is to its closest major city, LA. Davis also has one of the largest Greek systems of the UCs and their student body is known for being heavily involved in organizations and clubs, so there are bound to be a plethora of student run events throughout the year. Davis may get the boring reputation, and it might be for some, especially if you focus on location compared to maybe UCLA or Berkeley, but I would be extremely surprised to find out that students at UCR have more options of things to do then Davis. That just leaves the only other variable being how close you want to be to home. I know for myself, I’ve always wanted to get out of my parents house and distance has never been an issue because I never get “homesick”. If you’re that type you have to figure out how important that is for you and whether or not it will outweigh the probable academic advantages Davis offers over UCR.</p>
<p>Like dilapidatedmind I went from UCR to CC. I’d choose Davis over Riverside because the environment was unlike Davis’. When I visited Davis a few months ago I fell in love. But sadly didn’t apply there. (Still kicking myself over this) Riverside does have a lot of crime, we’d be getting almost 1 notice of a crime every other week, but it is generally safe if you’re on campus.</p>
<p>I would not suggest apartments near campus. Renting a house about 2 miles away would be nice though but not the apartments near campus. They sucked. The campus apartments aren’t too bad though.</p>