USD vs UC Davis vs UC Irvine

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello everyone! I'm having issues deciding between the University of San Diego (Honors Program), UC Irvine (CHP), and UC Davis (non-honors). I know ultimately it is up to me to decide but I would appreciate any input you have or any pros/cons I may have not considered. </p>

<p>Some personal things about me that may help determine where I'd fit the best. I loved food, Asian food particularly. I love boba. I'm a girl (who's not very girly and wears skater clothes) and I'm a gamer (Primarily PS4 & PC). I play tennis and enjoy origami. I'm rather shy and am more academically oriented than socially. However, I plan on opening up more in college if I could find a group who really has similar interests as me and who accepts me (most of my friends in high school have been superficial and I haven't had much in common with them).I would absolutely love to find a campus where I can a group that is similar to me and a campus where I fit in. I plan on biking places because I have a fear of driving. I'm an open-minded person and love diversity. I also love Italian food. My career goals involve scientific research and I hope to get research experience in college and get a good GPA so I can get into a good graduate school for a graduate degree. The pros and cons I'm about to list about each college may not even be justified so feel free to correct me or put your input.</p>

<p>University of San Diego:
Pros:
- Missions A single suites (I am in love with this housing option but I probably won't get one since they're more limited)
- Great on-campus food
- Beautiful campus
- Priority registration with honors
-Small classes (this might be more of a negative for me though since I've always been more of a self-study person and don't really enjoy having to participate in class)
- Small classes allow for more chances at research opportunities with honors program
USD Cons:
- least amount of diversity
- no archery club or classes
- less people who will be similar to me
- least prestigious
- not many choices in majors I'm interested in
- furthest away from home
- hills make it difficult to bike
- least school spirit
- least academically oriented (no offense to anyone)
- attendance required due to small classes
- no boba on campus or very close to it
- forced to be housed by Living-learning community meaning I don't have much choice over what housing complex I'm in
- I don't know anyone going to USD or anyone who has gone</p>

<p>UC Davis Pros:
- College Town Feel
- Many difference housing options
- Most prestigious out of choices
- More people like me
- Fast Network
- Greatest Diversity
- Many different food choices on campus (sushi and milk tea :D )
- Good biking campus
- Most School Spirit
- Archery classes and clubs
- In safe city with many shopping and food options off-campus
- Best balance of academics versus social life
- Many majors I am interested in
- I know awesome people who SIRed to UC Davis
- many people I know who have graduated from there are awesome well-rounded people
UC Davis Cons:
- No honors program = no priority registration (MY TOP #1 CONCERN about attending Davis)
- Not as beautiful campus as USD
- Not as many potential singles dorms as USD
- likely harder classes than USD and maybe UCI
- Less research opportunities due to larger classes and non-honors status (I don't know about this)
- larger class sizes (though this may be a plus for me actually)
UC Irvine Pros:
- Archery Club
- CHP Easy Class Registration
- CHP Housing
- More people like me
- The only Criminology major + 2nd best criminology program in the country
- Academically oriented students
- More prestigious than USD (ranked in top 40s in nation)
- Job services after graduation
- decent food but not many different places for food on campus
UC Irvine Cons:
- known for being socially dead
- I may be biased from my experiences but the people there didn't seem nearly as friendly as people at UC Davis and USD
- Not the prettiest campus compared to the other two
- I've heard there aren't many things to do there
- Not many singles dorms on campus if any</p>

<p>If you read through all of this, I'm impressed, truly. And am thankful that you've taken the time to take an interest in helping me. Thank you for whatever input you have, I'm sure it'll be helpful! I keep having intense feelings about one of these colleges for a specific reason and then a couple days later I have intense feelings for another for different reasons. Once again, thanks!</p>

2

<p>From what you’ve posted, I think you should pick Davis. It’s a real bicycling town. In Irvine, you could do it in some places, but everyone has cars. At Davis, bicycling is a way of life.
The town of Davis is an actual town, small and accessible. It has ice cream stores and restaurants, bike shops and bookstores. It’s a place you could call home that is beyond the campus walls. Even without a bike, you could get around on foot.
The town of Irvine is very spread out with no central space. It’s basically the university, industrial buildings, homes and shopping malls. The university is very strong academically- and if CHP and criminology is what you definitely want to do, then it might be better than Davis for that reason alone. How important is this to you? I think Davis wins, based on your own lifestyle preferences, but I can’t say for sure as I don’t know your career goals.
I think either UC would serve you better than USD.</p>

3

<p>Let me preface this by saying that I spent many weekends in high school and college winter breaks socializing in and around UC Irvine. I also used to work for professors at the school. </p>

<p>While I’m a fan of boba, it shouldn’t be a criteria in your search. However, if it is, know that Irvine likely has the highest number of boba places per capita anywhere in the US. In the UTC (University Town Center), there’s a decent place called Cha for Tea. Two other area malls (Diamond Jamboree and the Arbor) have Lollicup branches which are generally considered excellent. Additionally, it’s extremely common to see various clubs outside of UCI’s library selling boba drinks to raise money.</p>

<p>Though Irvine is not nearly as bike friendly as Davis, it’s still one of the most bike friendly cities in the US, particularly if you limit yourself to the area around UCI. When I went there last Winter Break, I regretted that I didn’t have my bike on me since it’s much easier to get around campus on two wheels. Many UCI students have cars on campus, and they often use them to get to places like the Irvine Spectrum (great mall), or the aforementioned Diamond Jamboree which houses a killer collection of various Asian restaurants as well as an H-Mart. There are other shopping centers in Irvine that I’m forgetting although most UCI students stick with the Spectrum, Diamond Jamboree, or UTC. I think UCI might run a shuttle to the Spectrum although that’s something to ask about when you tour. </p>

<p>IMO the people at Irvine are just as friendly as those at Davis. It’s also not as socially dead as people claim. Seriously, go by the upperclassmen apartments at night, and you’ll see loads of people going out, eating with friends, what have you. Though I’ve only been to two UCI parties, they didn’t seem to be any better or worse than most other college parties. Well maybe a little better since no one seemed to be on the verge of vomitting. </p>

<p>UCI has a huge quantity of undergraduate research opportunities. The professors I worked for hired plenty of undergraduates in various capacities, something that is not at all uncommon with other faculty members at the school. Two of my STEM friends at the school did research although one of them dropped it in favor of taking an internship. I believe Davis is the same way. The only student I know well at the school researched her junior year, although had to quit for reasons not relevant to you. </p>

4

<p>Thank you both for your replies. It’s good to hear that you’ve had had good experiences at UC Irvine and that many people there are friendly. I admit I only have the instance to judge UC Irvine on when I visited so my first judgements are likely not valid. I have been leaning towards UC Davis however as it seems it may be a better fit for me. While I am interested in criminology, that’s only for the current moment, my aspirations will likely change and science has always been my passion and Davis certainly has many science majors I am interested in. I will likely wait another week before submitting my SIR to make sure I make my decision being well-informed rather than on whim like I almost did for USD. Once again, I appreciated your valuable input, they have definitely given me things to think about and consider.</p>

5

<p>tl;dr but if you are thinking of picking a college because of boba, know this:
<a href=“http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-boba-and-bubble-tea-98067”>http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-boba-and-bubble-tea-98067&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;