Back-to-School at UC San Diego: University Kicks Off Academic Year with Dynamic New Housing, Academics and Events

UC San Diego will welcome an estimated 3,400 incoming freshmen and record 2,750 transfer students for the first day of classes, Thursday, Sept. 22. Photos/Erik Jepsen

The University of California, San Diego will welcome an estimated 3,400 incoming freshmen and record 2,750 transfer students for the first day of classes, Thursday, Sept. 22. UC San Diego’s 29,000 students, which includes this year’s new class, can look forward to several new and dynamic campus facilities, academic programs and events.

Last year, UC San Diego had the largest number of new transfers as well as underrepresented students and the trend continued this year. The campus reports that the number of transfer students continues to grow; compared to last year, 9 percent more transfer students are expected to attend UC San Diego, a record high for the university. Additionally, a record number of underrepresented new students will attend UC San Diego, up 19 percent for both freshmen and transfer students, compared to last year. The freshmen bring with them an average high school GPA of 3.96 and new transfers have an average college GPA of 3.39.

“It’s exciting to welcome these bright minds to UC San Diego’s community of scholars and global citizens,” says Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “UC San Diego is ranked number one in the country by the Washington Monthly for our dedication to service––a testament to the excellence of our students and the UC San Diego community.”

New resources in housing and dining available to students this year include:

• Recently completed apartments at Revelle College and John Muir College: Two of UC San Diego’s six undergraduate colleges are getting a new look. Revelle’s newly-constructed Charles David Keeling apartments are anticipated to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certified, a first for any structure on campus. The new apartments in Muir College adopted the look of Muir’s modernist architecture of the 60s.
• The Village, a new transfer housing community: The Village neighborhood, in the works for five years, consists of Village West and Village East, a total of 13 buildings, two of which are 15-story high rises with incredible ocean views. The first phase, the Village, featuring 1,000 beds, officially opened January 2010. The second phase of the Village transfer housing complex, featuring 805 new beds in apartment-style living, was completed spring 2011.
• The Bistro: Located within the Village, this new table service restaurant features dining by reservation, a sushi bar, outdoor seating, convenient online to-go orders and specialty Asian-themed products. Adjacent to the eatery is a new market featuring one of the widest varieties of products on the campus.
• ROOTS: UC San Diego’s first vegan/vegetarian restaurant, ROOTS, will open its doors in the Muir College neighborhood later this fall.

UC San Diego has also introduced new academic programs for students including:

• Undergraduate students: Now they can choose from majors in earth sciences and nano engineering and new minors in global health and business.
• Graduate and professional school students: The university has also added new doctoral degrees in the fields of nano engineering and mathematics with a specialization in statistics, new joint doctoral degrees with SDSU in engineering sciences with specializations in bioengineering, structural engineering and electrical and computer engineering, and a master of advanced studies in architecture-based enterprise systems.

The campus will use the theme “Learn it. Live it” in events, communications and other efforts to showcase how UC San Diego shapes minds, changes lives, launches industries and helps build the future. In November, the campus and community will have a chance to celebrate the theme and new traditions at the 2nd annual Founders’ Celebration events, including:

• Thursday, Nov. 17, Founders’ Symposium—A dynamic evening featuring a lively discussion of life-changing research happening every day at UC San Diego.
• Friday, Nov. 18, Founders’ Day—An annual celebration to commemorate the date the campus was founded.
• Saturday, Nov. 19, Founders’ Dinner—A festive benefit dinner showcasing UC San Diego talent and honoring the 2011 recipients of the Chancellor’s Medal: Richard and Rita Atkinson; the late John Davies and his wife, Ann; Sheldon ’72, and Susan Engelhorn; Anne Ratner; and L.S. and Aline Skaggs. Proceeds from the event benefit the Invent the Future student support campaign.

For more information the Founder’s celebration, go to learnlive.ucsd.edu/founders