I finally narrowed down my college decision and am between UCSD and Davis. At UCSD, I got accepted for mathematics-computer science and at Davis, I got accepted for Comp Sci in L&S. San Diego is obviously in a gorgeous area but Davis has a very friendly college feel, so I don’t know what to choose! Any input would be great!
A little bit about me:
-I plan on rushing sororities
-I live in NorCal so Davis is very close (the convenience factor is nice)
-I’m interested in eventually going into graphics, web development, or product management
Here are some pros and cons I have for each school
UCSD
pros: beautiful area, great for tech, great name and opportunity
cons: stupid and time consuming GEs in Eleanor Roosevelt College, crazy competitiveness
UC Davis
pros: friendly, cute college town, good mix of social scene and academics
cons: in the middle of no where, doesn’t really have a tech emphasis, not as prestigious as san diego
all schools have GE requirements and ERC is no better or worse than most of the other colleges at UCSD. It really depends upon what types of GE’s you like.
UCD is 20 mins from Sacramento, so not in the middle of nowhere. UCD is also within a few hours of Silicon Valley, so there are many opportunities in the tech industry.
Prestige is in the eye of the beholder.
Both schools will give you an excellent education so pick the school that fits you best.
If you live in NorCal I would go with UCSD. The area is just beautiful and I live reasonable close to the coast.
However I need to warn you, my USC kid told my UCSD kid that they do not run sorority well at UCSD. For your particular major, you might not find the time to do it. I know mine is glad she is not belonging to a sorority.
The pros and cons lists that students make are fool proof and more often than not tell me which school a student wants to attend more. It sounds to me like you want to go to UCD but are holding back because its not as highly ranked as UCSD. Like @gumbymom said, prestige is all in the eye of the beholder. This isn’t a case of prestige vs. no prestige. To be honest, I’d say that they’re both very comparable in that matter. You sound like you’d be a lot more comfortable if you went to UCD, so that’s where my vote is going.
We live in Northern California and my kid’s high school send a lots of students to UCB and UCD. One of my child wanted to go far from home so, he went to UCSD. He loved there. He was premed major and now attending med school. I think both are great schools. You don’t have to worry about prestige. You should go visit both school and find out which school will fit for you. You will spend 4 years there so, you really need to be happy at school. Good Luck!
@Dunboyne I think my issue is that I’m stuck in the middle of which one to choose and one week I am leaning towards Davis and the next week I’m leaning towards UCSD. Obviously Davis will be more comfortable to go to, but if I pick Davis, I’m scared I’ll be missing out on a stronger tech education and opportunities. If I choose San Diego, I’m scared I’ll miss out on a fun college experience.