University of California, Riverside

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Pre-Business. You have to complete the requirements and then apply.
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: East Asian Straight Female

Summary

I do dance and I’m part of a co-ed academic fraternity.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: East Asian
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public school in San Marino, CA with a graduating class of about 300 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Pre-Business. You have to complete the requirements and then apply.
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I do dance and I’m part of a co-ed academic fraternity.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
All of my extracurriculars have impacted my experience because, even though sometimes they make it more difficult to deal with schoolwork, they have introduced me to so many new people.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
We have lectures and discussions for Economics and Business classes and sometimes you have a business project or you have to put together a presentation for something. Next quarter I’ll have to take a statistics lab, but that’s the only lab I’ll have. Generally, exams make up the bulk of our grade and sometimes we’ll have essays too.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
Sometimes I think the professors are poorly selected because some of them aren’t very good teachers. I once had a professor say to the class that he wasn’t good at teaching this sort of material and he prefers to teach a different type of material and it was just a bad experience.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s more collaborative, at least right now. We do a lot of group projects together and, even if it’s an individual project, they are trying to help you build up your communication skills.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re fairly accessible. The ones that I want to reach out to are very accessible. You have to set up meetings or pop in their office hours.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Were there any resources available that helped you adapt?
Honestly, I did it mostly by myself. When I had to figure something out, I’d either call my parents or talk to my adviser.
How do you like the quarter system academically? How has it impacted your experience?
It’s really fast-paced. I don’t love it and I don’t hate it. I have a neutral opinion about it because it is fast-paced but it’s nice because we get through things faster. It feels like one second I’m learning and the next second I’m already taking a test. It’s impacted my experience because I feel like I’m rushed when I’m studying.

Reasons to Attend

1) The big, diverse student body is a big plus because you’re not restricted to interacting with only one type of student. You can interact with multiple types of people.
2) It’s really easy to socially interact with students, especially during your first year. I also feel like I enjoyed it more because I met people through my [academic] fraternity and dance.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re more of a socialite, maybe don’t come here because it’s a really slow town. You have to drive and go further for more of a social life.
2) Registration can be hard.
3) Some of the professors are not the best teachers, but we do have a good number of professors who are good teachers.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Aberdeen-Inverness with one roommate
Sophomore: I live in an off-campus apartment that’s about a 10-minute walk away. I live with one other person in a two-bedroom apartment.
How was transitioning from your hometown to Riverside, CA in terms of location?
In terms of location, Riverside doesn’t have much to do around it. I’m from a small town and Riverside is still suburban and it’s a bit bigger, but it doesn’t have as much to do as my hometown.
Can you describe the level of safety you have experienced on and around campus?
Personally, I don’t feel too worried. Campus police are always around and they send us emails whenever there’s anything suspicious that we should be careful about. I appreciate that, but I know those emails affect some of my friends and make them worry. Personally, I don’t get too scared walking around.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
If I do anything, it’s going out to eat with friends. We don’t stay in Riverside for that, we go all the way to [Rowland Heights, which is about a 45-minute drive away]. In Riverside, we’ll just hang out at each other’s apartments and talk and listen to music. That’s the main kind of nightlife that’s common here unless you drive out to L.A. to go clubbing or something. I’m not old enough to go to the bars in Riverside, so some of the older students will go do that. If we go out to Rowland Heights, we tend to do that on the weekends or maybe a spontaneous trip on a Monday if we don’t have early classes the next day.
What is your favorite place to go to eat?
There’s a cool place to eat in Riverside called the Food Lab. It’s in downtown Riverside, so it would be hard for first-year students to go if they don’t have cars.
What’s the impact of Greek life on the weekend options?
During my first year, it was more active and it was nice because if I was bored I’d have something to do. I felt more involved then. After rushing, I’m not really involved that much because I’m trying to focus more on school. If you’re more involved, it helps you be more active. The option is still there now, I just don’t participate much in it.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UC-Riverside? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
With my friend group, the majority of my friends live fairly close to Riverside so they go home a lot, which is tough. I wish people would stay here more because when people leave it gets really boring because Riverside can be slow on the weekends. A lot of people who stay in Riverside focus on studying, which is something I wouldn’t change, but that plays a part in it being slow and having fewer people to hang out with on the weekends.
I’ve been told UC-Riverside is a commuter school, do you agree with that?
Yeah, actually a lot of people I talk to commute because a lot of them live close to campus or find it easier to commute. [About 30% of undergraduates live on in college-owned housing.]

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
A couple of people I went to high school with came to Riverside with me, so we introduced each other to people we met through classes and stuff and that’s how our group formed. Also, my freshman year roommate helped me meet people because she introduced me to people from her hometown.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UC-Riverside?
With party life, the social scene is pretty low. With talking to people in clubs and stuff like that, the social scene is pretty high. We have a lot of club events and clubs promoting during the week. I think the social life depends on the person because if you put effort into it you can do that and it will exist for you. Then, if you don’t prefer to go out and meet people as much, that’s fine and you just won’t be as involved.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I see that a lot on our campus. We have a really big, diverse student body both in terms of race and sexuality. There are different areas where people of certain affinity groups can interact with just their group if they want to, but they’re open to everyone. A lot of my friends are different races and I see other races and sexualities interacting with each other. [The undergraduate population is about 41% Hispanic, 34% Asian, 11% White, 3% Black, and 3% International.]
How would you describe the East Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
The Asian community is fairly big because they are almost the majority population in the school. It’s a nice community and is very big, so you can talk to a lot of other Asians if you needed to.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
About once a week my [academic] fraternity has social events where we talk to other fraternities or sororities that we have connections with so we can spread the connections and talk more with each other. It’s also common for people to have friends who are not in the fraternity.
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 personally feel like we have a really big student body and a really high acceptance rate. It’s a lot of students, which is a good thing because you meet a lot of different people. But, it also is bad because it becomes competitive when it comes to choosing classes. If you have a later time slot for registration, the classes you need are filled up because so many other students need it too. [See UCR News article, “UCR sends largest number of acceptance letters to California freshmen within UC system.”]

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
The alumni from my [academic] fraternity have helped me. We always have the option to reach out to anyone that we need to and also come out to talk with us.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
I used the career office more often during my first year for help with constructing a resume and looking for on-campus jobs. They were very helpful with that.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I took 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?
Yes, I’m very thankful for financial aid. In the beginning, it was hard for me because I didn’t know how to fill out the financial aid forms so I had to contact them a lot. Once you get in contact with them they are very helpful, but it’s really hard to get in contact with them. There are a lot of students calling them at the same time to ask the same questions as yours, so the wait time is long. If you email them, it takes a couple of days for them to get back to you. It’s easier to go into the office, where they are usually helpful but they’re concise with their answers so they can help as many people as possible.