University of California, Irvine

Outside the Bay Area
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  • UC Irvine

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    Mar 24, 2022

    I'd love to hear people's experiences with UC Irvine.  This was the only UC my child was admitted to and we find ourselves not knowing much about the school, the community, the area. We're concerned that the university is geared more toward pre-med and STEM majors (which my child is not) as well as being a commuter school.  Any input is appreciated.

    Mar 24, 2022

    My daughter is a 4th year at UC Irvine. She is a Public Health and Dance dual major as well as in the Honors College. She loves the school, and the area. It's clean, updated, suburban and accessible. She had choices and this one just felt right to her. I recommend visiting so your daughter can have a visceral reaction to the campus and student body. There are sororities and fraternities and some partying opportunities, but it is a school focused on education. It's extremely diverse, a real plus for us, and the quarter system takes some getting used to at it's accelerated pace. It's a great school, but none are perfect. I really recommend visiting to get a better 'feel' for it.

    Mar 28, 2022

    I would encourage you to check out the parent forum on College Confidential - there are discussion boards for every college, and the UC's feature prominently, including UC Irvine. Congrats to your student - admission to ANY UC these days is a true accomplishment, and they will undoubtedly receive a fantastic education.

    Mar 28, 2022

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Archived Q&A and Reviews

April 2014

RE: UCSB or UCI for First Gen college bound Eng major student?

Hi there,

I went to UCI. Yes, it was 20 years ago, but I can tell you my experience. Yes, there is a large commuter component to the student body. I wouldn't say, at the time, that the student body was all that diverse. It was heavily Asian/Caucasian, and divided between the 'hard sciences' types who studied all the time and really didn't socialize, and us liberal arts types (who also studied, but not like the bio or computer sci. folks).

I was in a sorority, so got my social life through the Greek system. Pros: living near the beach (most of us lived the first year in the dorms and the rest in apartments/beach houses). Safe, quiet community, yet lots of students in the most popular housing areas. Plenty of parties on the weekend in Newport. If we needed more 'excitement' we went up to Hollywood or down to Tijuana.

The friends I know from high school who went to UCSB all flamed out from partying too much and transferred, but I know that's not true of all UCSB students. Less chance of that at UCI, though, I'd think. WC Mom