University of California, San Diego

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Mechanical Engineering
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Male

Summary

I’m in a fraternity.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school in La Verne, CA with a graduating class of about 450 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a fraternity.
What impact has Greek life had on your experience?
I really enjoy it. It helps me stay busy, and the one I’m in encourages being a balanced person and keeping with school while preparing yourself for the future.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of math and psychics. The workload is fairly difficult and there are more required classes. I’ve only had one lab so far. I’ve only had one [specifically Mechanical Engineering] class so far, and the largest portion of the grade were projects completed in a lab.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I feel fairly well-prepared for my upper-level classes through my prerequisites. In my engineering class, one of the more important ideas for completing your project were diagrams and making sure the conservation of energy was caught throughout the project. They don’t teach you that in the class, you’re supposed to have that physics background coming into it from the prerequisites.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I’d say it’s more collaborative than competitive. In my experience, it doesn’t seem like people are competing to be the top of the class, it’s more like a group effort to have everyone succeed. For example, we have group projects so we’re forced to collaborate with our peers. When those happen, people in other groups often talk with you and help you out if you need it. It’s a group effort in the classes.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. Every week they hold office hours and you can talk to them before or after lectures. If I had an issue with my coursework, I’d go to a TA first because the number of students they’re in charge of is smaller, so they have more time on their hands. They have more time for you and if there’s something the professor tells you that you’re not understanding, the TA might have a different perspective that you’ll understand better.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
In high school, math and science came very naturally to me compared to other classes so I knew I wanted to go the STEM route. I was told by my parents and teachers that I’d be a great engineer so I just picked it. So far, I’m happy with it.
How do you like the quarter system? How has it impacted your experience?
You’re forced to learn a lot faster than the semester system. You really have to be on top of your stuff. Over the course of one year, you take more classes [than you would on the semester system]. There are more finals and midterms, and when those come around the majority of people are studying rather than socializing. There might be less of social life because of that.

Reasons to Attend

1) The weather is great.
2) I know UCSD has a great reputation.
3) If you’re scared of going to a big college with a huge city life, UCSD is a lot quieter. Everything is centered around the college itself and not the surrounding area.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re looking for a college with a huge social life.
2) UCSD is very researched-based, so there’s a lot of teaching yourself and reading the textbook. In my opinion, your professors could be a little more help. If you’re coming here, be prepared to teach yourself a lot and not rely on others.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Douglas Hall apartments with six people. I was in a triple bedroom.
Sophomore: Brandon Hall with 4 other people. I am in a double bedroom.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel very safe. Today we had a fire drill and I know if there’s a problem we have RAs that’ll help us. Every night there are officers patrolling the area and making sure everything stays safe.
How was transitioning from your hometown to La Jolla, CA?
The change for me wasn’t too difficult. I have family in San Diego, so I have experience here. La Verne is about two hours away, so the atmosphere wasn’t too much different. I made the change fairly easily.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
For me personally, nightlife here was boring until I joined a fraternity. There were very few things to do. Once you join a fraternity, your social life expands and there are lots of things to participate in.
How did the nightlife differ before and after you joined Greek life?
Last year I didn’t have a car so I was basically stuck on campus unless I took a bus or an Uber somewhere. During the weekends, it’s up to you to hang out with friends but if you’re doing that every day it gets repetitive and there’s not a lot of variety. Once you join a fraternity, there are parties and stuff you’re able to go to which makes things more interesting. The parties are typically on Fridays and Saturdays.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
Greek life keeps you busy. There are so many more things to do on the weekends. There will most likely be some party somewhere to forget about the busy workload and have some fun. All members of the fraternity are allowed in, and other boys will rarely be allowed in. For open parties, only girls get in. As a freshman, I only got into one party because I had friends in the fraternity.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UCSD? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
Right now, I’m very happy with my options. There’s nothing I’d change. Last year when I had nothing to do during the weekends, it would’ve been nice for the school to host some events for people.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I met them during my freshman year on the first day of move-in. People were hanging out outside and I walked up to a group of people and introduced myself and hit it off from there. Since then, very few people have a desire to go talk or socialize with new people and the school became very cliquey.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UCSD?
There’s a term called “UC – Socially Dead,” but I wouldn’t say it’s that bad. It’s what you make of it. You don’t have to be in a fraternity to have fun. Depending on the group of friends you make, you can consistently have fun. I think being in a fraternity is the best way to increase your social life I think. If you’re not going to try at all, you won’t have much of a social life because your average person at this school is very school-oriented.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
My group of friends is very diverse. I’m the only White person, so I’d say other races hang out all the time. [The undergraduate student population is about 20% Hispanic, 3% Black, 19% White, and 53% Asian.]
How do you like the size of UCSD in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [There are about 30,000 undergraduates.]
I think the school has way too many people in it for the geographic size. Housing and parking are major issues. Not everyone is guaranteed on-campus housing. [See The Triton article, “UCSD Needs to Address Its Housing Crisis.”]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I would say sometimes they do socialize, but it’s more often than people in their fraternity socialize much more than going outside of Greek life. It’s common for them to be friends, but it’s very rare for people in a fraternity to invite outsiders into their parties.
How has the six-college system impacted your experience at USCD?
Pretty much all of my friends are in the same college and I didn’t branch out to other colleges much until I joined a fraternity. It makes it so you’re socializing within your own college most of the time.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
The only time I’ve talked to the office was the beginning of last year. I was late filling out paperwork, and the way they tell you what to do is confusing for someone just getting involved in the college life.