University of California, Riverside

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Psychology, focusing on Criminology
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Hispanic Straight Female

Summary

I’m part of the Honors College and I have a job.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public school in Santa Fe Springs, CA with a graduating class of about 550 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Psychology, focusing on Criminology
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of the Honors College and I have a job.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
The Honors program has had a big impact on me because it helped me become more aware of what’s ahead and how quickly it comes. When you’re a freshman, you feel like have four years, but, in reality, it goes by super quick. They help you prepare for that and then for the next level after college.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
This quarter, I’m not taking a major class. But, for my Psychology courses last year, they were very reading intensive and then we had midterms and papers from time to time.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The academic advisors in my major do a really good job of working with students. They create a four-year plan and inform us how our degree looks and whether we’re on track to graduate in four years or not.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I feel like it’s very competitive and very intense since we only have 10-weeks to learn a whole course. The material goes by super-fast, so you have to constantly be on top of it. It’s not competitive in the sense that I’m competing against other people, though.
How do you like the quarter system academically? How has it impacted your experience?
It’s very stressful for students and can take a really huge mental toll. For example, last year I lost both of my grandparents in the span of three months, so it was really hard to deal with what was happening personally and then deal with all the work that was coming with the 10-week quarter system. But, one thing that I have noticed about this school is every staff member is very understanding and the professors are approachable and will work with you.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Were there any resources available that helped you adapt?
It was very stressful at first because it was completely new to me and I had no idea what I was going into. I didn’t have anybody in my family to give me a pep talk or tell me what to expect. But, there are a lot of programs on campus to help students, like tutoring programs and going to office hours with professors.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I have always had a fascination with Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Jeffrey Dahmer. I always thought it was so interesting how they functioned. I’m interested in crime in general and am always watching Forensic Files and everything like that. I took a forensics class in high school and ended up learning about criminal profiling, which I thought was fascinating to learn about. From that point, I decided what I wanted to do and I’m still very much in love with what I want to do.

Reasons to Attend

1) It’s a very welcoming campus. Everyone is really, really nice.
2) The programs here are very beneficial to students. They’re here to help students graduate. I really feel that everyone’s here to help you.
3) The life on campus is fun if you put the effort to try to be part of it.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The area is not great because there isn’t much to do around it.
2) It’s very, very hot and a big thing to consider is the weather.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Pentland Hills with three roommates
Sophomore: Glen Mor, which are on-campus apartments, and I live with three other people
How was transitioning from Santa Fe Springs, CA to Riverside, CA in terms of location?
I learned the weather is very much different here, it’s much hotter. It was really hard to adapt to that. The weather change was a big part of that.
Can you describe the level of safety you have experienced on and around campus?
I feel very safe on campus. You see UCPD rolling around constantly. They have a program where if it’s late at night and you would like to be escorted, you can have a person escort you. They make it very safe for the students on campus.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I like to go out with friends and mostly going to get food or drinks. Usually, on the weekends I am at work and if not, I’m out with friends exploring downtown. I don’t do much on the weekends on campus.
People say that UC-Riverside is a commuter campus, do you think that’s true?
I would say that’s true and is a big part of it. A lot of people on campus do commute, so that plays a big factor in not doing much on campus. [About 30% of undergraduates live on in college-owned housing.]
What have been some of your favorite times at UC-R?
Some of my favorite times are the concerts the school has. They have concerts during the fall quarter and the spring quarter and those are really exciting events.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UC-Riverside? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
The weekend options would be a lot better if there were more things around campus because where I’m from near L.A. there are a lot of things to do on the weekends. If I wanted to go to the beach from Riverside, it’s about an hour and a half drive. I don’t like to stay on campus during the weekends because I feel like that’s my time to escape, so I wish we had more around.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I met most of the people who I hang out with in the dorms at Pentland Hills. Pentland Hills isn’t a typical dorm because there are only six doors to one hallway, so it’s very inclusive and everybody in the building knows who everyone is. The other thing is if you’re in the Honors program, you live in that building so we both lived together and had classes together.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UC-Riverside?
It’s very social and welcoming. It’s very easy to talk to strangers. Everyone’s approachable and it’s definitely not cliquey. At my high school, it was easy to see who was in what group, but at UC-R everybody has a smile on their face and people look happy.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I would say that has a lot to do with the clubs on campus. Clubs are a really big way of meeting people on campus, so they do a good job of making sure everyone can go out there and meet new people. I also think that the big events and concerts the school puts on are a good way for people to mix. [The undergraduate population is about 41% Hispanic, 34% Asian, 11% White, 3% Black, and 3% International.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
With the sororities and fraternities, I think that’s where socially the school becomes different, but I don’t know why. With those groups, they are very cliquey and you can tell who they are because they wear their shirts with their symbols so you can tell who’s part of Greek life. You usually have to know somebody in a fraternity or sorority to meet people in Greek life. Like, my roommate is in a co-ed fraternity, so I met people in her fraternity through her. But, if you don’t know anybody in a fraternity and you see them on campus, I feel like it’s harder to talk to them than it is to a person who’s not in a fraternity.
How would you describe the Hispanic community on campus? How strong is it?
The Hispanic community here is not nearly as large as what I’m used to back home, but there are multiple clubs that are purely Hispanic-based. Last year, I was part of a club called Latino Union, which was a community service-based group. Through little clubs like that, I think the [Hispanic community] is able to become close and strong.
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.]
I feel like the size of UCR is very overwhelming because I have heard that there are too many undergraduates in order for people to switch majors. I had friends who are undeclared and then wanted to declare a Psychology major, but they couldn’t because UC-R already accepted too many undergraduates for the Psychology program. So, they accept too many people than they actually can hold. I do feel that there are too many undergraduates here. [Editor’s Note: We could not find any relevant articles about students not being able to declare their major. See Inside UCR article, “Student growth studied in UCR’s Long Range Development Plan.”]

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
The career center had an FBI session, so I went and got to talk to an actual special agent. From her, I got information for an FBI internship, which I applied for.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’m currently taking a class called Introduction to Computing class where we are learning Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
Probably my biggest complaint about UCR is the financial aid office. They are very quick to demand money but they lag when they have to reimburse you. This year I had to do a change of income appeal and had to call them multiple times. Every time I called I got a different answer, so I had to go into the office and talk to people to get the appeal done. Even when you go in to talk to them, you’re going to stay there for at least two hours because it does take a while to get a hold of them.