Ranking The 7 Colleges at UCSD After Being a Student for 2 Years
When applying to UCSD, I had absolutely no idea what the different “colleges” meant. I watched one YouTube video and let it decide my fate. Although I could have surfed through the UCSD website and read about all the requirements for each college, looking at the housing, the locations on a map, etc. I am happy that I trusted this YouTuber’s and her friends’ opinions on the colleges because I got to hear real students’ thoughts. Just like that YouTuber, I may not know all of the general education requirements and other specific information, but I can tell you based on my friends’ experiences and my own, how I would rank the colleges.
1. 6th College
I rank 6th College first because it checks all of the most important boxes for me. The housing is new and many of the rooms have a beautiful ocean view, it is right in the center of all of the other colleges and all parts of campus are pretty close in relation to how big the campus is, it has (in my opinion) the best dining options, and the gen ed requirements are not too hard or specific toward one category. The housing comes in the form of suites in high-rise buildings with nice bathroom areas and a common room. They also have stairs connecting them to the suite below/above them (not both below and above, you will be on the top or bottom depending on what floor your suite is). This allows for lots of opportunities to make friends. Many people also have to take the elevator to their floors which could also provide for a good friend-making opportunity! There are also lots of different food options close by. In the dining hall, there is Makai (poke), Noodles (exactly how it sounds, noodles), Crave (a sort of veggie Mediterranean), Rooftop (bbq), and Wolftown (Mexican and breakfast foods like eggs and oatmeal, this is probably the worst one). There is also a market where you can grab coffee and pastries and all of your groceries in Dining Dollars. Additionally, there are lots of other restaurants such as Blue Bowl, Copa Vida, Tahini, Plant Power, and Fan-Fan that accept Triton Cash and regular money. 6th is also a place a lot of people come to find a nice study spot, go to class, and catch some views on the balcony of the 5th floor of RWAC. Last, the gen eds are very general and most likely beneficial to every major to some degree. The only requirement that makes 6th College lose points in my book is that they have a coding class as a requirement.
2. Thurgood Marshall College
My college! Maybe I’m a little biased, but I do think that Marshall is great. It is similar to 6th in many ways because of the broad gen ed requirements and good location. The gen eds probably overlap with every major for at least one or two classes. As an international business student, I was able to overlap my math classes. Additionally, we have the BEST writing sequence. DOC (Dimensions of Culture) is the required writing sequence that most Marshall students take during their freshman year. I learned so much from this course and will carry what I learned throughout life with me. It was also labor based, meaning the course was graded based on completion of assignments and attendance in section (a.k.a it is very easy to get an A). My other friends in Marshall and I often find ourselves talking about DOC outside of class just for fun. The dining hall that Marshall has is called OceanView Terrace (OVT) and it has Italian food, breakfast foods such as acai bowls, pastries, coffees, and bagels, and Spice which is a kosher restaurant. There aren’t any additional restaurants and there is no market but 6th College is a short walk away. That brings me to my next point, Marshall has a great location as well. It is right next to 6th College. Marshall is also home to Marshall Field where a lot of people get together to play field games, tan, study, you name it. There is also a cool study spot outside of OVT and the dorms, with colorful graffiti on the walls and comfortable seating. For housing, Marshall has suites with a large bathroom and common room. The housing is a bit older but my friends lived there and had a wonderful experience. In my opinion, it’s cozier than 6th (probably because there is carpet and 6th has, I believe, cement floors). I lived in the Marshall lowers which are apartments typically for second years living on campus and I also had a great experience there. However, they’re tearing them down to create high-rise buildings 🙁 To the left at the Marshall Uppers which are more apartments that Marshall offers typically for second years but they are pretty really nice too!
3. John Muir College
Muir is similar to Marshall in many ways. It is on the other side of 6th, has older housing (with carpet), and also pretty broad gen eds. The only gen ed requirement that is a bit annoying is that you have to take a language sequence. The writing sequence doesn’t have to be taken in any specific order and I’ve heard that it isn’t hard, but it definitely can’t be used as a bonding experience as it is for Marshall students. The housing is also suites in high-rise buildings with common areas in between two suites that are across from each other. The architecture kind of reminds me of jail, but some people think it’s cool. Muir has a decent dining hall called Pines, that has a Triton grill, Toasted, Farmer’s Market, hEAT, and Roots. Roots is completely vegan but don’t let that scare you! It has good options. M.O.M Cafe is also in Muir and it is a great study and coffee spot. There is also a small market in Muir that doesn’t have as many options for snacks and groceries as 6th but it is still nice to have.
4. 7th College
7th College is pretty great in terms of housing and gen eds but the location is far and there aren’t many dining hall options. This college is on the end of the street where all of the housing is. The only dining hall option is Bistro which is sushi and other Asian culture-inspired food. It is really yummy but from my experience, there is always a long wait. 7th also has a nice market where you can order sandwiches and some wraps (but they’re not very good). The housing is new and every suite has a nice kitchen which is definitely nice, but overall the location of this college ruins things for me.
5. Earl Warren College
Between Warren, ERC, and Revelle, my ranking is a little less specific. They’re sort of just a pool of last place. Warren is very, very far from the rest of campus. There is one street that all of the other colleges are on but Warren is completely detached (refer to photo at top of article). The housing is older but still somewhat nice. The gen eds mainly overlap with engineering students and are less broad than the colleges I listed above. Really, the location is the worst part about this college though.
6. Revelle College
I ranked Revelle second-to-last because it is far from all of the other colleges, the housing isn’t great, and I’d say it is directed toward science majors like bio and chem. If you are pre-med, this could still be a good option for you based on what my friends have told me, but otherwise, I wouldn’t want to be in Revelle. Now that they are building 8th College, it won’t be the farthest college from the others, but it still isn’t close.
7. Eleanor Roosevelt College
ERC has fine housing, the dining hall is my least favorite, but other people like it, and the location is fine. It lies between Marshall and 7th College. However, the writing sequence is the WORST. This sequence alone is enough reason not to be in ERC. It is extremely hard and it is five courses instead of three like most of the colleges.
The picture to the left is of the ERC’s dining hall, Café Ventanas. Although it looks pretty in this picture, don’t be fooled! It is my least favorite dining hall and the wifi never works inside.
Overall, all of the colleges have great things about them and you can’t go wrong with any of them. They each have different values and some may resonate with you more than others. This is just how I would rank them based on what I have learned from my friends and my own experiences.
I’ve also attached all of the colleges’ links to the photos if you want to check out more specific information on each 🙂
What beautiful places. I take it these buildings are co-ed – so different, so modern (and better) from my days in university. Our on campus dorms were pretty boring and practical, which encouraged us to live in a fancy and fun sorority house. Your comments will help kids just starting out there.