University of California-San Diego Reviews

  • 132 Reviews
  • La Jolla (CA)
  • Annual Tuition: $44,978
93% of 132 students said this degree improved their career prospects
93% of 132 students said they would recommend this school to others
Start Your Online College Search:

Student & Graduate Reviews

Lee
  • Reviewed: 1/24/2017
  • Degree: Engineering
"UC San Diego is an excellent choice for graduate studying. It has great research facilities and fantastic professors. It also has good cultural diversity."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 1/24/2017
  • Degree: Biomedical Sciences
"It is a great place for graduate work in the sciences"
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 1/24/2017
  • Degree: Education
"Educational, lots of theory, not very practical, not a lot of real-life application taught."
Lee
  • Reviewed: 1/24/2017
  • Degree: Engineering
"UC, San Diego is an excellent university to pursue graduate degree, especially for engineering school. It has great group of faculty and research facilities."
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 1/3/2017
  • Degree: Education
"UCSD was a great university with a diversity and variety of activities and clubs to join. The faculty and staff were wonderful and the city surrounding the campus was beautiful and relaxing."
Heejin
  • Reviewed: 9/20/2016
  • Degree: Biology
"You will need to seek out if you are looking for opportunities. Don't just sit at your desk. Go out and look for clubs, organizations, or professors who can get you started in your career. UCSD is pretty bad at guiding students, but their professors are so inspiring. Get involved and work for your future career!"
Anonymous
  • Reviewed: 8/7/2016
  • Degree: Curriculum & Instruction
"I am currently a student at The University of San Diego in the school of education. The masters programs that USD offers are rigorous, and prepare you to be a well rounded and globally minded educator. The classes are small and individualized, and there are various lengths of graduate programs to fit the needs of students. Very happy I chose this school and program!"
Tammy Nguyen
  • Reviewed: 7/29/2016
  • Degree: Biology
"The University of California, San Diego is a great place to attend for undergraduate studies. The school is located in a beautiful part of San Diego and offers many things to do around the city. UCSD was a wonderful place to study biology and other sciences. They have excellent professors who are intelligent, well-known, have great research backgrounds, and can give you a great education and opportunities as a student. The opportunities are there for students to obtain internships, help with research in biology labs, and network with people in the field. The class sizes are very large for most science classes, with an average of 300 students to one professor. However, there are separate discussion classes with 15-20 students led by a graduate student in addition to main lectures. This was an effective way of learning in both a large setting and personalized setting. The variety of classes available and hands-on access we had in our classes was wonderful. I would highly recommend going to UCSD for undergraduate studies. It is an academically challenging school, but well worth the effort to have a great education."
D. Lopez
  • Reviewed: 7/17/2016
  • Degree: Political Science
"UC San Diego is a public university with excellent research programs and sustainability goals. The university has a strong Health system and is research-oriented. Diversity is growing among the student body and with the staff, but there is always room for improvement. While the studies and academics are constantly evolving and improving, the social atmosphere of the school suffers. It is important to join many clubs, interest groups and programs in order to grow your network and build your connections. Sports are also improving. Earlier this year, students of UC San Diego voted in support of the athletics program becoming Division I. This will greatly benefit the Basketball teams and other teams and will put a new spotlight on the campus. Additionally, UC San Diego has a strong LGBT community and provides resources for the LGBT community at the LGBT Resource Center, as well as a Women's Resource Center, Raza Resource Center and Black Student Union Center. Overall, UC San Diego is an ever-evolving campus with a lot of potential to keep developing its programs, resources and diversity."
Raul Enciso
  • Reviewed: 7/9/2016
  • Degree: Sociology
"UC San Diego is a very safe but conservative campus. Majority of the student population is Asian and white. The campus is on on one of the richest part of California and home to the only nude beach in California. It is a beautiful campus with a lot to offer. Students need to make the most of it and connect with caring faculty to inspire change."
sdsun
  • Reviewed: 5/31/2016
  • Degree: Biology
"Loved going to UCSD and the opportunity to work with well-renowned scientists in their respective fields. If you study in the biology department, the bureaucracy can be challenging to deal with, so make sure you are on top of everything (especially if you plan to apply study-abroad courses to your core requirements). While I was there, the Environmental Science department was much smaller and easier to work with; I did my minor in Marine Science through the ESYS department. I did all of my independent study projects at Scripps Oceanography and loved it there! The faculty were incredibly knowledgeable, and willing to work with undergraduates on projects. These projects later helped me get into graduate school! If you're looking for a school that is really into athletics or is a party school, this is not the place for you. In terms of a great education - I highly recommend UCSD."
Spencer
  • Reviewed: 5/31/2016
  • Degree: Biology
"It is a lot of difficult work. It requires one to be very independently motivated. There is a nominal stipend, but the health insurance is good. Getting a doctorate is not about wanting to make more money (your lifetime earnings will likely be on par with a person who gets a masters in the same discipline), it is about wanting to contribute to an academic effort. Make sure you get in a lab with other motivated individuals and also make sure the lab has solid funding."
Yuh Yau Liew
  • Reviewed: 5/2/2016
  • Degree: Education
"The USD Masters and Credential program changed the way that I thought about teaching. It grew my passion for teaching and expanded my skills and teaching practice. It is as much methodical as it is theoretical and after graduating from the program I felt very prepared for my career in teaching. The USD program has not only taught me to become a better teacher but a constant learner each day I step foot into the classroom. One of the best things about the program is that although I have graduated from the program, I still feel very connected and am constantly kept in contact. I am a proud Torero!"
T. A.
  • Reviewed: 4/29/2016
  • Degree: Mathematics
"Although UCSD is a very large institution, it provided innumerable opportunities to find your individuality and participate in activities that served your interests. Academically, for students who make the effort, you can absolutely get personal treatment from faculty and graduate students and receive assistance and support from campus resources."
Anon
  • Reviewed: 9/23/2015
  • Degree: Environmental Engineering
"Great experience, worth the time and investment. Its an essential life changing journey"
JT
  • Reviewed: 9/23/2015
  • Degree: Economics
"It's a big school with a lot of choices; choices for your major, clubs to join, and friends to make. The size can be overwhelming, like with many public institutions, so it's your responsibility to carve your own path."
John OLoughlin
  • Reviewed: 8/31/2015
  • Degree: Secondary Education
"There are times that I do wish that I'll have extra partners in my program. Since the program's specialization concentrate in Bilingual Education with American Sign Language that targets the Deaf/ASL students in K-12 school settings; we only have four of us. It's the daily challenge that I need to overcome with high student loans that each of us is facing as future educators. The best part of this program is that they hold the representation as forward-thinking Deaf Education program that designed to advances the standards of Deaf Education that other universities' programs don't have."
COMundergrad2012
  • Reviewed: 8/19/2015
  • Degree: Communications
"The campus is large and meeting people can be difficult if you do not join Greek life. You must have a car because pubic transit is poor and every year they get rid of more student parking... Parking is the #1 complaint. While it is super close to the beach, the surrounding community is suburban and boring. I was in ERC college which is a newer side of campus -close to the international and transfer student housing which was so much fun!! I am told they have changed some policies that suck the fun out of our big festivals so can't comment on that. But overall college is what you make it and UCSD was no different."
Donald Johnson
  • Reviewed: 8/12/2015
  • Degree: Chemistry
"This graduate program is not friendly in anyway to students of color, student parents, women, or any underrepresented group. I have been bullied and ostracized by faculty due to one, or two, of the categories above. The second year exam is designed to abuse a student, not in anyway help you. They are not regulated, set to be fair in anyway. Your advisor can throw you under the bus and you not know. The third year is a bit more supportive and once you pass this exam, it is pretty hard for a faculty member to bully you. This still does not protect you from other forms of abuse. As a graduate student in the Chemistry department, you can fall victim to funding issues. The student affairs office, if not happy with you, will make you suffer through financials. The graduate division is useless and unhelpful. If anything, I felt like the Dean of the Graduate Division had more interest in causing problems than helping. This is due to politics at this school. Instead of saying everything is fine, I said what really goes on around here. They pick minorities and women they think they can control and exploit. Do not go here!!!"
katherine ko
  • Reviewed: 8/11/2015
  • Degree: Performing Arts
"UC San Diego MFA program for acting is one of the tope 5 acting graduate programs in the nation. I was fortunate enough to get in as only 8 people are chosen from a pool of 1000. The program is challenging in so many ways, but there is not a day that I don't thank God for the opportunity to be there. UC San Diego has the best training and the professors are there to support and help you craft your skills as an artist--they are there to encourage you and push you beyond your comfort zone to see you succeed! Students are stuck in the basement of Galbraith hall for about 15 hours a day (including saturday rehearsals from 12-5pm!) which doesn't allow for much free time. You're in classes all day and rehearsals all night! It's an intense program. With the time constraint, students don't have enough time to get a part time job, so bills can be hard to pay unless you take out a loan. A scholarship of any kind would help in so many ways! Acting is one of those majors where the people around you may not understand and may not encourage, so finding financial support from family or the community is very difficult. But getting an education in what I love to do is worth the struggle."