<p>hi i am currently a student at a Community college and am planning to transfer to a UC by next time this year. I will be filling my TAG sheet in the next coming weeks and am having a difficult time TAGing UCI or UCSD. i personally went to visit UCI with my cousin and loved the campus; however i have heard and looked at footage of UCSD and love it also. Personally one main concern i have is what is the School vibe like for both? I would like to know if both schools have their fair share of parties or if one is a bit more boring/laid back than the other. Thanks!</p>
<p>p.s. id also appreciate it if you could tell me which one is a more realistic choice (gpa is 3.5)</p>
<p>There are 2 students from UCSD in my summer abroad program (along with one person from UCLA, but the rest of us are from UCD), and one of the students from UCSD (who is also in a sorority) says that surprisingly, there’s not much going on at UCSD and that it’s not much of a party school like UCSC. One of her friends from UCSD just recently came to visit (since he was also doing some traveling in Europe) and even he said there didn’t seem to be much going on at UCSD, even though they’re so close to the beach. </p>
<p>I’m from Irvine, and well…Irvine is pretty boring. UCI doesn’t have a reputation as being a party school (and the surrounding area isn’t any better), but it is pretty competitive. UCI is also pretty much a commuter school–freshmen and new transfer students aren’t necessarily required to live on campus, and people mainly commute to UCI. I’ve heard from UCI students back when I was taking courses at the local community college that social life is pretty much dead on weekends because everyone just ends up leaving, because again, Irvine is pretty boring in that there’s not much to do there. </p>
<p>If you’re TAGing, then you have a chance at both. The only requirements for TAG that I remember are 1) meeting the minimum TAG requirement for the schools you want to TAG to, 2) completing your intended major prereqs if possible, and 3) having 30 or more semester units completed by the time you fill out your TAG and 60 units by the end of spring semester.</p>
<p>yah i hear ya. my uncle’s and grandparents live in Anaheim hills and i liked irvines atmosphere. there did seem to be alot of asians and white people compared to where i live , which is a bit more diverse. I did like how there was alot of good places to eat, how everything was build recently and still new, and im sure there are some decent amounts of parties right? id assume people dont just sit on their butt the whole weekend and study or play video games!</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot of negatives things concerning UCSD’s social life. Granted there are a lot of things to do in the San Diego area (I’m from there so I know ;)), I’ve heard that there’s nothing to do on campus at UCSD. I’ve also heard that most students at UCSD are more into their studies than partying/having a social life also.</p>
<p>As for UCI, I have a friend that goes there and she loves it. She’s made a ton of friend and she’s even in the Rugby club. Maybe that’s all you really need to do to gain a social life at UC’s like that… join a club.</p>
<p>Irvine isn’t a college town, and it’s more of a city for families than it is for college students. There might be some parties up in the richer part of Irvine (basically, in the hilly part of Irvine, where homes are rather expensive), but in the part of Irvine I live (which is only 10-15 minutes away from UCI by car), there are no parties going on at all.</p>
<p>I worked at UCI. I’ve been there many times on Friday and Saturday nights. There are plenty of parties at UCI if you know where to look. Are they as crazy as UCSB ones? No. But do they still fulfill many of the requirements of a “college party”? Absolutely. Btw, these are often found in the slightly off campus apartments or at some of the places where fraternity members live.</p>
<p>Also Sopranokitty, technically UC Davis students aren’t required to live on campus their freshman year. However enough do that there’s a fairly active social scene. The same is somewhat true of UCI. Even though it attracts a significant contingent of OC area students, there are still enough from outside of the “service area” that a social life exists on campus.</p>