University of California-Davis Reviews

  • 242 Reviews
  • Davis (CA)
  • Annual Tuition: $44,930
93% of 242 students said this degree improved their career prospects
95% of 242 students said they would recommend this school to others
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Student & Graduate Reviews

Rachel Welch
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Chemistry
"If given the chance, I would choose UCDavis again in a heartbeat. Many of the professors in the chemistry department are passionate about what they do and helpful in all aspects of my questions to them. The compensation for the PhD program definitely eases the burden of moving to California and paying rent and bills. I definitely feel challenged, sometimes more so than I would like. It gets hard to handle at times, but I know grad school feels like that wherever you go. When I have free time, the downtown scene is a great place to go with friends for ice cream or dinner and a movie."
Jennifer Mead
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"The professors go out of their way to help their students and provide excellent support and mentorship for a career in academia. There is an atmosphere of collaboration and support in the grad program as a whole. Everyone is friendly, intelligent, and well rounded. Overall my experience has been very positive and I felt I was very well prepared for my career. The only downside was that if your trying to get a job in industry as opposed to academia it can be difficult to find networks and mentorships as it is so academicly focused. I don't think this is necessarily a problem unique to this school though, I think many schools are academically focused. I have noticed an attempt to incorporate education on a broader variety of a careers."
David Weissman
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Psychology
"The University of California, Davis is a great University with fantastic faculty and great opportunities for career development. Living in Davis does not provide all of the opportunities of a big city, but it is a unique and special place and close to some of the most exciting and beautiful places in the world."
Andrew McCullough
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Psychology
"All academic aspects of the Psychology program at UC Davis are phenomenal. I couldn't ask for a better or more collaborative group of top level scientists. The most striking cons of the program have more to do with the small town of Davis, and vast expanse of farmland separating Davis from everywhere else. All in all, I'm very glad I chose this program, but that satisfaction is possible because I'm happy living in a small town."
Olumayowa Adegboyega
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Anthropology
"The Anthropology program at UC Davis provides its students with adequate resources, through accessible and approachable faculty and teaching assistants. It also fosters relationships between faculty, labs and research disciplines, that allow students to perform more holistic research and study. The con is that diversity is not where it should be but the university is taken steps to improve that area."
John Murray
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Mathematics
"Pros: accessible faculty and great surrounding area Cons: department support is lacking and there should be more variety in the courses"
Destanie Rose
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"UC Davis is overall a great school to train at. There is a very collaborative environment, supportive faculty and staff and they are constantly expanding developmental seminars, workshops and courses. The administration also makes an effort to meet regularly with its students to hear them out and address issues at hand. Some of the cons are that even though the staff and admin can be supportive, not all our and many time administration takes way to long to implement changes. Also while UCD has a lot to offer, many times it is hard to find information about resources and programs that already exist to help, however, I do know that this has already been brought to the attention of the administration and they are taking steps to better organize UCD websites. For transportation (my lowest rating) I only gave 5 stars because while UCD is known for its bike friendly atmosphere, that's only helpful if you live in the town of Davis; their is also a second campus located in Sacramento where the medical center is located and many research labs. If you have to go between the two campuses you pretty much have to have a car, the commute is half an hour from one campus to the other."
Carson Rogers
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Mathematics
"Davis is a great place to study certain areas of mathematics (including mine). While the variety of graduate courses offered by the math department is not as wide as in some other places, the faculty will make sure that you have all the resources you need to learn the math you're interested in. The department is somewhat small (compared to other big universities), but I find this to largely be a good thing... the atmosphere in the department is great! From my point of view, one of the only downsides is the size of the stipend given to graduate students... it is significantly smaller than that in a number of other programs (throughout the sciences) that I am aware of. However, you can supplement it via grants, fellowships, and summer teaching."
Wing Lee
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"I came from a very competitive school and feel that UC Davis is not as competitive. Overall I like this school. The support I receive has been great."
Jacob Johnson
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Mathematics
"Everthing is pretty awesome, but there could be a bit more social stuff."
Grace Davis
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Anthropology
"UC Davis provides an outstanding collaborative network across disciplines. The anthropology department, in particular, is supportive and encouraging for graduate students."
Alejandro Castaneda
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"Immunology Graduate Group Pros- the high demand and workload makes immunology students learn a lot, some professors are very approachable and helpful, no requirement to TA classes, small classes makes it easy to interact with professors, high level of collaborations through out the immunology program as well as with other departments Cons- very difficult first year even those who have 4.0 GPAs, the workload is very demanding especially the first quarter of the first year, the Immunology 201 (introductory course) midterm and final are very misleading and difficult, finding a permanent lab is difficult due to professor's funding, some PIs can be very difficult to find or talk to for support and guidance in help as they can be very busy, many PIs in the medical center are difficult to work with and are often under high stress beware as some will turn you into lab techs"
Russell Hawkins
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Physics
"I gave 3 stars for social life, but that is mostly my own fault, and I'm not sure how much it can be improved for a rigorous physics program. I have some concerns with my own direction in the program, and some of my reluctance to give higher scores may be due to my own feeling that I might not be at the right place."
Jamie Dunaway
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Biomedical Engineering
"Core lasses felt rushed and forced upon us; did not teach us very much new material nor help prepare us for graduate school in general. Liked the variety of labs offered, but funding is limited in my field (more funding in Cell and Imaging). Lot's of collaboration helped me design a project with my PI that we both felt represented a unique and difficult study. Overall, I am pleased with my lab research, but feel that funding issues have gotten in the way of progressing my knowledge of my subject a timely manner."
Emily Finney
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Physics
"Davis is a fun, small city and a great place to study. Professors are generally well-informed, and I have found a good diversity of research opportunity. The UC Davis physics program wants every student admitted to graduate, and you are given a lot of guidance and teaching opportunities along the way if you are looking for them. The department tends to be a little poorly organized, so beware of some substantial red tape, but other than that it's a pretty good program."
Trenton Simmons
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Psychology
"I don't have a single complaint. I love every aspect of it!"
Naomi Martisius
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Anthropology
"The masters and PhD are combined, so you only have one major project to work on."
katerina marcoulides
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Psychology
"If you aren't married and have a kid, don't go here if you want any form of a social life. Class sizes are small so that is good"
Jamie Haddock
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"The UC Davis applied mathematics program is a strong education choice and a competitive program. The students here are academically competitive but still offer a good social atmosphere."
Jane Saffitz
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2014
  • Degree: Anthropology
"The faculty are supportive, as are the students. It is rigorous and we are well prepared, but the atmosphere is generally pleasant and not cut throat."