Why are you going to UCI?

<p>"Ummm.. I got into every school pretty much that I applied to including: SDSU, UCSD, Cal Poly SLO (the ones that he is applying to) ... and I chose Irvine... most of my friends chose Irvine over Berkeley, LA, SD, SB, Davis, every UC... so WTH are you talking about???</p>

<p>Edit: I must admit that the friend whose SN I am using got into Berkeley and ended up going there... but you get the picture."</p>

<p>Not trying to start a flame war, but you gotta admit those are some pretty extreme examples. I doubt very few people would choose UCI over UCB or UCLA over pure academics alone (Perhaps, they got Chancellors or Regents or they live close to Irvine and don't want to leave friends and family or are attending UCI for a very specific academic program...) In any case, I bet UCLA and UCB win the cross-admit battle hands down. </p>

<p>Again, UCI will provide a great education. Cheers :)</p>

<p>Okay thanks for everyone's input.....I'm for sure applying to UCI, but I don't know where I would rank it on my college list. My list keeps most of the same schools, but it changes almost everyday.</p>

<p>I took off some schools from the list I posted yesterday bc I'm trying to really find the best school for me.</p>

<p>Now I'm looking at UCSB, UMiami, UCLA, UCSD, SDSU, UCI, and UW-Madison(it's another great oos option, and the cold/snow should be a great adventure).</p>

<p>How would you guys rank UCI to those schools?</p>

<p>uci > ucd end of story</p>

<p>I went to UCI as a last resort school (I chose it over UCSB). To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to hate it, but by the end of my second year there I realized that the school is quite incredible. I wont go into specifics as many people have already touched upon what I am going to say, but I must admit that UCI really surprised me. I chose to leave UCI as a transfer because I cant stand the OC culture and the heat - it had nothing to do with the school in general. Everybody says oh Irvine is boring and there are too many asians and that there is no school "scene." A lot of people saying that dont have a clue about college - they get their "college scene" from Van Wilder and/or from their dreams. There are very few colleges that live up to the movies with the exception of Dartmouth (sounds lame but its nuts). Yes, there are a lot of asians, but who cares? Are you racist? Then dont worry about it. As for the being boring - thats hardly the case. YOU make your fun - dont sit around and wait for people to come to you. I mean, what do you want? How is Berkeley any dif. from Irvine? Both cities are pretty quiet with the exception that B has SF near it, but its not within walking distance. As someone said before, you have Hungtington beach, Newport beach, 2 High High class malls, very nice people, within an hour of snowboarding in the winter (mt. high), youre inbetween both San Diego and Los Angeles, Irvine is a new and ever growing hub for businesses (Ultimate Ears, Burton, Hurley, O'neil, Sun Microsystems, etc... they all have offices or hq in irvine). But enough of that - just visit the school. Youll see what people are talking about if you can get the time to visit during school hours - UCI is pretty much like any other UC minus the fact that is not as competitive and doesnt have the teaching staff that B and LA (and to a lesser extent SD) has. Oh, and if youre worried about UCI not taking you anywhere after you graduate with a degree, dont worry. I transferred <em>for personal reasons</em> and was accepted to LA, SD, B, NYU, BU, and Waitlisted for GTown (13% acceptance) - so dont give me any crap about UCI not being competitive or whatever some may think - its incredible (and so is UCD and all the others - its all subjective).</p>

<p>wow what was ur gpa</p>

<p>My GPA was 3.78</p>

<p>I went to UCI as a last resort school (I chose it over UCSB). To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to hate it, but now I am okay with it. I am heading into my 2nd year and my story is quite simliar to outono noite's. UCSB's campus is the nicest campus I've been too though. I'd def recommend you to check it out.</p>

<p>You liked UCSB's campus? Wow, I thought it horrendous and ive been there a number of times. My fav. campuses are def. UCI and UCLA - UCI has a BEAUTIFUL park and a lot of modern architecture while UCLA has just a really nice spread of dif. buildings.</p>

<p>Yeah, I think I checked out most of the UCs and for a campus, UCSB was one of the worst. The whole Isla Vista/live on a beach college town is great, but the actual campus sucks. Its old and depressing buildings and the dorms sucked. </p>

<p>UCLA is great and while UCI might be a bit too "planned", it actually has a great campus feel with a park in the middle and a soon-to-be huge student center about to be completed. Davis was ok, UCSC was a little too woodsy and UCSD was ok, but ont into the separate colleges-thing.</p>

<p>I love the UCSB campus......it is amazing</p>

<p>I have a few points I really would like to express in accordance with the recent discussions. Now, let me begin.</p>

<p>“-UCD is more diverse (UCI is like sixty percent asian)”</p>

<p>-Yes, there is a heavy amount of Asians in UCI, but it doesn’t mean the Asian population is a whopping 60% (any increase in percent at a school with 20k+ students is a big deal). Recently, UCD reported an undergraduate count of 22 831, and UCI reported an undergraduate count of 20 061. The Asian/Pacific Islander percentage for both UCD and UCI are 40.1% and 48.8% respectively. If you calculate the number of Asians, you’ll end up with 9 155 at UCD and 9789 at UCI. There is a huge 600 student difference, but UCD is still pretty damn close to UCI in the Asian count because of UCD’s higher population count. They are both in the 9 000 range. Besides, Asians are cool. They are everywhere in the UC system anyway, haha.</p>

<p>“-The honors program at UCD is really sweet (not sure about UCI)”</p>

<p>-UCI’s honors program is really really good. It offers many benefits to the students, and the students have found it very beneficial from what I’ve seen. I haven’t heard too many good things about UCD’s honors program and I have like 139282 family members who attend UCD or have attended UCD.</p>

<p>“-UCD seems more prestigious than UCI (in my circle of family and friends...again this is very subjective)”</p>

<p>-Yes, UCD looks a lot more prestigious in the eyes of mostly North Californians. UCD has been around for a long time and is the school Norcal students prefer so it has a name to hold. In many cases, UCB, UCSD, UCSB, and UCI are given up just for UCD. UCI, on the other hand, is relatively new so it doesn’t hold that tradition and prestigious look. The school is still growing well and establishing its own traditions. As Outono Noite has pointed out many times in the past, UCI offers so much for its students just like any other UC so it will definitely put up a fight against UCD in terms of academics. That’s just the UC system for you. But, remember, you should still apply for both schools because they are both worth your money.</p>

<p>“Not trying to start a flame war, but you gotta admit those are some pretty extreme examples.”</p>

<p>-Many people give up UCB, UCSD, and UCD for UCI because of many reasons. It happens VERY often, sometimes because of scenery and difference in peer environments. His examples definitely aren’t extreme. My family grew up in Richmond (about 20 minutes away from UCB). My dad applied to the two closest schools at his time (UCB and San Jose State) and got into both. Whenever he walked near or inside UCB he never personally enjoyed it, so he gave it up for San Jose State (surprising huh :P?). Today, he works at Cisco in the same group with his new and old buddies from SJSU annddddd UCB making pretty much the same amount of money (but screw salary, it’s about the love for your major right? :]). </p>

<p>-UW-Madison is a GREAT idea for an oos school, especially if you have no problems with money. My cousin is there working towards her PhD in microbiology and is loving it. She graduated from UCD too (just a little info :]). UCSB is a great school just like the other UCs. It offers a lot of opportunities like all the other UCs. If you love the campus and the peer environment, I say stick with it as the top school. I would personally rank UCI higher than UMiami, UW-Madison, and SDSU because I love the UC system. You could save money by going to a UC instead of oos and save those oos schools for graduate school =].</p>

<p>great run down jason</p>

<p>SB is the BEACH! You can read a book on the grass while watching the sunset. The weather is awesome. It gets a bit too hot at irvine sometimes.</p>

<p>Besides its USNEWS ranking (and perhaps its respected Dance major), it seems that UCI doesn't seem to have anything outstanding about it. It is a great school overall obviously, but its lack of renowned departments prevents the school from being recruited actively like some other schools in the UC System (B/LA - everything; SD - sciences/eng.; D - eng; etc).</p>

<p>Also, about the issue of prestige: although it is true that prestige isn't all that matters in terms of a school's excellence, it does help for post-undergrad oppurtunities; UCI is rising in the ranks, but it still has some way to go before its proximity of interest grows to just outside of SoCal. UCSD, for example, is five years older than UCI, but is known for being a premiere UD campus for the Sciences and its Jacob's School of Engineering along with it being regarded as one of the more prestigious Grad schools, too.</p>

<p>Given a few more years, the mid-tier UCs will begin to polarize--as right now, they are frequently competing for the 4th best UC (Davis has prestige; Irvine has ranking; SB has the name/reputation). Right now, Davis and Irvine are virtually equal in terms of academics, competition, diversity, and prestige/rank (UCI and UCD should have been nearly neck and neck in the 2006 USN rankings but weren't due to an error in calculation prior to publishing); essentially, the only way you'll be able to choose which school you apply to is to actually visit the campuses.</p>

<p>UCD - conventionally located in a college-town / NorCal (feel free to infer the connotations at your own will)</p>

<p>UCI - typically seen as more laid back as it's located in the heart of the OC (Yeah, dude)</p>

<p>Or if you possibly can, apply to both UCI and UCD. If you're planning on applying to and possibly attending Pepperdine, you should be able to afford another $55 and apply to a 9th school.</p>

<p>All other areas being equal accorinding to this thread, leads us to the bottom line dudes:
UCD has football, UCI does not
UCD>UCI=THE END</p>

<p>Oyama has a point, but, hey, UCLA was the same too :]. In fact, both UCLA and UCI have their strengths in their art programs. Many people believe UCI is very much like UCLA and will one day become similar to UCLA (being a good all around school with an emphasis in the arts or the less popular majors).</p>

<p>Well I'm not applying to pepperdine anymore.....it is too small. I've been researching some oos state schools now bc I feel like I should have other options besides UC schools. If I go to a private school w/out scholarships it would cost too much, but I should recieve one at Miami and that should make the school's price comparable to a UC. As for Wisconsin there overall cost is about 7k(housing/food is way cheaper there) more than a UC school, but i may get a little scholarship to make it a little less. And I feel that if i like the school more it is worth the extra money. I will definately need grant money at any school, but I don't mind having to pay back loans if I will be happy somewhere else. I don't want to apply to both schools, bc I don't want to end up at a school I don't like. And I honestly feel I won't like Davis. I also don't want to apply to Cal Poly bc it seems like cal poly and davis have a very similar atmosphere.</p>

<p>I like these schools and since all of you guys have been so helpful maybe you could suggest some other options comparable to the following schools.</p>

<p>UCSB, UMiami, UCLA, UW-Madison, UCSD, UCI, SDSU</p>

<p>What are your goals for your education? What major are you planning to go into? Can you please inform us with anything you feel is important for us to know to recommend schools for you?</p>

<p>For now, I'll just throw out names of schools in California: Stanford, Santa Clara University, University of Southern California, and the California Institute of Technology.</p>

<p>UCI is known for English as well: look up the Creative Writing Department. In some sub-groups UCI is ranked 2nd, 3rd, etc... - while the General English department may not be at the top, UCI offers some brilliant sub divisions that compete on a level with many top private schools. Oh, and US News rankings arent the only available. Wikipedia college ranking and look through the many many others.</p>

<p>Isn't UCI also well known for chemistry, medical school, and criminology, law and society?</p>