University of California-Irvine Top Questions

As far as I know, Thursdays is THE night to relax...to party. I remember going to the old Anthill Pub every Thursday and meet international and graduate students. There were occasional house parties as well.

Extracurriculars have been the backbone of my collegiate experience at UCI. They have not only given me the chance to meet new people, but also opportunities for networking, leadership, and greater campus/community involvement. I encourage everyone coming to UCI to get involved in something, anything! One extracurricular will expose you to a bunch of new people and in turn other campus opportunities that may interest you. The social scene at UCI is what you make of it. We are by no means a party school so parties won't find you, but at the same time you'll never have to look too hard to find one.

Great late-night eats were rather hard to come by. There was Del Taco, pho (if you were willing to drive out to Garden Grove) and some local Mexican places.

It can be difficult to make friends in class. Most make friends through student organizations or in the dorms. My closest friends came from my association with the honors program and through the housing community where I worked. Party time begins Thursday night and goes through the weekend although people often go home on the weekends, and the campus can seem like a ghost town on a Saturday or Sunday. The most predominant partying does involve Greek life. There is no Greek row, but there are a number of on-campus housing buildings (in Arroyo Vista) that are reserved for individual frats or sororities. In addition to the traditional Greek life, there are also Jewish and Asian-themed frats and sororities. While most of the campus does not participate in Greek life, those that do are very into it and are among the most involved on campus. The housing communities work really hard to develop programming for residents to learn something beneficial or to just have fun. The freshmen generally utilize these activities the most, but they are offered to the upperclassmen too.

If you want to be social and have a good night life, you have to either be on a sports team OR in the Greek System. Then there is always something to do. I waited to join until my Sophomore year and spent my entire first year on campus bored out of my mind, sitting in my dorm room watching movies on my laptop.

I met all my best friends through working on projects together. Spending sleepless hours is the best way to bond. We create our own parties and events and invite others to come. Make friends with art students and you'll never be bored.

I loved, loved, loved, loved, LOVED living in the residence halls. I think it is such an invaluable experience and I think everyone should live in the res halls if they can. You meet so many other people and begin to make a little support network for yourself whether you realize it or not. It also helps you feel more attached to the University. A lot of the people I lived with kept their doors open, but I was not one of the people awake at 2am. And if I should have found myself awake, I know there would have been someone else around to talk to if I was lonely.

There are so many different groups on campus its hard to sum it up. Since I was a part of Greek Life I was exposed to many social functions that kept me busy with sports, parties, and community service. Most of my closet friends I met through this organization. These individuals share many of same ideals and goals as me which I was really looking for being a college student.

UCI is pretty boring. If you want to go to a party, there are parties to go to, but it is not like other colleges where the party is always right outside. UCI is very good at providing speakers and bands for the students to go see. Frats and Sororities have their own cliquish atmosphere and they usually keep to themselves. Everything in Irvine closes at 10pm so except for Jack in the Box and Del Taco, you wont be able to go anywhere if you stay up too late. If you want to make awesome friends, live in the dorms freshman year. You really bond with people as you enter into college. I highly recommend living in the dorms (not apartments) freshman year. And don't live at home, that is lame. Think of it as an investment in your life. The networks that you build will be of infinite value later on.

The greek system is basically the only way someone at Irvine will party and meet other people who want to do the same. Its really the only way to truly experience what college should be like in a different school. But partying isn't all Irvine itself is a pretty big bubble with no culture or anything unique about it (imagine the tv show "weeds" except without the fun and with way more asians). The beaces are by far the best thing about it and is where all the fun happens on the weekends