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.

keep their mind set.

Dont look for a party school, and if you get to a party school, control your partying. In the end, as you near your graduation, you will realize that the whole point about going to college is individual experience and job outlook. Pick a college that can aide you with its great networking systems, helping professors, and a student population with which your comfortable. Most importantly, your first year is extermely important, you screw up your first year, you will spend the rest of your career trying to fix it. You would rather take your classes slowly, rather than overburden yourself. Remember, finishing your degree is not a race!

Look for a campus that isn't a party campus. Partying may be fun, but it doesn't help you in your studies.

Firstly, for the advice I would give parents about finding the right college would be to allow their children to decide for themselves. Pressuring them to apply or attend your alma mater or the school that has your favorite college football team will not make their decisions any easier. Support your children and their aspirations; if your children are not sure about what they want to do, you should tell them to apply to the schools that appeal to them and then decide. If possible, parents should take their children to visit college campuses to help make their decision. Secondly, for students who are having a hard time choosing between colleges, there is no rush. Visit as many campuses as you can. Do your research on the schools. Do not just apply and hope for the best once decision time rolls around. Lastly, for making the most of the college experience, I would advise that students get involved. It is really important to have a support system and stability once you enter college, and joining different student organizations might be one of them. Look into your school's sports, organizations, and top honors associations. Make every moment you have memorable.

Definitely know that college is nothing like high school. the work load and work ethics will need to be at a higher scale.

I would say when finding the right college, the first factor is motive. It is always good to know why you should go to college in the first place. Ask your self questions like: can it help me get a good career? Make money? Foundation? Because my parents want me to? Or because your heard it was the first step to learn how to do what you want to do in the future? Without motivation it will be hard to successed and not to mention stressful, not only in college but in life in general. The second factor is location. I think it is good for the student to move away from home and experience a different city or state.The third factor are the school's programs and emphasis. College would be a waist of time if you go to a college that does not have what you are interested in doing. And if you do not know what you are going to do, it is important for the school to have good programs that will help the student firgure out what they would want to do during and after college.

I would have to say that the best advice would be travel to the different colleges you are looking at and tour them, get the real \feel of what the campus is before making your choice. There are so many campuses available it would be a shame to waste your oppurtunities with just picking a campus based upon heresay.

explore. try new things. don't be afraid.

Try to be involved in your school. There's all sorts of clubs and activities out there, and it's best to take advantage of them while you can. Go to parties, but remember to get your work turned in. And parents, allow your kids to grow up into who they are.

If you're not sure want you want to major in, go to a community college first and complete your general education classes there. You save money and it gives you enough time to figure out what you want to major in. I wish someone would've told me that in high school, I spent too many years and thousands of dollars trying to decide on a major. When in college find a counselor that will help guide you through your college career. Ask lots and lots of questions and take your studies seriously, it is too easy to let your studies slip and you don't want to look back and wish that you had done better.

I believe it's very important to visit all schools a student has been accepted to before making the decision of which to attend. In order to make the most of your college experiance, try to meet all types of people, take your classes seriously, join a club, and do not go over-board just because you are experiancing absolute freedom for the first time.

Always look for colleges that seem to fit your own personality and make sure you visit the college before you decide to attend it. Parents should always encourage their children to attend the college of their choice and not try to pressure their child into picking a certain college. In the end it is the child who will be attending not the parent. College is some of the best years of your life but do not get too cocky. Always make sure you are keeping up with your school work and put your schooling before parties. It is important to have a social life but it is also important to graduate. Make sure you participate in school activities because when you look back at your college years you want to have happy memories and know that you made the best of your college years. Make sure you will never end up regretting anything.

I would advise them to apply to as many colleges as possible as well as visiting those campuses. In addition, I think everyone should try the dorm experience for at least a year. I personally did not like the dorm experience, but I do not regret it.

The best advice I can give to parents and students about finding the right college is that you have to look at the people that make up the college. You can't just choose your college based on a ranking or a picture and description from a book, you have to really go out and experience the college yourself. You have to find the people that you fit in with and that you would relate with most. Talk to the professors, talk to the students there, and try and get a feeling of the campus before you go there. You have to remember that your decision is something you might have to stick with the next four years, but if you find the right one, the years will wizz by. Finding the right college is like dating, you have to get to know the college and be sure that is suits you before you make the big commitment. A picture and a ranking can tell you what other people think of the college, only you can decide which college is the right one for you.

The advice i would give to students would be to find a school that has the emphasis of what you want to study. I would tell them not to study what their parents want them to study, but what they truly want to study. And if they dont know yet, then to go to a school that has many different majors in which they can take different classes to see what's out there for them. For the parents, I'd have to say to not pressure their kids in going to a specific school just for the name, but simply allow the student to make his/her own choice. And to make the best experience out of college would be to get involved in some way. It is crucial for students to gain a sense of belonging through an organization or club or simply through friends so that they will enjoy college to the fullest.

Make sure that they research the school completely, especially asking other students about the school, ratemyprofessor can give students a good idea about were they want to go. Also campus tours or visiting the school are extremely important. Making the most of college is up to the individual, but I would say get involved AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE it will change your life and that is what college is all about, even if it means joining a fraternity or sorority, these organizations do have their pros as well.

To parents, do not pressure or try to influence what college your kid goes to or how far away it should be. My parents did not allow me to go where I wanted to and I have been unhappy with it ever since. To studends: Do not allow anything to keep you from making your decision like parents, significant other, or job situation. College is important and it should be somehting that you want to do and it should be a campus where you want to go. Also, try to find a school that is in line with any types of beliefs you may have such as political or religious. My beliefs are completely opposite from what my school's are. They constantly bad mouth the other belief and it makes me so frustrated and angry, thus giving me an even more negative outlook on the university and its professors.

The best advice that anyone can and should give is "set a goal, follow the goal, and achieve it." By that, I mean that every student should first decide what they want to do or what they want to major in and then choose a college or university that are known for that specific fields of study that the student is interested in. After the student finishes the research, he or she should make a schedule to manage their time properly and try to take the right path in trying to achieve the goal. One would need to participate in classes, get involved in extra curricular activities and last of all, make studying his or her number one priority. By doing all this, I think that a student or students will all be able to successfully achieve their goal, whether it be graduating from the university with an above 3.5 GPA or becoming a doctor. To say it directly; don't be lazy and don't forget that you attend college to learn. However, give yourself some breaks in between. You are a human, too. Ultimately, give it your best and work hard as college determines your future.

I feel that the best way is to go to community college first. Because at community college you will be able to find out what subject you are best at and would willingly do for the rest of your life. It also help get a feeling of how college is like. If you have time make sure to do go to work and don't be lazy because you will need the money once you attend a University.

Finding a college is the choice of the student - no one is going to be spending nearly as much time on campus as he or she is. As far as education goes, forget the prestige of the school; you'll receive an education that's far more stimulating than high school ever was and you'll find professors who live and breathe the material they'll present. The only difference is, they'll expect you to be an adult about your education. Choosing the right college is all about your own goals - what you want to do in the future, what's important to you now and what you want by the end of and throughout the next four years. Do the research; don't just look up an annual survey! To make the most of your college years, I really only have one piece of advice: have a conversation. You won't find as much satisfaction with your education and your experience if you never talk to anyone. Ask the professor a question. Tell a peer about your weekend. You'd be amazed at how eagerly another person is waiting to hear you speak.

Let you're kids have fun...

Ask older students for their opinions on everything.

Students and parents should look for a college that has a broad, focused, educational background willing to accomodate a student's needs, however, it must possess characteristics and attention of a strong, yet small, school. Find a reputable school that one can be proud of and possibly send future generations of their children. Although education is the most imprtant facet of finding a university/college, consider the campus life, extra-curricular activities, facilities, safety, and alumni of the school. Ask current students of their experiences and opinions of the shcool, not merely what the ads and brochures boast of their school, and attend a few lectures to see exactly what to expect from your future alma mater. Definitely spend a night or two in the dorms to get a feel of the campus. Do not decide on a school because of friends, or a significant other because there should be no obstructions in considering future education. Carefully compare each university's location, price, atmosphere, and educational prospects, and consider both child and parent's opinion on the school. Parents should not feel price as an issue, and students should feel that parent's are acting in their best interest.

Apply to many schools so that later they have more choices of schools to choose from. It also helps visiting the campuses and getting a feel for the school.

Like many entering college student, I had no idea which university to attend or how to decide from the many great schools to pick from. Thankfully, my AVID coordinators from high school had prepared a one week trip traveling around California, from So-Cal to Nor-Cal, visiting different universities. Before this trip though, our AVID coordinators gave us assignments to research and identify our top schools, keeping in mind the majors we wish to complete and the schools? expertise. But when asking most student, including myself, what aided in their decision to attend a university, most will answer that it was the feel for the campus. I honestly crossed out UCB from my list of choices because of the campus vibe and highlighted UCLA, which I got into, as one of my favorites. During the decision making, I included everything I have learned?this means the cost/affordability, location, personal comfort, and any other issues that arose about the university. My only advice to parents and students about to enter college is?ask experts such as counselors for assistance and visit the school for a tour. Having seen the campus for oneself does help when making that crucial decision.

When looking for the right college, it is very important to do a large amount of research. If the student knows what career path or major they want to choose, look into schools that have excellent programs in their specific area of study. Finding a good college is important, but also be sure to check the availability of financial aid for the student at the different colleges, especially with the rising costs of tuition. To make the most of the college experience the student is going to want to be able to focus more on their academics and being involved with their school instead of worrying about how they are going to pay for it. To have an exciting and fun college experience you must be active and immerse yourself into campus activities, and living on campus is a definite advantage for this. If possible, move into the dorms for the first year. This is a great way to get to know a multitude of people who are in the same position and new to the school like you are. College is an adventure, so be sure to take advantage of all of the opportunities offered to you!

visit the campus prior to enrolling...it will help alot!

Don't pick a college based on its reputation or prestige in the eyes of others. Choose based on the academic program that best serves your interests . Don't worry about the amount an education will cost. A college degree is the best investment you will ever make. The money will take care of itself. When you get to college, try to surround yourself with peers who will motivate you to succeed instead of those who will encourage you in pursuits that are not good for you; they will not pick you up when you fall. Being depressed is an inevitability at some point in your college career so make it your mission to become as involved as you can in campus activities. It will keep away the worst of your depression by giving you something else on which to focus and will expose you to a wide variety of people, many of whom will be proud to call you "friend". I wish you all the best.

My advice would be for students to pick the college that has their major. Once they get into that college of their choice, they should stay focused on their studies and never lose sight of their goal. Going out once in a while is fine, but it should not be the main priority. Many people say that college is the time of your life, when you experience many firsts, like living on your own, paying your own bills, etc. College is also the time to begin to be responsible. It is the time when you begin to transition into the real world. Take that into your advantage.

I will have to tell the parents and/or the student to take a short trip to the college of their choice and ask for a tour while classes are in full session during the school year. If the student enjoys and feels like he or she fits in, then that school is more likely the right choice. However, they will have to really think about the finances to pay off tuition costs and get the transportation they needed for the student as well. In order to get the most of the college experience, I will have to recommend the student going to class on daily basis, interacting with professors during office hours, communicating with other students to build friendships or a social network, and joining an organization that pertains to the student's major/interest or a sevice club that helps out the community.

In case they belong to an economically stable home, they should only worry about getting and maintaining good grades. But if they are like me, then they should always visit more than 5 different campuses at least. Then, they should see which one meets their needs the most and try to adjust it to their income limitations. They should also find out how much financial aid is available for poor students and try to work around that. GOOD LUCK!!!