University of California-Riverside Reviews

"UCR is a nice school, but it is a bit over crowded. Parking is hard to find and getting into classes you need is a serious race. But other than that problem, the campus is nice, and I've like all the professors I had. It's a big research school so if you want to do research this is a good school for you."

"Strongly recommend living on campus, if possible. If you get into your first choice school go there. Remember why you're there, studying is important. Join a club or society."

"I was accepted to several business schools and chose UCR's AGSM because they offered me a large fellowship. Turns out they only wanted me because they have so much trouble attracting English speakers. The whole program is full of East Asian students who barely speak or write English, cheated on their GMATs, and bought their admissions essays. Almost every assignment is a group project, even some of the finals, so the handful of English speakers have to carry all the other students. Meanwhile, most of the good professors have jumped ship because they don't like the current administration, leaving a bunch of old burn-outs and new PhDs who are too busy trying to get tenure to pay attention to their students. Don't go here unless you like spending time with rich Chinese kids and picking up the slack for them! Also, Riverside is a hole. People used to get mugged regularly right outside my apartment and my truck got broken into three times. I'm still trying to make it up to my wife for dragging her there for two years. They wanted me to stay for a PhD and I said "no thanks". The only good thing is that it's easy to get a TA appointment if you write English, so you can get some good teaching experience. If you do, though, expect to work 30 hours a week, have 100-150 students, and do all of your own grading, while picking up the Chinese TAs."

"Pros: - variety of courses - many advisors with excellent funding - excellent balance between - great weather year round cons: -cost of living can be high -public transit is limited, but free for students -commuter school so limited social interactions"

"Pros: The faculty are experts in their fields, and the graduate program is small enough that you will get to know the faculty quite well. The department genuinely cares about your success and well-being. Cons: The department is very focused on pure mathematics; even the faculty studying applied math tend to study the purer forms of applied math. As such, the (rather considerable) support provided to help you obtain a job after graduation is focused on the process of getting work in academia. Also, due to the structure of the program, the average time to get a PhD is 6 years, not the "normative" 5."

"I feel the pros of my graduate program are the faculty and their support, the rigor and quality of the work load, and the opportunity to conduct research and a be a part of research teams prior to one's own research. I feel the cons of my graduate program is the limit of classes available, though this could be viewed as a pro because it allowed me to take classes outside of my specific program in education and in a different field of study."

"The school spends too much money on parties and not enough on quality professors."

"The faculty is great. The work load is overbearing and it is very difficult to find a job after you have completed your graduate program."

"The cons are that there are not many financial assistance opportunities like scholarships, grants, etc. to pay for graduate school expenses. Some other cons are that the work load can be quite overwhelming at times and the time commitment to meet deadlines is strict. Some pros are the quality of education one gets from the program. The social experience of being with other students in the same program or learning about what students are doing in other graduate programs."

"University of California Riverside has an excellent Physics graduate program with an ever rising list of faculty and research avenues. The area is not the safest or the most interesting but the Inland Empire is quickly improving itself. The major renovations and new convention center should cause an influx of new businesses and talent."

"UCR is great for its openness and academic competency in geology. I hope more world-class faculty can join the team and jump a big step."

"Superb instructors. Excellent mix of classroom instruction and field work!"

"Great professors; graduation requirements are focused on research but very few professors have enough funding to support graduate students, so most student need to TA; nothing to do in Riverside but nowhere else in the world can you ask yourself, "I want to take the afternoon off, should I drive 40 min to the beach or 40 min to go snowboarding/skiing?"."

"Excellent program and very knowledgeable and friendly faculty"

"The biggest pro of the program are the professors. Because we are a smaller program you get to know most of the professors really well. Also because of the size there is a real collaborative atmosphere, so you never feel alone in solving a problem. Another pro is also the focus is on research rather than class work. We had very few requirements for the program which left more time to engage in research. A con is that many students have to TA every quarter to support themselves which takes away from research. Also the Riverside is not the greatest area, but at least close to San Diego, LA, the desert and the mountains."

"I think the department is changing in a positive direction due to recent new faculty hires and the quality of the graduate students. As for crime, the police department spends too much time sending out email messages retroactively blaming crime victims and not enough protecting students and preventing crime."

"This is a fairly friendly place. Geophysics program is somewhat small with limited courses. However, grant support is always guaranteed over teaching assistantships. Unlike the IV league schools the work/life balance is quite flexible while working load tends to be booked since you have to work for survival in even phD program. The degree does not get you a good entry to find jobs, but this department is working on networks to career/job connections. Most people I know in the program graduated with a fair job in industry while those stay in academia go to postdoc(no comments to prolonged postdoc life for researchers, which is common for all scientist in the world now)."

"Pros: Small department, plenty of time to do research, weekly get together's. Cons: little faculty interaction, not enough classes for specific interests."

"A pro about my program would be the highly qualified teachers and staff. A con is not being able to work a full time job while attending."

"Tell us about your college experience.My college experience was very good in terms of expanding my frame of thinking but sometimes I feel that I do not possess very many concrete skills other than writing and critical thinking abilities which are difficult to display on an application. My school was a good fit because it is geared towards academics which is the area I was exploring rather than sports or the arts.Would you get the same degree if you could start over?I think I would because any other humanities degree would present similar job struggles and there is no way I could succeed in sciences or have the stamina for math.What advice can you offer other students?Follow what you love but don't expect to make $50K the year after you receive a BA. Finding your niche takes time and you might not even think your degree has anything to do with the job you find in the end."