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Any other UC Irvine MURP admits hanging around this forum?

Does anyone know if there is an admitted students day, or some sort of open house/orientation before we would make a decision? It seems that if we need to decide by April 15th, and they are only going to notify us at the end of March, that is not enough time for me to get time off from work and set up travel plans. Is it the end of March yet?

I was was an undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, and just thought I'd throw in my two cents about this little town. First off, its absolutely beautiful. All over campus there are enormous redwood trees and amazing views of the bay. The campus itself is separated from the rest of the city. There are city buses that make the the loop through campus, so public transportation is pretty damn good. Your student ID will let you on any city bus for free. There are campus shuttle buses that that go around campus and to the base, where a lot of people live. I assume none of you will be living in the dorms, so I'll move on to what I know about grad student housing. The apartments are pretty spacious, and you'll have your own furnished room, but its probably cheaper to live off-campus. One of things I can highly recommend is the Bike Shuttle. There are two pick-up locations in Santa Cruz, one is by the Longs on Mission street, and the other is closer to the boardwalk. It's free, comes at 15 min intervals during the morning, and 30 min intervals in the afternoon. You'll get a nice bus ride up the hill to campus and will get to ride your bike down. Its gorgeous. Make sure you get a good lock for your bike though, and get locking skewers for your tires. Bike theft is far too common on campus. You're also supposed to register your bike with UCSC, but I never did, though if it does get stolen, it can help with recovery, so they say. Santa Cruz definitely has that hippie vibe, and you'll see a good number of students who dont wear shoes and are very people and love attitude. With that being said the biggest "event" on campus is that of 420. Hundreds and possibly thousands of students gather in the Porter Meadows on 4/20 and smoke in a sort of community ritual type thing. The police are pretty relaxed on that day, issuing mostly parking citations for all the students coming from off campus. Another "event," well more like tradition is the First Rain. During the first rain of the school, which means the first time it rains at night after the school year has started, hundreds of students abandon their clothes and run naked around campus. Some words of advice, keep your shoes on, and make sure they have good traction. Ive seen far too many bruised and bloody naked people at Santa Cruz. I lived off campus for two years. I paid $625 per month for my own room in a house with 5 others near the base of campus. It was a pretty crappy house, and rent was lowered because there was someone living in the garage (very common). The other place I lived was off of Western Drive, 2 bedroom, with 4 people. I shared a room and paid $525. Pretty expensive, but the apartment was much nicer, in a complex, though no pool or anything. Washer/Dryer in unit. I found both these places on craigslist, and thats probably the way most people find places to live. At the downtown metro center there is a Highway 17 bus, which will take you over the hill to San Jose for $4 each way. Not horrible, as I made that trek frequently. That location is also a Greyhound Station. If you're looking to get to San Francisco or Oakland, its probably fastest and cheapest to take the Highway 17 bus, which drops you at the Caltrain Station, and then take the train to the city (and yes, San Francisco is "the city"). Downtown Santa Cruz is small. Its stretches just a few blocks, and doesnt have many mainstream mall type stores. All that has made the cut is Gap, American Apparel, and Urban Outfitters. There are some good restaurants throughout Santa Cruz, my favorite being Sabieng on Mission. Amazing, and cheap thai food. Burrito place on Mission called La Cabana is excellent. Santa Cruz is a great little town, with nice people, gorgeous scenery, and some of best food. The weather is nice too! Let me know if you want more specifics about anything, I'd be happy to answer any more questions.

Thanks for the info! I wasn't feeling confident I would get in, and now with 20% more competition than normal, I am definitely not feeling confident. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Oops. I didn't realize that would delete all of the previous information Sadness.

I thought that official notifications always meant there was snail-mail involved. I could be wrong though. I'll add it to the poll.

I dont get panic attacks, but lately my sleep patterns have been completely messed up. It takes me forever to fall asleep, and when I finally manage to do that my dreams are about grad applications. I had a dream that I was notified I was accepted to one school by viewing the department website and seeing a link to photos and bios of each person. It was creepy. Im glad they don't notify people that way. But the moment I woke up I had to check my e-mail, status update sites, and grad cafe. Waiting is bad for my health. Ugh.

Just curious as to how most people have received their notifications. I know I can look through the results page, but thought it might be nice to put all that information in one simple poll! yay!

I am looking for similar information. And just about Irvine in general. Im not too familiar with Orange County and Southern California. I was born and raised in San Francisco, then attended undergrad in Santa Cruz. I am a little worried I won't like it, especially without a car.

okay yeah, thats worse. i just dont get why they cant notify us in a timely manner. everything we do has to be done by their deadlines. their should be a deadline that they adhere to for notifications.

I feel like once Monday rolls around I obsessively check my e-mail, status websites, and grad cafe. It makes attempting to do any work at work nearly impossible. I wanna know now! Id really want to visit the schools before the deadline of deciding where to go, but if they dont tell me until its too late, im gonna be annoyed. I had a friend who applied to UCSD last year and didnt find out she was accepted until after the admitted students orientation, and they gave her a week to notify them if she was attending or not. She wasnt even on the waitlist. now that is just cruel.

haha...nooo. i dont want to randomly run into him! Though he does work near NYU, so it would probably happen. At this point Im not too confident Ill even get into NYU...but you never know. Im holding out for cornell. the program is a perfect match with my interests...so im hoping that will pull me over to the accept side. its super small...last year the program only had about 40 applicants. crossing my fingers.

Good job in setting them straight! The longer I wait the more I feel like I will be rejected. I'd love to end up in NYC, though my ex is there and that's no fun, but its a big city and I probably wont see him much. Where else are you applying?

I'd love more information about Irvine. I am from San Francisco, attended undergrad in Santa Cruz, and was recently accepted to UC Irvine. Im thinking I'll enjoy the weather, but am worried about my lack of a car and the stereotypical shallow socal vibe. Any comments?

I decided to look at the department websites and see if they listed a welcome event for newly admitted students. For one of the schools I am applying to but havent heard back from yet, they are having a new student reception on april 1st (april fools day...hmm). My theory is that I have to hear back by at the latest mid march, otherwise planning for and actually attending any sort of reception would be reallly hard.

I just heard from UC Davis' Human and Community Development Department. I applied for the Masters in Community Development but was rejected. Sadness. At least I have comfort in knowing that it was probably a bad fit for me interest-wise. Crossing my fingers for my other schools!

I had the same thing happen to me. Looks like they are really trying to avoid having to give out any scholarships or money. Hmph.

I didnt apply to the school you are applying to, but my acceptance letter was in a business envelope with just a single sheet of paper. Had I not received an acceptance e-mail before, I would have definitely thought I was rejected. So don't worry too much about the size and shape of the envelope, just open it and find out! Good Luck!

I think all universities should go green and just do everything via e-mail or online. Its a waste of paper, and we get to hear faster! Seems like a win-win for everyone!

i tried threading. its interesting and seems to be much more efficient than tweezing. excellent waste of time. any other time wasters for a slow work day? im sick of obsessively checking my email, and grad cafe. haha.

I think you should be fine. They sometimes take a while to update the online status. If youre still worried though Im sure you can call and ask. Im getting impatient waiting to hear from them! I'd love to end up in NYC...but Im not too confident I'll get in. We shall see though. Any ideas when we start getting notified?

When I was an undergrad I ended up dating my TA for two years. We met during the spring quarter of my freshmen year and started seriously dating at the end of my sophomore year. Quite strange it was. It's always funny to hear people who have this fantasy of dating their professor or TA, and when I tell them I did date my TA it's as if I tasted the forbidden fruit. haha. It was fun for a while, but we've both moved on. I realized he has far too much of an ego and power trip than I could handle. haha.

I just got accepted into UC Irvine's MURP!! Im so excited!!!

I applied to five schools, and now Im not too confident I'll get into any of them. We shall see though. If there were more schools that offered a program in the field Im interested in (environmental psychology) or something close, then I would have applied to more. *Sigh*

Am I seriously the only applicant to Cornell Design and Environmental Analysis Department? I applied to the concentration of Applied Research in Human Environment Relations. The department did say they only got 40 applicants last year, so it will probably be similar this year. hmmm...im hoping that will increase my chances!