UC Campus Tours

(San Francisco, CA)- When applying to the different University of California campuses, there are many different factors to consider. Things such as campus size, environment, academic programs, awards, and many other details come into consideration. However, although this information may be available to you after some time spent on the internet, there is nothing comparable to a first-hand visit and tour to the University of California campus itself. In other words, one might find that visiting each individual UC campus you are interested in can help in the decision making process when applying or deciding where to enroll. For these reasons, I have listed information regarding campus tours for the 9 undergraduate UC campuses below:

UC Berkeley:

• Free campus tours are held 7 days a week. These tours are led by trained student guides who know all about the Berkeley campus as well as student life at Cal. Tours start at 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. The tours begin from the Visitor center at 101 University Hall, 2200 University Avenue, which is located at the corner of University Avenue and Oxford Street. On weekdays, the tours are followed by a 30-minute admissions presentation for prospective freshman applicants who have not yet applied to the University. There are no reservations required for groups of 10 people or less. Saturday tours begin at 10 a.m., and Sunday tours begin at 1 p.m. Campus tours on weekends begin from the Campanile in the center of campus
• Phone: (510) 642-5215
• Email: visitorinfo@berkeley.edu
• Web: www.berkeley.edu/visitors

UC Davis:

• Walking tours are offered to prospective students and their families Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., as well as most Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. These tours are available until filled and with at least a one-week advance notice. Large tour groups can be reserved with at least two weeks’ notice, based upon tour guide availability. If you cannot visit UC Davis, there is a campus tour videotape available: Look Into Your Future, is available for $9.05, and the DVD is available for $14.05
• Phone: (530) 752-8111
• Email: visit@ucdavis.edu
• Web: visit.ucdavis.edu

UC Irvine

• One-hour walking tours are offered weekdays at noon and are conducted by UCI students. Saturday tours are offered during the month of October, November, and April. Special tours for school groups of 10 or larger can be arranged during the regular academic year.
• Phone: (949) 824-4636
• Email: visituci@uci.edu
• Web: www.campustours.uci.edu

UC Los Angeles

• UCLA provides both individual and group tours of the campus. The 90-minute walking tours are led by current UCLA students and are given Monday through Saturday throughout the academic year. Students also have the opportunity to sit in on current UCLA classes through the Lecture Experience.
• Phone: (310) 825-8764
• Email: tours@saonet.ucla.edu

UC Merced

• At UC Merced, the Visitor Center is where you can find tour guides to show you around the campus. These guides will provide visitors the opportunity to get an introduction to the campus as well as community. Through answering questions, campus tours, directional assistance and an array of publications, the Visitor Center is an excellent place to jump-start your experience at UC Merced
• Phone: (209) 228-6316
• Email: tours@ucmerced.edu
• Web: tours.ucmerced.edu

UC Riverside

• The student group UC Riverside Ambassadors lead tours of the campus throughout the year. Guests get an up-close look at the beautiful campus and learn about its history – and its future – as the students showcase its buildings, parklike grounds and dynamic new facilities.
• Phone: Alex Ruiz: (951) 827-5045
• Email: my.ucr.edu/prospective/tours.aspx

UC San Diego

• UCSD offers student-led walking tours of the campus at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. These 90-minute tours are followed by a one-hour general information session at 1:15 p.m., led by an admissions officer. Special tours are available for groups of 15 or more. We invite community college groups to visit our campus and are happy to arrange admissions presentations and students panels to complete the visit
• Phone: (825) 822-1455
• Email: campustours@ucsd.edu

UC Santa Barbara

• Prospective students are encouraged to visit the campus Monday through Friday throughout the year. A UCSB admissions counselor presents a transfer advising session Monday through Friday (excluding University holidays) at 1 p.m. in the UCSB Visitor Center. These popular, small-group advising meetings give prospective students an overview of what UCSB has to offer and provide in-depth advising for transfer admission. Campus tours are offered prior to the session, at noon, and following the session, at 2 p.m. Spring Insight open house is held in April. Reservations are not required for the transfer advising sessions or open houses.
• Phone (Individuals Visiting UCSB and to confirm dates, times, and locations): (805) 893-8175
• Phone (Community College Groups Visiting UCSB): (805) 893-4518
• Web: www.admissions.ucsb.edu/visitucsb

UC Santa Cruz

• The Office of Admissions offers campus tours year round on weekdays and selected Saturdays for prospective and admitted students and their families, as well as for groups of six or more high school and/or community college students. Reservations are required for all tours. Tours fill up early (especially during holidays), so reserve ahead for regular tours.
• Phone: (831) 459-4008
• Email: visits.ucsc.edu
• Web: admissions.ucsc.edu/campustours

*IMPORTANT*

If you want to be kept up to date with the latest UC application information or would like to see additional UC personal statements including essay tips, you want to make sure and sign up for our Newsletter:

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2. How to Submit Changes to Your 2011 UC Application
3. UC SAT and ACT Test Codes

UC Irvine

(San Francisco, CA)- UC Irvine has recently announced the development of a new major that has been approved by the UC Irvine Academic Senate.

New Computer Game Science Major

The new major, Computer Game Science, B.S., is effective fall 2010. The major is offered through The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.

The Computer Game Science (CGS) major is limited to freshmen for fall 2010. Transfers will be able to apply starting fall 2011. The major pre-requisites are the same as for other ICS college majors. Please note, ICS believes that the degree will take a full 3 years to complete once students transfer. Students will be able to TAG into CGS.

A Note For Transfer Students:

Students wishing to transfer into the Computer Game Science program should prepare themselves as they would for transfer into other ICS programs (i.e., according to ICS’s detailed guidelines that describe the equivalency of college preparation courses with ICS courses) and then use the change-of-major equivalencies from ICS courses to Computer Game Science courses to determine the set of courses for which they will be exempted.

Applicants who satisfactorily complete course requirements will be given preference for admission. Applicants must satisfy at least the following requirements:

1. Completion of one year of discrete mathematics or one year of calculus, preferably both. A semester of pre-calculus and a semester of calculus are not sufficient to satisfy this requirement.
2. Completion of one year of UC-transferable computer science courses, including at least one course involving the concepts of object-oriented programming (e.g., in Java or C++) or functional programming (e.g., in Scheme). Additional courses beyond the two courses required for admission are strongly recommended, particularly courses that focus on topics such as data structures, algorithms, software design, software engineering, human-computer interaction, and programming language concepts, if such courses are available. It is strongly recommended that transfer students enter UCI with knowledge of Java and/or C++ since they are used in many of the required courses.

Note: Additional courses beyond those required for admission must be taken to fulfill the lower-division degree requirement.

Lower-Division Courses:

I&C SCI 21 INTRO TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I
I&C SCI 22 INTRO TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II
I&C SCI 23 FUNDAMENTAL DATA STRUCTURES
I&C SCI 51 INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER ORGANIZATION
I&C SCI 52 INTRO TO SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
I&C SCI 65 ADVANCED PROGRAMMING WITH C++
I&C SCI 60 COMPUTER GAMES AND SOCIETY
I&C SCI 61 GAME SYSTEMS AND DESIGN
I&C SCI 62 GAME TECHNOLOGIES AND INTERACTIVE MEDIA
MATH 2A SINGLE-VARIABLE CALCULUS
MATH 2B SINGLE-VARIABLE CALCULUS
MATH 3A OR INTRO TO LINEAR ALGEBRA
MATH 6G LINEAR ALGEBRA
I&C SCI 6D OR DISCRETE MATHEMATICS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE
MATH 6D DISCRETE MATHEMATICS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE
I&C SCI 6B BOOLEAN ALGEBRA AND LOGIC
MATH 67 OR INTRO TO PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE
STATS 67 INTRO TO PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE
PHYSICS 3A BASIC PHYSICS
FLM&MDA 85A VISUAL MEDIA AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
FLM&MDA 85B HISTORY OF BROADCASTING
FLM&MDA 85C NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND VISUALITY

The above information was provided by the Articulation Coordinator at UC Irvine to all community college counselors.  For more information, please visit: ICS Department

For UC Scholarships, visit our College Scholarships page.

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Eligibility in the Statewide Context (Statewide Eligibility)

This is the road that most high school applicants take when wanting to attend a University of California the fall after their graduation. In order to be eligible in the statewide context, students are required to have a high school diploma or equivalent as well as satisfy certain subject scholarship and examination requirements. In addition, applicants must also finish a specific course load of 15 UC approved courses by the end of their senior year in high school, take two (2) SAT Subject Tests, and either an ACT plus Writing or SAT Reasoning Test no later than December of their senior year in high school. Lastly, high school applicants must maintain a minimum UC GPA of 3.0 and meet the eligibility index.

Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC)

Simply put, this category is based upon specific criteria that would apply to a high school student during the summer between their junior and senior years of high school. A high school student would be informed of their eligibility during the fall semester of their senior year, which is before applying to the UC system. The criteria for Eligibility in the Statewide Context is based on a high school student attended a school participating in the program, submission of their transcript to UC along with their school’s ELC submission packet, and lastly be ranked in the top four percent (4%) of their high school class, based on UC ELC evaluation rules. High school applicants who are eligible in the local context must also do the following in order to be admitted to the UC system:

• Maintain a 3.0 GPA
• Complete all coursework requirements for freshman admission before the end of senior year
• Take two (2) SAT Subject Tests and either the ACT plus writing or the SAT Reasoning Test (these tests should be taken no later than the December test date)
• Apply to the University of California campus(es) no later than the November 30^th deadline

Apply to the University of California

There are a few important things to keep in mind when applying to the University of California system. For example, students who are Eligible in the Local Context (ELC) will already have an application started, and when going through the online UC application process, select the link indicated for ELC students and enter their specific ELC identification number. Applicants who are ELC can apply to any of the 9 UC campuses which include:

• UC Berkeley
• UC Davis
• UC Irvine
• UC Los Angeles
• UC Merced
• UC Riverside
• UC San Diego
• UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Cruz

For more information regarding ESC and ELC, click here.

*IMPORTANT*

If you want to be kept up to date with the latest UC application information or would like to see additional UC personal statements including essay tips, you want to make sure and sign up for our Newsletter:

Related posts:

1. Touring the UC Campus System
2. How to Submit Changes to Your 2011 UC Application
3. University of California (UC) Application Checklist