UCI vs UCD

[guitarologist]

Does anyone know the specifics on either of these schools? I am looking for a UCI vs UCD, compare/contrast on the following:

1) Curriculum - Integrated or not, PBL or no

2) Lecture Schedule - How many hours are you in the classroom each day? What about all "other" learning activities?

3) Location - Is Sacramento dull?

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[badasshairday]

Does anyone know the specifics on either of these schools? I am looking for a UCI vs UCD, compare/contrast on the following:

1) Curriculum - Integrated or not, PBL or no

2) Lecture Schedule - How many hours are you in the classroom each day? What about all "other" learning activities?

3) Location - Is Sacramento dull?

About #3, Sacramento can't be any worse than Irvine. Irvine is a way too suburbia in my opinion. Sacramento is an up and coming city, but it is no San Francisco or LA.

 

[guitarologist]

What about #1 and #2? Anybody?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

For what purpose are you comparing these two? Are you deciding between them?

 

[Doublecortin]

What about #1 and #2? Anybody?

I know at uci lecture schedule is very tolerable. classes are 8-12 every day and attendance is optional. many people don't go to class

 

[SketchLazy]

3) Location - Is Sacramento dull?

UCI is about a mile or two away from great beaches and beach communities. But besides the beach, the city and the campus itself are pretty dull. I was walking through the med school today, and the med school has this weird aesthetic to it. Most things are brand spanking new, but it's like the place is devoid of any liveliness.

 

[guitarologist]

For what purpose are you comparing these two? Are you deciding between them?

Deciding between them.

Anybody have the lecture hours for UCD? Is UCI's curriculum integrated or is it all random? Is PBL part of either curriculum?

 

[taponthecloud]

UCI is about a mile or two away from great beaches and beach communities. But besides the beach, the city and the campus itself are pretty dull. I was walking through the med school today, and the med school has this weird aesthetic to it. Most things are brand spanking new, but it's like the place is devoid of any liveliness.

good observation. the brutalist-style of architecture contributes to that lifeless futuristic feel. very planet of the apes so-to-speak.. in fact, scenes from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes were filmed on campus.

 

[Doublecortin]

good observation. the brutalist-style of architecture contributes to that lifeless futuristic feel. very planet of the apes so-to-speak.. in fact, scenes from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes were filmed on campus.

holy siht! I didn't know that

 

[HoorayForMed]

UCI is about a mile or two away from great beaches and beach communities. But besides the beach, the city and the campus itself are pretty dull. I was walking through the med school today, and the med school has this weird aesthetic to it. Most things are brand spanking new, but it's like the place is devoid of any liveliness.

UCI's med campus is actually in Orange, not Irvine... so you wouldn't be THAT close to the beach...

 

[SketchLazy]

UCI's med campus is actually in Orange, not Irvine... so you wouldn't be THAT close to the beach...

Its medical center is in Orange. Students usually don't go to the medical center unless they are doing their rotations. The med school campus is in the same place as the undergrad campus.

 

[taponthecloud]

Hey is that the building next to McGaugh hall? Crazy!

i think it's near the social science area...near phoenix grille.

 

[DrZaius]

in fact, scenes from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes were filmed on campus.[/IMG]

That's hilarious. I wished UCI used that in their promotional materials.

 

[taponthecloud]

here's another pic from conquest of the planet of the apes (filmed near Langson Library)..

http://www.socsci.uci.edu/%7Erdalton/movies/ape1.jpg


this is a scene from Ocean's 11 filmed at the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility...

 

[taponthecloud]

here's a picture of the actual Social Science area on campus today:

http://www.physics.uci.edu/%7Esilverma/build/Building13.jpg

... and the actual Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility:

 

[phomp]

a friend of mine who goes there says ucd is 9-5 m-f...

 

[guitarologist]

a friend of mine who goes there says ucd is 9-5 m-f...

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[notdeadyet]

Can anyone confirm this?

I can confirm that phomp's friend is full of $hit. I'm sitting in class right now at UCD and lecture is 9am-12pm today. Tomorrow's lecture is 9am-12pm too. Thursday is 10am-12pm, with a Path lab 1-3pm. Firday we have lecture 9-10am and Path lab 1-3pm. We also have 7 hours of TBL, which is more than normal but they're scheduling them in now since we have so little lecture this week to free up time next week.

Always beware info given about a med school one step removed. Our lecture schedule is very manageable, PBL is light and lecture attendance (with ppt/mp3 for each provided for download) is entirely manageable. Lots of us don't go to school at all except for lab and PBL.

 

[notdeadyet]

a friend of mine who goes there says ucd is 9-5 m-f...

If your buddy is on a 9-5, he must be a third year doing a 9-5 rotation like derm. We never have lecture schedule like that.

 

[notdeadyet]

By the way, guitarologist, one question you should be asking yourself is if you want to live in Northern California or Southern California. If you really love SoCal, you probably won't love NorCal. If you really love NorCal, you probably won't love SoCal.

Not saying one is better than the other, but the location of the two schools couldn't be much different. UCI is pretty close to the beach. UCD is pretty close to the mountains. UCI is in the middle of a whole lot of suburbs. UCD is in the middle of a city. Both are good schools with good rotation and good possibilities.

 

[bashini]

By the way, guitarologist, one question you should be asking yourself is if you want to live in Northern California or Southern California. If you really love SoCal, you probably won't love NorCal. If you really love NorCal, you probably won't love SoCal.

Not saying one is better than the other, but the location of the two schools couldn't be much different. UCI is pretty close to the beach. UCD is pretty close to the mountains. UCI is in the middle of a whole lot of suburbs. UCD is in the middle of a city. Both are good schools with good rotation and good possibilities.

Amen to that. I think both schools are wonderful (heck which UC med school is a bad med school). If it was up to me (if I had the choice), I would base it on how much i liked the feel at each campus and whether it is closer to my family. Good luck with your decision, and maybe you'll be a classmate of mine if you decide to go with UCD.

 

[guitarologist]

I can confirm that phomp's friend is full of $hit. I'm sitting in class right now at UCD and lecture is 9am-12pm today. Tomorrow's lecture is 9am-12pm too. Thursday is 10am-12pm, with a Path lab 1-3pm. Firday we have lecture 9-10am and Path lab 1-3pm. We also have 7 hours of TBL, which is more than normal but they're scheduling them in now since we have so little lecture this week to free up time next week.

Always beware info given about a med school one step removed. Our lecture schedule is very manageable, PBL is light and lecture attendance (with ppt/mp3 for each provided for download) is entirely manageable. Lots of us don't go to school at all except for lab and PBL.

That sounds like a great schedule. I am leaning toward UCD. I am from SD, and was hanging on to UCI because it was in SoCal, but I liked the feel of UCD much more. Everyone seemed happy.

 

[notdeadyet]

That sounds like a great schedule.

yeah, don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work. And because we have an integrated curriculum (we do the heart at the same time in anatomy, histology, physiology, etc.), some weeks are heavier than others. That's the price you pay to have integrated curriculum.

I am from SD, and was hanging on to UCI because it was in SoCal, but I liked the feel of UCD much more. Everyone seemed happy.

I think satisfaction levels are pretty high (unless you catch us after a bad test). I'm very happy with my choice.

That said, I'm sure folks are happy at UCI as well. I ruled it out because of Irvine so I don't know as much about it as other UCs (not a slam of the school, I just grew up in Orange County and had no interest in returning).

Best of luck with your decision...

 

[alwaysaangel]

For UCI:

1) Curriculum - Integrated or not, PBL or no
Not integrated by organ system if thats what you mean. Its my course lecture based. Pretty much no PBL. There is clinical classes in the first two years as well as a preceptorship.

2) Lecture Schedule - How many hours are you in the classroom each day? What about all "other" learning activities?
8-12 most days. About once a week you will either have two hours of clinical foundations where you see standardized patients or of preceptorship where you go for 4 hours to work with a community doctor. Occaisionally we have afternoon classes, but not very often.

Even when you have anatomy its 8-12.

The really great thing about UCI to me is the Anatomy class. I hate dissecting - its pointless fat picking until you get to the structures of interest. We do only one out of every five dissections. And you present the one you do to everyone else. It works out very nicely.

3) Location - Is Sacramento dull?

Irvine is pretty dull. But the nice thing is that its pretty close to LA. But if you're a beach person then come to UCI. Our class tends to make lots of trips to LA, SD, Vegas etc. because we are sort of centrally located which is nice.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Its medical center is in Orange. Students usually don't go to the medical center unless they are doing their rotations. The med school campus is in the same place as the undergrad campus.

Truth. I opted to live on the Newport side of campus and I live about 2 miles from the beach. Its like a 5 minute drive.

 

[notdeadyet]

Even when you have anatomy its 8-12.

Wow! Do you folks not have labs? I can't imagine where you fit in much lab time in 20 hours a week. that's pretty impressive.

Irvine is pretty dull. But the nice thing is that its pretty close to LA. But if you're a beach person then come to UCI.

Yeah, I'll vouch for that. Irvine isn't much, but you're a short drive from great beaches and just over an hour from LA, a couple hours from SD and a couple hours from skiing. It's a very handy SoCal location.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Wow! Do you folks not have labs? I can't imagine where you fit in much lab time in 20 hours a week. that's pretty impressive.

Well scheduled time a lot of times you have to stay longer, but since you only do one out of every 5 dissections it evens out.

 

[SketchLazy]

Irvine is pretty dull. But the nice thing is that its pretty close to LA. But if you're a beach person then come to UCI. Our class tends to make lots of trips to LA, SD, Vegas etc. because we are sort of centrally located which is nice.

Wow. You UCI med students know how to have fun, but that's a lot of driving to do it. It is centrally located, but LA is still 1-2 hours away with traffic. And SD is about 1.5-2 hours away with less traffic. It's like saying Fresno is centrally located between LA and Oakland.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Wow. You UCI med students know how to have fun, but that's a lot of driving to do it. It is centrally located, but LA is still 1-2 hours away with traffic. And SD is about 1.5-2 hours away with less traffic. It's like saying Fresno is centrally located between LA and Oakland.

By that criteria Sacramento is centrally located between Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. Oh it is.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Wow. You UCI med students know how to have fun, but that's a lot of driving to do it. It is centrally located, but LA is still 1-2 hours away with traffic. And SD is about 1.5-2 hours away with less traffic. It's like saying Fresno is centrally located between LA and Oakland.

Not really. Depending on where you're going in LA and if you time it right - its 30 minutes. I have classmates who do it every weekend and some weeknights. Its all about timing it right. Driving anywhere in LA can take 2 hrs if you try to do it in traffic. I live WAY past LA in Ventura and its 1:15 almost always.

SD again depends on where in SD you're going but if you time it right its 1-1.5 hrs - one of our classmates lived there and commuted for the first month of class.

So I have to really disagree with you about comparing it to Fresno. If you know how to drive in LA then its all pretty close by.

 

[notdeadyet]

Depending on where you're going in LA and if you time it right - its 30 minutes.

True-ish. The only parts of LA you can hit in 30 minutes from Irvine are Compton, Carson and Torrence. Technically, LA, but if you're looking to go to Santa Monica, west hollywod, or whatnot, you should plan on on closer to an hour.

I used to do the reverse commute from OC to LA. Never again. The time above are assuming no traffic and what's maddening is that you find traffic in the oddest places at the oddest times.

I live WAY past LA in Ventura and its 1:15 almost always.

Man, I want your car. Irvine to Ventura is 110 miles. You're averaging 88 mph. Even if you live on off-ramps in both towns, that's a pretty ambitious race speed.

SD again depends on where in SD you're going but if you time it right its 1-1.5 hrs - one of our classmates lived there and commuted for the first month of class.

You're right, San Diego in 1.5 hrs is no problem. Again, you have to worry about the 5 but it's definitely do-able.

I don't mean to quibble about drive times, but folks not from SoCal can get a distorted view about how close everything is in southern california because things seem closer than they are on a map.

Irvine to LA is 30 minutes if you're going to the southern reaches (think south central). If you're heading to Hollywood, Santa Monica, downtown, or most spots in LA, give yourself 45-60 minutes. Irvine to SD is about 1:15. Irvine to Big Bear (think skiing) is about 1:30 or so. All of this assumes best case scenario without a car on the road. If it's anywhere near rush hour, you just don't go. And you can easily add 20 minutes to any of these times for totally unknown reasons.

 

[notdeadyet]

Anyway, whether you're choosing UCI or UCD, you should probably be careful about one thing: both locations like to use the phrase "We're conveniently close to _______." Irvine compensates for being a suburb, not a big city like LA. Sacramento compensates for being a smaller, less glam city than San Francisco.

You can hit some cool stuff within 1-2 hours of both places. alwaysaangel mentioned a few spots in SoCal that you're near with UCI. Sacramento is about 1:15 or so from San Francisco and 1:45 to Lake Tahoe.

But either way, it's probably best to gauge your impressions of both schools by the area the school is in. You may have visions of clubbing in LA every weekend from UCI, but odds are long that's going to happen with frequency. You may have visions of skiing every weekend in Kirkwood from UCD, but odds are long that's going to happen with frequency.

The vast majority of time you're going to spend in med school will be in a short radius immediately around the med school. For UCI, consider the short drive to Newport Beach for your club fix and Huntington Beach for your surfing (sorry, I'm from HB, I couldn't plug Newport again). For UCD, consider walking to mid-town for your nightlife and hitting Lake Folsom.

Anything further from those schools is more the rare treat than the daily part of life. Make sure you're happy with where you're going, not what it's "conveniently close to".

Best of luck with your decisions. Exciting times...

 

[alwaysaangel]

True-ish. The only parts of LA you can hit in 30 minutes from Irvine are Compton, Carson and Torrence. Technically, LA, but if you're looking to go to Santa Monica, west hollywod, or whatnot, you should plan on on closer to an hour.

I used to do the reverse commute from OC to LA. Never again. The time above are assuming no traffic and what's maddening is that you find traffic in the oddest places at the oddest times.

Man, I want your car. Irvine to Ventura is 110 miles. You're averaging 88 mph. Even if you live on off-ramps in both towns, that's a pretty ambitious race speed.

You're right, San Diego in 1.5 hrs is no problem. Again, you have to worry about the 5 but it's definitely do-able.

I don't mean to quibble about drive times, but folks not from SoCal can get a distorted view about how close everything is in southern california because things seem closer than they are on a map.

Irvine to LA is 30 minutes if you're going to the southern reaches (think south central). If you're heading to Hollywood, Santa Monica, downtown, or most spots in LA, give yourself 45-60 minutes. Irvine to SD is about 1:15. Irvine to Big Bear (think skiing) is about 1:30 or so. All of this assumes best case scenario without a car on the road. If it's anywhere near rush hour, you just don't go. And you can easily add 20 minutes to any of these times for totally unknown reasons.

My point was it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be and certainly not comparable to Fresno.

Also when I say Ventura I meant county since no one knows where Thousand Oaks is - I live on the closer end. Its about 80 miles.

 

[notdeadyet]

Also when I say Ventura I meant county since no one knows where Thousand Oaks is - I live on the closer end. Its about 80 miles.

Ah, Gotcha, that makes sense. When you said Ventura in 1:15 I was getting jealous and worried that you'd found some magic freeway that gets you through LA lighting fast while I was with the rest of the suckers on the 405.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Ah, Gotcha, that makes sense. When you said Ventura in 1:15 I was getting jealous and worried that you'd found some magic freeway that gets you through LA lighting fast while I was with the rest of the suckers on the 405.

I wish, but no. Although I take the 5 to 101 more often than the 405, because its usually less congested. I only take the 405 if I'm driving super early in the morning on a weekend or very late at night.