University of California-Irvine

Being that I have only been at UCI for one year so far, I feel that I am really learning a lot from my professors and from the students that I have surrounded myself with. No matter where you are at, it is the people you are around that you can learn from. UCI has a lot to offer when it comes to academia. There are numerous Nobel Prize winners, each having a building on campus named after them. Upon arriving at UCI, I took a campus tour and during this tour I knew that I was going to be learning something new every day from the students and from the faculty. For example, did you know that there are 1100+ trees planted in the center of our school (Aldrich Park)? I had no idea! Taking the time out of the day to notice things of beauty like the structure of our campus has made me realize how thankful I am to be learning something new every day. I never walk out of a class empty-handed and wishing I had actually learned something. Instead, I always look forward to the next day of classes, even if it becomes a struggle to wake up in the morning. UCI has so much to offer in the broad scope of learning that I cannot name everything, but everyone should get the opportunity to see for themselves. Check out a classroom and talk to a professor during office hours. Those are the times that you learn the most anyways! One-on-one conversations have opened my eyes to a real college experience of never-ending lessons and learning.

I was expecting to be challenged academically, but instead I found that classes here were not as hard as expected. The classes are easy to get through, but are very interesting.

There are some inspirational professors and TAs here who go above and beyond the class material to help students learn about life. College prepares us for the real world and not only am I learning material relevant to that, but I am also learning how to apply it later on.

I have just finished my first quarter as a freshman, out of the four professors that I had during fall quarter, one strongly conveyed the love he had for the subject he was teaching. The other three professors lacked passion and enthusiasm, which was quite disappointing. I'm hoping that I will have more professors like my Calculus professor, whose love for math practically oozed out of the words that would come out of his mouth during his lectures.

UCI is a relaxing, yet academically rigorous university. Almost everyone you meet seems happy to be here. There are thousands of opportunities for students.

I am glad that I actually joined CSSA CAMP Summer Science Academy, which I highly recommend for those who are of a Chicano/Latino, African-American, Native American, or Pacific Islander and must be majoring in Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, Information and Computer Sciences, or Applied Ecology under Social Ecology. If this isn’t possible, then at least attend SPOP, which is for everyone. Both of these are in the summer and they will definitely increase your chances of making new friends and getting into the environment of UCI. In the beginning of my year, I saw many lonely people, so it is best to meet friends and feel comfortable before you officially come to UCI.
You will also be surprised at how many people there are in classrooms. For my Biology Lecture class, I practically had more than 400 students, so don’t really expect to get personal attention from your professor, unless you meet with them during office hours. So if you’re having trouble with your classes, you can stop by and ask for assistance. They are always willing to help out a student since mostly no one goes to there office hours. This gives the students that do go, a better opportunity to learn.
It is also best to take LARC, which is a tutoring program, and only free if you are eligible for the waiver. I took Chemistry tutoring and it really affected my performance in the class. You should consider tutoring, even if you took AP or Honor classes in high school, you’re going to see that you are going to need it. The Midterms and Finals are hard, but if you study and work harder than you had in high school, I assure you that you will do great at UCI.

The University of California, Irvine is a beautiful campus with a degree program for any field of study. A safe, inspired, and progressive institution, UC Irvine is consistently moving up in the ranks to become one of the UC system's most selective universities. Come visit
UCI and see why it's students are proud to be Anteaters! Zot zot!

I have learned so much since I've been here; the classes are quite challenging but the things you learn can also be very interesting and fun! A majority of the professors here are friendly and they care about you; they are always willing to help and they are also good lecturers, which is super important for a class since the majority of things you learn come from lectures. Some professors may not be as good at teaching the material, but they are few and the minority. Plus if you need extra help, theres always two huge libraries, free tutors, as well as a great tutoring program called LARC; students can do really well with all these resources.

UCI is a very quiet school in terms of partying, but there are always activities going on throughout the day that any student can participate in. The school is fantastic in Academics and has many research opportunities.

The campus treats you like a family and everyone is extremely friendly and engaging. It is a very safe university and has one of the most beautiful parks in California. Your education here will be progressive and a learning experience, even if classes are hard there are numerous amounts of resources you can use if you need help.