<p>No worries, I think forums like this are a great way to dispell/confirm rumors and share my experiences. Again - I should disclaim that I’m sure I don’t speak for everyone.</p>
<p>ERC’s requirements are the most writing intensive, or at least were. I’m not entirely sure there’s any getting around that. In my estimation, writing is also one of the most valuable skills to have for any profession. Even premeds have a writing portion on the MCAT and engineers benefit greatly by having a more balanced education. However, the only 2 students I know that switched colleges, changed from ERC to Earl Warren because they were engineers.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’ll have a hard time. It started at a very basic level and the early papers were only 3 pages long, and while some of your classmates will complain, I really think it’s for the best.</p>
<p>I don’t know anybody who met their roommate at Admit Day, though I suppose it’s possible. They do allow you to request your roommate. I don’t think you’ll be out of the loop if you don’t do this, I think you’ll be comfortably with the large majority of your classmates.</p>
<p>I can’t speak too much to UG business. Intuitively, I don’t think I would choose UCSB over UCSD on those merits. Did they recently start an UG business program? When I was applying, it was only Berkeley and UCR that had business programs for UG’s. I worry that I’m venturing beyond where I should speak though. You may want to contact admissions and see if they can put you in touch with someone better equipped to handle that question.</p>
<p>Getting into business school is different than getting into other grad programs. Elite business schools (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, et al.) usually require at least 3 years of work experience (often 5) and they care about the quality and substance of what you have done during those years. While UCSD’s is not on that level, I would definitely get some work experience before attending there or anywhere else. I see absolutely no reason why attending UCSD UG would preclude you from Rady, provided that you have the requisite GMAT, work experience, GPA, strong interviews, and recommendations.</p>
<p>Hydralisks -</p>
<p>1) I’m not sure what the Guy/Girl ratio at Warren is. If it’s any indication, it wasn’t something I heard complaints about or ever brought up. Warren, like all of the colleges has students from every major. I think it attracts a lot of the engineers, because it demands very few GE’s which allows you guys to start knocking down your (considerable) major req’s sooner.</p>
<p>2) BioE is tough, but a very strong major at UCSD. The only person I know in that major finished in 4 years and stayed a 5th to get his masters. He’s now doing VERY well for himself in medical device sales. I don’t have first hand experience on getting A’s in those classes, but that major is notoriously difficult.</p>
<p>3) That’s weird. I would hope it’s merely a rubber-stamping process, and they wouldn’t grant you admission to BioE and then later make it contingent upon a separate admissions process. Might be worth calling admissions ot the BioE department to investigate further.</p>
<p>4) You have enviable choices. </p>
<p>Law school admissions boil down to two major things: 1) LSAT score and 2) GPA. As an engineer you’ll be disadvantaged with your GPA, but even a 3.5 won’t kill your chances for a top 5 school if you can get a 99% LSAT score. Business schools, as stated above, care a lot about work experience. From what I understand, the GMAT matters less to elite schools after a certain threshold (700). The average GPA at top B-Schools is also surprisingly low, often in the 3.4-3.5 range. I mention that only to emphasize the importance of work experience, and not to encourage slacking :)</p>
<p>With that said, I’m not sure whether Mechanical at UCLA or BioE at UCSD fit better with those plans. I know that most of the BioE majors at UCSD turned down offers of admission from more prestigious schools, but I can’t say whether that will be the right choice for you. Good luck and congrats though!</p>
<p>I have been accepted as a psychology major at ERC and I basically chose that campus because of its international focus. How diverse is ERC? How diverse is the UCSD campus as a whole?</p>
<p>You will find that ERC has a strong international focus. ERC students also study abroad in higher rates than the students from other colleges - which I would HIGHLY recommend doing. When I was there, the core program was essentially a narrative of the history of the world through a non-American, international lens.</p>
<p>ERC is probably about as diverse as the rest of the campus. My freshman dorm (really the only proxy for a random sample I can think of right now) had 7 white students, 9 Asian students, 2 Indian students, 1 black student and 1 hispanic student. On the whole, the school is largely white and Asian/Indian, though there is a visible hispanic student population. The black student population is disappointingly low, only about 1% - a problem that plagues the entire UC system.</p>
<p>hey ucsd alum, did you do mock trial at ucsd?</p>
<p>and to answer the question about guy/girl ratio at warren, my floor has 3 guy suites and 2 girl stuites. i think it’s the same on the other floors, so out of the 50 ppl on my floor it’s about 30 guys 20 girls. the other buildings might have different rations though. i’m not sure.</p>
<p>I didn’t, no. I think the value of mock trial is probably more intrinsic than providing a good resume builder for law school. You definitely need to have your resume filled with your interests, but I’m not sure it matters if it’s mock trial or biochem research or founding a non-profit for XYZ causes. The more unique the experience the better, I think.</p>
<p>It certainly might be good practice if you think you want to be a courtroom lawyer (particularly a District attorney or Public Defender) though.</p>
<p>About winter admits, how many typically can be pushed up into fall quarter? (i.e. 2007-2008, 2006-2007)</p>
<p>And how well do they fit in?</p>
<p>To be honest with you, I don’t think I knew any winter admits. I know transfers generally have a harder time meeting people, but the dynamic is very different coming in as a 3+ year than as a winter quarter freshman. Will you be living on-campus? If so, I would think that you’ll be fine. If not, I would try to join in the fall if I could and otherwise think seriously about joining student government, an organization or two, or a frat/sorority if that’s your thing. You’ll also be able to meet people in your core section and writing classes, which are generally very small. </p>
<p>Perhaps this is where someone else can step in.</p>
<p>what can you tell me about muir? also, what about the political science major/department?</p>
<p>is there much of a night life around ucsd? like clubbing and such</p>
<p>Muir is always a favorite. I don’t even know much about that college, but everyone seems to love it there. You can also look forward to Muirstock where a band will play in the Muir quad. Usually not a huge name, but someone pretty cool with some songs you’ll have heard.</p>
<p>It’s funny, because it’s unheralded, but the PoliSci department at UCSD is phenomenal. The graduate program consistently ranks in the Top 10. Also, while this is not exclusively PoliSci, many PoliSci majors are pre-law and UCSD grads do very well at all the top law schools in the country. </p>
<p>This data is from 2006, but this will give you insight into where some of the grads were accepted into:</p>
<p><a href=“http://career.ucsd.edu/sa/PDFs/PreLawHis.pdf[/url]”>http://career.ucsd.edu/sa/PDFs/PreLawHis.pdf</a></p>
<p>House/frat parties notwithstanding, the under 21 nightlife in San Diego is pretty limited. There’s Sinbad’s - a hookah bar in Pacific Beach that is 18+, and there may be one or two salsa dancing bars that are also 18+. </p>
<p>TJ is slightly different and 18+. They have (at least had) chartered buses which many students would take to go down. I think they left campus at 9ish and would have 3 coming back: one at 2, 3, and 4 depending on when you are ready to leave the madness - but one of the current students can check me on that. (Caveat: be smart if/when you go down there)</p>
<p>The 21+ nightlife in San Diego is awesome. Seriously - there’s something for all types. Most college kids go to the bars in Pacific Beach. There’s also downtown which has some really nice clubs that you can spend waaayyy too much money at 
Ocean Beach has a mellow, kind of hippy vibe with great live music. There’s even In Cahoots, which is a country bar near Qualcomm Stadium. You will have a blast in San Diego once you’re 21 if you like to go out.</p>
<p>I’m a current ERC freshman and I can add some insight to UCSD alum’s comments, as well as ask some additional questions. ERC does have a high girl to guy ratio, at least 60-40 and possibly approaching 70-30. This is an estimate, but given that 5 out of 8 suites in my building are girls, and that in a couple of the other buildings 6 out of 8 suites are girls, I think this is a safe estimate. There are party buses heading down to TJ as UCSD Alum mentioned, make sure you go with a large group to TJ. The new passport law recently went into effect, however, which means you need to show a passport (or possibly a birth certificate if you don’t have a passport? I’m not sure) at the border. </p>
<p>My question: Do you know anything about the Urban Studies and Planning department at UCSD? I have gone on the website and researched the major online, but given the small size of the major at UCSD, I haven’t met any upperclassmen majoring in it or alumni who have majored or knew people who had majored in it. I am currently debating between Economics and Management Science as my major (I’m hoping to go into Business), but I am thinking of adding Urban Studies and Planning as a minor or possibly a double major.</p>
<p>How are the concerts in the area? Are there lots to choose from, not in 21+ clubs? And I noticed you talked about that one in Muir, but are there others around campus?</p>
<p>OhNod - Thanks for the clarifications.</p>
<p>I don’t know much at all about the Urban Studies program. I do have a friend who minored in it and is now applying to masters programs in Urban Studies - I know for sure that Berkeley has one. It sounds like you can make a career out of it, and I think I remember that the best money is in transportation. Can’t really add anything more than that though, sorry.</p>
<p>What are the easiest classes a premed could take?
For example, Math 10 v. Math 20
and is CHEM 6AH even recommended?</p>
<p>why would you take chem 6AH if you’re looking for easy premed classes?</p>
<p><em>confused look</em></p>
<p>UCSD really prides itself on its concerts. A very large portion of the AS budget on student life is spent on concerts. I really think that the student government tries to make up for what is lacking in sports with concerts.</p>
<p>Each quarter has a big show, culminating in the SunGod Festival (which if you haven’t heard of, google it, it’s BY FAR the best party day of the year at UCSD). They have really big names that play - the ones listed on Wikipedia are Ludacris, Busta rhymes, Social D, Gwen Stefani, My Chemical Romance, T.I., and Third Eye Blind. Offhand, I also remember Bad Religion, Jimmy Eat World, Lagwagon, and Damien Marley - but there are many others too. Also RIMAC is a pretty big venue that you can pay to see concerts at also. There was a Jack Johnson/Ben Harper/G Love tour that came to RIMAC and only played like 9 other US venues on that tour. Also Foo Fighters/Transplants came in on with a very similar thing a few years back.</p>
<p>All in all, the concert scene at UCSD is very strong.</p>
<p>Jason -</p>
<p>The 10 series is easier than the 20 series. Be careful if you’re looking into something like MoBio, because you may have to take the 20 series, but for the normal pre-med General Bio major the 10 series will suffice. Definitely take 6A and not 6AH if you’re trying to maximize your grades. Not sure you can cut too many other corners. Like I recommended previously, you may want to do some research on the professors and cherry pick classes from the notoriously generous ones.</p>
<p>Also - get involved in lab research and get something published if possible. This is where going to UCSD confers you a big advantage. The grades are just one piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>Edit: I think my friend above was also a science major and can probably share some good insight as well.</p>
<p>Well, to be blunt, I enjoy chemistry a lot. So I definitely want to challenge myself in that area, but I want to take the easy path for the other subjects. My post contained two separate questions but I guess they’re odd due to the contradictory qualities of the two. Sorry for asking such awkward questions.
Basically, my question is are the harder classes at UCSD worth taking for a prospective med school applicant?</p>