University of California-San Diego Top Questions

nope favorite class = sign language least favorite = all the chem seems like people always study no yes yes idk swithchin majors, but bioengineering is ridick! no ridiculous learning for its own sake... ew

Professors will know your name if you brown nose. Favorite class - the arts. Least favorite - the 300 + impersonals. I used to study 6-7 days a week. Now I dont study. Participation is common. There are a great many intellectual conversations outside of class. YES we are VERY competitive. Most unique class- freshmen seminars! DO IT! My major is ever changing. I have actually considered dating some of my TAs The academic requirements are ridiculous. Especially for ERC. MMW is rewarding but the additional requirements are a waste of time. REWARDING FOR LEARNING. YOU LEARN A LOT. ACADEMICS HERE ARE under rated. REALLY EDUCATIONALLY THRIVING ENVIRONMENT

Professors don't care about you. Classes are too big. MMW SUCKS. Students study too much. There are only a few select students with intellectual conversations. Some students are very competitive. I'm not, though.. just don't do better than me on my tests. The academic requirements are okay despite MMW as a GE. UCSD education is a piece of shit.

Depending on how big the class is, professors will or will not know your name. This is also kind of up to you, going to office hours, and meeting with the teacher makes you know them a little more personally. Going to office hours makes me have a more personal experience, which i sugguest to people if they are looking for one. Most teachers just sit alone during their office hours and I know of some who make extra coffee dates to talk to students. At UCSD I kinda think its up to you how close you are to a professor. MUIR has some bomb-ass GE's meaning they have like 2. If you dont wanna waste your time on stupid GEs, other than Muir Writing (yuck), than Muir is the way to go. Im actually really dissatisfied with the THeatre department at UCSD. You have to take all these classes, that if you wanna be a Theatre major, you probably already know all the stuff you learn in them, or know that these are fields of theatre (like set design) that you have no desire to go into. Also, i realy enjoy musical theatre, which the school is completely lacking in. Also, I feel like there is no real preperation for life after college with any major. You know a lot of stuff, but nothing you need to find a job in the real world. I do have intellectual convos outside of class, esepeically if something in the class really interests me.

Thus far, all of my professors know me from office hours conversations. I absolutely adore my Italian class because the atmosphere is so friendly and lively and the people and teachers are great company to learn from/with. The exact opposite of that class, Biology, is my least favorite (I love the subject of biology, but not my fellow classmates). In biology, yes. I am undeclared in biology sciences (I know, ironic), and I am working to be qualified to apply for medical my senior year. I have been to office hours to chat briefly, but I have had lunch and more extensive conversations with a couple of my professors. The academic requirements vary from college to college; in all, I think they facilitate learning for the sake of learning, in part because each of the professors speak passionately about their subjects and students feed off that love.

Most professors don't know your name unless you go to their office hours all the time or something. I would say that most students don't go to office hours or spend time with their professors outside of class. But those who do usually get something out of it like a better grade or a potential recommendation letter. I think most students study a lot...the 'unsocial bookworm' thing. However, those that are social still study quite a bit too. Most study during the week more than on the weekends. I think that the academic requirements are pretty fair. Each college has their own set of requirements which is nice because in choosing a college, you can decide your GE's. That is how I decided on a college when applying to UCSD and I think that was very helpful in deciding.

Some of the professors do. Not all of course.

professors know my name: yes, two of them favorite class: Ramachandran's "Brain Disorders". he's hilarious, captures his students, is likeable, and is a world-renown neuropsychologist. and you gotta love it when he plays that video of himself :) least favorite: ooh, DOC and my Ethnic studies class. only because i was a freshman so it was hard to adjust, there was a TON of reading, and i hate writing papers! how often do students study?: not sure about everyone, but i personally study two full days before an exam is class participation common?: no do UCSD students have intellectual convos outside of class: some do.. are students competitive?: sure. the bar is raised because everyone's smart, so you challenge yourself by striving to get an A. what's the most unique class you've taken: "brain disorders" again my major/dept: Psychology. it's cool, mosty research. i wish it had more applied studies for hands-on interaction with a population do you spend time with professors outside of class: no how do you feel about UCSD's academic requirements?: not so great because just when i thought i was ready to graduate, i find i have to take 26 more units plus summer school. boo is the ed @ UCSD for getting a job, or learning for its own sake?: both, mostly for its own sake....i.e. damn electives!!

Although your classes typically have between 100-300 students in a lecture, the professors encourage you to come to their office hours and they are for the most part really receptive. Because of the class sizes it's uncommon for your professor to know you unless you constantly go to office hours. Students are competitive, but it is not all that cut throat. Being a History major, I am most definitely in the minority at this school full of science, pre-med students. The History department is pretty amazing though! The professors are awesome and they realize that history majors are far and few in between and so you get to know them pretty well.

A couple of my professors do. My favorite class is MMW. My least favorite class is stats. I study fairly often. I try to participate. Definitely, there are a lot of well-educated people at this school. Students are ridiculously competitive here. The most unique class I have taken thus far is probably CSE3. It was much more interactive than I had expected. It is so ridiculously difficult to sign up for a communications class! I try to utilize office hours. Requirements are reasonable but six quarters of MMW is a little daunting. I feel like education at UCSD is geared toward learning for its own sake. It is almost like professors are teaching you to become professors in the future (if that makes sense).

Professors don't know my name but that will change next quarter when I have to take a 15 person colloquium. My fav class is anything with professor Radcliff. My least fav would be anything for my minor, communications because all completely pointless. Class participation is rare exception for the one annoying kid in every class that will argue with the teacher and ask pointless/obnoxious questions while the rest of the class is thinking "shut up already." Some students discuss intellectual things outside of class but usually because they are trying to be artsy and intellectual--they're trying to seem cool. Some students are competitve but I really couldn't care less. I like my major/department--my one beef is that you have to email the professor to get permission to enroll in your required colloquium and it doesn't say that anywhere on the website. So, I majorly flipped out over nothing when it wouldn't let me sign up. I feel that the academic requirements are fine, although I might object to the 6 quarters of MMW if I didn't like history. I haven't gotten a full time job yet (and my current job has nothing to do with my major) so I really couldn't say.

professors usually do not know your name unless you put in the effort of getting to know them, but that seems like it makes sense since classes are very large. my favorite class is MMW especially professor herbst he loves what he teaches and does an amazing job. my least favorite class was Phil 10 with grush it was the most annoying class ever and i find that people tend to agree with that statement. ucsd's academic requirements are time consuming, but it helps each student be more well-rounded. the school is very science and research-based which is kind of annoying for non-science majors. ucsd students usually tend to have intellectual conversations about molecules and electrons rather than what is going on in the world, which i don't really like. i don't really spend time with professors outside of class but i would like to. i think ucsd should also do a better job of letting students who are applying to the school know what each college is about so they don't randomly apply to a college that doesn't cater to their major or interests.

UCSD is a great place, one of the best, to study in the sciences. My rooms mates consist of 2 mechanical engineering majors and a human bio major and all three of them study like crazy. Apparently it's really competitive. As for spending time with professors outside of class I hear a lot about programs that provide deals on food for students that want to get lunch with a professor. The academic requirements are different depending on the "college" you enroll in within UCSD, so definitely look into the requirements that each college has before picking one because they range from having to take a crap load of general ed to hardly any general ed. I'm a music major. Personally I find the undergrad music program here a little underdeveloped but it is growing and it has the potential to be quite respectable some day. The grad department is huge on experimental music/contemporary classical. that's pretty much all they do, so you get exposed to a lot of that. The faculty, at least the jazz oriented faculty, is pretty awesome, with people like Mark Dresser, Kamau Kenyatta, David Borgo, and Anthony Davis. There are a lot of really interesting performances too. I think UCSD is the home of Red Fish Blue Fish. One problem is that it is very grad centered and the professors really don't give a toot about your development if you are an undergrad, so if you want something done here you have to do it yourself. Another problem is that most of the students in the undergrad department are either a double major in music and something else or a music minor, and are just taking it to look good for when they apply for grad school or a position as a doctor or a brain surgeon. They are very few undergrad music students committed to being awesome musicians and nobody practices.

Students study everyday and the libraries, especially Geisel, is probably the most popular and social place on campus.

It's strange that all classes are just big lectures with section only once a week. It basically means my professors never know me at all and I only get to know TAs. I don't like that that is the set up for basically every class.

Students are really competitive and maybe that's why you'll see so many people at Geisel Library. It's a good thing too though because you meet really quality people who you can have more than just shallow, stupid conversations with.

Classes are all very different. They aren't too difficult to pass if you don't slack off.

Classes are very large so unless you go into office hours and see the professor, or your T.A., then usually they will not know your name. My favorite class was TDGE 25 which is a Public Speaking class. It was amazing! Yes, students are very competitive at UCSD. My major is International Studies and the department is good.

yes some do

See "Are these stereotypes accurate?" UCSD is a hard academic school. Students study quite often. Much of the curriculum is theory based and geared towards research. It is not geared toward getting a job. If a student wants to get to know a professor they must be proactive and go to office hours. Classes are usually large and thus a student will most likely not get to know a professor just from attending class.