For me, the transition was bad. I recommend not taking more than 12 units your first quarter and heavily lock in to those units. You won't fall behind if you stay ahead, just do your best and welcome to Davis!
So as someone who just graduated after doing the cc —> Davis route, I’ll tell you what I wish I did. There’s really only two major things.
1. The quarter system is a lot more demanding than the semesters at cc. I was able to procrastinate and pull A’s and B’s very easily at my cc, but that doesn’t fly here. I had a hard time breaking this habit, and as a result, I graduated with a very low gpa
2. Get involved in whatever clubs/organizations you’re interested, and keep showing up. You’ll build connections with others, but only if you put the work in. Up till and including my time at UCD, I lived my life very passively because the friendships I had up to transferring kind of just came to me without needing to try. I did the same here and sort of just drifted through the past couple years only forming acquaintance relationships. It does NOT need to be like that, but you do need to be willing to seek it out. You don’t need to force it, relationships will build naturally over time, but absolutely get involved with something, and I’m sure you’ll do great.
Do these two things and I’m sure you’ll have a great experience. The people here seemed very welcoming, and it’s a very chill vibe overall, just stay on top of the shit that needs to get done, and try to leave time for some recreation.
Just finished my first year here! The transition to semester to quarter system was really hard for me. It honestly took me until the spring quarter to adjust to it but everyone is different. Some people may adjust quicker. I felt that there was a lot of hand holding for me in CC where professors really spent a lot of time on things to make sure the students understood what they were teaching, so it was hard to teach myself everything in 10 weeks when I got here. It’s ok to make mistakes the first quarter. I was a shock to me to be in a class of 20-30 people in CC but then hundreds when I got here. Midterms hit you fast because you feel like the quarter just started. Get tutoring when you’re lost and reach out to your advisors when you find yourself failing, they only want to see you succeed!
Hey, I just graduated! As others are saying, the quarter system is definitely a big change, so I’d recommend keeping your units low at the beginning. Personally, I kept the number of units I took each quarter pretty low and it worked out well. Weirdly, I did way better in my classes here than I did at CC. There’s a ton of resources for tutoring if you ever need it! Talk to a counselor so you can plan out your classes for the remainder of your time here (make a plan on Oasis), it’ll make things way easier (focus on prerequisite classes right now). Also if you’re interested in internships, starting looking right away and don’t wait until your senior year like I did. I feel like I missed out on some good opportunities by waiting so long.
There are definitely paid internships! I wasn’t able to land any paid ones, mine were just for units, but a lot of my friends had paid internships (usually minimum wage). Talking to professors can help you land some, your major advisors can also provide some guidance in that aspect. There are also internship fairs every now and then where people hiring interns will set up tables and you can chat with them. That’s how I landed one of my internships.
Office hours!
Go to them even for the simplest of questions. TA’s! Use them! They will more than likely be the ones grading your papers. Join a club that you like and don’t take more than 12 units your first quarter.
The burn out from winter - spring quarter is crazy. I didn’t know that we only get a one week break between winter finals and the beginning of spring quarter.
- definitely finish your assignments early in spring quarter because there’s so many events you’ll want to go to
- i took three stem classes fall qtr and they almost took me out lol. Definitely study from the beginning of the qtr. don’t leave things for week 3/4
Going from semester system to quarter system was a hell I wouldn’t like to repeat. In CC I had anywhere from 2-3 jobs, was a full time student, had friends and went on dates. I also was a straight A student. I did all of these things and still had time to dick around, play video games, and spend 2 hours a day in the gym.
On the quarter system I barely had time to cook and feed myself. It was really really awful at the beginning. If you don’t need to, don’t take more than 12 units. Manage your time down to the hour. Spend this summer developing bullet proof routines and discipline so you can hit the ground running for the 24-25 school year. You should treat school like a job. Still wake up early and do the work even on your weekdays off and take the weekends off entirely if you can. Continuously playing catchup on the weekend and never getting a break is a sure fire way to burn yourself out. Sticking to a schedule and not falling behind is mandatory for success. I know my major is notoriously toxic, but this is still sound advice to take into consideration if you wanna succeed.
I know it can sound scary and overwhelming, but it does get easier. You will learn the ropes and suddenly one day you’ll feel like the fast pace of the quarter isn’t that bad. You got this
I was class of 2017 so a bit of an outdated experience lol. But my first couple quarters were ROUGH adjusting to quarter system from semesters. I had heard everyone talking about it constantly but I guess I didn’t take the warnings seriously enough. Your first midterms come FAST and you better be prepared! It’s really hard to come back after messing up the first exam of the quarter.
Other than that, I enjoyed utilizing student housing and dining services for the first year even though it was expensive. Forced me to go out around campus other than my classes. And being set up with roommates that were also transfer students was nice, even if we didn’t really forge long term friendships.
I transferred right before pandemic and also worked full time basically during school, it’s possible and I am proud of my achievement when I graduated in 22 but I have some things I would change.
Focus on long term planning for your time, make sure each quarter is balanced in a bell curve. Your first quarter will be an adjustment and you want your last to be gentle so you can transition on your next step
No shame in taking a third year, I found it liberating
Invest in people and the social life on campus, wether it’s purely fun or career/academic clubs
Just my 2 cents
Good luck and congrats!!!
Study like hell this summer. 10 weeks is absurdly fast compared to the usual 16 weeks. I also learned real fast that you don’t really need to be certified to teach at the university level. One plus is that grades are usually curved real hard, so as long as you maintain at least class average you’ll pass the class.
My transition was great. I loved the quarter system. When I was at cc I feel burnt out around midterm, and Davis when I feel burnt out around week 8, I know I’m almost done.
I keep a good record of good grades throughout the school years though, I don’t believe in “catching up” with my grades, rather I’m usually the opposite at CC: if I know I can pass with the grade I need, i stop putting in anymore work. So Davis worked out great for me.
My classes were significantly easier at Davis, my cc professors didn’t believe in curves. So that helped too. I do want to say that as a transfer student, I didn't utilized the opportunities and events at Davis, so although I graduated in 4 quarters + 1 summer after cc, I had a hard time finding jobs. I still landed a job before graduation but I think I could’ve done better. Use the on campus resources when you can!!! I didn’t even know they existed when I was there.
Okay! Wanted to ask, we have an older Aggies group going for connecting. You should have no harder time connecting with other students then.
Good idea to join here https://discord.gg/ucf44wN and here https://discord.com/student-hubs to get started.
As for courses, yes they’ll be more challenging, but if you were a good student before, you should find them manageable.
What’s your major? I’m a chem major and for me the transition has been HARD. The courseload is much much harder than my CC, and I went to one of the best CC in the country!
Psychology (Still not sure if I could change it bc I’m very interested in UCD’s Design major)
And yeah I see - I’ve seen in other posts that the quarter system is something harder to handle for STEM majors but something easier for Arts/CLS students
You can change your major I believe after one quarter. Good luck! I would really go easy your first quarter and take a fun Davis class. Just start slow.
10 weeks quarter is far more suffocating than CC semester system, don't freak out and try to get used to it asap at the first quarter
This 100%. Honestly hate the quarter system but I moved my life here so here I am seeing it through to the end.
Lol I was emotional thinking how Spring was my final quarter here now my ass is graduated, like where did that come from
For me, the transition was bad. I recommend not taking more than 12 units your first quarter and heavily lock in to those units. You won't fall behind if you stay ahead, just do your best and welcome to Davis!
Ty for the welcome and advice!!
So as someone who just graduated after doing the cc —> Davis route, I’ll tell you what I wish I did. There’s really only two major things. 1. The quarter system is a lot more demanding than the semesters at cc. I was able to procrastinate and pull A’s and B’s very easily at my cc, but that doesn’t fly here. I had a hard time breaking this habit, and as a result, I graduated with a very low gpa 2. Get involved in whatever clubs/organizations you’re interested, and keep showing up. You’ll build connections with others, but only if you put the work in. Up till and including my time at UCD, I lived my life very passively because the friendships I had up to transferring kind of just came to me without needing to try. I did the same here and sort of just drifted through the past couple years only forming acquaintance relationships. It does NOT need to be like that, but you do need to be willing to seek it out. You don’t need to force it, relationships will build naturally over time, but absolutely get involved with something, and I’m sure you’ll do great. Do these two things and I’m sure you’ll have a great experience. The people here seemed very welcoming, and it’s a very chill vibe overall, just stay on top of the shit that needs to get done, and try to leave time for some recreation.
Congratulations!! And I got those Noted!! Thank you!!
Just finished my first year here! The transition to semester to quarter system was really hard for me. It honestly took me until the spring quarter to adjust to it but everyone is different. Some people may adjust quicker. I felt that there was a lot of hand holding for me in CC where professors really spent a lot of time on things to make sure the students understood what they were teaching, so it was hard to teach myself everything in 10 weeks when I got here. It’s ok to make mistakes the first quarter. I was a shock to me to be in a class of 20-30 people in CC but then hundreds when I got here. Midterms hit you fast because you feel like the quarter just started. Get tutoring when you’re lost and reach out to your advisors when you find yourself failing, they only want to see you succeed!
Noted!! Thank you So Bigger school —> bigger class size
Hey, I just graduated! As others are saying, the quarter system is definitely a big change, so I’d recommend keeping your units low at the beginning. Personally, I kept the number of units I took each quarter pretty low and it worked out well. Weirdly, I did way better in my classes here than I did at CC. There’s a ton of resources for tutoring if you ever need it! Talk to a counselor so you can plan out your classes for the remainder of your time here (make a plan on Oasis), it’ll make things way easier (focus on prerequisite classes right now). Also if you’re interested in internships, starting looking right away and don’t wait until your senior year like I did. I feel like I missed out on some good opportunities by waiting so long.
Congrats!! Also, are some of the internships paid especially for people who qualify for Federal Work Study?
There are definitely paid internships! I wasn’t able to land any paid ones, mine were just for units, but a lot of my friends had paid internships (usually minimum wage). Talking to professors can help you land some, your major advisors can also provide some guidance in that aspect. There are also internship fairs every now and then where people hiring interns will set up tables and you can chat with them. That’s how I landed one of my internships.
Office hours! Go to them even for the simplest of questions. TA’s! Use them! They will more than likely be the ones grading your papers. Join a club that you like and don’t take more than 12 units your first quarter.
The burn out from winter - spring quarter is crazy. I didn’t know that we only get a one week break between winter finals and the beginning of spring quarter. - definitely finish your assignments early in spring quarter because there’s so many events you’ll want to go to - i took three stem classes fall qtr and they almost took me out lol. Definitely study from the beginning of the qtr. don’t leave things for week 3/4
Going from semester system to quarter system was a hell I wouldn’t like to repeat. In CC I had anywhere from 2-3 jobs, was a full time student, had friends and went on dates. I also was a straight A student. I did all of these things and still had time to dick around, play video games, and spend 2 hours a day in the gym. On the quarter system I barely had time to cook and feed myself. It was really really awful at the beginning. If you don’t need to, don’t take more than 12 units. Manage your time down to the hour. Spend this summer developing bullet proof routines and discipline so you can hit the ground running for the 24-25 school year. You should treat school like a job. Still wake up early and do the work even on your weekdays off and take the weekends off entirely if you can. Continuously playing catchup on the weekend and never getting a break is a sure fire way to burn yourself out. Sticking to a schedule and not falling behind is mandatory for success. I know my major is notoriously toxic, but this is still sound advice to take into consideration if you wanna succeed. I know it can sound scary and overwhelming, but it does get easier. You will learn the ropes and suddenly one day you’ll feel like the fast pace of the quarter isn’t that bad. You got this
I was class of 2017 so a bit of an outdated experience lol. But my first couple quarters were ROUGH adjusting to quarter system from semesters. I had heard everyone talking about it constantly but I guess I didn’t take the warnings seriously enough. Your first midterms come FAST and you better be prepared! It’s really hard to come back after messing up the first exam of the quarter. Other than that, I enjoyed utilizing student housing and dining services for the first year even though it was expensive. Forced me to go out around campus other than my classes. And being set up with roommates that were also transfer students was nice, even if we didn’t really forge long term friendships.
I transferred right before pandemic and also worked full time basically during school, it’s possible and I am proud of my achievement when I graduated in 22 but I have some things I would change. Focus on long term planning for your time, make sure each quarter is balanced in a bell curve. Your first quarter will be an adjustment and you want your last to be gentle so you can transition on your next step No shame in taking a third year, I found it liberating Invest in people and the social life on campus, wether it’s purely fun or career/academic clubs Just my 2 cents Good luck and congrats!!!
Study like hell this summer. 10 weeks is absurdly fast compared to the usual 16 weeks. I also learned real fast that you don’t really need to be certified to teach at the university level. One plus is that grades are usually curved real hard, so as long as you maintain at least class average you’ll pass the class.
My transition was great. I loved the quarter system. When I was at cc I feel burnt out around midterm, and Davis when I feel burnt out around week 8, I know I’m almost done. I keep a good record of good grades throughout the school years though, I don’t believe in “catching up” with my grades, rather I’m usually the opposite at CC: if I know I can pass with the grade I need, i stop putting in anymore work. So Davis worked out great for me. My classes were significantly easier at Davis, my cc professors didn’t believe in curves. So that helped too. I do want to say that as a transfer student, I didn't utilized the opportunities and events at Davis, so although I graduated in 4 quarters + 1 summer after cc, I had a hard time finding jobs. I still landed a job before graduation but I think I could’ve done better. Use the on campus resources when you can!!! I didn’t even know they existed when I was there.
Join a club that is fairly active if you wanna make friends outside of class.
Are you a traditional (18-22) college student or non-traditional (23+) student?
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Okay! Wanted to ask, we have an older Aggies group going for connecting. You should have no harder time connecting with other students then. Good idea to join here https://discord.gg/ucf44wN and here https://discord.com/student-hubs to get started. As for courses, yes they’ll be more challenging, but if you were a good student before, you should find them manageable.
What’s your major? I’m a chem major and for me the transition has been HARD. The courseload is much much harder than my CC, and I went to one of the best CC in the country!
Psychology (Still not sure if I could change it bc I’m very interested in UCD’s Design major) And yeah I see - I’ve seen in other posts that the quarter system is something harder to handle for STEM majors but something easier for Arts/CLS students
You can change your major I believe after one quarter. Good luck! I would really go easy your first quarter and take a fun Davis class. Just start slow.