University of California-Davis Top Questions

Our university is the fourth ranked university of California behind UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego. UC Davis has been stereotyped as being the "reject" school where students choose to go if they don't make it into the "top" UCs. It is also stereotyped as being no one's first choice school. I am an exception to this stereotype. While I was in high school, UC Davis was my dream school. I worked hard in order to be eligible to be accepted onto this campus. I applied to two other UCs my senior year and got into all of them. I even chose to reject my acceptance to UC Berkeley because UC Davis had always been my first choice. I have met many other students here who have rejected offers from higher ranked colleges. In the end, the most important factor in choosing a college is a place where the student feels they belong and a place where they offer their major (if the student is sure of what they want to study). The rank of the school shouldn't even be considered a factor, a University of California education is prestigious no matter which one they end up going to.

Our university is the fourth ranked university of California behind UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego. UC Davis has been stereotyped as being the "reject" school where students choose to go if they don't make it into the "top" UCs. It is also stereotyped as being no one's first choice school. I am an exception to this stereotype. While I was in high school, UC Davis was my dream school. I worked hard in order to be eligible to be accepted onto this campus. I applied to two other UCs my senior year and got into all of them. I even chose to reject my acceptance to UC Berkeley because UC Davis had always been my first choice. I have met many other students here who have rejected offers from higher ranked colleges. In the end, the most important factor in choosing a college is a place where the student feels they belong and a place where they offer their major (if the student is sure of what they want to study). The rank of the school shouldn't even be considered a factor, a University of California education is prestigious no matter which one they end up going to.

Because UC Davis is such a large university virtually every kind of student can be found on our campus. We definitely have our fair share of nature loving, outdoorsy types because of our close proximity to the Sierras. There are also a lot of academically enthusiastic students as well as talented athletes (Davis is a D1 school now). There are a lot of Greeks, but the students that are involved in the greek system aren't the typical sorority girls and frat boys. The Greek kids are very laid back and extremely friendly. Every stereotype exists on campus, although if you're looking for an indy druggie crowd you may have a more difficult time finding it. Overall there is no such thing as a typical UC Davis student because such a diversity of people attend this university.

The first thing everyone thinks of when they hear "Davis, California" is our "aggie" reputation; more specifically, they've heard of the cows we have on campus. Students here are stereotyped as small-town, agricultural, granola eating, Birkenstock wearing, quiet young adults. Once you get to Davis, however, your eyes are opened up to the reality of our campus. Davis is an incredible mix of all types: from the real life aggies (Animal Science majors, Horse Barn interns, community garden growers), to a plethora of pre-meds (Sacramento hospitals are always looking for student interns), to jocks (you can't go to a lecture without seeing at least one person decked out in a UCD sport's team attire), to sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, singers, dancers, painters, activists, thugs, hippies, nerds... you name it! Once people get here, they see it is impossible to lump our students into one category.

This "stereotype" is pretty accurate. The students here are really friendly which makes it easy to find a study buddy in your classes. If you have a question before an exam, most of the time, the person next to you will be happy to answer it for you. We all work hard and do not mind helping out a fellow student. The atmosphere here is very relaxing. When the weather is nice, you will find people studying on the grass area of the quad or playing a game of hackey sack.

I don't feel like any particular stereotype really exists on campus. People are free to act as themselves and not feel pressured to be somebody they aren't. I know this sounds like a cookie-cutter answer, but it really does hold true at UC Davis.

The students at University of California, Davis come from a prestigious background. Many students bring with them a breadth of knowledge and are commonly stereotyped as geeks. Also like many UC campuses, the stereotype of large Asian communities is widespread. Although the correlation between both stereotypes of "geeky" and "Asian", go hand in hand, nonetheless this may not always be the case. UC Davis is also stereotyped for being a university that is strong in agriculture, bio and veterinary sciences.

When people think of UC Davis, they usually think we are all anti-social, stuck up people who only care about farming and cows and plants. This couldn't be farther from the truth. There is one word that I can use to describe UC Davis: eclectic. UC Davis, the 3rd largest of the UC's in term of enrollment and 1st in terms of physical size, has a huge range of groups that make up our student population. Just by strolling through the Coho (Coffee House) you can see Aggie band members, fraternity and sorority members, people with their heads deep in books, hippies, skaters, and almost any other group sitting down at tables right next to each other. If there is a group you are looking for because it is one you already belong to, or a new group you are trying to join you will be able to find them at Davis!

The stereotype is somewhat true in that there is a large divide between students who are highly motivated and another group of students who are wasting away their youth from thrill to thrill and have no interest in learning anything.

The stereotype is somewhat true in that there is a large divide between students who are highly motivated and another group of students who are wasting away their youth from thrill to thrill and have no interest in learning anything.