University of California - Riverside
Reviews

Diversity

UCR has the 5th most diverse campus in the nation and as a student, it is easy to see why. There are resource centers for all sorts of people, from LGBT to the children of veterans. On campus, there are a variety of informative events to encourage broadening our mental horizons.

there is no middle ground

It gets up to 115 degrees between spring and fall, so get used to that, and it is so, so far away from the nearest beach. then between fall and spring it drops down to a frosty 33 degrees, so no snow, but you will be cold. Lovely, right? Riverside is right beneath some small mountains, so all of the city smog gets trapped right here on campus, and if there is a fire anywhere nearby expect ashes to rain down- it will happen. No humidity, just dry air.

Arsonists, rapists, and thieves love it here at UCR

Every week the UCPD sends an email with reports of crime on and off campus. Every week you hear something worse than the week before. It starts off with a report of how many cars had windows smashed in before everything but the parking permit was stolen. Next, you will hear of rapes that occurred at knife-point or gun-point (does it really matter which?) on campus- such as on the second floor of the library or in the bathroom of the rec-center. Eventually you will hear about the pedestrian who was shot and killed during a fire-fight between the cops and some random thug at the local Denny's (it's at the University Village about a 3 minute walk from the edge of campus). Suicide attempts happen during spring quarter, and people start setting the campus on fire. No joke. An entire wing of the dorms burned down because of an arson, and molotov cocktails were found spread around campus behind classrooms.

an extension of high-school, on par with community college

UCR's national academic ranking has dropped about 20 places in the last 5 years or so. So maybe the reasons I rank it so low are why they have dropped in ranking, who knows. The professors let you know how much they don't want to be there. The teaching assistants are very defensive, i.e. if you ask a question they don't know the answer to, then they will not like you. There is some interesting curriculum here with uninspired educators to go with it. The difficulty drops compared to high-school, so there is no incentive to really learn. This place is a well-hidden academic joke.

This campus's hated by the ACLU, look it up

You are not allowed to sneeze without permission. For a public university, this is unacceptable.

Gets too clique-ey

When visiting other campuses, greek life includes rivalries and friendships that extend beyond apparent social boundaries- people from different organizations get invited to each other's parties, the greek community stands together and represents itself well to the school. Riverside's greek community thrives on reputations for mischief, and not even fun mischief. The greek life does not add much to the college experience that you wouldn't get otherwise. Usually it just gives you fees, suspensions, and a bad reputation.

The good looking ones think they're better than they are

This is a direct result of a lack of options. Most people here don't have any sort of drive to do anything other than party, so meeting people is easy as long as you are not looking for any sort of quality in particular, at all. There is a very dramatic game of hot-potato that gets played with potential significant others (you know you lost the game if you're the one who ended up with herpes). There are some nice fish in this sea, but this being a commuter school, those ones are generally in long-distance relationships.

This place is full of people who got to the party a little bit too late and never realized it

Very Helpful Staff, Must Meet in Person

They are very helpful as long as you are there in person, if you're not then expect cursory and unsatisfactory help

Get Used to Pizza, Sushi, and Fast Food

To get to any decent restaurants or any place with variety you must have a car. You then will drive fifteen to twenty minutes up or down the freeway. When you return to campus you will then park your car and pray your radio isn't one of the five that will be stolen that night.

The School Policies Are Reasonable

I haven't encountered any major problem. Most of the school's policies are easy to understand and fair for students, which means they're easy to follow.

You Can Make It Happen

The nightlife itself in Riverside is very much a bar/drinks with friends type of deal; but Riverside is 45 minutes from Orange County and around the same time to Los Angeles. So if the club scene or ultra lounge vibe is your thing you're just a short drive away!

There's always house parties going on if you know the right people as well.

There's a Lot of Variety

There's a lot of off-campus dining options. There are fast food places as well as sit-down dining. There are also different ethnic places to eat. My favorite is At Thai Cafe. The food is inexpensive and savory.

Wonderful Computers

The computer labs can be found at some of the buildings on campus or the dorms computer labs. They give you a certain amount of printing each quarter and it's very useful. There is always somebody there to help you out in the computer lab if you are having trouble. The University gives out WiFi and it's always reliable.

I Love It

A lot of off-campus apartments are fairly inexpensive depending on what kind of room you want. They are all within a 15-20 minute walk. It's convenient because it's all near the University as well as local restaurants, pharmacies, and grocery stores. There's a police station located in the middle of all the near off campus apartments. Landlords are helpful and they know how hard money is to come around.

Constant Exposure

I don't know a lot about "Greek" students, but I do know they're constantly advocating their own groups. They're viewed stereotypically from other students but truly, a lot of them are more normal than the majority of students on campus. However, there are many of the groups on campus to choose from if one is interested.

Mediocrity

Food at UCR is not anything special. It's a bit overpriced and, besides the Panda Express on campus, the food is nothing more than "eh." However, I feel at the residential dining halls, the food is truly "hit or miss". Off campus food is alright, the common fast food restaurant is always just around the corner.

Diverse

My school is very diverse. You don't feel like an outsider surrounded amongst an overpopulation of a certain race. Many are welcoming. There are many activities for you to come and meet others before coming to school. There are many clubs such as the Chicano, Salvadoran, Filipino, etc. that you can join. There are internships and jobs available. The Career Center helps with resume building to find a job.

Diverse

For guys and girls, you can see and tell whether they are the typical frat and sorority girls as they always hang out at school with their letters put up. Couples are usually together. You can really see different social groups having a good time together. You can see that they don't all belong to one race, but they are well accepted by others of another race.

UCR - the Usual

It's as common as in most other college universities.

No Influence

We rarely hear about Greek life. They do not play a big role in the school and are mostly secluded from everyone else.

Dorm Life

Basically at night, there is a lot to do, but you might not have a ride to the places. Most people spend it in their halls socializing with others or watching movies with them. Most nightlife places are far to walk, but for those who have cars, they are easy to access.

Diversity

There are people from different cultures here. The is no "one way" dressing system. Everyone here is diverse like the outside world. There is a little bit of everything. Everyone here is also very social and welcome you. If you like diversity, you will like it here because you won't feel like there is a dominant race. The diversity helps because you get to learn and understand different cultures.

Beautiful

Beautiful campus! I am in the history and psychology department and it is great! Tons of ambitious, bright students. Many people chose UCR because it was close to their home town. UCR is full of opportunity, such as: dynamic professors, strong libraries, interesting and tough classes, and practical thinking. There are over 200 campus organizations and an innovative student body.

Diverse.... So What?

University of California, Riverside is a beautiful school. It is known to be the most diverse school ethically, religiously, politically, and even economically. It is honorable to see my school displayed on the newspaper about the diversity; however, that is all the praise we would get, even from our faculty members. As other students from different colleges know, UCR is in the bottom of the chain and we are known to be UC rejects. The faculty ignores those comments and continues to give the school the reputation of diversity. It's great to have a UC accept many students, but there has to be a limit and it should be more competitive to get accepted into UCR.

Must Be Diverse?

Many students go here and obviously there are drug users.