Why should I choose UCSD?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

<p>I recently got into both UCSD and UC Berkeley(Spring admit, unfortunately) and I'm trying to decide where to go. Curious, I found the "Why should I choose Cal?" thread in the Cal forum. Now that i've heard about Cal, I was wondering if any of you UCSD students had anything to say about UCSD-- truthfully, I want to go to UCSD. Although I have many reasons to go to both, my gut feeling tells me UCSD-- but I refuse to decide off my gut feeling. To give a sample of what kind of stuff i'm looking for, killthefifi's post HERE (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/679953-why-should-i-choose-cal.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/679953-why-should-i-choose-cal.html&lt;/a&gt;) is amazing. </p>

<p>Samples:</p>

<p>"6)The prestige. Cal is the Harvard of the west AND it beats many of Harvard’s programs. (Don’t give me crap that stanfurd is, because remember, who came first? If they’re lucky, they can be Yale) The Berkeley name on an international level is among the ranks of HYP. Berkeley is the number one public school in the world and the only school with 35/36 of their programs in the top 10. It’s hard to find another place with those sort of numbers. The major political revolution of the 60s started at Berkeley, UNIX (the foundation of many modern computers) was created at Berkeley, so they have the history; just imagine what Berkeley is going to do in the future."</p>

<p>"9)Decals! From South Park to Starcraft, these fun 2-unit P/NP classes seem like a great way to break up your schedule. Since they’re student-taught and student-run, they’re a radical shift from the normal lectures & discussions. No other school offers such a wide range of classes on the oddest topics. This is the once time in life that you get to take random classes for breadth & elective requirements, why not make them fun? Some schools have a couple of cool elective classes, but go to the decal website - there’s literally over a hundred offered at Cal!"</p>

<p>etc etc. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>[Fun</a> 101](<a href=“http://www.ucsd.edu/current-students/student-life/events-enrichment/fun-101.html]Fun”>http://www.ucsd.edu/current-students/student-life/events-enrichment/fun-101.html)</p>

<p>and pretty much everything here:
[UC</a> San Diego: Prospective Students](<a href=“http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/index.html]UC”>Admissions & Aid)</p>

<p>so what exactly is this “gut feeling” based on so far?</p>

3

<p>For us to help you decide where to go it would help if we knew more about you and your interests.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for the links, but I’m looking for firsthand student experiences. Although I do have lots of interests, I’m trying to keep them from influencing how other people view the school. Generally, I’m concerned about class difficulty (I’m a MechE major), social life, clubs, surrounding environment (La Jolla and SD), student to admin/teacher relationships, diversity, etc. Pretty much as general as it gets. Most of all, however, I want to know what you guys like about it. Passionate rants are requested :)</p>

5

<p>general inquiries deserve general responses. :)</p>

<p>i assume you’ve perused the archives thoroughly? half of our posts here are explaining what goes on at ucsd – just scan through the titles and see what piques your interest.</p>

6

<p>OKAY here is my opinion.</p>

<p>I came to San Diego from out of state and this honestly is the prettiest place I have ever been. I know that you’re coming here for school, but it is certainly nice when it’s January, you’re walking to class on a 75˚ day, and you can feel and smell the ocean breeze. It is extremely relaxing for me. Doing homework on the beach has been another favorite, since it is only a 5-10 min drive. The location honestly just makes me happy! </p>

<p>I have met incredible people here. Lifelong friends for sure, everyone here is smart and driven, and I love surrounding myself with those types. There is plenty to do here, and even more to do if you join the greek system (which I highly recommend). Even if you don’t go greek, there are still parties. Honestly I was worried last year that there would be a lack of school spirit, Triton eye, dead social life, etc. etc., but I literally love it here and cannot imagine myself anywhere else. All the “negatives” about UCSD are honestly just rumors. </p>

<p>Well if you have any more specific questions I would love to answer them. That is my passionate rant. haha.</p>

7

<p>UCSD is an amazingly cool story. For a University just 49 years old, it is just about the fastest riser among American universities in the past half century. It is strong in engineering, strong in biology, strong in social sciences and strong in humanities. </p>

<p>UCSD is located in La Jolla – one of the most beautiful, breathtaking cities in America. If you like clean and safe, they don’t get any cooler than La Jolla. And UCSD is a large chunk of La Jolla.</p>

<p>At UCSD, your neighbors are captains of American industry, successful entrepreneurs and bio technologists by day who are also accomplished surfers, scuba divers, sailors, beach-lovers on weekends. Same temptations are available to UCSD students on weekends. Did I mention that La Jolla has some of the best beaches anywhere in the world, a gorgeous cliff within 5 minutes walk, and if you wanted to steal away with your date, how can you beat mid-night kayaking… </p>

<p>UCSD has a unique college system each with their own GE requirements. Colleges are cool. You are not 1 in 4000 but one in 750. College provides a natural social community until you develop your own wider network. College requirements ensure you get to take your GEs in the proper sequence, not be at the bottom of the totem pole in selecting first year courses at UCB and UCLA. You have a good chance of completing your major in 4 years – unless you choose to stay longer. What is cooler than that.</p>

<p>At UCSD you have high performing students who are cool. By that I mean self-contained, confident and who know that college is what they make of it. They are cool. No one feels it necessary to tout their institutional horns, blow their prestige trumpet or waste time in a ranking rant. </p>

<p>Witness the response you got above astrina. She graduated from UCSD but cares about her alma mater enough to help those on these boards with questions. That’s cool.</p>

<p>Only you can decide if you are cool enough for UCSD.</p>

8

<p>Brassring nailed it.</p>

<p>UCSD has a tremendous amount of opportunities to offer, along with a tighter knit community.</p>

<p>Brassring basically said why I wanted to attend UCSD :D.</p>

<p>The campus is beautiful, and Bonfires at MIDNIGHT! IS AMAZING at the beach!</p>

9

<p>These are amazingly perfect answers. Exactly what I’m looking for… and i’m getting swayed slowly but steadily! If there’s anything else to add, any more input would be great. Thank all of you for your time. I’m just so glad that there are people that love the school as much as I would hope to.</p>

10

<p>When I went there for admit day as well as the overnight program, I was swept away at ALL the kind-hearted people. And I’m from south bay San Diego, where many people are A$$holes. The people there are very open minded and always asks if you need anything.</p>

<p>There are centers throughout the campus where you can sneak in a nap or two before the manager of the center wakes you up!</p>

<p>Plus, the campus is big! Meaning lots of places to hang out and have nice time to soak in all the experience. </p>

<p>The colleges are amazing, except for Revelle haha! </p>

<p>I’ve met some of the professors, and they are awesome to talk to as well as outstanding professors! Especially Prof. Johnson for Chem. She totally rocks!</p>

<p>I’m excited to attend UCSD because I KNOW that the campus life, education, and student body is different than other schools. From what I’ve seen and heard, the students enjoy it!</p>

<p>There are so many things to do and so many new things are being added and renovated also! </p>

<p>Plus the new music center just opened up i think! Which is exciting!</p>

<p>Although UCSD isn’t well-known as CAL, it offers a completely different college than CAL. You’re not isolated! Haha, i’m biased, but I def. feel that UCSD has a lot to offer, but then again, what college doesn’t?</p>

<p>I already have my sweatshirt, car sticker, t-shirt, lanyard, and cap to show my spirit! Goooooooo TRITONS!</p>

11

<p>Revelle is just as good as any of the other colleges! haha I have tons of friends in revelle who love it.</p>

12

<p>Because I’m going there. Lol. Jk</p>

<p>On a serious note, UCSD is officially the third best UC (after UCLA and Cal) and it is expected to become equivalent to both (in all aspects) within the next few years. So you’ll have the reputation from UCSD too.</p>

<p>One proof of this is that UCSD was almost as competitive to get into this year as UCLA, which shows that it is becoming a more challenging school to get into.</p>

<p>Also, you have everything that everyone else said.</p>

13

<p>There is something cool reading this thread, especially Brassring’s case for UCSD.</p>

<p>Brassring, you may have forever changed UCSD’s image from “socially dead” to “cool” and hip.</p>

<p>Perhaps UCSD could use your talents at ensuring their image matches reality.</p>

14

<p>I agree with everything posted above however I have to note the range of students based on studying.</p>

<p>I disagree that everyone here is very smart and driven. There are a few that were smart in HS but kinda took advantage of the freedom in college and help lowering the averages in the weeder classes hence helping the curve for the rest of us :D.</p>

<p>MOST people here are driven but then what really differentiates this group is that half of these driven kids actually succeed and pull the A/A-/B+ while the other half seems to try very hard but only pull the C or B-.</p>

<p>I kind of like the variety from Geniuses to Curve Helpers though in my opinion.</p>

15

<p>(this was written a while back and the intended audience was my family and friends – so don’t get worked up over it, mmkay?)</p>

<hr>

<p>this is what you can be doing all year long if you go to UCSD:</p>

<p>… surf all year round, even in the dead of winter and maybe get photographed for the area surf reports ( [Surf</a> Reports, Magazine, Photos and Surf Community](<a href=“http://www.surfshot.com/]Surf”>http://www.surfshot.com/))</p>

<p>… learn to scuba dive, sail, kayak, windsurf, and lots more ([Mission</a> Bay Aquatic Center Homepage](<a href=“http://www.missionbayaquaticcenter.com/]Mission”>http://www.missionbayaquaticcenter.com/) )</p>

<p>… get a free gym membership as part of your tuition to an actually decent gym (unlike this shame of an ivy league i currently attend) and have access to lots of open sports areas plus cheap recreation classes – scuba diving, golf, tennis, yoga, masters swimming, spinning, etc ([UC</a> San Diego Recreation - Main](<a href=“http://recreation.ucsd.edu/]UC”>http://recreation.ucsd.edu/))</p>

<p>… enjoy 70F weather all year round so you can just wear flip-flops and shorts all year round (the alternative: [Climate</a> in New York City - Citidex New York City](<a href=“Account Suspended”>Account Suspended))</p>

<p>… have a beautiful oceanside campus blanketed by wireless so you can sit outside sunbathing and surf the net ([UCSD</a> Blink: Wireless Services Map; ARCHIVED Mon Apr 21 16:05:41 PDT 2008](<a href=“http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,1779,00.html]UCSD”>http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,1779,00.html))</p>

<p>… get two years of guaranteed on-campus housing (ucla, cal only give one) with free internet and cable TV already hooked up</p>

<p>… get a dozen places to eat from 7 am to 2 am, from pizza baked-to-order to sushi rolls overlooking the ocean. plus the food court in price center’s been expanded … with boba! and during the school year every tuesday features a farmer’s market with that yummy barbecued chicken with students lined up 50-deep. plus a ton of the student groups head out to library walk to do their own fundraisers (korean bbq is really popular – $5 for kalbi, rice, kimchi, and a soda)</p>

<p>… off-campus, have boba, CPK, chipotle, spice & rice, convoy st (korean bbq!), tadashi’s (your favoritest sushi place ever), ralph’s, trader joe’s, mongolian bbq, and whole foods right nearby. i used to make it to trader joe’s and back in under 30 minutes, with groceries. it takes me almost 45 minutes to reach the closest one here in new york.</p>

<p>… have a half-dozen libraries to choose from when you need to cram for an exam and want to escape from your rowdy suitemates. plus the libraries all have centralized printing, which you can connect to with your laptop – so if you don’t want to waste printer ink printing the 80-page packet of notes from your chemistry class, you can just sit in your room and send it to the printer with your laptop – then you can walk out to the library and retrieve your printout, for only 5 cents a page. (most students do this instead of wasting their own precious paper & ink supply, only using their own printers for short assignments) [Library</a> Hours](<a href=“http://libraries.ucsd.edu/services/hours.html]Library”>http://libraries.ucsd.edu/services/hours.html)</p>

<p>… wander the campus at 3 am and feel totally safe. here, 3 am means a $15 taxi ride back to my apartment because chances are you will get mugged (or at the very least, harrassed) on your walk back home.</p>

<p>… have a ten-week term, meaning that the amount of stuff you have to cram for final exams is significantly less than if you attended a semester school with 15 weeks. plus, some horrid classes (uh, pchem?) are pure hell and ten weeks already seems like torture enough.</p>

<p>… be in such close proximity to local companies so if you want to squeeze in an internship to pad your resume, you’ve got it made. biotechnology is a big plus and they all pay lots of $$$.</p>

<p>… the classes are large enough that you can always guarantee yourself a fair number of idiots such that you won’t have to work as hard to get that A. i’ve had plenty of classes where i’ve gotten good grades but learned nothing, because all the classes were so generously curved that my “minimum” was way more than was asked of me. which may explain why i can’t do anything past single-variable calculus even though i took two more quarters of math beyond that. honestly, while colleges love to push their small class-size thing, i really don’t care – the bigger, the better. who needs one-on-one attention anyway? we’re not stupid.</p>

<p>… home is as close (1h20 mins by plane) and as far (496 miles) away as you want it to be.</p>

<p>… with my know-how of the campus amassed after five years, you can get unlimited amounts of dry ice and liquid nitrogen. without a key. (but you still get in trouble if you get caught) </p>

<p>… there is one day a year in may when the campus gets as ****-drunk as you can imagine. people show up to class drunk (sometimes even the TAs do too), parties go on everywhere, professors (some) cancel class, and you get a free concert with a mainstream band at the end of the day. i was a good TA this year and convinced my professor to let us push back the lab report due date so we could all go out and party :)</p>

<p>… if you’re not old enough to drink in the USA, mexico’s only 30 minutes south.</p>

<p>… technology is something embraced and not feared, so every class has a website and all class registration & edits & billings are done via a central easy-to-use website. not like this stupid place here in new york, where to drop a class i had to file a freaking PAPER petition and wait to get it approved by three people before it could get snail-mailed to the central office and processes.</p>

<p>… can you say, “fire days?”</p>

<p>… there’s ski/snowboarding team (they get season passes to mammoth and compete every weekend during winter quarter – your dream!)</p>

<p>… your campus is huge (berkeley, ucla fail), doesn’t smell like cows (guess), has room to expand (berkeley, ucla fail again), won’t involve parents knocking on your door every weekend (davis, berkeley), is picturesque (davis, berkeley all fail), isn’t in the middle of freaking nowhere (merced), and isn’t invaded by weird people like bums or hippies from the surrounding area (all three fail)</p>

16

<p>Astrina:</p>

<p>Your “endorsement” is an absolute gem. </p>

<p>Funny. Hilarious. </p>

<p>Priceless.</p>

17

<p>You got a hard decision, but the best part is both are really really good schools. So you can’t go wrong. </p>

<p>I went to UCSD, and to be truthfully, UCSD has a ton of people from Northern California that want to leave Nor Cal and south for a bit. </p>

<p>UCSD has great medical and engineering. I think the biggest difference is Berkeley has full developed sports program so the school gets nation wide coverage. There academics is top notch in California. </p>

<p>If you like San Francisco, and its vibe hands down go there. You want more of a relaxed college atmosphere then head to UCSD. </p>

<p>My advice and visit both school, walk around the campus, and talk to the current students to see what like about it. If you feel like your going to fit in at one better than the other then go with that one. Your going to end up being more productive and successful at a school you love being at then one you end of not caring for.</p>

<p>If worst come to worst you can always transfer out your Junior year to another UC.</p>

<p>-Mike</p>

18

<p>Thanks Astrina (did i spell it right? sorry if i didn’t) </p>

<p>I think that UCSD will be the best university i can ever attend. I think your descriptions fit my personality!</p>

<p>At first, I am really skeptical about going to UCSD, but after reading your posts, I feel that i am going to have my best 4-5 years in my life!</p>

<p>You are the best!</p>

19

<p>Wow, that convinced me too! Thanks! I was deciding between SD and similar schools in colder environments…and that sounds so much nicer.</p>