[Last updated: November 2010; Hi, College Confidential folks!]

A friend of mine who’s currently applying to college recently asked me about which college of UCSD to apply to, not knowing that you don’t choose one but rather rank them. Anyway, in the interests of helping him and other future UCSD applicants, I’m writing this guide based on my personal experience so far. I wish someone had written this for me before I’d applied; I definitely would have changed my rankings on the application. [EDIT: Just found this great webpage on the differences between the colleges. Now if they'd just link to it on the UC application...][YET ANOTHER EDIT: Here's one more.][FURTHER EDIT: Here's another person's blog post on the subject.]

Disclaimer

I’m a freshman sophomore (now a) junior at Eleanor Roosevelt College and my non-ERC friends are mostly from Warren, so take this all with a grain of salt. I ranked Muir first on my application and ERC second; below that, I can’t remember precisely, except that Sixth was near the bottom. Also, note that the colleges are listed below in no particular order.
Disclosure: This post contains 1 brief paid advertisement; it is clearly distinct from the regular content.

Eleanor Roosevelt College (ERC)

Eleanor Roosevelt’s emphasis is on internationalism, politics, and globalization. It’s also got the longest name of all the colleges by number of syllables, hence why everyone calls it either “ERC” or “Roosevelt”. Its logo is appropriately a simple shining blue globe with longitude and latitude lines (such symbolism…). It’s home to International House (I-House), which is where foreign study abroad students live at UCSD. Anyone at UCSD can also apply to live at I-House if they want to be amongst all the various cultures. It’s Core Course (and chief defining attribute) is Making of the Modern World (MMW), which is 6 quarters long (the longest core course of any of the colleges) and is infamous for its difficulty and the amounts of reading involved. Essentially, it’s about the history of culture, society, the human race, and the human world from prehistory to the modern day. Picture a shrunken version of Columbia University’s (in)famous “Core” and you’d have something close to MMW. Except for the first 2 classes, the rest require 8-page research papers in addition to having final exams. ERC also requires that you take 3 courses about a specific geographic region of your choice (your so-called Regional Specialization), which makes some sense in today’s interconnected world. The dorms are low-rise, only 4 stories all. Yearly concert: Rockin’ Roosevelt. [UPDATE: A new, very tall transfer student housing complex has opened up in Roosevelt's hexant of campus. Aside from some dining hall crowding at the highest peak hours, no huge impact so far, but side benefit: they have a combination coffee shop/convenience store called The Village open until 1AM, and it's just a short walk from Roosevelt.]

Pros

• Newest and best dorms of all the colleges; unless you’re particularly unlucky, you’ll get a single Sophomore year
• Best dining hall: Cafe Ventanas (aka Cafe V), with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and beautiful wood ceiling
• Best looking, with a beautiful green quad flanked by the dorms and terminating at the entrance to Cafe V
• In close proximity to RIMAC gym and the new athletic field
• More girls than guys demographically (not necessarily unique to ERC)
• The Village (see “Update” above)
• Goody’s (see “Update” under Thurgood Marshall below) is within decent walking distance (though certainly farther away than The Village, but as The Village doesn’t actually offer cooked food…). Apparently ERC is now the place for all you late-night diners (or studiers who need another Red Bull to make it through your no-sleep cram session; I say this from experience :-).

Cons

• A bit far away from classes and somewhat isolated from the rest of campus; not much more than MMW classes take place here as far as I can tell, and you have to go up one decently steep hill to get to classes
• Having to take MMW; do not underestimate this

Bottom Line

The college for Political Science or International Relations majors, Humanities majors, those very interested in foreign cultures, or people who place dorm and food quality above all else. Beware the intense challenge, or alternately if you’re a raving masochist, enjoy the intriguing delight, that is MMW. If you’re not going to be majoring in one of the aforementioned subjects, I’d stay the fsck away from ERC, unless all you care about is the dorms and the dining hall, which seems rather shortsighted to me, but whatever.

John Muir College

John Muir College (usually abbreviated to just “Muir”), is most frequently ranked 1st on the UCSD application and for quite good reason. It’s named after the famous naturalist John Muir, and is noted for inheriting his ethos of appreciating the beauty of nature. It’s so popular mainly because of its very flexible General Education requirements compared to the other colleges (think Brown University, only less so); just pick courses off long lists for each category (there are a variety of courses to satisfy any given GE and you’re bound to like a few of the ones on the list). Muir is also notable for having the Sun God statue on its college green (ironically because none of the other colleges would take it at the time). In case you don’t already know, the Sun God is a vividly colored statue of a bird often used as the unofficial campus mascot (the official one is the Triton, which there’s now a fountain of at the Price Center, but he’s significantly less popular). Its Core Course is Muir Writing. It appears to have several well-established student groups in its Cave of Organizations (this name might be a bit off).

Pros

• Most flexible/lenient General Education requirements
• the Sun God is located here
• close to the old student center and the Price Center
• close to the old gym and smaller sports fields
• has its own surf/skateboard shop (EDIT: Muir Skate & Surf has sadly relocated off campus)
• Has Pines, a recently-opened, pretty good, wannabe-gourmet dining hall. [EDIT: Had Sierra Summit cafeteria, which I recently went to and found that it rocked. It even had a fancy coffee/ice cream/fruit drink counter. And the pizza/pasta is self-service (unlike the other dining halls). Also had El Mercado, a decent taqueria. Unfortunately, they're remodeling both these they'll only reopen 2010 or so (bummer).]

Cons

• Its dorms are really tall, gray, and from the Art-Deco era (don’t know about the interiors though)
• [SUBSEQUENT EDIT]: This Con no longer applies since “Pines” has now opened.[EDIT: No dining halls within the college. You're gonna have to hoof it further for food than everyone else.]
• I honestly couldn’t think of any other cons; just rank it your first choice already!

Bottom Line

Unless one of the other colleges really grabs you, I strongly recommend ranking Muir as your first choice.

Earl Warren College

Earl Warren College (usually referred to simply as “Warren”) is unofficially the college for engineers. If UCSD’s summary webpage had been more helpful, I probably would have ranked Warren over Roosevelt, which is the main reason I’m writing this guide in the first place. All the Engineering and Computer Science buildings are located in Warren, probably due to its aforementioned popularity with engineers (or is it the other way around?). Its GEs are noted to be much easier for engineers than the other colleges, with the possible exception of Muir. Its Core Course is Warren Writing, which consists of 2 quarters of writing essays based on readings followed by 1 quarter of Philosophy.

Pros

• It’s where the Engineering and Computer Science buildings are located
• Very close to the Price Center
• Has Earl’s Place, a combination general store and coffee shop open until 1AM
• [EDIT: Canyon Vista cafeteria has decent food and a spectacular view]
• Engineers only have to complete 2 Area Studies (3 quarters each) in topics of their choice as their distribution requirements!

Cons

• Requires non-engineers to complete 2 Programs of Concentration in areas of your choice (6 quarters each)

Bottom Line

Are you an Engineer or Scientist? Then Warren should be your first or second choice. Don’t make the same mistake I did by not ranking it high.

Sixth College

Sixth College (people just call it “Sixth”) is the newest of the colleges, having been founded only in 2002. This is incidentally why it hasn’t been properly named yet; a college is called by its number until it gets named (e.g. ERC used to be Fifth College). It’s emphasis and Core Course is CAT: Culture, Art, and Technology; it claims to be an education for 21st century modernity. Sixth’s dorms are widely known to be not so great; they’re nicknamed “Camp Snoopy” since they look quite like summer camp housing. Sixth is also off in a corner of the campus and thus somewhat isolated like ERC is, though it’s closer to the Price Center. Sponsors UCSD’s RPG Club and a yearly videogame event whose name escapes me. Yearly concert: Kuncocshun

Pros

• Cool name and logo; just say it to yourself: “Sixth College”, the name is a number — that’s pretty awesome IMHO
• Modern
• High culture
• Technology
• The dorms are said to be roomy compared to the other colleges

Cons

• Founded very very recently; not firmly well-established or defined; might not have all the kinks worked out yet. This was my main concern and reason for ranking it low on my application. Not being a student at it, the situation on the ground may be different.
• The dorms (relatively speaking)
• A bit isolated
• Smallest of the 6 colleges (possibly a Pro depending on your POV)
• FoodWorx dining hall – Comparatively small, with basic fare; but you can get custom personal pizzas (!)

Bottom Line

Do you like to try new things? Do you like the idea of being a fearless trailblazer? Are you a technophile who also likes high culture? Does the fact it was founded only in 2002 not bother you? Then rank Sixth College high on your application.

Revelle

Revelle was UCSD’s first college and as such is very traditional and has the oldest buildings. It’s notable for having its own library with integrated computer lab called CLICS. The physics department and most math classes are located here. This is about the extent of my knowledge about Revelle.

Pros

• Close to the old gym and sports fields
• Has its own library
• Close to the old student center

Cons

• Oldest dorms
• Oldest architecture/buildings
• Supposedly has the (comparatively) worst cafeteria; haven’t confirmed this personally though
• [EDIT: Its core course, "Humanities" (abbreviation: Hum), is said to rival MMW in difficulty. <Shudder>]

Bottom Line

If the other colleges haven’t grabbed you so far, research Revelle further, as I don’t know nearly enough to make a recommendation about it. However, based on the little information I do have, it seems like Roosevelt but with less internationalism and worse amenities.

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall (if you haven’t discovered the pattern yet, “Marshall”) is named after the Supreme Court Justice and emphasizes community involvement and multiculturalism. Its logo is appropriately a drawing of three hands grasping each other’s wrists in unity. Its Core Course is Dimensions of Culture (DOC), which is about race, identity, and the law in the USA, paralleling the historical times of Marshall’s namesake. According to The Guardian (UCSD’s student newspaper), DOC is currently in the process of being revamped. Its freshman dorms are tall, industrial, concrete buildings located right next to OVT (see Pros). Its apartment dorms are a large group of brown and white 2-story buildings located in a cluster.

Pros

• Home to Oceanview Terrace Cafe (OVT), which is open until 1AM 9PM (curse you, UC budget cuts!), one of the latest on campus; it’s known for its breakfast burritos
• [UPDATE: Now also home to Goody's, a Mexican eatery and convenience store featuring burritos (slightly on the small and overpriced side compared to OVT's no-longer-offered non-breakfast burritos) and mediocre sandwiches that's open until 1AM (somewhat makes up for OVT closing earlier).]

Cons

• Insufficient information to know what the Cons are; Probably a decent filler choice to put some distance between your application and ERC.

Bottom Line

Same as for Revelle; I simply don’t know enough to make a recommendation. But if you like its emphasis, you should look into it.

Conclusion

EDIT: It seems my timing is excellent. The Guardian’s current issue has a great article about the difficulty of uninformed applicants ranking the six colleges [Further EDIT: Link unfortunately deadened by the Guardian's website remodel!]. The post has been updated with the article’s additional info.

I hope you found this guide helpful; I know I would have. If you have any comments, questions, or if you went or are currently going to one of the colleges and think I misrepresented it, please feel free to tell me and I’ll update this post. Best of luck on your college applications! Get started early and don’t procrastinate about them.

Addendum: Switching colleges

[Written in response to a comment on this post.]

The little-known secret of UCSD’s college system: though discouraged and made to sound impossible by the administration, you can switch colleges (a couple of my suitemates from last year who were engineers managed to), but there are restrictions. Here’s the skinny: You can switch colleges, but only if you would be able to graduate at least 2 quarters earlier by doing it (due to differing General Education requirements); if you won’t graduate any earlier, you unfortunately can’t change just because your GEs suck. You also can’t apply for the switch until Spring Quarter of your Freshman year (if granted, the switch is effective the following Fall), so you’re gonna have to take at least the first three quarters of your college’s core course. There are some other fairly minor restrictions.

For details on switching colleges at UCSD, read the Inter-College Transfer Request form (PDF).

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