University of California-Irvine Top Questions

What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

Lily

I wish I had known how difficult it was for a student as an “undecided major” to graduate with a usable degree due to the limitability of exposure to other classes, departments and the lack of assistance from counselors and advisors.

Sarah

Parking is ridiculously expensive

Georgina

I wish I knew how costly this university would be. I was expecting college to be expensive, but not this expensive. Housing, food, books, and even basic school supplies all add up to be a pretty penny.

Alejandro

How to form strong study habits and learn how to procrastinate less. High school study habits die hard if you never had study habits in the first place, same goes for procrastination but thats a common trait in all students. The point being, a good study method that works for oneself can make studying less tedious and more effective leaving time for other tasks.

Christina

It has no college town atmosphere

Linsey

I wish I would have known that I should have not finished all of my GE's so early in my university career so that I would have a balance between my required classes for my major and my general education courses. I wish I would have known you could take a general education requirement course as a pass or no pass. And I wish I would have known all the available resources I had to my disposition, as well as having a back up plan when classes fill up quickly.

Matthew

I wish that I knew more about what the school has to offer. There are tons of clubs on campus, but I've only heard about a handful and none of which interest me. I know that there has to be one club on campus that will draw my interest but as of now none have. I want to get the full experience out of college and I feel that knowing what else beside academics a school has to offer wiould help anyone get the college experience they deserve.

Elise

I wish I had known it was a commuter schoool. I think I should have already known that based on my tour, but I did not find this out until later.

Tori

I wish I had known all of the different opportunities I could have taken to familiarize myself with the campus and it's different organizations so I could get involved in more things quicker than I did. Also, I wish I had known all the ways while still in high school that I could have advanced my education such as going part time or in the summer to a community college to gain college credits beforehand just to open up more space for your class schedule once you arrive at UCI.

Corina

I wish I had learned the layout of the school before coming out here. I visited a few times, but never really knew where everything was. I constantly have to refer back to the map just to know if I'm going the right way!

Andrew

I wish I had known that the four years of undergraduate fly by very quickly. Don't pass up the opportunity to attend a school concert, sporting event, or art showcase thinking that you can just attend the next one that comes along. Before you know it your four years will be up.

Seher

I wish I had a better understanding of the registrar and graduation requirements.

Henry

I want to know how many grant I can get from this school.

Magdyel

I wish I had realized that no matter how prepared I thought I was UC Irvine is definitely competitive. With that being said it does not take away from the experience it encourages me even more to become better as a person and a student. Another thing is that even though everyone looks friendly it will all boil down once again to common interests. Each ethinicity for the most part clings to themselves unless you have something you identify with them versus some other group. I wish I had known that many are here are not so open minded.

Lesley

I wish I had known that college is not only a great opportunity for me to learn, but a very precious chance for me to learn how to learn. In my opinion, it is very important to know that high school and college are very different. Before college, we are given the material, and we know what to expect on the tests. In college, however, no one is there to remind us when is due, or even what is due. No one will be there to push us; it is enirely up to us to take the responsiblity of learning.

SANDRA

Before coming to this school I had no idea of how many Asians there are attending it. I can honestly say it is one of the less diverse universities I have ever seen. If there is anything I would want to change in this university is for it to be more diverse.

Andrea

I wish I had known how peaceful and calm Irvine can be, there's always lots of people hanging out in the park taking a nap or reading.

MonicaZoe

That the quarter system was harder to follow.

Jeffrey

It would have been helpful to know what types of on-campus activities I should be involved in and how to utilize as many of the academic and professional resources available to me by the university. There are many organizations, clubs, and counselors who offer help and advice on how to reach your goals in the least time possible. Because of these resources I was able to apply for graduation a year early, attain good grades, be involved in sports, and become vice president of a campus oranization.

Ethel

I wish I had known that known that it wasn't going to be a piece of cake and that I would have to work hard and remain diligent.

Chelsea

How I am going to pay off my student loans, and how I will pay to live on campus next year.

Arthur

I wish I had already known a lot of freshman before coming to Irvine. I wish I had more connections; since there are very few people from my highschool here in Irvine, I had to push myself and create brand new relationships. I never consider a disadvantage as an excuse to quit what I'm trying to accomplish. If you search and you can't find something important, then search elsewhere. Since I'm a business major, it is important for me to make as much friends as possible; making a noise in the crowd will get you noticed.

Candice

I wish I had known that UCI has Business Administration major. I like Business Economics, but I think Business Administration suits me better.

Hamilton

I wish I had known about certain major requirements and which major I was really interested in because it could have saved me a lot of time and effort since I took classes I did not entirely need to. That is not to say that I did not enjoy them or benefitted from them, but it would have been helpful if I was not travelling so aimlessly. Especially since I intend to study abroad and I will need to plan ahead in order to utilize my time and effort to its optimum level.

TaeJu

I wish I had known what colleges want from students. I knew that grades were important but now I know that there are many different things colleges like from potential students.

Tamara

I wish I had known that it was mostly a commuter school, besides that, nothing. I did intensive research on the school before I chose to attend here.

Michael

Before entering college, I wish I would have known about the dynamics of this college. Coming from a small town, I was in a culture shock coming to UCI. There were many asians that I have never met before, but I love it!

Joanne

I wish that someone had told me that the first few days will be awkward and to embrace the awkwardness. I wish that I had been more open so that I could meet many more new people. I wish someone had told me that campus life can be a very new and exciting experience, and that it is nothing like high school.

Amanda

I wish I would've known more about their clubs. Clubs are a great way to meet people and get involved with school. UCI has a lot of clubs and a huge club rish at the beginning of the school year, I sort of brushed over a lot of them and now I regret that

Paula

Before coming here, I wish I could've known what a great school UCI is. I thought of UCI as one of my backup schools, therefore I was not entirely ecstatic to attend. If I had known of the great possibilities and opportunities, I would have spent less time frustrated with my high school academics. In addition to this, I wish I had known that the Science Library always runs out of toilet paper during finals week. Thank goodness a friend had napkins that I could use instead!

Carly

I wish I had known more about all the awesome places on campus to hang out or study. I spent my first quarter here figuring out where to go when I had free time or when I needed a quiet place to get work done, but it would have been helpful to know beforehand.

Hinal

I wish I knew the classes required for my major. If I has known what classes I would be taking in the college for my major then I would take those classes or take classes that would prepare me for my major in the college.

larissa

I wish I knew that public transportation is sometimes difficult.

Danielle

I wish I would have known more people before I came to this school. I am from Fresno, california which is about 5 hours away from Irvine. There were only 2 people from my high school that were going. But it didn't end up mattering because I made friends so fast. Mostly because I live on campus with 66 other people, but I think again it has to do with the people. So of course it would have been nice to know more people those first couple days after move-in, but it ended up turning out okay.

Alejandra

There are a few things that I wish I would have known before coming to this school. I wish I would have known more about what classes were appropriate for my major; I never took calculus and/or physics. I realized I needed this two subjects in order to help me with my major but I never took notice to that through high school. During high school I wasn't fully aware of my options but when I entered college I realized there was so much more out there that I never knew about; I'm glad I now know.

Amanda

That Irvine was such a family/rich place to live - it really shortens the list on what young, poor, and immobile college students can do for fun.

Vanessa

I wish they would've given you a map of the surrounding cities with store's locations. Irvine is an expensive city so you have to do your research for places like Food 4 Less to save your money.

Christopher

Right now I have nothing I wish I knew rather than the course material that I need for my current undergraduate curriculum. I love everything about this school and I regret nothing about it.

Zeyu

The police officers are way too strict when it comes to traffic violations. They would literally tailgate you all the way back to your home if you drive after 1AM. You get noise complaints when there are only you and your roommates watching TV at night causing police officers to come to your house and then giving you a 30 day warning.

Steve

Before I came to this school, I wish I was more aware of the advatanges that we can take from the school

Ali

I wish I did not simply go to class and then go home, realizing that there are many things to be learned outside the classroom. I could have been many new friends, gotten involved in many exciting activities, and learned valuable lessons by simply hanging around on campus when I did not have class. Instead, foolishly thinking that the university had nothing to offer me outside the lecture halls, I would leave after my classes were over. Thus I deprived myself of the full university experience.

Grace

I wish that I had known specifically the programs that UCI offers to students and the resources that I can use to start planning my career. I also wish that I had known the financial support provided for students and the transitional programs for first-year students to participate so that I could start off college strong academically.

Evaline

I wish I knew more about the academic programs they have and which internships are applicable to the majors. I came into UCI headstrong, knowing I'd be an environmental engineer, but being in my second year now, I'm currently working on pre-requisite courses to change majors. Everything else I found out just by exploring around campus in terms of resources, counseling offices, other dining areas, and on campus organizations.

Trevor

I wish i had known more about the school's social life (or lack thereof). I also wish I had known more about the engineering program here, I think that might have been very helpful when applying.

Taylor

There is absolutely no social life here on the weekends, being that everyone goes home by 1 pm on Friday.

Sara

Before I entered UCI, I wish I would have known more about the campus resources. The Career Services and counseling centers would have helped me to figure out exactly what degree I wanted to pursue.

Sarah

I would have loved to know more about what actually counted toward my major requirement before I transferred to UC-Irvine. I was very disappointed to find how many of my classes that I had taken at the community college level simply did not count toward my major. While Assist assisted me at the very end of my stay at my community college, it was not helpful, as the classes it promised would count toward my major did not end up counting toward my major. This was very disappointing for me, and I wish I'd known about it beforehand.

My

I would have been nice to know how much of a distraction living in the dorms could be. Nevertheless, I don't regret my choice to live on campus.

Roxanne

Where to purchase my books for cheaper since UCI mostly uses custom books.

Joey

I wish I had known there was a Nursing Major. I had to switch my majors a couple of times.