University of California, San Diego
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Molecular and Cell Biology
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Chinese-American Heterosexual Male
Summary
I am part of the Pre-Pharmacy Society.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Chinese-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school in San Jose, CA with a graduating class of about 900 students. There was a culture of going to college, but a big part of the school was low-income students so a lot of them went to community college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Molecular and Cell Biology
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I am part of the Pre-Pharmacy Society.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
I feel like participating in an organization makes your first-year in college much better. You have a much better experience and you interact with more people. I think my first year was much more fun because of this club since I met people and gave me things to do during the weekend.
Was it a competitive club to get into?
No, you just sign up.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of STEM courses, so there is a lot of math and science. Most of what I do on a weekly basis is doing pre-labs and writing lab reports, problem sets, and the major graded assignments are exams.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I don’t know if there is anything special about classes, but they do provide a lot of opportunities for you to get into research and make connections with professors. Even though the classes are pretty big, you can still make connections with professors.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s not really that collaborative unless you go out of the way to go to discussions, office hours, and study sessions. In that sense, you could make it very collaborative. But, personally, I just study in my room by myself and go to a tutor if I have questions.
How accessible are your professors?
They usually have office hours for two to three hours during the week. If you have class, you can always schedule appointments outside of their office hours schedule. I’d say they’re pretty accessible.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
Right now, I really like my organic chemistry class and my physics class too. My favorite classes that I’ve completed are the General Chemistry courses because I really liked the professors. He had a lot of demonstrations and jokes that made me stay focused in class and work for a better grade.
What has been your favorite part of UCSD academically?
One of my favorite parts of UCSD is that they have a lot of resources for getting tutoring and outside help. They provide a lot of tutors and places where people can study together. It’s nice to have access to a lot of resources besides just lectures.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose my major because I was interested in biology and chemistry. I’m also considering medical school, so my major would go well with prerequisites in the health field. I can’t tell yet if the major is what I want because most Biology and Chemistry majors start off the same and you don’t get to know much that is specific to your major until your third or fourth year.
Reasons to Attend
1) There are a lot of research opportunities if you’re interested in biology or chemistry
2) The food at UCSD is good.
3) I like how UCSD is close to Mexico.
4) If it’s far from your home and you want to try something different. For me, I like the different environment.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The dining plans are questionable because you’re required to buy dining dollars that you can only use on campus food.
2) It’s not as socially active as other colleges.
3) The on-campus housing is not the best. [See The Triton article, “UCSD Needs to Address Its Housing Crisis” and article, “Planning for Failure: How UCSD Created the Housing Crisis.”]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Thurgood Marshall College Residential College in Voice House with a suite of ten people and I shared a room with two other people. The room was pretty small, but I really liked the dorm experience because you interact with everybody in your suite. There were also suites around us who we would interact with. It’s cool we had that because it’s very rare at UCSD to have suites be close to each other and hang out.
Sophomore: Thurgood Marshall apartments in the K Building and I live in a double room. They’re really big and we have a lot of space.
How was transitioning from San Jose, CA to La Jolla, CA?
San Jose is very diverse so I was used to the diversity you get in San Diego. The homesickness wasn’t too bad of an issue for me because we had a really social suite and it became a home away from home.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s very safe. I think the only reason you would feel unsafe is it’s dark in some areas, but you can always call Triton Rides to give you a ride back home.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’m not a big party person. Last year we held a lot of social events in our suite. We would have a hot pot night or go out to eat together. We’d also go explore the beach and the campus together. This year, it’s mostly going out to eat or going to get groceries because we want to try to cook something. We also like to go to the gym or go to the pool this year. That’s pretty much it besides studying.
What are some of your favorite places in San Diego to go with your friends?
The majority of places we go to eat are on Conway Street. We have to take an Uber there. Other places we like to explore are in downtown San Diego where Old Town, Little Italy, the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld are.
What have been some of your favorite events on or off-campus?
There’s a concert called Sun God, which is UCSD’s biggest event. It’s a music festival with different musical acts.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UCSD? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I wish my school was closer to restaurants because I have to get a car to go places.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My closest friends I met in my dorm last year.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UCSD?
As a community, we’re not really social together. You can be social and do social things, you just have to put in the effort and work to do it. Some clubs are actually very social, but it’s not representative of the whole campus. Some people think that because the school’s been separated into six different colleges with different buildings, we’re not social as a whole. I feel like everybody’s social in their own respect.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I see different races coming together and mixing a bit. I’m not sure about sexual orientation because I’m not sure who identifies in which way.
How would you describe the student body?
People aren’t very extroverted here. A lot of people don’t come up and say hi. They’re very friendly, but not very talkative or as social.
How would you describe the Chinese community? How strong is it?
I wouldn’t say the Chinese community is big because there’s a split between the international group of Chinese people and people who are Chinese-Americans. Usually, you don’t see those groups mixing as much. They feel like closed social groups so the community doesn’t feel very strong.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They don’t really mix with people who aren’t in Greek life. They socialize on their own in their own groups.
How do you like the size of UCSD in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience?
They are accepting more students and that’s affected housing. For me personally, it hasn’t affected me that much. But, on the other hand, there are so many people here that it can be hard to get some resources. For example, if you’re a STEM major a big thing people stress about is research and also getting into your classes. Sometimes people with later enrollment times have issues getting into their classes and have to change their whole schedule because there are so many people and so few professors. [The student-faculty ratio is about 19:1. See The Triton article, “UCSD Needs to Address Its Housing Crisis” and article, “Planning for Failure: How UCSD Created the Housing Crisis.”]
Careers
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve learned a bit of Excel and I have worked with MATLAB.