UC Davis - any experiences with it? (San Diego, San Jose: condo, house)

[MtnSurfer]

We are beginning to explore colleges throughout the state. I asked previously about UC Merced and got some interesting and relevant feedback. In looking at its much bigger brother UC Davis, does anyone have good/bad or other experiences with the school? My son is interested in a STEM major mostly likely CompSci, Math or some combination. There is a possibility he may want to continue on to grad school and I like their Integrated Bachelor’s / Master’s (BS / MS) program.

Beyond the obvious including its larger size, what are your thoughts? Thanks for any insights you may have. Please, let's try to avoid debates on crime. We beat that dead horse enough in the UC Merced thread.

Thanks,

Derek

[silverkris]

UC Davis is great for STEM fields in general, and they particularly excel in the life sciences. Interestingly, they have a separate division called the College of Biological Sciences for the life sciences, which is a bit of an anomaly, given that all the other UC schools have biological sciences under their main liberal arts division, College of Letters and Science. I think that's really a legacy of UCD's origin as a A & M (agricultural and mechanical) school.

[Chimérique]

My partner majored in Genetics at UC Davis. He was born and raised in Sacramento and the first 2 years he commuted from Sacramento. For 1 year he lived in nearby Woodland, and the last 3 years he lived in Davis, not on campus but within walking/biking distance of the campus. He says it was a great experience and he loved his years there. We live in Sacramento and he works for a Silicon Valley company.

Davis is a true college town, very international. It has a lively downtown that blends right into the campus. The Capitol Corridor train connects it with Sacramento 12miles to downtown Sac, and west with the Bay Area(60-80miles). This train is heavily used by students.

Davis is a huge cycling/bike town. One of the first in the nation to really embrace the idea of biking as a way of commuting and getting around.

It has a fantastic Performing Arts Center - It is named for arts patron and vineyard operator Robert Mondavi, who donated US$10 million to help with the building costs, and who also helped finance The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science on campus.

I fell in love with the town of Davis while attending a Massage training school downtown. Great restaurants, farmers markets, lots of events through out the year.

[Chimérique]

UC Davis is the #1 BEST IN THE WORLD for Plant and Animal Sciences

Students interested in plant and animal science can explore these top-notch universities from around the world that have shown strength in producing research related to the field. Topics include plant research, plant pathology, plant nutrition, veterinary medicine, marine and freshwater biology, and zoology. These are the world's top universities for plant and animal science.

UC Davis is the #2 BEST IN THE WORLD for Agricultural Sciences.

The field of agricultural sciences encompasses a wide range of subjects related to how humans use and develop natural resources for their benefit. They include horticulture, food science and nutrition, dairy science and agronomy. These are the world's best universities for agricultural sciences, based on their reputation and research in the field.


UC Davis is the #7 BEST IN THE WORLD for Environment/Ecology.

The field of environment and ecology includes subjects such as environmental health, environmental monitoring and management, and climate change. The study of the environment and ecology deals with the relationships between living things and the physical world. These are the world's best universities for the field of environment and ecology, based on their reputation and research.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I owned a condo and lived in Davis for awhile. I did not attend UC Davis myself. I have a close friend who did go to UC Davis. So, I can just give you info from these perspectives.

Regarding my friend, she'd gone to community college before starting to attend UC Davis. She's Filipino, but came to the US at 10 years old and is very outgoing. She said she had a very difficult time socially, because all of the cliques had been established by the students who went there their freshman year. She's determined to send her kids to a four year university from the beginning, and not send them to community college first for this reason. Not sure if that would be relevant to your son or not, but there it is, for what it's worth.

From a resident's point of view, I heard all the time that students found Davis really boring. As long as they had friends, they'd be fine, and there are beer joints and some things to do on campus, but a lot of the events on campus appeal more to residents than to students.

One event I really loved that is a huge deal on campus, is Picnic Day, which is in April this year. It's an open house and there's a great parade where the engineering department usually rides around on weird vehicles they've invented. Fun time to check out campus, if you guys are interested:

https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/

Davis is flat, and as mentioned is really bike friendly with lots of bike lanes, and so it's easy to get around town on a bike.

Housing is hard to find off campus. You can't put off looking for housing, or you'll have a hard time finding anything available.

The bus system in town is actually the university bus system, so basically, all buses lead back to campus, which is convenient. They also don't run during breaks - unless things have changed.

Also, as mentioned, there is an Amtrak train station right in downtown Davis. Super convenient. The Capitol Corridor train runs to San Jose, then your son could catch an Amtrak bus to come home to Monterey. When I lived in Davis, I used the train a lot to visit family in the Bay Area, and I'd also take the train to San Jose with a connecting Amtrak bus to Santa Cruz. The bus is waiting outside the train station when you get off the train. They're really nice. A lot of students use the train.

https://www.capitolcorridor.org/wp-c..._5.22.2017.pdf

I know you didn't want to get into crime, but Davis is also a safe and attractive town. Kind of upscale liberal. A bit quirky. Like Berkeley crashed into Walnut Creek and landed in farmland. LOL.

[Chimérique]

Just for Fun:

Some famous UC Davis alumni:

Dian Fossey, Anthropologist

Martin Yan, TV Chef, Chef

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Journalist, Actor, Lawyer, ex-First Lady of San Francisco

Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Physicists, Chemist Astronaut

Stephen Robinson, Flight Engineer, Astronaut

UC Davis’ best known artist is Wayne Thiebaud. His lush paintings of cakes and pies, as well as landscapes and figures, have made him one of the most acclaimed American artists of the last 50 years. Acclaimed as an exceptional teacher, Thiebaud taught at UC Davis for 40 years.

See this list:
https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-u...ents/reference

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Oh, a thought - air quality can get bad, depending on agricultural stuff in the county. There are rice farms just outside of Woodland, and other crops, like tomatoes, even closer to Davis, and there can be plowing, aerial spraying, burning, etc., depending on the time of year - so if your son has asthma, etc., that could be challenging and you might want to check that out.

[Hal Roach]

Davis is a good school...Sacramento is horrible, though. Cal Po!y SLO, perhaps?

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Hal Roach

Davis is a good school...Sacramento is horrible, though. Cal Po!y SLO, perhaps?

Yep, we're definitely considering Cal Poly SLO along with SJSU. Both are great for CompSci and Mathematics. However, all schools have pros/cons. With both of those schools impaction is a con with fewer classes than students. Ultimately, its seems the decision will be about trade-offs in accepting the cons to enjoy the pros. Hey wait, that's sort like finding the 'best' place to live. lol No place is perfect and fit is very relative to what on really likes most.

Derek

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

From a resident's point of view, I heard all the time that students found Davis really boring. As long as they had friends, they'd be fine, and there are beer joints and some things to do on campus, but a lot of the events on campus appeal more to residents than to students.

I thought that too, but never actually heard that. And when I first met my partner I assumed he felt the same way about Davis as well. To my surprise he loved everything about Davis, the University, the town and was never bored.

I currently work with a few recent grads from UC Davis, and I asked them what was it like being in a "smaller town" to my surprise they loved it and felt that between studies, students groups, sports and music they were never bored.

One of my best friends is a retired professor from Davis and again he loved everything about Davis. His niece who is from NYC attended and graduated from Davis, she is a "big city" girl and she moved back to NYC. Even she wasn't "bored" living in Davis.

It really depends on where you are from and your interests. I have a friend who is from the NYC area and he went to UC San Diego although he loved his education at UCSD, he hated North County San Diego, he thought it lacked "culture" and was too suburban, he "suffered" and was "bored" in Carlsbad(just north of UCSD) for a year after graduation and then moved to NYC. It's all relative some people need a big city environment and if so, they should choose a university in a big city.