University of California, Davis

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: English
Minors: Linguistics & Political Science double minor
Student Self Identifies as: Asian-American Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m a member of the Student Government, I’m a member of a sorority, and I [have a leadership position] in our Student Foundation.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Asian-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school in Northern California with a graduating class of 400 students. There was a culture of going to college for the students who took AP classes.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: English
Minors: Linguistics & Political Science double minor

Extracurricular Activities: I’m a member of the Student Government, I’m a member of a sorority, and I [have a leadership position] in our Student Foundation.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Mostly the Student Government has because its culture and its relationship to the overall campus culture is pretty esoteric and unique. Getting involved in that community was a very formative experience.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
On a weekly basis, I’ll usually have a couple of dozen to a hundred pages of reading overall. There are usually two 7-10-page papers per quarter.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The English department is relatively small, and UC-Davis is a more STEM-centric school. We have really good engagement between professors and students, and the department is really helpful for students with anything they need. [In 2018-19, there were 641 English majors.]
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
The humanities classes are very collaborative. I’ve never felt like it’s competitive or people are out to sabotage me or ruin the curve.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. I’ve never had a class where the professor doesn’t go out of their way to emphasize their office hours and be available by email. Some classes don’t have a TA, but if I had an issue I’d generally go to the professor first. Most class sizes are around 30 people or less, which is why the professor is usually the first point of contact. [The average class size for upper-division classes is about 39 students.]
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yeah, absolutely. There’s a lot of lively discussion in English. In literature it’s not just about analyzing the text, we will go into the historical context behind whatever we’re reading.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m very happy with my choice. I got lucky because I chose my major on a whim. In high school, I liked reading and books so I thought I was going to be an English major, and it worked out for me.
How do you like the quarter system? How has it impacted your experience?
My experience is pretty specific to English and the humanities. I find it very refreshing and think it’s exciting. In the end, I get to take more classes and learn a broader variety of things. I don’t think there’s too much content crammed into 10-weeks.

Reasons to Attend

1) UC-Davis has excellent programs in pretty much every major.
2) The professors are accessible.
3) There’s something for everyone at Davis. I was able to join a classical choir. There are so many random things you can do on campus.
4) There are good research opportunities for STEM majors.
5) The environment is really good. It’s not competitive or cutthroat.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) It’s very suburban and not a big city or a college town.
2) The housing is expensive and often inaccessible.
3) If you live in certain dorms on campus it smells like cows because it’s right next to the cow pen.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Miller Hall with two roommates
Sophomore & Junior: Off-campus apartments with five other housemates
How was transitioning from your hometown in Northern California to Davis, CA in terms of location?
Davis is considered to be in Northern California, so I’d say they’re very similar and I didn’t feel like the transition was difficult. I also don’t get homesick at all. Home was very accessible and I could go home easily if I ever wanted to.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I haven’t had any scary or uncomfortable experiences walking around where I felt unsafe, even at night. We get reports of robberies and muggings, and people will sometimes steal laptops in broad daylight at coffee shops.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I like going rock climbing and hanging out with my friends in my apartments. We’ll take ski trips or go to concerts. I attend house and fraternity parties around campus, and they’re usually located near campus. Two areas have Greek life homes close to campus. There are several bars Davis students like going to which have different types of nights, such as mojito nights. The parties usually happen on Friday and Saturday.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
Davis is in a pretty good location for outdoorsy people. A lot of people go on hikes and swim. We do have a rock climbing wall here, in addition to the gym. A lot of the clubs host events on the weekend and you can always go to an acapella or comedy show.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UC-Davis? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy. I used to be a little dissatisfied because I thought it was really boring, but it turns out that was because I hadn’t really found a circle of friends who were into the same things I was. Overall, the weekend activities aren’t that bad.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I met my first friends at orientation, which is organized by your major. I made a lot of friends through Greek life and student government too.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UC-Davis?
That entirely depends on if you’re in Greek life or involved in a club or organization on campus. We have a bunch of fraternities and sororities, and large cultural clubs that have a robust social scene within themselves. I see people posting on Reddit and our local forums that they can’t make friends, but I think that depends entirely on the amount of effort you put into socializing.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There are communities of people that are very close to each other, but your average friend group is pretty diverse. [The undergraduate population is 4% Black, 33% Asian, 22% Hispanic, and 25% White.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
That depends on when that person joins Greek life and their involvement in other things. I think Greek life isn’t a huge factor in who you hang out with. The Greek scene isn’t huge, it’s only about 10% of our students and it’s not super exclusive. I have a lot of friends not in Greek life, and I know a lot of people who don’t only hang out with people in Greek life. [About 10% of students are involved in Greek life.]
How did your social life differ before and after you joined Greek life?
My social life became a lot more involved, fun, and time-consuming. Before joining Greek life, I mostly hung out with a small group of friends, but after joining, you’re in a group of over 100 girls that you now call your sisters. You expand your social circle with Greek life.
How would you describe the East Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
We have a large population of international students from east Asia. A lot of people will categorize them together. They wear a certain type of clothing and always hang out with each other. In addition to that, we have a robust Asian Greek life system. We have really large and involved cultural clubs like the Japanese American Student Society. [33% of the domestic student population is Asian and 14% of the student population is international.]
How do you like the size of UC-Davis? How has that impacted your experience? [UC-Davis has about 31,000 undergraduates.]
It’s not bad. A lot of clubs have a sizeable population of members, depending on their popularity. There’s something for everyone to be involved in and you feel like you barely see the same person twice on campus.
Do people generally seem happy with UC-Davis by senior year? Do people leave loving UC-Davis?
Yeah, I think so. A lot of people are really passionate about it. We don’t necessarily have a lot of school spirit, but I don’t think most people are unhappy with Davis when they leave.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I haven’t used it too much to find internships for myself. I’ve listed internships on there for organizations I’m a part of and used it to help recruit students into my organization.
Have you used any pre-law resources on campus?
We have a lot of pre-law associations and societies, and they offer things like workshops for the LSAT and keep us updated with opportunities and resources.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating was the office to your needs?
I have used financial aid and by all accounts, the office is pretty easy to work with.