University of California-San Diego Top Questions

The school has really great location. If you are really into the California beach scene, it's definitely a superior choice. However, the school is overall a bubble and there are not much to explore in the school neighborhood or San Diego as a whole.

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I think it's a great university with many active students. Great athletic and academic facilities and beautiful weather and nature. Public transit and access to the city is weak but there is one free shuttle and a free bus system to the city. There's some school pride and no college town but there's a lot of activities on campus!

Personally I could not be happier with UCSD. Proximity to expansive white sand beaches, warm weather, good food and many different areas to explore keep the school exciting. From Gaslamp district, to Downtown, to Mission Bay and the mountains to the east, there is something in San Diego for everyone, and I am a firm believer that its almost impossible to be bored if you go to school here. On the downside there is not very much school pride, as we have no football team, but this can be assuaged by the sheer number of groups on campus. If you are passionate about something, its easy to get connected with people that share your passion. Did I mention that world famous Black's Beach and Torrey Pines State Reserve / Golf Course are walking distance from campus? If thats not enough, both Surfer Magazine and Surfline have rated UCSD consistently number 1 or number 2 surf colleges in the continental United States. Go UCSD Surf Team!

Great spirit, it is an upcoming academic and athletic power, which is still evolving

UCSD is a great university! I love the environment and the people. They teachers are accessable and very helpful. It is a beautiful and inspiring campus.

UCSD is an excellent school education-wise. Although the class sizes are noticeably large for undergraduate lower division classes (as compared to more prestigious private universities) I don't feel cheated. The town of La Jolla, as well as San Diego proper, is very lively: there are plenty of restaurants, tourist destinations, and things to do. Students here get free bus passes to the city buses that have any stops on campus, and a couple go as far as 20-30 miles from campus to downtown San Diego. Of course, being a large campus, it does take a significant time to get from one class to another, and considering how hilly the area is, sometimes bicycles and skateboards still aren't the easiest methods of transportation. Regardless, that is merely a minor complaint. parking on campus is a bit of a hassle, but there is very little need for a car for undergraduates since there are many resources on campus and the aforementioned buses go to grocery/convenience stores as well as a nearby mall (again, this is free to all students with an ID card).

I chose UCSD to have a good balance between challenging academics, enjoyable relaxation, and making great memories. And if that's what you come for, that's what you get. As the third best UC, as rated by Forbes, don't expect to have it easy here especially with having lectures 250 students deep. However, plenty of help that is easily accessible is offered all over campus. UCSD is definitely your typical SoCal college experience though. The beach is never more than 10 minutes away and the surrounding area is FILLED with your peers. Unfortunately, UCSD has also had its share of controversy - particularly some racial issues - but, this year Chancellor Fox did a great job enhancing the school's diversity and it truly is a great thing to start seeing a multicultural melting pot take place at our school. I should also come clean and say that if you are looking for a school with a lot of school pride, that is not one of the qualities UCSD is known for. While we do have excellent athletics for our division, the kind of spirit at other campuses like ASU or UC Berkeley won't be found here; however, UCSD has a million more attractive qualities.

I chose UCSD to have a good balance between challenging academics, enjoyable relaxation, and making great memories. And if that's what you come for, that's what you get. As the third best UC, as rated by Forbes, don't expect to have it easy here especially with having lectures 250 students deep. However, plenty of help that is easily accessible is offered all over campus. UCSD is definitely your typical SoCal college experience though. The beach is never more than 10 minutes away and the surrounding area is FILLED with your peers. Unfortunately, UCSD has also had its share of controversy - particularly some racial issues - but, this year Chancellor Fox did a great job enhancing the school's diversity and it truly is a great thing to start seeing a multicultural melting pot take place at our school. I should also come clean and say that if you are looking for a school with a lot of school pride, that is not one of the qualities UCSD is known for. While we do have excellent athletics for our division, the kind of spirit at other campuses like ASU or UC Berkeley won't be found here; however, UCSD has a million more attractive qualities.

Oh god, this is going to be long... To be honest, UCSD was not my first choice, and that was the general consensus of the people in my dorm. UCSD was my second choice, where my first choice was USC. But then as the years passed, I gave UCSD a chance, and I really enjoy it here. I met great friends, received great opportunities, and created many cherished memories with the events hosted here. If you're into the more underground, indie music, there's a lot of those concerts here with Copeland, ra ra riot, and much more. Then there's SUN GOOOOOD!!!! hahaha And from what I hear, UCSD has started to rank really fast for a really young school, so that pretty impressive. haha I'd say if you were trying to go into science come here. We have a really solid science and research programs here, and our neuroscience is pretty legit too. That's why I came here. (I'm a neuroscience major.) Last I heard, we have Einstein's brain too! yee yee! I'm not sure if we still do though. haha Also our psychology is pretty awesome too, Ramachandran teaches here from time to time. (I'm also a psychology major.) For me the school is just right, but I've heard others complain it was too big. Parents and adults are usually pretty impressed that I go to UCSD, but I don't know if they are pretending it's impressive or not. But I do remember going to Santa Barbara, and talking to a Gaucho there. He was a Math & Poli Sci double major, and he was talking about how he believed that there were tiers in the UCs, there It's like UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCSD in the first tier, and the second tier was like UCI, UCSC, and UCSB, and then the rest are third tiers. But for me though, I'm just proud to be here, and kinda don't really care what other people think. I'm getting the education I need. I spend most of my time in Sun God Lounge, but others spend it in Geisel Library and PC (Price Center, basically our food court.) The reason why I spend my time in Sun God Lounge is because I'm in a co-ed fraternity, and that's where all the meetings are. So I just hang out in there and run into my bros. haha But there's always other groups of people surfing on the computer and reading or even taking a nap on the couches. haha! Oh, I also remember going to the commuter lounge in Peppercanyon Hall during finals week, and some dude gave me his blanket as I napped. hahahaha It was super nice. I know that there's this club called MACOKE that hangs out in there a lot. They were all really chill, nerdy, nice, and gamers. haha La Jolla doesn't have a frat row 'cause it's not allowed... for some strange reason. *shakes fist* But I think we've all managed and the frats/sororities generally just all live together off campus somewhere, and when there is a house full of frat boys/sorority girls, they choose if they want their house to be the party house. The school's administration is alright. I'm in Sixth College, and the people are super sweet here. But sometimes there's really unhelpful people too. Generally the biology department is VERY helpful, especially if you make an appointment. The Psych department people sucked balls. They were not helpful at all. The career services people are also very helpful. & the financial aid people got things done, but didn't really help much. All they did was give you a piece of paper with all these links that might be helpful. haha The biggest recent controversy on campus was this thing some fraternity did.. The Compton Cookout. It was super racist, and brought up lots of issues. There's not that much school pride here... I blame it on the lack of a football team. haha But we have really good water sports teams here like water polo and crew. I heard the male tennis team was pretty legit too. If you guys have any other questions, feel free to contact me!