University of California-Davis Top Questions

There's a good relationship available if you seek it with professors. The expectations don't seem to get increasingly harder as years go by, and it's not too hard to figure out how to succeed in college.

Challenging but not impossible

I love my classes. That may sound like the obvious answer to the question, but the fact is that when a teacher can engage students, provoke critical self examinations, address local and regional issues with precision and delicacy, inspire thought and motivation, and generally be a badass, class is good. I have to be challenged, and Davis does that. Our professors and the other students in our classes and discussions do that. We do have big classes, up to 500 people, but our discussions are small and intimate, providing that balance, and office hours are always available; then when you get in to your degree specific courses and upper divisions, you can have a class with as few as 5 people. I have a friend who is the only person in her class. How's that for one-on-one attention.

Some of the teachers are really cool, but some are don't care either way if you fail or not. Teaching or TA is usually done because it's required for credit or in order to keep researching at the university. You'll be lucky to get one of the few teachers that are there that WANT to be and teach you. There is hardly any class participation. If you're planning on being a science major at all, the most hands on you'll get is in labs. Other than that information is spoon fed and you're expected to regurgitate it back out. The students are really competitive. You fight against your peers for a grade instead of trying to focus on really understanding the material. I'm a biochemistry major and the classes are so jam packed that it's hard to get a lot of your classes needed to graduate. If you really don't understand the material and can't form questions because you're just simply too lost, don't go to office hours. Some teachers would chew you out for not having a question.

As I stated above, I do with that more classes gave you the opportunity to turn in assignments and essays instead of just passing out 3 multiple choice exams for the entire quarter. I also wish that teachers would take advantage of other mediums to teach with (ie. video clips, powerpoint, speakers etc.). A great majority of my professors lecture for the 110 minutes and after a while it gets quite difficult to concentrate. In one of my classes with 50 students in it, the teacher did know most of our names. In other lecture halls or more than 200 students, teachers have announced that they will try their best to get to know students idividually, especially if you stop by their office hours. I thoroughly enjoy my Health Psychology course with Professor Robert Emmons. He encourages us to ask questions during his powerpoint lecture, and he has slides that add to the entertainment factor of the lecture. He is very personable and knowlegeable in the field of health psychology and overall it's a very interesting course to take.

Academics at UC Davis are definitely challenging for me. I love the big classes because there are smaller discussions in which you can be more interactive in the classroom. My favorite class was Animal Science 1 where I learned about animals and did hands on activities that I would never have done before. I also loved History 174B because the professor covered the time frame very well without just lecturing. As a UC school, I definitely feel challenged here.

Hella good, Davis has really good academics. Something like 23rd in the nation!!

UCD has quite a unique array of classes. Since it is an agricultural school, there are some interesting classes you can take. One of the best I have taken was Food Science. I learned so much useful information that i never knew about food. Usually most people go to class, but there are always those days when its just so hard to get out of your bed and onto your bike to get to class.

Professors would know your name if you visit them often in office hours. You don't have to talk in class if you want to get noticed by your professors, of course, it would be a lot easier to. Students are VERY competitive but there are a lot who never visit their professors.

A lot of the teachers and ta's are not culturally or ethnically sensitive, but we have really good ethnic studies programs on campus if you're looking for that space. The classes can be pretty challenging, and the quarter system is really fast.