Merced, CA

[commoner]

I'm curious about this school because it is nearby (yes, I'm thinking about next year already). Anyone out there know anything about their World Cultures Am. Lit program? I can't find any info other than what the school supplies, which is also very limited.

[shuette]

I know - where the hell is Merced? It's in the heartland of california, 2 hours from everything awesome. Yosemite, santa cruz, san francisco, carmel, and any number of nice places are close by.

Some of the top scientists in the country and being tempted away from their home universities by UC Merced. As one of the very few grad students here, I thought I'd open up the discussion for questions like...

Where is Merced?

What is campus like?

and

Are you crazy?

[evilsinger]

Hi,I'm an international student planning to apply the graduate program in Humanities.So,How is the Arts doctoral program in Merced?

financial aid enough to cover the tuitions and expenses? since you mentioned the number of students are small ,so,Much to do for recreation or sports ?

[evilsinger]

Anybody? :?

[stupidcat]

Inquiring minds would like to know.

[99muses]

I have never been to Merced, and do not mean to hijack the thread, but the book "The Spirit Catches You then You Fall Down" by Ann Fadiman was written about a Hmong family living in Merced. A great read and it gives a little background on the area. Sorry I have so little to offer.

[elbee4]

I know - where the hell is Merced? It's in the heartland of california, 2 hours from everything awesome. Yosemite, santa cruz, san francisco, carmel, and any number of nice places are close by.

Some of the top scientists in the country and being tempted away from their home universities by UC Merced. As one of the very few grad students here, I thought I'd open up the discussion for questions like...

Where is Merced?

What is campus like?

and

Are you crazy?

Merced is a small, growing, agricultural city in the Central Valley of California. I haven't been to the UC Merced campus yet but from what I hear it is quite nice. Merced itself is not that interesting of a town but hopefully with the UC there it has improved. I grew up in Modesto about 30 minutes to the north and had to go to Merced often for swim meets and water polo tournaments. Although, I never really looked forward to going there, it is much nicer than the cities around it. The main growth that can been seen in a lot of the cities in the central valley is due to chain stores making mini malls everywhere.

One of the biggest advantages of living in Merced has to be it's close proximity to Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra Mountains. You can't go wrong with that. Other than that, it's north of Fresno and Bakersfield and south of Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento in the heart of the Central Valley.

Check out the Wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Merced,_CA

Hope that helps.

PS. No, I am not crazy.

Edited February 3, 2011 by elbee4

[darlindukkie]

Ahh Merced . I've worked in Merced, and have lived in Modesto. Grew up in Modesto, went to college, moved back, and preferred to commute to Merced and live in Modesto. Merced is right smack dab in the middle of the central valley of CA. I would caution anyone planning on attending UCM for a grad (or undergrad) program to visit. I'm not trying to be negative, because I've spoken to a number of students who have loved their experiences there, I just think that the location of the campus is a real factor to consider. I'm sure that attending such a new university offers unique opportunities for more hands on research, etc. But! The town is super small and very limited in terms of nightlife, restaurants, coffee, music, arts, etc. It is true that Yosemite, San Francisco, and a number of other great cities are only a couple of hours away, though.

The UCM campus itself is still pretty small (granted I went to a school with 20,000 undergrads.) To date, the campus consists of two large classroom/lab buildings, several dorm buildings, rec center, dining commons, and a Library/Student Center/Administrative offices building. That's about it. Everything is bright shiny and new! The campus sits a few miles out of the city limits, and it literally emerges out of the middle of nowhere.

[agarcia59]

If anybody else is curious, please feel free to let me know. I was born & raised and will be graduating from UCM this spring semester.

[mb712]

I'm bumping up this thread in hopes that a current graduate student sees this and can give some input about life at/around UCM from the perspective of a grad student. I'm not necessarily concerned about there not being as much to do (I grew up in such a place, I'm used to it) - but more of what the city is like and how UCM incorporates into the things online about Merced like recent housing value drop, unemployment staying higher, the general "well-being" of the city. 

 

Or really anything that anybody thinks would be relevant to someone considering making the move to Merced for UCM.

[revquackers]

Currently at UCM, well the city has gotten better over the years but the entire central valley has high unemployment and such so I would say Merced is doing better than it's smaller neighbors but not as well as the larger cities near by (Fresno and Modesto). Housing prices were so low a few years ago I know a couple people bought a house but they've risen a bit now. Where are you coming from?

[mb712]

Nebraska

[revquackers]

Yeah, the real selling point of Merced is you're about 2-3 hours away from all the best California has to offer which is nice. Just make sure you have a car and some friends and everything will be fine. Any other questions or concerns? I'm assuming you're one of the new poli sci graduate students have any questions about that?

[mb712]

I thought that might be the case since Merced websites seem to focus more on what's around Merced rather than Merced itself. The lower cost of living while still being in driving distance of all of the things that make the cost of living in other areas so much higher is definitely appealing, though. What is there to do around Merced other than the more generic touristy stuff that would be mentioned on the city/school website?

 

Yep, I'm one of the polisci admits. The graduate handbook is actually really thorough so I don't have many questions! There's a month until prospective student visitation weekend so I'm sure I'll think of something program/department related before then.

[revquackers]

Well, we just got a craft beer bar which is nice, we also have a fun coffee shop called Coffee Bandits, there's a few museums that are fun, lots of stuff happens on campus but it's more focused on the undergrads, grad division does some nice stuff bowling parties dinners ect ect, lot of people have house parties. That's about all I can think of or at least all that I really do.

[mb712]

Awesome, thanks for the input!

[Crucial BBQ]

I am from Sacramento.  I don't know about UCM but no one in their right mind would move to Merced--and this is coming from someone who moved from California to Kansas and then to Maine for no real reason other than to do so. The irony, if you will, is that I considered UCM for grad school and will still consider it for Ph.D. if I only get into Master's programs this time around. Their Environmental Systems Graduate Group is pretty good. 

 

The best part about Merced and really the entire State outside of San Diego/LA/Bay Area, which is about 4/5s the State, is that it does not fit into anyones' preconceived ideas or fantasies about California (kind of like how Hollister the town is ~100 miles from the beach, but Hollister the street is not). 

 

mb712, at least Nebraska has clean air and interesting weather.  

[mb712]

I guess we're both crazy for considering the move then! What are your qualms about the city?

[Crucial BBQ]

Well, Merced is constantly in the top 10 (usually top 5) for air pollution (out of the entire U.S.), so the really bad air quality is one.  Growing up I never noticed but one of the first things that hit me about living in Kansas was just how clean the air was.  Now, whenever I go back home I can see the brown in the air.  The entire Central Valley has really bad air quality.  

 

Allergies; California has an extremely diverse fauna.  If you currently do not have allergies, you will.  

 

The area is really dry with no frills weather.  This means little rain and when ever it does finally sprinkle people freak out as if Armageddon was going down.  This also means a lot of dust.  

 

The culture of the entire Central Valley can best be described as cowboy/rancher/farmer.  Rodeos and wannabe NASCAR are really big deals.  So is County Western music and tractors.  They tend to be more Conservative and religious but one great thing about California is that most adhere to the belief that talking about religion or politics makes for rather boring subject matter-practically everyone avoids it.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of this, just that cowboy boots and denim are "always in style" 

 

Merced is also small.  I believe the total population is around 80K.  Not a deal breaker by any means as long as you do not expect the amenities of a large city.  It's basically a farming community. 

 

It gets really hot in the summer, you can expect 100˚ F + days.  Very few people understand what a humid day feels like; nothing like the Midwest, but with temps over a hundred combined with dust and smog, well, it is rather miserable.  The good thing is that unlike humidity, you can escape the heat.  It really is cooler in the shade.  One really interesting thing is that it can be 106˚ F during the day and then 70˚ F by 9 pm.  That is temp drop of nearly 40˚ F over the course of a few hours and you can feel it.  Shorts and sweat during the day, hoodies and sweaters at night.  

 

My main qualm is the air quality.  The rest are just a matter of taste.  

[mb712]

I think I'm fairly desensitized to the farmer/nascar/conservative/religious crowd(s) thanks to Nebraska, ha.

Thanks for all of the input! The air quality thing hadn't even crossed my mind yet, I'll have plenty to pay attention to when I visit.

[Crucial BBQ]

I think I'm fairly desensitized to the farmer/nascar/conservative/religious crowd(s) thanks to Nebraska, ha.

Thanks for all of the input! The air quality thing hadn't even crossed my mind yet, I'll have plenty to pay attention to when I visit.

Smog gets worse with increasing temps so if you visit over winter or spring just keep that in mind. 

Edited February 1, 2015 by Crucial BBQ

[revquackers]

Yeah the air here is horrible, also I guess the only real difference you'll have is we have a lot of hispanics here which is great because that means lots of mexican food! I know for our department we have about 3 or 4 favorite mexican places which catches some of the non-california non-central valley folks a bit off guard at first. Yes you can put avocados on everything and yes it's amazing

[mb712]

Ha. I'm already a seasoned Mexican food eater, and knowing that more Mexican restaurants will actually be real Mexican food is always a good thing.

[mb712]

Does anybody have suggestions on living areas to look into when I visit? All I can seem to find online is "not south."

[revquackers]

Well, if you can find some people when you get here I would recommend renting a house but many of the apartments are affordable and safe. I'm renting a two bedroom house downtown-ish and I pay about $700 a month. Here's a list of a couple where my friends live.

http://www.villagelandingmerced.com/

http://www.northwoodvillagemerced.com/