University of California-San Diego Top Questions

yes

some are accurate. there are def a lot of asains. as with all stereotypes, of course there are elements and aspects that are true but they are by no means an absolute rule

Not necessarily, there are a lot of students who do walk around in their own worlds with their heads down and only want to study but there are plenty of students who want to have a good time and get their work done. if you have the type of personality where you can get out there and find people who are like you and want to have fun as well.

There are certainly a lot of people that fit this description here but there is a huge variety of people.

These stereotypes are not accurate. The school in general yes, has a challenging time with social aspects. Because it does lack strong sports teams and a smaller greek life, it doesn't have the same atmosphere as other colleges and UC's. However, I have found that there is a lot going on socially at UCSD. Students have to put themselves out there to find it however. Getting involved in activities will allow for students to have a good time! I have found being in the Greek system allows one to give back so much to the school and personally you get so much from it as well. And, yes anyone that goes to UCSD has a nerdy side! Everyone that actually attends this school is a good, serious student or else they wouldn't be here so of course Geisel is a popular place on campus!

A little bit I think they are. If I wouldn't have entered the Greek system I would have had a lot of trouble meeting people here. The people I live with and have classes with aren't very social and outside of the Greek community it is really hard to get close to people.

Partly...you definitely have to go out and search for your social niche. It does not just come to you. But when you find your social outlets, UCSD is a blast. There are definitely things to do because you have the beaches down the street, Pacific Beach and the bars, and downtown all within 15 minutes.

Probably, I don't really know yet, I'm a transfer.

No, this is certainly not accurate, UCSD like any other college experience is what you make of it. There are thousands of amazing opportunities waiting to be sought out and lifetime friends to be made. The campus is beautiful and serene, and you could not ask for better.

I think we are a social campus, however, since we do not have Division I sports and sports such as football our spirit for athletics, and thus as a whole, is not good at all. We also do not have frat row, or frat houses and sorority houses which may contribute to people's opinions that our school is not social. I believe that you need to make your own fun.

partly unless you are involved in a sorority/fraternity

Not entirely. This is a very academic school, so students do spend a lot of time studying. I think that people are social within their own groups. And I don't think there is school spirit here, but I also think that the majority of students would like to see more of it.

To some extent the stereotypes are but I feel they are way too exaggerated. As far as there being a lack of social life students need to realize that opportunities are not going to come knocking on their door. Students need to be proactive and go out and get involved in things. Involving yourself in a club or organization is a great way to meet people and find your niche at this school. I personally feel that slowly but surely this school is becoming more social and more sought after as a student's first choice institution. UCSD is climbing in academic rankings and thus students are gradually becoming more proud to attend UCSD. Many departments are world renowned, especially the engineering school. As the school continues to grow and become more recognized nationally and internationally the school will gain more tradition and as a result more of a social atmosphere. We already have one strong tradition in our SunGod festival in the spring and I only see more traditions starting in the future.

to an extent, yes

Yes and no. But look at the people in your classes and even on the shuttles; everyone wants to sit by themselves and avoid any interaction with people that they do not know--we are antisocial.

Yes. I feel that the school can be more active. I don't know how to change that because old habits die hard, but it would make college life more fun. And yes there are many Asians here at UCSD, but they just work hard to get into good schools.

No, the college experience is really what you make of it. Sure, there aren't people who will drag you out of your room to a party, but there are definitely places to go if you put yourself out there. It's really easy as long as you're not lazy, because people are really friendly. Personally, I turned down UCLA to come here.

I guess it all depends on what you do in college such as hoe involved you are and what you are involved n that determines the validity of these suppositions.

Somewhat. I think we do have a strong science program and we are hefty on the research side, but the school has more qualities than that. As all other college students, we like to have fun and we offer a lot more than just science.

I think UCSD is viewed as socially dead by those who do not take the initiative to get involved in the social scene through the many extracurricular activities available on campus. Yes, there are a lot of asians but there are also people of other ethnicities. And if you know how to have a good time and how you like to have a good time, then you'll go out and find people who are the same way and all have a good time together.

To the extent that I have seen, NO, not at all. It is very social if you choose to make it so

Some of the stereotypes are true: the social life here at UCSD is not as pivtol to the student body as in other colleges. However, college life is really what you make of it, and if you are determined to find a party then you will. We also have the annual Sun God festival, which is a way for students to release all their crazy energy during a day-long festival and free concert (with bands like My Chemical Romance and singers Kayne West performing for free for students). There are dozens of organizations to be involved in as well, including college specific ones (there are twice as many in Muir College, for instance, than in other universities on the whole), as well as university wide ones. And there are more than three dozen cultural clubs to engage in, for those interested in diversifying their lives. As for the ugliest student body and the weed school, those I think are hardly fair or accurate; there are lots of beautiful men and women who, coincidentally, refrain from smoking pot all the time.

Yes, most of them. However, a social life at UCSD is available if you are proactive. There are very social and interesting people that attend UCSD.

Its true that it is a pretty quite campus, but I definitely love the really layback environment. Moreover, it is really how the students make UCSD an experience for them. By joining school organizations i definitely enjoyed my time here in UCSD.

Yes, UCSD is very research focused and many classes are taught by professors who are heavily into research and look at teaching as a side job, but many times they are fine teachers as well. No, not all UCSD students are completely anti-social or super nerdy, but some are. But yes, many of them are asian.

In the science programs yes, but they can be avoided.

Pretty much. The greek system is really the only social outlet at UCSD.

overall yes but its definitely a generalization. there are so many individuals who make the stereotypes untrue.

to some extent-- but if you find the right people, not so much but ucsd is a hard school so people do need to study

Yes.

YES very!

There are many people on campus who are definitely really concerned about academics, but there are probably just as many people who also like to have fun and be social. My first year I lived off campus, and that was HORRIBLE. I would definitely recommend that if you want to avoid having no social life at UCSD, to live on campus at least for your first year and to get involved as much as possible.

To an extent

I don't feel that this stereotype is accurate because there are plenty of things to get involved in on campus. If you get involved then it opens up the possibilities to socialize but if you don't get involved in student organizations then there really isn't anything else to do and you will end up just sitting in your dorm room studying.

In part, yes. UCSD is less social than other universities. However, you can definitely find fun, especially if you are involved in greek life. You just have to look a little bit harder than you may at other "party schools". There is a diverse population of students at UCSD, although there are a lot of science majors, there are people of every major all over the place.

for the most part

I think I would have agreed with these stereotypes my first or second year, but I have really seen an all-campus effort to offer more programming for students. During my final year, bear (beer) gardens were reintroduced... making alcohol somewhat more available here on campus. Diversity means a lot of things, but when it comes to ethnicities... there is a very small population of African Americans and Hispanic & Latin Americans when considering the makeup of California. And yeah, UCSD students as a whole are smarter than the other campuses.

In some sense, yes, this stereotype is accurate. UCSD can be really boring when you compare it to other colleges, however UCSD is what you make of it. If you get involved and take the extra initiative to put yourself out there, it definitely will NOT be boring. For example, I got involved in almost anything that I found interesting and now my schedule is so packed at times that I hardly have any time to myself! If you get involved, you'll have more fun and you'll probably like UCSD a whole lot more!

they are all smart, you have to be pretty smart to get into ucsd. a lot of people can surf, but not everyone. it is not that we are anti-social, but a lot of people do not want to come out to events because they rather study. but we have a lot of on campus events that are very social and fun.

No. I think that UCSD has a very active social atmosphere. There are times where students can be caught up in their classes but that is understandable in a quarter system. The women here are beautiful, too. We are just smart and beautiful, which people don't see much of so it throws them off.

To some extent they can be accurate. The quarter system is very quick and falling behind academically is very easy to do. For a good 3-5 weeks of the quarter, everyone's swamped with papers, lab reports and midterms then you spend the rest of the quarter just trying to keep up with all of your assignments and readings. However, it's all about who you know. Most people have a decent social life and Greek life is always an option too. One of the best things about UCSD is that students seem to have a pretty good balance of hard work and academics as well as a social life. As far as athletics go, we don't have a huge fan base and UCSD is primarily known for it's academics even though we have some GREAT athletic teams. I think school spirit is definitely improving, but a lot of people still talk about UCSD as having no pride. I think that will change as alumni and professors begin to change their perspective of UCSD.