UC Davis English

[crae]

Hello! I'd like to talk to other acceptees. Are you out there?

[borderlands]

Hello! I'd like to talk to other acceptees. Are you out there?

I have also been looking for another admit to UC Davis but in the History program. I guess not everyone uses gradcafe although I secretly wished they did. I doubt I'm the only admit this year. By the way congrats on your acceptace!

If you dont mind me asking, how serious are you considering the English program at UC Davis?

[crae]

Congrats to you too!

I'm 96.5% sure I'm going to UCD. What about you?

The only reservations I have are regarding living arrangements. There are far too many $500-$600 rooms for rent in family homes - with the families still living there, that is (where I come from, that will get you a decent one-bedroom). My stipend is rather small comparatively, so I can tell it's going to be an annoying chore to find housing.

What are your other options? What do you think about Davis?

[borderlands]

UC Davis is looking like a very strong option since its my only accepance thus far. I have yet to hear back from other history programs, but I think they are taking their time crafting the rejection letter, if not already in the mail.

No word on funding as of now but promised tuition and fees plus living stipend. How much living stipend means is a question in the air. I also looked on Craigslist and noticed a couple single bedrooms for rent around the range you mentioned but some a little lower. I don't think I will be able or like living with a family. It would be too ackward unless they are really cool folks.

I have never visited Davis, next month would be the first time although I lived in Berkeley. Davis is a good fit, I believe, professors have similar interest and are open to new ideas. California state archives are close and I can take a shuttle to UC Berkeley from UC Davis when doing research at the Bancroft Library.

I just want to know the details about funding. Visiting weekend for the history is March 5th. When is the English department's visit day?

What are your research interests?

[crae]

Unfortunately, our visiting days are March 31-April 1. If you do end up attending, though, we should be friends! :-)

I'm studying early modern literature through the perspective of humoral theory/gender. What are your research interests?

[borderlands]

For sure, I am willing to meet up some time in the fall. I am both a Latin Americanist and Americanist, studying what is now the U.S. Southwest and in the past Northern Mexico, hence U.S.-Mexico borderlands. I'm interested in the state-formation of California, from 1800-1900, the ethnic/racial diversity of Alta California, Spaniards, Indian nations, mestizos, and Africans.

[crae]

That's a mouthful! :-) Cool, keep me posted on what you end up doing and if you're at Davis we can meet up. Good luck in the meantime!

[Mrs. Grad]

Davis is a wonderful location, though that area of California has really blown up within the past decade. I grew 15 miles from Davis, in Vacaville. The traffic is abysmal, but Davis is a nice, quiet town with plenty of "weekend destinations" in driving distance. Feel free to message me for more information.

My husband has an interview with Davis in early March and we are just itching to make the move back home!

[crae]

Davis is a wonderful location, though that area of California has really blown up within the past decade. I grew 15 miles from Davis, in Vacaville. The traffic is abysmal, but Davis is a nice, quiet town with plenty of "weekend destinations" in driving distance. Feel free to message me for more information.

My husband has an interview with Davis in early March and we are just itching to make the move back home!

Thanks so much for the response and feedback! Good luck to your husband at his interview. :-)

[ElectedSilence]

Hi Crae et al--

A cheap option to consider are the un-campus co-ops. Here's the page on daviswiki (which has other useful info too):

http://daviswiki.org/on_campus_co-ops

It's a good option if you're into cooperative living and general leftiness. Otherwise, I'd say you should get in touch with the department, let them know you want roommates, and maybe band together with some other first-years to get a 3 br, which makes things much more affordable. Or just ask current grads what to do--I bet they have some good advice.

[crae]

Hi Crae et al--

A cheap option to consider are the un-campus co-ops. Here's the page on daviswiki (which has other useful info too):

http://daviswiki.org/on_campus_co-ops

It's a good option if you're into cooperative living and general leftiness. Otherwise, I'd say you should get in touch with the department, let them know you want roommates, and maybe band together with some other first-years to get a 3 br, which makes things much more affordable. Or just ask current grads what to do--I bet they have some good advice.

Thanks again, ElectedSilence. I've been checking out the areas you suggested before, and I will definitely be scrounging for roommates among other first-years (which is partly why I started this thread). :-)

[jrstaller]

I graduated with a BA in English from UC Davis last year. In my experience, the faculty is outstanding and very attentive to student needs. I also spoke with a lot of the English grad students (I was considering applying for the Master's program, but ultimately decided to wait a few years) and have heard mostly good things about the program.

In regards to housing, I would check out West Davis, as they tend to have less expensive housing. I paid $420 a month my sophomore and junior years for my own room. The bus ride to campus from West Davis is only about fifteen minutes and the buses come every fifteen minutes or so, which is really convenient. Another option is to sublet from students studying abroad for a quarter or semester, as they tend to be a little desperate because nobody wants a short term lease. If you're willing to move around semi-frequently, you could get a decent room for a great price (I rented my $420 room for $300 in the summer).

Congrats about getting in the program; I'm a little jealous that you're going to be spending the next few years in a town and with a faculty I really grew to love.

[crae]

I graduated with a BA in English from UC Davis last year. In my experience, the faculty is outstanding and very attentive to student needs. I also spoke with a lot of the English grad students (I was considering applying for the Master's program, but ultimately decided to wait a few years) and have heard mostly good things about the program.

In regards to housing, I would check out West Davis, as they tend to have less expensive housing. I paid $420 a month my sophomore and junior years for my own room. The bus ride to campus from West Davis is only about fifteen minutes and the buses come every fifteen minutes or so, which is really convenient. Another option is to sublet from students studying abroad for a quarter or semester, as they tend to be a little desperate because nobody wants a short term lease. If you're willing to move around semi-frequently, you could get a decent room for a great price (I rented my $420 room for $300 in the summer).

Congrats about getting in the program; I'm a little jealous that you're going to be spending the next few years in a town and with a faculty I really grew to love.

All of that is great to know; thank you! Being in a congenial place is really important to me, so it makes me happy that Davis is friendly. Good luck to you. :-)

[Mrs. Grad]

Can we change the title of this so that it's not English-specific?

My husband was officially admitted to UC Davis' molecular bio PhD program and he intends to accept. I can't wait to move, but it's a little difficult to secure housing 4 months in advance. We're on several waiting lists for the best housing in town, but it looks like we might be moving to Sacramento rather than Davis.

Either way, it will be nice to be so close to family. My parents live twenty minutes away, and his parents live forty minutes away.

When is everyone planning to move?

[Mrs. Grad]

Bump. I would really like to talk to some people who plan to make the move to Davis this fall! Anyone alive out there?

[CalSeeker]

I did my undergrad at UC Davis and (until I relocate for grad school in the fall) live in the Sacramento area. Since we will be moving for grad school, we would love to rent out our house in West Sacramento (a separate city from Sacramento) to interested UCD attendees. The house is in a nice neighborhood, just a couple years old, and is about 12 minutes to downtown Sac and maybe 20 minutes to Davis. Let me know if anyone is interested in hearing more!

I would also be happy to answer questions about Davis or Sacramento.

[avhosa]

Bump. I would really like to talk to some people who plan to make the move to Davis this fall! Anyone alive out there?

Hey Mrs. Grad! I'm going to UC Davis for Genetics. As a person from Madison, WI, I'm mostly looking forward to not having to deal with snow anymore!

If anyone out there is looking for a roommate, hit me up

[Mrs. Grad]

Hey Mrs. Grad! I'm going to UC Davis for Genetics. As a person from Madison, WI, I'm mostly looking forward to not having to deal with snow anymore!

If anyone out there is looking for a roommate, hit me up

YAY! Congratulations on your acceptance, Avhosa. My husband will be in the BMCDB (Biology) group and will be looking for some science-minded friends when we move. What apartments are you looking at right now? Several complexes in the area offer roommate matching services.

We just signed a lease with Sycamore Lane Apartments in Central Davis.

[almennur]

Seems, English at UC Davis would not care of our off-topic discussion . Avhosha, Mrs. Grad, I have just decided to go to UCD, eventually. Degree's in Transportation studies. Regarding housing options, I would, most likely, choose house sharing with fellow grad students. This is based on general experience.

[avhosa]

What apartments are you looking at right now? Several complexes in the area offer roommate matching services.

I have no idea! I've been waiting on some acquaintances to get back to me about potentially being roommates, but if they have roommate matching services, I might just take advantage of that.

Congrats on choosing UC Davis! I visited Penn State too, which had a beautiful campus, but they seemed to be too much of an undergrad party school -- not really my cup of tea. Davis seems genuinely nice and refined in comparison. I hope I'll like it!

Oh, I forgot: hey almennur!

Edited April 13, 2011 by avhosa

[Mrs. Grad]

We're all set to move in early July! Now, if only I could find a job.

[Ayiti]

Hey all!

Glad to see there are some other FA'11 UCD students on GradCafe... I was beginning to feel lonely!

I'm going for the doctoral program in ethnomusicology.... basically world music studies. I'm interested in how music is used as a tool of political protest for the disenfranchised majority in Haiti.

I had a couple of choices besides Davis, but I ended up going with it because the campus in general seems much more friendly and community-like than some of the east-coast ivys. I came and visited for a few days, and the town is really beautiful. It seems like a great place to spend the next few years.

Housing is a beast to figure out, but I would HIGHLY recommend taking the time to read through the Davis Wiki, especially the pages dealing with apartments. The page has links to all of the apartment complexes in Davis, organized alphabetically or by location. The user reviews were really helpful for figuring out which way to go. I ended up with J Street Apartments, on 3rd and J street. It seems like a great complex, although there were a couple others that looked pretty nice too.

I was also looking at renting a room in a house, but a friend who just graduated from the theater program there said that the quality of life is a lot lower than in an apartment complex (he did four years in various single rooms, and two years in an apartment). Davis has 65,000 people, 25,000 of which are UC students, and I saw a lot of complaints on the wiki pages about people trying to take advantage of inexperienced renters (both undergrad and grad level). I think if you manage to get into a complex that would probably be a safer bet. Although I've heard awesome things about the co-ops, if that's more your speed.

On a side note - if you haven't already, go to the graduate student section of the UCD website and sign up for WOW (Week of Welcome). It's an optional (and free!) orientation program for new grad and continuing grad students. I stumbled on it by accident, and some of the programs look fairly helpful.

[Mrs. Grad]

Ayiti, my friends in the theater program typically rent large houses and run their own "theater frat."

My husband and I are moving in less than a month! We opted for Sycamore Lane Garden Apartments and we love the neighborhood. Very, very convenient for those who want to bike to campus. Also, a Trader Joe's is literally a matter of steps away. I'd recommend it to anyone who can manage to sign a lease.