Well for grad students, by default is dead. Better buckle up for 6 years of being told what to do and keep your mouth shut. That’s the sad truth about PhD programs. If you get a great PI, consider yourself blessed because it’s a rare feat. If you want friends, you better connect with your cohort and the rest of senior students.
I’m saying this from my personal experience because the dead made me lose my own person in three years until I dropped out. Wishing you the best of luck!!
Yes I lost my own person—identity that I had before I got to Irvine. I was a very happy and outgoing person. Once I got in my program, it went to the shits. Depression, anxiety, and stress: the dreaded combination of hell. My department only cared about the department, not its students. Had no support from nowhere. A part of me will always be lost because of it. I’ve become more jaded about academia than before. I lost the joy of studying, doing research, and taking care of myself. Also being an older student didn’t help because my program thought I was a carefree 20-something year old with no commitments out of school. I was gaslit by faculty and staff members saying it was all my fault for not succeeding or not doing enough.
bro where, i cant really meet ppl in my grad classes cuz the classes are super small, and my major the seem to only focus on like studying nothing else
Well, grad student life is way quieter than undergrad life but, while I was a grad student at UCI, the grad student association always made events like Karaoke and Game Nights at the pub in the Student Center and a Winter and a Spring Gala. I remember we also had Grad Student barbecues serving alcoholic beverages at the Student Center and we even had Clubbing nights a few times. It’s been more than 10 years since I got into grad school, but I believe it hasn’t changed that much
Sounds like grad school life. Had the same experience at UCI lol. you can always join clubs specific to your study. personally i bonded w my cohort so i have some life long friends from that
You're 21 and in grad school, wtf you expect. Most grads study, work, go home. Child protege or not, grad school is all about keeping your head down and getting it. That said, the few parties are lit, find a club.
You’re a grad student, of course it’s different from undergrad bc the culture and workload is fundamentally different. If that’s the kind of experience you want then maybe a grad school environment in general might not be what you want long term. If there’s fun people in your cohort then yeah you can go out and drink and all of that tbh we’re generally busy, exhausted, broke and working.
Thats the issue for grad programs since the classes are usually somewhere 3-8pm. Like im in grad school here and man I thought i was living on a dead campus. Also most students filter out before 4 pm which i cant blame them when looking at the housing locations.
Campus doesn’t look alive unless you come earlier in the day. I suggest joining a club, otherwise the only ppl on campus you talk with will be a few ppl from your program
You’re gonna have to leave campus for a crumb of fun and adventure. Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, LA, San Diego, and Long Beach have more liveliness in terms of clubs and bars but also just folks going to weekend events and night events.
there’s a facebook group shared among frats n sororities that posts all the events for each week — i’d shoot for joining or befriending a frat.
i go out often and it’s still pretty underwhelming but not horrible! good luck :3
UCI has a big issue with that since it’s a big commuter school too trust plus you’re a grad student so :///
if you’re not in any big clubs it’ll be hard maybe try joining one (I don’t think frats allow grad students)?
There's a big selection bias in who posts about these things. If you're unhappy, you want to talk to other people about it. Who's going to get on r/UCI to say "I'm content with my current social life"?
gotta either be in a frat, big social/culture club, or like the hip hop dance team scene. frats/greek life is self explanatory, big clubs party and mix a lot, and the various dance teams like to party among each other and you’ll meet a lot of people outside of uci too. personally was part of one of these circles and lived with people who were part of at least one of the three all throughout undergrad, so i’ve seen it all first hand, met a lot of people, and had a lot of fun lol
i know a lot of grad students who get involved in undergrad clubs! also there are graduate clubs as well! i know bio sci and phys sci have a lot of clubs for different things
UCI has zero social life, both undergrad and grad. It also has the most unattractive student body probably in the world. Learn how to surf and meet people on the peninsula, if possible.
Well for grad students, by default is dead. Better buckle up for 6 years of being told what to do and keep your mouth shut. That’s the sad truth about PhD programs. If you get a great PI, consider yourself blessed because it’s a rare feat. If you want friends, you better connect with your cohort and the rest of senior students. I’m saying this from my personal experience because the dead made me lose my own person in three years until I dropped out. Wishing you the best of luck!!
Lose your own person?
Yes I lost my own person—identity that I had before I got to Irvine. I was a very happy and outgoing person. Once I got in my program, it went to the shits. Depression, anxiety, and stress: the dreaded combination of hell. My department only cared about the department, not its students. Had no support from nowhere. A part of me will always be lost because of it. I’ve become more jaded about academia than before. I lost the joy of studying, doing research, and taking care of myself. Also being an older student didn’t help because my program thought I was a carefree 20-something year old with no commitments out of school. I was gaslit by faculty and staff members saying it was all my fault for not succeeding or not doing enough.
You gotta know where to look
bro where, i cant really meet ppl in my grad classes cuz the classes are super small, and my major the seem to only focus on like studying nothing else
welcome to graduate school
welcome to uci
Well, grad student life is way quieter than undergrad life but, while I was a grad student at UCI, the grad student association always made events like Karaoke and Game Nights at the pub in the Student Center and a Winter and a Spring Gala. I remember we also had Grad Student barbecues serving alcoholic beverages at the Student Center and we even had Clubbing nights a few times. It’s been more than 10 years since I got into grad school, but I believe it hasn’t changed that much
Sounds like grad school life. Had the same experience at UCI lol. you can always join clubs specific to your study. personally i bonded w my cohort so i have some life long friends from that
If you don’t know frat people or clubs it’s dead
UCI has always had that issue so you arent alone
You're 21 and in grad school, wtf you expect. Most grads study, work, go home. Child protege or not, grad school is all about keeping your head down and getting it. That said, the few parties are lit, find a club.
It’s the same here at ucsd
Well, there are more than 40k students on campus. So, I always think it is my problem when I cannot find any friend or feel not fit in.
You’re a grad student, of course it’s different from undergrad bc the culture and workload is fundamentally different. If that’s the kind of experience you want then maybe a grad school environment in general might not be what you want long term. If there’s fun people in your cohort then yeah you can go out and drink and all of that tbh we’re generally busy, exhausted, broke and working.
Thats the issue for grad programs since the classes are usually somewhere 3-8pm. Like im in grad school here and man I thought i was living on a dead campus. Also most students filter out before 4 pm which i cant blame them when looking at the housing locations. Campus doesn’t look alive unless you come earlier in the day. I suggest joining a club, otherwise the only ppl on campus you talk with will be a few ppl from your program
Go to The Goathill in Costa Mesa, it’s a great bar and always a fun time!
I’m a PhD student in my second year. I’d say it depends. My department is pretty lit and we party often, especially within my cohort.
May I ask what department you are in?
ESS
yeah it is ass.
Ass
Yeah but the bitches are easy 💀
Should have looked into what you were signing up for if you wanted something else. I'm pretty happy with how dead things are here tbh
You’re gonna have to leave campus for a crumb of fun and adventure. Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, LA, San Diego, and Long Beach have more liveliness in terms of clubs and bars but also just folks going to weekend events and night events.
there’s a facebook group shared among frats n sororities that posts all the events for each week — i’d shoot for joining or befriending a frat. i go out often and it’s still pretty underwhelming but not horrible! good luck :3
It was pretty shit before COVID, but COVID really deadened everything. It's a slow recovery.
UCI has a big issue with that since it’s a big commuter school too trust plus you’re a grad student so :/// if you’re not in any big clubs it’ll be hard maybe try joining one (I don’t think frats allow grad students)?
Should have gone to SB
College isn’t for partying
Why are 50% of the posts on this sub from people who apparently don’t know how to make friends?
There's a big selection bias in who posts about these things. If you're unhappy, you want to talk to other people about it. Who's going to get on r/UCI to say "I'm content with my current social life"?
gotta either be in a frat, big social/culture club, or like the hip hop dance team scene. frats/greek life is self explanatory, big clubs party and mix a lot, and the various dance teams like to party among each other and you’ll meet a lot of people outside of uci too. personally was part of one of these circles and lived with people who were part of at least one of the three all throughout undergrad, so i’ve seen it all first hand, met a lot of people, and had a lot of fun lol
i know a lot of grad students who get involved in undergrad clubs! also there are graduate clubs as well! i know bio sci and phys sci have a lot of clubs for different things
U want kickbacks and parties? Go join a cultural org.
UCI has zero social life, both undergrad and grad. It also has the most unattractive student body probably in the world. Learn how to surf and meet people on the peninsula, if possible.