Why UC Davis? please fill me in. . .

<p>Note: I kinda posted a similar thread in the UC general discussion. ::P</p>

<p>But Now, I have a hard time deciding between UCSB or UCD.</p>

<p>UC’s I got into were UCR, UCSC, UCSB, and UCD. rejected @ UCI, UCSD, and UCLA. </p>

<p>I am struggling to choose between UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. </p>

<p>I used to lean more favorably towards SB. but after I did a campus tour of UCD. . . . I was profoundly surprised by the nice location and the variety of programs it has available. I have yet to do a campus tour of UCSB, which I will do in a couple of days.</p>

<p>UCSB v. UCD: its a complete stalemate so far.</p>

<p>Here’s me:
-had a 3.8 weighted gpa in HS. But I am willing to start over academically at college, and perhaps pursue honors program.</p>

<p>-Hobbies:
+tennis & table tennis
+jazz saxophone
+fine art/portrait/photojournalism photography
+write & create art and the such.</p>

<p>-I don’t really care much for parties. Sure, I will go to a few, but its not what I go to college for.</p>

<p>-Socially, I’m fine. People talk. I talk. So, I get along with everybody else perfectly fine. . However, I heard the social life is more desired at SB than Davis. . . Though I found the college students at Davis perfectly affable. </p>

<p>-Food: I want my Asian food! Or an accessible kitchen to cook in lol. (Davis has some, I’m not too sure about SB.)</p>

<p>-Weather wise, I am a sunny/warm weather guy. Not too fond of cold weather.</p>

<p>-Dorms: I want coed floors. </p>

<p>-I’d really prefer to live near home. . . .SB is only 2 1/2 hours from my home. Davis is 8 hours away. </p>

<p>-I like the non-competitive/laid back nature of the student body of both schools.</p>

<p>My career goals. . .
-I put undeclared: humanities or somethin for both colleges. But, I am playing around with ideas of pursuing careers in:

  • journalism. (Broadcast, preferably. fine with print journalism. I hear SB has a strong communications program, no?)
  • landscape architecture. (Only davis offers that major.)
  • graphic design/media arts/advertising. (dunno about either colleges.)</p>

<p>All I want is a good-paying career, and a chance to go a prestigious grad school if I do end up pursuing a Master’s or PhD.</p>

<p>Can you give pointers or recommendations of either UC? I need to decide on a college within a couple weeks!</p>

<p>Thank you,</p>

<p>lemon.</p>

<p>Davis:
Coed floor dorms.</p>

<p>Weather… extremely hot in summer, extremely cold in winter. perfect otherwise.</p>

<p>Food… a lot of restuaraunts nearby, but the on campus asian foods arent that great.</p>

<p>It seems like you are leaning towards SB more than Davis, or that Davis and SB are both appealing to you in the same way, in which case, it does make sense to choose the college closer to home. I personally love Davis, though I have not seen SB. I am considering choosing Davis over several colleges in SoCal because of the distance factor. xD</p>

<p>I would consider the major being offered only at Davis and your campus preferences most carefully. I assume Davis and SB are not similar in that aspect :)</p>

<p>Congratulations on getting in =] I’ve been accepted to both UCD and UCSB as a transfer student, but did tours of almost all the UC’s in my junior year in HS so hopefully I can help a little.</p>

<p>I know your major is undecided, but you do have a good idea of which areas you’re considering. Go on the schools’ websites and compare which courses they have for your perspective majors. Davis has an up on UCSB since it offers architecture, but how likely are you do chose that in comparison with your other interests? Just survey or make a list of courses offered so you can kind of see how they match up on interest, number offered, whether they’re general or specific in detail, etc. I used to be conflicted about going to Davis or Berkeley, but I found the course, study abroad options, and living costs much more preferable at Davis.</p>

<p>Since you’re kind of in a stalemate, which other factors might come into play? Do you care about weather (SB’s pretty temperate in comparison to scorching summers in Davis), how much you’ll have to pay for an apartment when you’re no longer in dorms, and, well obviously, food? What kind of Asian food are you looking for? For me, I have to have a supply of fresh pan de sal, which Davis has, but SB doesn’t.</p>

<p>How often do you think you may visit home? Commuting for SB would be much easier, obviously, and if there’s an emergency, your parents won’t have too much trouble speeding up the coast. Also, when you do visit home, will yo be driving or using other means of transportation? If you’re not driving, the Amtrak is really nice to use, but quite time consuming. An 8 hour drive turns into a 12 hour trip, but a 2 hour drive basically take only half an hour or so longer.</p>

<p>Which school is going to cost you more? Finances are often the decision-making factor for many people.</p>

<p>Oh, and this may be a strange factor that I looked into, but I went on to ratemyprofessors.com to see how my future teachers would be. This was easy for me since my major’s decided (French), but I wanted to know if I the people preparing me for my career would be helpful, unreachable, or incomprehensible.</p>