UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, or UC San Diego?
I know SB and SD don’t have a football team. The last one is known as socially dead while SB is known as party school. What about UCI?
Also what is better: a semester or quarter system?
Mostly depends on the major because overall they are very similar schools in terms of academics.
I live in Irvine and the city itself is very nice and safe, but it’s also a bit boring. The environment is great for studying and learning but some might want their college life to be more than that.
The last question really depends on personal preference but I would pick a semester system because I’m more used to it.
For me it would have been UCSB, for the beach location and social vibe.
(assuming the other two did not have an academic edge in terms of my academic interests…)
I’d pick UCSD if it was me. San Diego > Irvine/SB
Having lived through both the quarter system and the semester system, the semester system is MUCH better. In the quarter system, you’re barely in class before mid-terms are there. In 4 years at a quarter system school, you have 12 finals weeks instead of semester’s 8. That’s 50% more. It makes a huge difference in quality of life.
But at the same time, it means you cover less material during your mid terms because you go through less in a quarter. So for somebody who prefers to memorize less material, the quarter system might be better!
“I know SB and SD don’t have a football team. The last one is known as socially dead while SB is known as party school. What about UCI?”
IMHO you should look at the academics, not the football team. Think about various subjects that you might want to study, and think about what you might want to major in. Look at what each school offers. Pick the one that is a better match to what you want to study (which I agree might not be an easy thing to decide).
“Also what is better: a semester or quarter system?”
I have studied under both. I didn’t see a large difference. In the quarter system you have to keep up because midterms and finals come up so quickly. In the semester system you have to keep up because there is the potential to fall too far behind since there is more time to cover more material. Personally I had a slight preference for the quarter system because the quarter does not drag out as long as a semester.
Quarter system is better for me because I’m a procrastinator. Quarter system forces me to stay on top of things. Which is better in terms of campus and vibe depends more on you and what kind of things you enjoy. I would pick UCSB, because it’s so beautiful there and the beach. Irvine makes me sad. But it’s a personal preference. If you have an idea of what you want to study, that might help you choose.
Do you have other choices than these three UCs? The reason I ask is that all of them are on the quarter system. I’m just wondering about your semester vs quarter question when these are all the same.
Neither do most other UCs. The only UCs with football teams are Berkeley, UCLA, and Davis.
Berkeley and UCLA have “major league” college football teams, which play at the NCAA D1-FBS level.
The Davis team plays at the NCAA D1-FCS level, which is effectively “minor league.” FCS football gets relatively little media coverage or fan interest, although the games are still fun, and there are good rivalries with other FCS schools like Cal Poly and Sacramento State.