University of California-San Diego Top Questions

people rarely participate in class because there with the quarter system there is so much to cover in each class, those people that ask off topic questions are annoying. some of the general education requirements at this school are ridiculous. i really started to enjoy school once i began upper divison courses that were more specialized to what i wanted to learn. at that point i began to learn for learnings sake, not just to graduate. get rid of so many general ed requirements.

I went to one of my bio professor's office hours once and we talked for a bit and then invited me to visit him over the summer to see his mutant cornfield that he's growing for his research! I see him around campus every now and then and he'll stop to say hi and chat if he has time. One day, my friends and I were having lunch at a dining hall when a random professor just came and sat at our table. He introduced himself and then we talked about just about everything for nearly two hours. It was so fun because he was so interesting.

SOOO hard and competitive, in regards to the science courses.

Some know my name. Favorite: Hard to answer, but I'd probably say Gospel Choir (MUS95G). Worst: Linear Circuits (MAE140) mainly because the professor was BAD! Students study A LOT! I'd probably say we treat studying like a full time job (literally ~8hr/day). Class participation is very common. Yes we have intellectual conversations outside of class, but we also know when to act goofy. YES STUDENTS ARE COMPETITIVE! Humanities 5 - we met two Holocaust survivors. Bioengineering = cool professors, administration could be better. Biology = cool professors and nice administration. GREAT DEPARTMENT. Yes, I spend time with professors outside of class. Well, it depends on the college (you are usually in one of our six colleges). I can speak for REVELLE. REVELLE is a GREAT department. We have a lot of GE'sm but it makes us well rounded and ready for the real world. I think UCSD is geared for both. It's geared so that you can obtain a job in an area you truly choose to grow in. Many people from UCSD continue their education by going to graduate school after receiving a bachelor's degree. It's awesome.

Lecture professors don't know my name. Favorite class - Public speaking! Least - Warren Writing... People are ALWAYS studying...it's UCSD! People are active in class, if they go... Lots of intellectual conversations. VERY competitive. Most unique class - Music & Film class! Major: Communications - I'd tell you but I haven't been able to get into that class yet...

Professors often dont know your name, but if you choose to get to know them, they will get to know you. I love psyc classes. Students study different amounts depending on the class.

Academic life at UCSD is rather difficult, as many of the professors are researchers who expect a lot more from students than memorization. With such a large student body, it’s difficult to get to know professors personally, despite the different departments’ insistence on building professor/student relations. The general education requirements differ from college to college, and if you plan to graduate on time then you should consider which college you choose before applying (switching between colleges is rather difficult). Easiest general education requirements can be found in Muir College; most difficult GEs in either Revelle or Roosevelt. The courses are interesting, and a lot of them require dedication and detail to the learning process itself, let alone the subject matter. However, a degree from UCSD is coupled with research experience—if you can get in with a professor and help with their research, you are almost guaranteed a job opening upon graduation. With that said, it is a very competitive school in biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering, although there are many communication majors and other humanities majors that compete for the top grade. Students therefore study a lot, probably more so than at other schools, for midterms and finals. It’s also difficult given the quarter system: ten weeks to learn the material before moving onto the next class can be both a blessing and a plague, depending on the professor, course, etc.

Professors do not know your name. My favorite class was a mandatory writing class. My least was chemistry. Class participation is not common. In science, UCSD is the MOST competitive, hard-core school.

Many classes are large lecture hall classes with 200 students so professors do not know names. But there are also many small classes where professors will know names. My favorite class was PSYC4 (Intro to Behavioral Psyc) with Dr. Jacob. Students study ALL the time, it's a little scary. There's a lot of competition here. Class participation is only common in small classes or discussion sections, not large lectures. The most unique class I've taken was MUS15 - Techno music. It was odd. The Psychology Department is amazing, but also VERY research based which is to be expected. I have not spent time with professors outside of class, except for the class I TAed for. UCSD's academic requirements vary by college. I think Muir college is amazing for GE's, but others like ERC and Revelle are horrible. The education at UCSD is definitely geared to learning for its own sake with very little real world applicability discussed.

students study a lot because of the quarter system's fast faced nature.