University of California-Riverside Top Questions

Make sure you get involved and major in something you truly love.

I would advise students to choose a major which they love and can study for four years without getting bored. Choose a school that makes you feel competitive enough, but not too tense. You want to be able to feel challenged, but not discouraged. For those who are close to family, take into consideration the distance of the campus from your home. Everyone needs a place to unwind and get away from school sometime. The first year should be dedicated to getting comfortable with the school's system like the grading system, class scheduling, learning resources, and advisors. While you are in your first year get a job that allows you to gain experience intellectually. Take one lower division and one upper division course in your major, this allows you to do very well in one upper division. The second year is when you begin to look into what you really want to do after your four years, begin to look at the requirements for the jobs that you want to do. Maintain a high GPA. Continue to look for job oppurtunities while you are in school, this allows you to have a great resume after college.

The most important advice I have for parents is to guide their son or daughter to a good college. Getting a Bachelor's degree in these times is so important. A big mistake a parent can make is forcing or pressuring their kid to go to a college. Let them make their own decisions and let them visit the colleges that they are considering. There is no better way to make a decision unless the college is visited, especially during a college visitation. A student find the right college by doing research. Look for reliable colleges and programs that interest them. Talk to people on the campus visit and get a feel for the campus environment to see if they could truly picture themselves there. Advice for making the most out of the college experience would be to get involved! Do research, get an internship, and do volunteer work. I gained a lot of valuable experience, which has been pivitol in my post undergraduate life, but there opportunities are not just handed to you. Be proactive and start looking for opportunities early. Make yourself marketable for the future and get experience. Make your experience yours.

Finding the right college depends on you as a person. I am glad I attanded UC Riverside, one of the smaller UC schools. I was able to meet people in my major in the small classes that were offered. I was also able to live at home for a couple of years and them move to an off campus apartment for two years. Make sure that the school you are looking at has the major you want and the classes that are offered suit your needs. Also, I studied abroad in Italy and it was an amazing experience and I earned units for it. I would definiely reccomend studying abroad for everyone. If for some reason you do not get into your top school choice, it is not the end of the world. College is what you make of it. If you study hard, attend classes and have a good sense of self discipline, you have the qualities needed to be successsful. Parties will also happen wherever you go. My last bit of advice is to make good friends that you can trust.

FIrst off, be sure to visit the campus during the school year. Observe the student life. People are often so worried about the status of a school and its professors that they forget that out-of-class time is equally important. Do students look like they are having fun between classes? Are people standing in groups or are they mostly alone listening to their ipod? Secondly, there is no wrong choice in college but to not get plugged in! If you're not making friends, join an after-school intermural volleyball team or see what the theatre program has in the works. Start asking classmates if they are going to the concert the school is hosting, or if you're more bold ask if they want to go with you! Make the university your own! Personally, My college experience didn't sizzle until I pushed myself to get out of my comfort zone to study abroad in Spain for the year. If you don't have fun in collge, I believe the fault often lies in the student's attitude toward college and not in the university itself. So, before you're saying, "I coulda, shoulda, woulda..." Get plugged in!

Don't let money be an issue. Make the most of your college experience because it's worth every penny. Be involved and be open to new experiences because you'll never know what will catch your interest.

Save money on rent. If you were not able to get cheap in campus housings, don't sign up for the expensive ones. Instead, sign up for apartment sites in the internet, which will provide a list of apartments with their prices and addresses, and choose the best available. You will be surprised how many apartments there are near your campus. Having low rent can save you thousands over your college years.

Make sure that they offer the major or program that you would like to have...Speaking from having seen two friends go from A/B students to being on probation, if you choose to join a frat, dont let it take all your time, and if pledging is too much and making you fail, its not worth it.

My advice to parents is to trust their child to choose the right college that will suit their interests. They are young adults who should be treated as an adult and what I mean by that is to stand by them 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} with whatever decision they make for their future. You may feel that the school they choose isn't the right choice but in essence it's their decision to make. That's what part of being an adult is all about. I will guarentee you that they will make mistakes but from those mistakes they will learn from them and grow to become a better person. My advice for students entering college is to go into college with open arms and open eyes. Take advantage of everything that college has to offer: clubs, fraternities or sorrorities, career center, recreation center, study abroad programs, internships, etc. One thing I've learned in college is to go above and beyond. College is the stepping stone to your future and when you have a strong foundation that is when you can build your building of success.

Just make sure you are going to UCR because you WANT to. Not because you think you will be living at a cheaper crappier school. Trust me, I chose this school cuz it supposedly gave me more money but it turned out they were lying.