Don't Judge a Book by its Reputation

Introduction
Let's be honest. Everyone always talks about UC Riverside like it's a craphole. But in my experience, as soon as I came and walked through campus, I wanted to go to school here. Sure, the weather sucks some days, but the people here are so relaxed. There is so much drama in the other UC schools, but everyone here is happy to be here and the professors are really amazing. There is a lot of construction on campus at the moment, which is annoying but it means that the entire school will be improving drastically in the next couple of years. The campus is large, but small in comparison to other UC's. Its completely possible to walk across the entire campus in a little under 15 minutes, which is really convenient.

Campus Life and Social Life
The dorm experience here is amazing. You'll meet all the friends you'll have during your college career right at home. As far as choosing a dorm, I recommend East Lothian as the coolest if you want to meet a lot of nice people, but Pentland Greens is great if your priority is privacy.

Riverside is a big commuter school, so a lot of people leave on the weekends. This leaves the place quiet for studying. However, UCR always has the dopest block parties and brings the most amazing performances: Busta Rhymes, Thrice, Xzibit, and 112, just to name a few. We have a lot of active clubs on campus so you can pretty much meet people who have the same interests as you do. The campus is diverse and a great place to learn about other cultures. Academics
The Art and Humanities departments are amazing, especially if you are interested in different and unique fields like Religious Studies. The professors here were, for the most place, educated at Harvard, UCLA and many other prestigious institutions. Being a CHASS (College of Humanities and Social Sciences) major means you'll have less people in your college, which means more attention from your student advisors. On the flip side, I have heard that Engineering students don't get much personal attention from their counselors and have some problems getting into the classes they want. But on the whole, the campus is busy, but not too busy, and it's relatively easy to get the classes you want, as opposed to at a bigger UC like UCLA.

Student Body
UC Riverside is a culturally diverse campus. You can walk through the Commons and see anything from a Hip Hop show to Mariachi singers. Our campus is proud of its cultures, and we sure do display it. A typical UCR student is listening to an IPOD.

In Closing...
Again, Riverside gets a bad rap but once you get here you see how awesome it really is. You can learn about anything your heart desires, from Ancient Rome and Greek Mythology to Islam to Cellular Biology. If you really care about sports, it may dishearten you to know that we don't have a Football team, but our Baseball, Soccer and Basketball teams rock. Students and faculty are approachable and the campus is getting pimped out with a new 3-story Commons in the middle of campus. I wouldn't change my decision if I could, because the people here are just like me, relaxed and determined. The only real downside I've found is the weather in that it can get pretty hot here in the summer.