University of California-Davis Top Questions

Overall, I loved the courses I took for my major, Clinical Nutrition. I am pretty sure others would enjoy it as well.

I feel like most students study a lot...especially if you want good grades or plan on going to graduate, medical, etc school. Class participation isnt really common in large lecture halls but usually in group discussions. It is important to get to know teachers and they will learn your names if you make the effort to go to their office hours or make appointments to ask questions about the lecture. If you get to know your professors you can ask them to write letters of recommendations or maybe get a chance to work in their lab or something.

Academics at Davis are serious. There isn't any screwing around. Don't screw around...or you're screwed. The quarter system demands that you put your time in on a regular basis or you will suffer the consequences. Lectures are good, professors are amazing (in my experiences), but I have heard of some terrible profs which is obviously unavoidable anywhere you go. I am surrounded on a daily basis with intellectual deep conversation everywhere I go. That initially stunned me because I am use to hearing nonsensical bull shit in high school and in public in general. Here, though, you might be taken by surprise by the seriousness and focus that surrounds you. This, I think, fosters a good environment to get serious with your own work though. So it's good.

I transferred from another UC before I came to UCD and I noticed that the professors at Davis seem to be more knowledgeable of their area of expertise and have taught for so long that they have perfected the art of lecturing and engaging students in the material. The student are not very competitive and because some majors are more popular than others you can find a lot of your peers in all your classes which makes it easier to study.

you dont have to put in as much time as they say to school to do well. go to class and listen and do the assignments and u can get an A in most classes.

Sciences at UC Davis are ridiculously hard and competitive. I know multiple people that came into college set on being doctors/ something medical oriented. Since then, they have switched their majors completely to be something more in the humanities departments. My favorite class that I have taken so far is my Psych 131 class about perception. My professor created a color-blind simulation that was amazing. I don't spend time with my professors outside of class, however, they make themselves very available during office hours and appreciate it when students take the time to get to know them and seek out extra help on confusing topics.

Yes, some professors do know my name. But thats mostly because I went to office hours or sat near the front row and talked to them before class. There are also small classes or classes with discussion or participation where they will get to know your name whether you like it or not. There are a couple of profesors in my department that went out of their way to get to know student in class - some really really GREAT professors that I will miss. In fact, many students in my major know these 1 or 2 exceptional professors and they will definitely make your college experience great if you happen to take them for a class. For me, a class isn't about the material necessarily but about the PROFESSOR that teaches it. A really interesting class can be made boring if the professor sucks, unfortunately. And the other way around as well. Go on rate my professors to check what other students say, or ASK AROUND to figure out who the good professors are. Students do study here, pretty often. Its not uncommon for students to stay in and study on weekends, normally during midterms and finals weeks. People take grades pretty seriously, and this especially true with more competitive majors like BioSci or Managerial Econ or Engineering probably. The atmosphere here isn't really competitive at all though. Its relaxed. People try to help each other out. Freshman year people are more relaxed, so dont fall into that trap. As the years go by people become much more focused. There are a lot of really really smart intellectual people here who do amazing things in and out of class. There are also lots of opportunities to be that person - so study and get to know professor and get involved with research! I really like my department..although I don't really want to give out the details about what it is called, its related to Economics. We have a sense of pride and people in my major work together and know each other well. I like the advisors and professors a lot. Everyone just kind of knows each other and it makes me feel connected to the university. This is really evident at graduation where many people in this major congregate together and socialize.

the academics are amazing! the classes are definitely challenging but they are great

One of the great things about going to Davis is that for the most part, students are not as competitive as they can be at schools with similar prestige. That's because students at Davis study to learn, not to pass. But academics at Davis are definitely more demanding than you might expect. Studying is a big part of every students weekly routine, especially for those who are majoring in science or engineering. As a freshman majoring in Political Science, I've only taken GE classes (usually in lecture halls ranging from 100-250 students.) But classes do definitely decrease in size once you get into your upper division classes. Classes are challenging, but most GE's are pretty interesting. Human sexuality is by far the most popular class on campus. I'm currently taking "Biology of Addiction," a class where we look at the effects of various substances and their social context and history.

Davis students know how to have fun, but no matter what they are still students at heart. Davis offers challenging classes in all fields but with an emphasis in anything regarding science. Some of the unique classes include tractor driving and human sexuality, (hey we're an aggie school and still a bunch of 20ish year olds looking to have fun). Like I said the people here are students at heart and care about their interests. At parties people are proud to show off their acid burns from the internships and have in depth conversations about what they learned in physics last week and how it applies to a beerbong. Academics are rigorous and difficult but they're nothing a Davis student can't handle.