University of California-Davis Top Questions

New students are not always the best bike riders so accidents can happen for the first month of school while everyone is getting adjusted.

The financial aid counselors are incompetent and inconsistent with their answers. I visited their office and spoke with many of their representatives on separate occassions for my financial aid package for this year's summer courses, but they told me at the very last minute that their grants were depleted. Despite registering early to be eligible for financial aid, I had to drop all my classes. They kept on telling me that the aid packages would be finalized in a few days, but days turned into weeks and my package still wasn't done.

The quarter system goes really fast and you have tests almost every week or every other week. YOu will definitely fall behind if you don't study every single day.

The most frustrating thing for me during my freshman year is the fact that there are thousands od students on class. Because of this, you are constantly competing against other students in order to get in classes. Most students do not get the classes that the introductory classes that they need for their major because everyone is trying to get into that class. My suggestion to prevent this would be to join a club that provides priority registration, such as TRiO or EOP.

How complicated the online systems for billiing and signing up for classes are.

The focus on greek life, though I am oversensitive to it. I generally don't have tolerance for fraternities and sororities, I know there are a lot of schools that have a much heavier focus on them than Davis. I do find, though, that almost every person I meet has some sort of greek affiliation.

The registration process for classes is frustrating. There are pass times in which you have to wait to register and by the time you can register the classes you want to take are full. As a freshman, it is very frustrating.

The most frustating thing is the dining commons. Its true that UC Davis offers a wide variety of food but overall they just do not know how to prepare their food very well. The chefs should really work on their seasoning. Another factor about the food is that UC Davis tries to focus on being vegan and vegetarian friendly which causes them to push these types of food upon students, they pretty much push aside the needs of students who actually enjoy meat.

The most frustrating thing about my school is the lack of financial aid and scholarships available to low-income, disadvantaged students without parents. My mother died when I was five and I never knew or met my father. According to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and my university, I had to file as an independent student because I did not have parental income to file as a dependent student. As a result, I received less grant money and more loans than my dependent counterparts. This is a flaw in the system that needs to be fixed immediatly!

The campus is too big and roads are really intricate. It is super easy to be lost there.

It can sometimes feel very isolated

I do not have many concerns or frustrations. However, because of the growing popularity and class size, it is oftentimes hard to communicate directily with your professors.

It's a big school, so you have to make an effort to know the teacher.

The difficulty of rallying everyone together and bring a sense of community to get involved. We care about current political-social-economical issues and discuss but do not collectively act upon it. Most people are hesitant or uncomfortable by the tabling/petitioning on our campus, and to get involved.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is how large the actual campus is because it takes a long time to get to each class. Another frustration is that students and organizations do not utilize their location near the State Capitol to their fullest benefit. My main frustration with UC Davis is how much my tutition has gone up.

I believe that my school lacks a solid liberal arts community. Nearly 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the graduating class receives a degree in psychology, while most other graduates are in pre-med, engineering, or animal science related majors. There is a lack of development within the Arts, and yet UCD maintains, for example, a very strong undergraduate English department. Regardless, the school does not seem to give much support or draw enough students interested in a Liberal Arts education.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is the class sizes. The classes I have to take for my major are mostly in big lecture halls which create a very impersonal level of education and learning. I must admit I was aware of this when I chose this school, and it is a small sacrifice for the education I am receiving. However, if it were a perfect world, I would prefer to be taught in smaller sized classrooms for the classes that are most important towards my major like Chemistry, Biology, and Math.

When life throws it's curve balls toward you, you have to pick yourself up becuase the school is not there to help, they are there to collect and help you with class selection and enrollment; its up to you to make it happen. A little encouragement or push would be nice from this school. Its not that big to start neglecting its students.

As a transfer student from a community college, it is also hard to adapt to the fast paced quarter systems as opposed to my community college semester based system. Eleven weeks is much more different than 18 weeks to learn and let material soak into your long-term memory.

The campus is extremely large. It takes more than 30 minutes to walk from one end of the campus to another. This distance is extremely frustrating for students who don't bike and decides to walk.

when it rains its hard to get to class.

The most frustrating about the University of California is that even with the overstuffed classrooms, it apparently does not have enough money and the financial situation of students just keeps getting more ridiculous.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is the weather. I am from a small, surf town where the weather is pretty consistently nice and Davis doesn't have that consistency. It's located close to Lake Tahoe, which is an advantage if you do any sort of snow sport, but also means that when it snows there, it rains here. The summer is also extremely hot, making it really hard to do anything outdoors if you're sensitive to the heat.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is how difficult it is to register in classes that you need. For example, the majority of science-related majors are required to take the General Chemistry series, but every quarter, it is almost impossible for new students to get in. This is partly because freshmen and sophomores are only allowed to register after upperclassmen, but it is also because there are not enough spots in the laboratories for all the students that need the class.

Despite the increased student Fee's plaguing the UC system as a whole, it was not that which struck me as worst. It was, in fact, the result of this, which took the focus of the process of educating myself and other students, and was put onto the politics of the situation. Universities are places of research and education, and the reaction by students, administrators, and professor's during this last year has turned a learning instiution into a political one, which, in my opinion is unacceptable. This change of attitude is the msot frustrating thing about this school.

Financial aid.

For me, the most frustrating thing about Davis is that there are so many opportunities and activities that I would like to do, that I feel like I don't have enough time to pursue everything I want to! I wish I could stay in school for longer to take advantage of all of the possible life experiences that are available to me!

The most frustrating thing about my school is the amount of work and the variety of subjects. It's hard to choose what class you want to take because there are a lot of different subjects available.

It can be supremely frustrating not being able to get into the class you need because it is full. Oftentimes, many of the lower-division prerequisite courses are waitlisted, preventing students from advancing deep into their major until much later in their college careers; far later than necessary.

Overall I would have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my school, it does fit my needs pretty well. The only thing that can be frustrating at times is worrying about how I am going to pay my college tuition from month to month, I would love to never have to worry about financial problems, but it is an expensive school to attend. Likewise, it can be hard to get all the classes you need, which is why some students do not graduate within four years.

A lot of the people here like to party and drink, which results in them being loud and drunk. I'm sure you can find this at most other campus', but this just wasn't my scene.

The high cost of living, including school related supplies such as textbooks.

The most frustrating thing about my school experience at UC Davis was the language program. I wanted to get a Spanish minor, and ended up not being able to recieve one because I had not taken a non-spanish class, even though I had close to 15 units of upper division units in Spanish and had studied abroad in Spain. Plus the majority of the spanish courses are aimed at being able to read and write, not speak fluently.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is that there are so many extraordinary intelligent individuals who are as determined as you are to get ahead in class and in life. It makes for pretty intense competition for internships, volunteer opportunities, etc. At the same time, this allows for more opportunities to arise. So it's both frustrating but envigorating, really.

I'm a pre-health student. I enjoy going to UC Davis; however, the advisors in the pre-health department are the coldest, most unhelpful advisors I have ever come across in my life. They make students cry, and instead of being supportive of their students, advisors explain to students who they feel are "under-par" to find another path in life. It's really sad.

The most frustrating thing about my school was trying to figure out how to sign up for classes for the first time. I missed the opportunities for orientation regarding course registration and didn't know who to ask for help. I overheard other students talking about shared courses and realized that I wasn't in the same boat. Signed up for upper division courses I selected out of pure interest the day before classes started, I was fortunately able to get the help I needed from a floor advisor for freshman (separate from the RA).

Sometimes there is a lack of campus/student community (as a whole). There are plenty of extra-curricular activites for students to create social circles but I think it would be nice to have more events/activities that encompass the student body as a whole.

Some classes required for my major are difficult to get into and you have to waitlist. Also, the amount of studying required is definately tough!!!

Most classes tend to be very big in class size. It is very hard to meet with the professor directly. Students are very academically competitive and sometimes are not friendly at all. The campus is really big and some places are hard to find. There are many bikes and many students in between classes and therefore provides traffic. Parking is hard to find in the beginning of the school year. Long lines during exam days everywhere in the school. Smell of the agriculture nearby produces unwanted smell. Professors give excessive amounts of information during lecture hours.

The most frustrating thing about my school is the way in which the tranportation works on the weekends. I know it's because students are the ones who drives the buses but it would help if more busses ran during the weekened. Otherwise, I really like my school.

The classes are humongous and there needs to be programs to help facilitate the transition into the classroom setting.

That only freshman are allowed to live in campus dorms.

FInals

The do not plan the schedules for working adults.

Nothing.

The coursework is very challenging.

Although there is alot of diversity in interests on campus, the majority of students seem to be utterly disconnected with the world and feed into the beuracratic system of UC Davis. The classes sometimes allow too much feedback from student who speak without direction. There needs to be more seriousness and more discipline. Above all else, there is no sufficient on OR off-campus music venue allowing for experimental music.

not enough funds and equipment given for my major.

The most frustrating thing about Davis is that there is not much to do in the city itself or in the surrounding area aside from campus-related activities. That being said, if you commit to having fun and enjoying your free time with your friends, you find all kinds of great activities to do when you are not in class even though the town itself is not that exciting.

The most frustrating thing about UC Davis is the insane amount of bicycle traffic. They're everywhere, especially during peak hours when all the classes seem to let out at the same time.