The University of California San Diego

Date: Oct 13 2006
Major: Economics (This Major's Salary over time)
The general educational dogma of the university across most, if not all, academic departments is heavily theory-based with little emphasis on real-world parallels and practical application. Excellent school for future Grad School applicants and engineers, not so good for others looking to work immediately after undergrad. People study at the library all the time, so if you're the hardcore academic type you'll fit right in.

Extracurricular environment is weak, leadership and long-term organization building is hard cuz most people don't care. Clubs are vital for socializing once you live off-campus, so meet AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE while you're still on-campus.

If you're a confident, social, sexual outgoing person, prepare to feel like a fish out of water. People here generally tend to fall in three categories. (1) Nice, approachable people with the social skills of rocks and zero libido. (2) Close-minded, self-inflated egos who overcompensate for their lack of real confidence and value with arrogance and cliquishness. What diversity there is is totally diminished by cliques of clones. (3) People who are socially intelligent enough to recognize this disparity, and either transfer before their 2nd year or stick it out purely for the above-average academic education.

You have to put a LOT of effort and time into building an enjoyable social life. It doesn't just "happen" because the social environment sucks hardcore. Having a car is almost essential if you're gonna live on-campus and want to have fun. Social life gets a little better once you turn 21 cuz everyone goes to Pacific Beach on Thursdays.

If you're a surfer, you'll love Black's Beach. Killer waves. There are tons of great beaches in San Diego, and downtown La Jolla is nice for dining and art galleries.

If you're not an engineer or bio major, the faculty doesnt care about you and only focus on their research.

People are generally sexually unattractive. Prepare to party at SDSU/USD/elsewhere, or lower your standards. IMHO, people who don't agree with this already have low standards.

Overall, above-average academics and sub-par social life/extracurriculars. San Diego is a good city but you need a car for sure.