University of California, Riverside

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Bioengineering
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Southeast Asian Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m part of a professional engineering fraternity and I’m part of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Southeast Asian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school in Redondo Beach, CA with a graduating class of about 600 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Bioengineering
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of a professional engineering fraternity and I’m part of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). I also just started doing undergraduate research.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
The fraternity has definitely helped me grow as a person. It has also helped me with my leadership skills because I recently ran [for a leadership position] and I’ll have that role in the upcoming winter quarter.

Academic Experience

What was the process of getting involved in undergraduate research? How easy was that to get involved in?
I recently applied and I just started a couple of months ago. It was really easy to get involved in it. At the end of my first year, I went and talked with my advisor and told her that I was interested in doing research. She told me to reach out to professors toward the end of the summer, and that’s what I did. I sent them a quick email and they were super willing to look at my resume and having me sign up for a meeting to come in and talk to them.
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For my major, we have a lot of prerequisites and lower-division classes we have to take before I can go to the upper-division classes. For most of the lower-division classes, I have to do physics, biology, chemistry, and organic chemistry before I can start anything else. With that, I have lab for physics once a week and also lab once a week for a computer science course I’m taking this quarter. For math and physics, we have weekly homework and, generally, the major graded assignments for the lower-division classes are exams.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
My major is known for being super broad because other engineering majors specifically focus on one aspect of engineering. Like, with Chemical Engineering, it’s mostly all chemistry and with Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering it’s more focused on machines, but with Bioengineering it’s super broad. I like that it’s broad because it gives me more options to see what I’m interested in and what I would like to focus on in the future.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I definitely think it’s very collaborative if you’re willing to reach out to people. If not, you’re pretty much on your own for everything. We also have living-learning communities and, with that, the school gives you an assigned group of people who are people you can study with if you want.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re super accessible. They have office hours at least once a week and you can always reach out to them. They’re usually super helpful. You just have to go to their office hours, and not a lot of people take advantage of that so they’re always willing to help you as long as you’re willing to reach out. If I have a problem in a class, I usually go to my TA first because I have discussion every week between lectures, so I go to lecture and then discussion and, if I have questions after that, I would go to the TAs first to ask a question.
How do you like the quarter system academically? How has it impacted your experience?
At first, it’s a little bit overwhelming. But, I do like it more than the semester system because it’s more fast-paced and I feel like I learn a lot more than I would during the semester system because I can take more classes over the year.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Yes, I’m happy with my choice. During high school, I was put into a STEM program and that’s where I got introduced to engineering. I like chemistry and thought about majoring in Chemical Engineering, but with Bioengineering I feel like I’m able to work with chemicals if I want to and also work with the human body, animals, plants, or bacteria and I like that a lot more than being restricted to one thing.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Were there any resources available that helped you adapt?
I was able to meet a lot of upperclassmen the first year through the engineering fraternity and they helped me through a lot. There weren’t any specific resources that helped me, but I made the effort to branch out and meet new people and talk to people and take their advice. Also, in the engineering majors, there is a really good support system. When I was trying to figure out how the quarter system works and how college works, the upperclassmen were really helpful because they had been in my shoes.

Reasons to Attend

1) The people are very, very kind and that can be a really great reason to go here because the support system is really good.
2) The professors here are always willing to help, you just have to reach out.
3) There are a lot of opportunities on campus, especially if you want to work in a lab or do research. If you’re willing to put yourself out there, you can easily find a position for yourself.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The weather is bad.
2) The parking is bad.
3) Riverside is very isolated from a lot of places.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Pentland Hills in a triple
Sophomore: Glen Mor, which are on-campus apartments, and I live with three other people
How was transitioning from Redondo Beach, CA to Riverside, CA in terms of location?
I do miss the beach a lot, but I really like the environment at Riverside because I feel like everyone is a lot more helpful and willing to offer help. There’s just a nicer environment here.
Can you describe the level of safety you have experienced on and around campus?
On campus, it’s very, very safe. But, off-campus it’s not so safe. We usually get reports about whatever happens around Riverside and it’s not always good things. [The overall crime rate in Riverside, CA 21% higher than the average crime rate in California and 29% higher than the national average.]

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’m always busy, but when I do have time, I like to cook and I like to hang out with my friends. We spend a lot of nights indoors just hanging out and talking. I wouldn’t identify as a party person, but I like to go out once in a while. A lot of my friends are older and have houses, so I would go to their place and get people together at their house.
Are there any events that you look forward to throughout the year?
Every year UC-R puts on three different concerts for the three quarters. In the fall, we have Block Party, we have Winter Solstice in the winter, and Spring Splash in the spring. It’s the way the school tries to help bring everyone together.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UC-Riverside? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
The weekends here are a lot more quiet because a lot of people choose to go home, but I like the peace and quiet. It’s also close to different national parks, so my friends and I sometimes spontaneously go away for the weekends because the drive is not too far. On the weekends, it feels like a ghost town. A lot of people don’t like to stay in Riverside because they think it’s boring, but I personally like it. [About 30% of undergraduates live on in college-owned housing.]

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my closest friends was my roommate freshman year. We were both looking for roommates and she messaged me about living together and now she’s one of my closest friends. In addition, I have other people that I’m close to who are in the organizations that I’m in.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UC-Riverside?
The social scene definitely exists, but it’s not as loud or as obvious as other UC campuses. If you’re willing to put yourself out there, it’s not very hard to find people to interact with and make connections from there.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think the school’s pretty accepting. We’re very diverse. We have lots of different races and people of different sexual orientations. I feel like we’re very accepting of everyone and it’s common to see diverse groups of friends together. [The undergraduate population is about 41% Hispanic, 34% Asian, 11% White, 3% Black, and 3% International.]
How would you describe the Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
I definitely think it exists but I don’t think it’s promoted as much as it could be. I know that there are different student organizations and those are a lot more social than academic, which is why I chose not to join them.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
You would have to know people in those organizations to become friends with most of those people. There is kind of a disconnect between people who are in Greek life and people who are not. But, if you know people who are in those organizations, I don’t think it’s very hard to become friends with those friends.
How do you like the size of UC-Riverside in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 20,600 undergraduates.]
This year they’ve accepted a lot more first-years and it’s started to get crowded on campus. Parking isn’t an issue for me because I live on campus, but I know that’s become a huge issue for people who commute. I know a few people who have to show up at least one and a half to two hours early just to try and find parking. [See Inside UCR article, “Student growth studied in UCR’s Long Range Development Plan,” and article, “Campus begins planning for the next phase of growth.” See The Highlander article, “Congestion on Campus: the future of UCR parking and TAPS’ push for alternative transportation.”]

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
The alumni network through the fraternity that I’m in has helped a lot. We have a mentorship program through the fraternity that allows us to reach out to alumni who are either in the same majors as us or not, and a lot of our alumni reach out to us if their office is hiring. I feel like that’s very kind of them to do that.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
The career center offers a lot of help with resume building, so I’ve gone there to help build my resume and have them look that over as well as cover letters and everything else. They’re willing to help with everything.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
Currently, I’m learning C++ through a Computer Science class. With Excel, I have basic knowledge because I use it for my work with my fraternity.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
The financial aid office is super awful. They take about four to six weeks to get back to you. If everything is done right the first time, there won’t be any issues or problems, but when there’s a mix up with the paperwork and you want to clarify that, they take a very long time to get back to you.