University of California, San Diego
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Music with a focus in composition
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Bisexual Female
Summary
I am in a sorority and I audition for some of the on-campus plays and stuff like that. I used to be part of the Theater Organization but I am not anymore.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
High School Experience: Public high school outside of Los Angeles, CA with a graduating class of about 800 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Music with a focus in composition
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I am in a sorority and I audition for some of the on-campus plays and stuff like that. I used to be part of the Theater Organization but I am not anymore.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
Greek life has had a big impact on my college experience. Since I signed up my second year, I could compare and contrast where I saw college without it and college with it, and I much more prefer college with it.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
My classes are more project-based, so we don’t have as many quizzes and midterms. I used to take more units in the past because my assignments were more spread out so I could handle more. A lot of my classes are composition projects where I have to write and score pieces. I’m in a jazz theory class right now where I have to practice scales and practice my instrument. In general, it’s a lot of projects, scores, and scales.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I actually really like that UCSD isn’t specifically known for its music program because it’s rigorous but there is not a ton of pressure. You can be involved with what you want to be involved with, take what you want, and get through it. If you don’t think a class will be necessarily helpful for you in the future, you don’t have to take it. Also, because there are not a lot of people in the program, there is a really low student to faculty ratio. A lot of the classes are very small. In terms of poorly, we do a lot of work with experimental music, and that gets uncomfortable to listen to because a lot of the sounds are bad.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think the Music program is a lot more collaborative than other things at UCSD. In the other classes that I’ve taken at UCSD, group work was not nearly as encouraged as it is in the Music program. I’ve taken humanities classes and other classes like that where they did encourage group work, but, in general, the Music classes are much more focused on that. Also, they really encourage collaborating with people who play different instruments when writing pieces for people who play instruments that you don’t to get that perspective.
How accessible are your professors?
My professors are accessible in the sense that there are not a ton of people that are trying to take up their time all the time. But, they’re not very accessible in the sense that they’re not on campus as often as some of the other professors. Since we’re a smaller program, a lot of the time their office hours are only by appointment or they go through classes that you have, so it can be hard to schedule things with them.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
Music 101B, which is one of the upper-division music theory classes. I thought that was the most helpful class I’ve taken. My favorite class was probably my composition lecture where we got to write whatever we wanted to write and we got professional musicians to play our work, give us feedback, and tell us how we can make it easier for the musicians to read and play.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s absolutely beautiful.
2) The courses are rigorous but not unbearable.
3) I really like that Greek life here is not that serious. It’s like a glorified club, so it’s a lot more open to other people. It’s very open-minded and not very demanding.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) It’s primarily a STEM school, so if you’re not a STEM major and want rigorous programs in your field, maybe look at other places. [In 2018, about 59% of students graduated with a major in a STEM field.]
2) The social life is not going to throw itself at you, so if you’re somebody who can’t get themselves out of the house or get themselves to go out and make friends you won’t make many friends. It’s not a good place for people who want to be social but are not already.
3) Going here, you will always be in the shadow of Berkeley and UCLA.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Thurgood Marshall College Residential Hall in a single bedroom but I had eight suitemates.
Sophomore: Thurgood Marshall apartments with three other people.
Junior: Off-campus apartment with two other people. I have my own bedroom.
How was transitioning from your hometown outside of Los Angeles to La Jolla, CA?
It was a lot easier than most for me because my grandmother lives in La Jolla so I had a general idea of the area.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel pretty safe because people in La Jolla are either older people or students. It’s also a safe campus, so that’s always been comfortable for me.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Because I’m in Greek life, I go to Greek life parties. There are also clubs downtown, but you have to be 21 to go. Like everyone says, UCSD is “UC – Socially Dead,” which is true to an extent, but all the nightlife and social life is there, you just have to put effort into finding it.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I think it’s a huge impact. It’s a whole lot easier to find people to do things with and places to go because Greek life hands you 100 friends who are always down to do whatever plus everyone else in the Greek community. It gives you friends and places to go. [About 8% of students are involved in Greek life.]
How happy are you with the weekend options at UCSD? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I would say I’m medium happy. If you want a party, there’s always a party to go to. If you want something a little bit more small or intimate, it’s not the best because you have to arrange that on your own. Also, Greek life rules make it so sororities can’t throw parties, only fraternities can, so that can be frustrating because you can’t regulate who is there and how safe it is. So, I’m medium happy because there’s always stuff to do but not always the stuff you want to do.
If at all, how has identifying as LGBT influenced your nightlife experience?
I think it has influenced me a lot. Especially being in Greek life, being bisexual has been quite the roller coaster. People are always accepting, which is really nice. But, there are always little implications that people don’t think about with the general culture of Greek life, like going to formals and taking a girl or dancing with your sorority sisters and making sure somebody doesn’t take the wrong way. But, it’s doable and it’s still worth it in my opinion.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
A suitemate that I got randomly assigned to freshman year is in the sorority I joined and I’m still good friends with her and her roommate. I then met everyone else through them, through my sorority, or a couple of friends I met on my own through my Music program. I mostly met friends through mutual friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UCSD?
The social life is there if you want it, you just really have to put effort into finding it. There are always people that you want to hang out with and you’re always going to find your people, I just think you need to put yourself out there more to find it. I’ve taken that as a good life skill because not everything in life is going to be handed to you. It’s there if you want it, but you just have to go out there and make those connections.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I can only speak to my experience, and my specific sorority has a lot of diversity. But, within Greek life, there are certain chapters where that is not as common. A hard thing is a lot of the diversity on our campus comes from international students and there are other reasons why some international students are uncomfortable joining Greek life or branching out, which is totally understandable. They’re just completely out of their element and Greek life is not tailored toward people who aren’t from this country. [About 18.6% of students are international students.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
For me personally, since I joined as a sophomore, I already had a lot of friends who were not in Greek life. So, for me, about half of my friends are in Greek life and half are not. But, for the people who joined as freshmen, a lot of their friends are in Greek life.
How would you describe the student body?
Because UCSD is a place where it’s harder to find social activities, you find those people who want to be more socially involved joining Greek life. So, I tend to see a tendency where people who are involved in clubs and Greek life are more outgoing and involved in more social things. There are a lot of other people that I see, specifically STEM majors, who are not very involved in Greek life and a lot of them are very introverted and quiet, but still pretty nice. Either way, I think it’s more about what kind of group you feel like you would fit into or what works best for you.
How would you describe the LGBTQ+ community? How strong is it?
Unfortunately, I don’t really feel like I’m part of the LGBT community and I’m not really sure if there is one. I’ve been to the LGBT Center before where they’ve had little get-togethers and I didn’t connect with those people. They just weren’t people I thought I had a lot in common with. I definitely think the community could be bigger. There are a lot of LGBT people that I’ve met and see every day, but I don’t feel like there’s a community where everyone can be together and feel comfortable.
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice of UCSD by senior year? Do you think people leave loving UCSD?
Yeah, I think it really depends on what you put into your experience. I feel like UCSD is a tool to find what you want to find and is not a place that will hand you everything. If you put time into making friends and getting what you want out of it, then you absolutely will be happy by the end.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
In my sorority chapter, there is a Facebook page of alumni where they help and give internships, so I’ve used that.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
Yeah, I use Logic Pro. I also learned C during a class I took over the summer.