During our Spring Break, we visited college campuses. We took a campus tour of UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Westmont in Santa Barbara.
UC Davis
I had never been on the campus of UC Davis. But I had heard there were cows and smells. It was much better than expected. The Welcome Office was sparkling new and next to a new Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and new Shrem Art Museum. The intro speech was given by a peppy young coed. The room was packed with prospective students and their anxious parents and bored siblings. Our tour guide was a young history major. He walked backwards telling us all the stats and stories about the building, majors, dining options, housing options. It was a Sunday morning during their spring break too, so the campus was unusually quiet. The campus is flat and lined with trees. Typically, there are tons of bikes streaming along the bike highways for the 29,000 undergrads. The buildings varied from mid-century pragmatic to glassy and modern. UC Davis has a large student body, and they all ride their bikes around campus. It was better than expected. Not smelly at all. Like all UC’s, UCD is very strong in sciences and research. UC Davis has specialties in veterinary, agrotech, and viticulture and enology (wine and beer). We found the Activity Center impressive. Campus is quiet from the city noise. We had lunch just off campus in Davis. It’s a small college town, laid back. About 20 minutes from Sacramento, it’s out of the city. Overall, UCD was a pleasant surprise. Go Aggies!
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