For UC Davis, I had the opportunity to interview Priyanshi! She provided some awesome detailed responses for many students interested in applying to UC Davis! I highly recommend you check out her responses. Thank you so much Priyanshi! - Melissa
What is your major and why did you choose it?
“My major is computer science and I’m currently planning to also minor in statistics and data studies, but I haven’t taken any classes related to stats yet. It was actually an interesting journey for me to get into computer science. The reason why I chose CS is essentially because there was a program called Kode With Klossy. It’s basically an all girls coding camp started by Karlie Kloss to kind of drive the initiative to get more girls involved in STEM, especially in coding. So I decided to apply for that program the summer before my junior year and before then I had only taken a JAVA class in my sophomore year. I liked the coding aspect of things but I really didn’t feel like coding was for me because of the stereotypes that came along with it and the fact that it was a male dominated field, but going through that JAVA class I realized that I liked the coding aspect of things. After I went to Kode With Klossy that summer in San Francisco, that’s when I realized that I really wanted to pursue computer science because I found that sense of community that I was missing. Ever since then I have been super involved in different communities for women in tech like Built By Girls, Kode With Klossy, RTC which stands for Rewriting the Code, and Girl Genius Magazine where I was director of Youtube for awhile.”
How would you describe the workload? Do students study at home during the weekends or go out and relax with their friends?
"I would say the workload depends by major, but for my major it’s a pretty heavy workload; nothing you can’t handle I would say. Overall, UC Davis is a pretty balanced school with academics and social life. Compared to some other schools, I would say it’s a more relaxed culture. People are not as competitive and I would say rather than competitiveness, we’re more about uplifting each other which is something I really love about UC Davis. UC Davis is not really a party school but students go out during the weekends, chill with their friends, and study of course. UC Davis is a pretty academic school, but I would say we’re kinda like work hard play hard people. If you’re more into social events, there is something for you and if you’re more into academic events, there is something for you as well. I would say there is a mixture of both depending on what you want, but it’s not like a big party school or you’ll be peer pressured to party.”
How often are collaborative work or group presentations required?
“Collaborative work or group presentations depends by major, but based on my experience as a computer science major, some professors have let me work in groups of two and some professors have been very against collaborating on code. Someone could copy and paste from other people so it’s hard to judge academic integrity. Again, it kind of depends on the class. For my general ed classes like a language class I took, we had a group presentation and there was a lot of collaborative work whereas a C++ class I took had very limited collaboration because the professor didn’t want us to cheat.”
Typically, how big are your classes? Are they lecture-based or discussion-based?
“All of my classes haven’t been too big or overwhelmingly big. I hear about certain colleges that have really big lecture halls which I haven’t personally experienced at UC Davis. In my big classes, I would say there’s about 100-200 people max and I haven’t taken any science classes yet so I can’t speak on that, but for my computer science classes and for my math class the first quarter there was around 100 people so it wasn't that big at all; it was a pretty small room. My general ed classes had around 30 people so it really depends but overall, you can get to know your professors well if you want to and go to office hours and it’s not crazy busy. In terms of that, I would say they’re pretty average class sizes. All my CS classes were pretty much lecture-based. The professor would tell you what coding concept you’re learning and you would just focus on that. Most of my general ed classes have been discussion-based so again, it really depends on the class and the major.”
What makes your university/college so special to you? Was it your first choice and/or dream school?
“I loved this last question! I am absolutely in love with UC Davis. I feel like people often overlook it initially, which is the case with me. I had never visited but when I got the chance to visit before making college decisions, I absolutely fell in love with the campus. The campus is so beautiful and the people are so friendly and amazing. You can definitely feel the positive energy of everyone as soon as you step onto campus. For me it wasn't my dream school, like I said I had never visited or knew too much about UC Davis, but after going there for a year or I guess two quarters because it got cut short, I would say I have really fell in love with it and I feel like this is the perfect choice for me. It’s such a college town and usually I am a very city girl type of a person. I love the city, but these years are some you’ll never get back so having it in such a community feel is so nice. That’s one thing that I’m really thankful for in Davis. There is such a sense of community since most of the time everyone lives in the city and it isn’t a commuter school. Everyone who lives in the city of Davis is mostly just students. Also, it’s a biking community if you didn’t know. You can bike anywhere you want to go, like downtown is right next to campus. It’s really easy to make friends and meet new people, so I really love Davis and for anyone who is thinking about going I would definitely recommend it!”