What’s the difference between the 3 San Diego colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCSD alumna here. Historically the school has a lot of Jewish professors. One of the reasons the first trimester starts so late is to accommodate Rosh Hashanah. Overall a great school with a well respected degree. Hard to get admitted from out of state. Family member was recently admitted to USC (So Cal) but not UCSD.

Actually, it’s easier now to get admitted out of state than it is in state. You still need great stats but the applicant pool of high stats is smaller.

[Anonymous]

If it helps, taking CS aside, if William & Mary was a UC it would probably slot somewhere between UCLA and UCSB. With UCSB being on the same tier as UCSD.

USD is a lovely school, the reputation is very regional to SoCal. The school is heavily populated with smart, wealthy Catholic school kids that ran into bad luck with hard targets such as BC, Davidson, etc. and Bay Area kids who did not want to go to Santa Clara as it was too close to home.

Kids from all three schools hang out at the same, beautiful beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it helps, taking CS aside, if William & Mary was a UC it would probably slot somewhere between UCLA and UCSB. With UCSB being on the same tier as UCSD.

USD is a lovely school, the reputation is very regional to SoCal. The school is heavily populated with smart, wealthy Catholic school kids that ran into bad luck with hard targets such as BC, Davidson, etc. and Bay Area kids who did not want to go to Santa Clara as it was too close to home.

Kids from all three schools hang out at the same, beautiful beach.

I wouldn’t put William and Mary above the mid tier UCs anymore than I’d rank UVA or UMD anywhere near UCLA or Cal. The UC system is substantially above other state systems. The research opportunities, elite faculty, top ranked students, and programs are unlike any other state systems. The downside is that they are fiercely competitive and it doesn’t stop once you get in. UCs have a steady pipeline of transfer students and do not care if you wash out. First and second year courses can be shockingly huge. Some UCs have curves with quotas which leads to sabotage by fellow students. Finding housing can be a huge struggle at some UCs. The competition for clubs, internships, and programs is intense. If you were top dog at your private school, on the lacrosse team and expect to waltz in claiming a top spot you will quickly sulk back to your overcrowded room and bunk bed while others step over you. Your parents could buy ten buildings and they still won’t give you a parking spot.

William and Mary and even UVA are more old school, kind schools. UC is a blast but not for the faint of heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps, taking CS aside, if William & Mary was a UC it would probably slot somewhere between UCLA and UCSB. With UCSB being on the same tier as UCSD.

USD is a lovely school, the reputation is very regional to SoCal. The school is heavily populated with smart, wealthy Catholic school kids that ran into bad luck with hard targets such as BC, Davidson, etc. and Bay Area kids who did not want to go to Santa Clara as it was too close to home.

Kids from all three schools hang out at the same, beautiful beach.

I wouldn’t put William and Mary above the mid tier UCs anymore than I’d rank UVA or UMD anywhere near UCLA or Cal. The UC system is substantially above other state systems. The research opportunities, elite faculty, top ranked students, and programs are unlike any other state systems. The downside is that they are fiercely competitive and it doesn’t stop once you get in. UCs have a steady pipeline of transfer students and do not care if you wash out. First and second year courses can be shockingly huge. Some UCs have curves with quotas which leads to sabotage by fellow students. Finding housing can be a huge struggle at some UCs. The competition for clubs, internships, and programs is intense. If you were top dog at your private school, on the lacrosse team and expect to waltz in claiming a top spot you will quickly sulk back to your overcrowded room and bunk bed while others step over you. Your parents could buy ten buildings and they still won’t give you a parking spot.

William and Mary and even UVA are more old school, kind schools. UC is a blast but not for the faint of heart.

Maybe they are old school, but UVA and W&M do better than UCs on quite a few metrics and measures that may be relevant to undergraduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when UCSD was considered the third best UC school (behind Berkeley and LA), but Irvine and Santa Barbara have really come up in the world. I think a big part of that is San Diego is really provincial (I say this as a person who lived there for years) and is a place where people come for the sun and weather. Most students live off campus in small group homes (more accurately hovels) in places like Ocean Beach since La Jolla is one of the most expensive and closed communities in the US, so there is not much school spirit or community. There are a lot of complaints about a lack of class space causing students to take 6 years to graduate, but some of this is due to students who want to hang out in San Diego.

As others mentioned, San Diego State is a party school and has a more defined school community.

USD is very different (obviously smaller and private). I found that people though well of it in San Diego because a lot of alumni work in the area. I would not go there as a minority student.

Off-topic but how is San Diego provincial (or more provincial than LA or SF)?

Hard to explain but true. SD has a tourism culture, endless suburbs, a lot of military, a lot of retirees, general aimless transience and people trying to make a go of it despite high cost of living. OB is still shady, but too expensive for students, expect to live farther east. There's a youtube channel for the squalor, the dui rate and wrongway driving is more extreme than the crime rate. https://www.youtube.com/@619NewsMedia/videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps, taking CS aside, if William & Mary was a UC it would probably slot somewhere between UCLA and UCSB. With UCSB being on the same tier as UCSD.

USD is a lovely school, the reputation is very regional to SoCal. The school is heavily populated with smart, wealthy Catholic school kids that ran into bad luck with hard targets such as BC, Davidson, etc. and Bay Area kids who did not want to go to Santa Clara as it was too close to home.

Kids from all three schools hang out at the same, beautiful beach.

I wouldn’t put William and Mary above the mid tier UCs anymore than I’d rank UVA or UMD anywhere near UCLA or Cal. The UC system is substantially above other state systems. The research opportunities, elite faculty, top ranked students, and programs are unlike any other state systems. The downside is that they are fiercely competitive and it doesn’t stop once you get in. UCs have a steady pipeline of transfer students and do not care if you wash out. First and second year courses can be shockingly huge. Some UCs have curves with quotas which leads to sabotage by fellow students. Finding housing can be a huge struggle at some UCs. The competition for clubs, internships, and programs is intense. If you were top dog at your private school, on the lacrosse team and expect to waltz in claiming a top spot you will quickly sulk back to your overcrowded room and bunk bed while others step over you. Your parents could buy ten buildings and they still won’t give you a parking spot.

William and Mary and even UVA are more old school, kind schools. UC is a blast but not for the faint of heart.

Maybe they are old school, but UVA and W&M do better than UCs on quite a few metrics and measures that may be relevant to undergraduates.

I think the poster just made your point for you -- that description of UCs would send most people, especially those who must pay OOS tuition, running.

[Anonymous]

Hmm the rankings show that…

UCLA and UCB are 1 and 2, uVA is 4 and UCSD is 6.

UCDavis, UCSB and UCI are 9-11.

UMD is 17. William and Mary is 23.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when UCSD was considered the third best UC school (behind Berkeley and LA), but Irvine and Santa Barbara have really come up in the world. I think a big part of that is San Diego is really provincial (I say this as a person who lived there for years) and is a place where people come for the sun and weather. Most students live off campus in small group homes (more accurately hovels) in places like Ocean Beach since La Jolla is one of the most expensive and closed communities in the US, so there is not much school spirit or community. There are a lot of complaints about a lack of class space causing students to take 6 years to graduate, but some of this is due to students who want to hang out in San Diego.

As others mentioned, San Diego State is a party school and has a more defined school community.

USD is very different (obviously smaller and private). I found that people though well of it in San Diego because a lot of alumni work in the area. I would not go there as a minority student.

UCSD is behind Irvine and Santa Barbara now?

They’re are so similar in terms of competitiveness. UCSB used to be easy to get into, and it’s now much more difficult. I think Irvine & SD are more similar. SB is more traditional campus with social togetherness and spirit.

Nonsense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when UCSD was considered the third best UC school (behind Berkeley and LA), but Irvine and Santa Barbara have really come up in the world. I think a big part of that is San Diego is really provincial (I say this as a person who lived there for years) and is a place where people come for the sun and weather. Most students live off campus in small group homes (more accurately hovels) in places like Ocean Beach since La Jolla is one of the most expensive and closed communities in the US, so there is not much school spirit or community. There are a lot of complaints about a lack of class space causing students to take 6 years to graduate, but some of this is due to students who want to hang out in San Diego.

As others mentioned, San Diego State is a party school and has a more defined school community.

USD is very different (obviously smaller and private). I found that people though well of it in San Diego because a lot of alumni work in the area. I would not go there as a minority student.

UCSD is behind Irvine and Santa Barbara now?

They’re are so similar in terms of competitiveness. UCSB used to be easy to get into, and it’s now much more difficult. I think Irvine & SD are more similar. SB is more traditional campus with social togetherness and spirit.

Nonsense

No the PP is correct. UC has its own application. The top students shooting for UCLA and UCB all check the boxes for UCSD,UCSB,UCI and UCDavis. These are 4.0 unweighted, 4.3 max capped weighted, all with phenomenal ECs etc. All schools are also receiving kids with UC optimized stats. For example, a cheerleader who wants psychology might be careful to take no more than 4 courses in honors or AP or dual enrollment and make sure to take the easiest ones to ensure an A. If one of the UCs needs a cheerleader and decides to take one from her school then she’ll get in while her classmate who also selected psychology but didn’t have a perfect unweighted score because she took the hardest APs and won science competitions will not. The second kid may have a shot at another UC or even UCLA or Cal or may end up with Merced.

All schools are receiving 100,000 applications. As UC is very specific requirements on classes and GPA requirements, very few of those apps aren’t in the qualified range. The schools don’t really yield protect but they spread out their acceptances across CA schools. Because UCs only look at sophomore and junior year grades and cap grade bumps to 8 semesters it creates a large pool of perfect stat kids. It can be really unpredictable who gets in and who doesn’t. The UCs seem to be perfectly fine having a very large waitlist movement and for that movement to be unpredictable. One year UCSD saw 36% of waitlist movement the next year only 6%. It isn’t harder or easier to get into UCSD vs UCSB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm the rankings show that…

UCLA and UCB are 1 and 2, uVA is 4 and UCSD is 6.

UCDavis, UCSB and UCI are 9-11.

UMD is 17. William and Mary is 23.

If USNWR, a lot of that in their new model is driven by UC schools having a higher % of Pell Grant eligible students, which in turn is driven by state demographics.