You're Admitted! Now What? with Mitsuko Leonard (India)

She was.

Hi everybody, waiting for a few more people to join us. It looks like we've got a really good crowd. My name is Nicole Leonard and thank you so much for joining us this evening. Actually, for you guys, it's bright and early 10:00 o'clock on a Saturday morning. For me it's a little bit later than that. On a Friday night, but that's the wonderful thing about technology. In the end, we're all together.

Which is fantastic because let's be honest, I was really supposed to be in Mumbai and we were all supposed to be in a grand room over at the JW Mumbai and we were supposed to have all the families together and and shake hands. And isn't that a different world now that we're here encoded 19 land, but I'm so glad to be here with you, even if it's just virtually. This is the favorite part of my job. My job is to go out and recruit students as the director of recruitment for undergraduate admissions at UC Davis.

I get to talk to a whole bunch of really talented smart students just like you. And then I get to come home and I read all your applications and after we're done, admitting you, I get to usually go back out and say hi and introduce myself again. But the fact that I'm here with you now means that you're on the other side of this big adventure of applying, getting admitted to one of the very best universities in the United States.

In the world to be honest, I mean no brag.

A little bit of housekeeping for today. I just want to make sure you understand how these little.

Uh, controls work on your screen here. You'll see that on the upper right hand corner there's a CC that's for closed captioning. If you need a little assistance in being able to read along with what I'm saying, click on that button. It's not going to always be 100% accurate, but it does as well as it can.

You'll see that there's a chat box just to make sure that you can hear me. OK, can you just type in there that you can hear me? OK, just say Yep, I can hear you.

Yep, nice Ron, thank you. Yep, I can hear you. Yes yes yes fantastic. Now you see how in the chat box I can see all of the wonderful things that you're saying. Encourage ING me that yes, you can hear me, but you can't see anything, right?

So that's because this is what's called a moderated chat, and that means either I or one of my lovely assistant. So I've got Sanli San say hi in the chat box, please.

Hawaii and I've also got another assistant Dalia Dalia. Can you say hi?

Let's check make sure. Well, hopefully, hopefully you'll find that chat box. Basically how it works is when you put all your questions and your chats in there, one of us is going to hit a little button that says approved and that is what makes it visible to everybody else.

The reason why we do that is because a lot of your questions are going to be very similar. Let me give you an example. Let's see how many of you are joining me from Mumbai.

Just say yes, I'm I'm tuning in from Mumbai today.

OK, so now I'm going to approve them and I'm going to say, Yep, that's you right? So by Yep, Hawaii.

So that's how this works. If I approve it or one of my assistants help me out and approve it, then then we'll all be able to see that question in that interaction. So don't get disheartened or discouraged if you don't see your question or your interaction with me right away is just a way for us to try to control the conversation a little bit, because there are so many of us together today.

This presentation will be about I'm going to try to keep it about 15 minutes because to be honest as much as I really do love talking about UC Davis, I have a feeling you have a lot of questions about UC Davis and the most important thing for me to do for you today is make sure you get those questions answered so.

With that said, again my name is Mitsuko and at the end of 15 minutes I will have you start putting all your questions in there. We will approve them and go through them. Some of them will be answered by Dalia or they'll be answered by San. Some of them I will answer out loud, but we'll get through all of that together. Let's see, OK, well, let's get started. I think we've got that housekeeping all done. Now, as I mentioned before, I am the director of recruitment and what that means is I get to come home and read all the applications that you submitted.

Which is just amazing. It is. It's a hard job to try to find exactly the right fit, but when we're looking at the applications were trying to find out, you know all of the very best things that you can bring to our campus.

And so we're looking at your academics, obviously in your interests, your talents. So all of the personality that you're able to reflect on your application. Those are all very, very important aspects of.

Of your person as as a as a scholar, as a human that we want to have on our campus. Now you have this very. I don't know. Great problem that most likely you've been admitted to many amazing schools, which means that you have to figure out what's the best campus for you. What kind of fit are you looking for? So what I'm going to do today is talk a little bit about where we kind of survey or talk to the Aggies that are on our campus right now.

Yeah, what are the things that they just absolutely adore about their campus and if any of these things that I've reflect on or or talk about resonate with you, then it might be a really good way for you to also measure fit. An if it doesn't resonate, then it's a question of, well, what is it that you're looking for? And while I absolutely do work for you, see Davis, and I adore you. See Davis, my job isn't to get you to adore you see Davis, just like I do. My job is to help you find the right fit.

So in the end, no pressure. We will find the right fit campus for you, even if it's not Davis. Although I have a feeling for many of you, it will be so. One of the first things that students absolutely just cannot get enough of is our campus. Many of you. Maybe I'm not going to say many. It's not fair to assume that I've met many of you, but I do travel extensively in India and so maybe I've had a chance to talk with a few of you about the idea of fit. And I've talked about.

Environment I've talked about the physical space. Now our physical space is central to the state of California. You're probably pretty aware of where we are located in the state of California, only 20 minutes away from the state capital, about an hour and a half away from San Francisco. That's the airport you'd be flying into 2 hours from Lake Tahoe, and if you want to get down South, it's about a six hour drive, so there's a lot of things that we are surrounded by.

And I think that makes us very unique. However, probably what makes UC Davis and the idea of an education in the United States so unique is the idea of living on campus and living on campus housing the residence halls that is 100% going to be your environment, at least for that first year. Now we don't require students to live on campus, but we really do encourage it. In fact, most of our.

First year students are freshmen, will live on campus, I'd say about 95, maybe even 96% of our students live on campus, and you're guaranteed housing for two years. And what's nice about living on campus is when you think about.

The campus being as big as it is I mean we're over 5000 acres were the largest UC campus within the whole of the UC system. That means having a home base, knowing exactly where you can go home too. And all of those amazing friends that you're going to make. That's going to make all the difference in being able to adapt to your new life at UC Davis.

You don't want to get too lost and if you do get lost you want to know that you have a home base close to your classes someplace that's going to take very good care of you you don't have to worry about your bills your Internet access things like that and and let's be honest we should be thinking about things like food our campus is very much about food being as agriculturally focused is UC Davis is we just can't help it it's part of our DNA.

The dining Commons is where you will probably be eating the majority of your meals. As a student living on campus, it's amazing. There's so much variety, there's options for all of the different types of dietary needs and wants.

This kind of gives you a reflection of who we are as a campus. Students prepare the food for students and they're using items grown on campus by other students.

And it's definitely not uncommon to see stuff you can't see me, but my hand is raised staff and faculty taking advantage of the food that's at the dining Commons. You can see in the upper right hand corner if you're looking for a quick bite to eat, you can go to the coffee house, also known as the coho. It's completely entirely student run. It's offering like so many different menu options. And then at the silo. That's where that picture is taken. That's where are.

Food trucks come out and serve our students and every day. It's a different food. Like a different lineup of food trucks with lots and lots of different options. You definitely will not get bored now.

My kinda lowkey dropped the idea of our students growing the food. I know it was really casual, but the truth of it is it's not very common. UC Davis is very unique in that we have a student farm. This is where students are learning about sustainable food systems while at the same time teaching the youth of Davis Woodland. The area around us about agriculture and eating healthy and this harvest isn't shared just with the DC.

Where you would eat as a first year student, but it's also shared with our student pantry so that any students can stop by and access fresh seasonal produce throughout the year. Now what I want to focus on is the theme that you can kind of start to pick up on, and that theme is basically the idea of community and the fact that we have students who love to be very, very involved. Let's see.

Getting into that experience, students really enjoy being here on campus, not just because of the experience that they have in class, but most definitely the experiences that they have outside of class. Being here in California we are bit spoiled with our weather we have. Let's see I want to say over 200 and we see 220 days of sunshine. We are agricultural so we do want that.

Rain too, but with all the sunshine are outdoor classes are very, very popular, including this tractor driving course that you can see a picture of. A nice a popular meaning like even if your history major or an engineering major, you will absolutely love taking this fund class with all of the other agricultural students we have over 100 department's on campus. That means unique experiences for everyone to take advantage of, not just in the major of your choice.

But also in things like miners that you haven't even thought of or interest that you didn't know that you had until somebody told you about it. A good example of that would be on the right hand side you see there that is a chemical engineering course, but what they're doing is studying chemical engineering through coffee and it is absolutely one of our most popular classes and is open anybody.

And that learning that I was talking about that students like to do outdoors. It goes beyond just outdoors inside the town of Davis, students are getting hands-on experience all over the place, whether it's in Sacramento through our medical school, where students can secure internships, or through UC Sacramento program for those interested in political science, the bottom left, you can see that students are studying in a what's called the Bodega Bay.

Marine lab, that's where we actually have our own campus. Like a little residence Hall in campus where students live on on the shore and it's very unique for a land bound campus such as ourselves. And of course with over let's see. Let's say we have over 40 countries available to you for study abroad and let's international or domestic, you get to study abroad. In fact, we are very unique in that we have programs.

In all Seven continents, that's right, Antarctica included, so that means whether you are an engineer, a bio size student, or an art history student, you're going to find opportunities to study all over the world. And it's not just for the foreign language students.

We understand that you have to start even now thinking about what you're going to be doing after your four years of earning your bachelors degree. So UC Davis is all about making sure that you're learning, but you're also building up your resume with opportunities and work an internship. And of course, not just on campus but off campus as well. You have opportunities with student government asked. Is the has the biggest budget of college student government in the United States?

And that's a lot of responsibility. You see that bus there that is all controlled by UC Davis students. You know, being able to participate in research like you can see in the upper left hand side or even the right hand side and the bottom you can see that one of our students is living in a barn. It sounds terrible when if I say just live in a barn, but the point is to be able to work in a barn.

Work with the animals that is going to build Horizon May, but at the same time taking care of her own rent, and so it's an opportunity to build up a resume while at the same time kind of tripping down the cost of living.

What is very, very important to UC Davis? Let students have definitely taken full advantage of is the fact that we care about the whole student.

At Davis you'll find that we value your physical, your mental, emotional health and beyond that. We also believe that the health of our physical environment has a huge impact on all of us being healthy and so being good stewards of our resources is taking so very seriously. So as you can see in this slide, biking is very much apart of our our identity. Here at UC Davis is such a convenient and eco friendly way to get around.

We're huge campus and so it is definitely the fastest way to get around, and it's a wonderful way to get fresh air and exercise. But In addition to that.

We want to make sure that we have access give access to our Aggies through our activities and Recreation Center. That is our gym are exercise area that has rock climbing walls and basketball and racquetball courts and things like that. That's the picture on the lower right hand side. You could do outdoor yoga with us and that's the top right. And of course, food. I cannot stress enough because of our agricultural background. How?

Food and nutrition is very much important to us and so at the student health and Wellness Center. That's where you would go if you catch a cold. But it's also a place where you would go to learn about nutrition and maybe even taking some cooking classes because not all of us know exactly what's going on in the kitchen sometimes. And of course, we've got counseling services because again, the whole students health is very important, and we recognize that you are not just in academic.

That your social being an we all go through lots of hard times and being able to support each other through mental health, emotional health, spiritual health is very important to the health of the whole campus.

Um and again when we talk about the campus in our own environments and the effect of the environment that were around or in that has on us. A good example of where we've really take advantage is the Arboretum.

The Arboretum is a 3 1/2 mile loop of green space and it's kind of right in the center of the campus and is a lovely place. I mean, it's really the number one place for naps and a place to study. I think they vote on this every year and the Arboretum by far is always the winner is a great place to get together with your friends for a picnic. A quick break. And as you can see here in the bottom left picture, this is quite literally an.

Outdoor laboratory where classes and entomology or even mechanical engineering are passing each other and then running into that drama class or an art studio class. So it is a space that not just students in small groups take advantage of the whole classrooms and professors really do enjoy. This is definitely a I'm going to say like the heart of our campus.

And of course I mean that idea of being green. Uhm, you know. We can all enjoy the Arboretum, but it goes beyond just taking care of our own environment and our small 5000 acre campus. We share the identity of a being a green campus. It's understood that it takes all of us to make real changes and rankings are absolutely nice and we love to talk about these rankings, but beyond the rankings we do.

Changeable real things. So for example, you know when you're writing a bus driven by students maintained by students dispatched by students.

That's taking you know extra cars off the road. If you're on your bicycle, that's again taking cars off the road. You know making sure that our new buildings are all lead rated buildings, composting nearly everything and having a campus wide effort to reduce our paper use. These are all evidence of commitment to a carbon neutral future that we really.

I did take very, very much as part of our identity, and if that some resonates with you, I think that you would find a really good fit and you see Davis.

Now, that's not to say that we're all just about, you know the world and the environment. Those are all very important things, but there is definitely a true spirit of being an Aggie at UC Davis, for many students the idea of being at a school that has Division One NCAA Division One Sports is really important now. Not everyone is going to be playing at this very high level. And if anyone out there is not.

Quite certain about Division One. It basically means you're playing at the highest level of collegiate sports, so you're on TV. You may be getting scholarships, all those types of things now. Some of us are at that level, and if you're at that level, as in you are like competing at the national level you're famous in your city, that sort of thing and you're thinking about playing then absolutely contact or athletics Department and reach out because you may be able to walk on to some of these teams.

If you're just really interested in participating as as a as a person who's going to go and watch, it's super exciting. Our newest sports is equestrian that you can see in the top middle picture, an beach volleyball. Those two sports, our newest NCAA Division, one sports. And if you're not really interested in that, but you do want to play at the intermural or cloud level with all that sunshine I was talking about, it is very common for our students to participate.

In in some type of club sports.

We're very active as a campus and what's really nice is that being a truly small college town, we have the type of campus spirit that extends past just the campus. It it does kind of Leech into the community that we're in, and that's basically to say all of the downtown area of Davis is there to support the college. A college town basically means if you were to take that University, carve it out, and.

Take it away, there would be no town and that is quite quite true for Davis. We have such a good relationship with the town and basically that's because everyone who lives in the town has some type of relationship with the campus. So for example, I live in the town of Davis and I ride my bike every day. I don't have a car. I see students every day, and if I know you I'm ringing my Bell and saying hi to you just like your ring, you're balancing hiding me. So it is very much.

Very safe and fun town to live in where the the whole place kind of caters to the needs of the students in the University.

I'm kind of keeping in line with that theme. Community is absolutely probably. I don't know if you are in the WhatsApp group already for India WhatsApp Group. We have several students who are from last year's batch. So there are just wrapping up their first year at UC Davis and already I've seen many of the students talk about how much they really like the community here at Davis.

But it's true that in the beginning you're going to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers. But the good news is, even though everyone is a stranger, they tend to just be very, very friendly. And while the students are super competitive because you guys are wicked smart. I mean you worked so hard to be admitted to UC Davis, so you're super Super Smart.

But you're not competitive with each other. You're competitive with yourself and what that means is you're just so much more likely to work and collaborate together, and that has really panned out like we've seen it in the 800 plus clubs, the The way that students work together on teams for research and study groups and things like that. International communities are very, very strong on our campus. This is a picture of our international center where.

You know whether you're going to study abroad, whether you need some advising for your visa status, maybe you're going to do some cultural programming, that sort of thing. This is where all of those programs are housed, as well as these international communities. And this is just a sampling. This is not everything that you could get involved in.

So the bottom line is that we feel that there's a space for everybody, and we think that there would be a fantastic space for you as well.

Um, one of the things that I really want to just kind of drive home for you is that.

When you're considering where to go for the next four years, you want to think more about what feels most comfortable for the next four years, because you know this is the first time you get to choose where you go.

I don't know. Let's do a quick call out and somebody tell me. Has anyone out there? It looks like we've got about 57 people out there. Has anyone out there decided you know what I need to move to Delhi? So hey family, let's go to Delhi.

Anybody?

Know anybody say you know, I insist we're going to Bangalore and I don't care if you don't want to go. Come on mom and dad let's go.

No.

Well, this is the first time you get to choose, right? This is the first time that you get to at least have a vote. Now they may not all be like, yeah go wherever you want, you know blank check just go for it. But this is the first time that you get a chance to really talk to them and be true advocate for where you're going to enjoy the next four years of your life. So think about it in the sense of you know.

A big decision to make.

What are the opportunities that are going to be opened up to you because of the decisions that you've made? You know there's so many universities and colleges and you as an international citizen you have opportunities well beyond just the United States. You're probably thinking of schools in Canada, in Australia, New Zealand. You've got options. Maybe you're thinking about seeing in India, who knows? But with all of those different options, you have, uh?

Now remember, whatever those decisions are, each campus has important dates that you have to keep in mind. So here are hours this statement of intent to register is due May 1, and that's just basically saying, Yep, I think that Davis is great for me and I'm going to go to Davis the moment you say yes, do you see Davis or whole mess of things like a list of things that you have to do will pop up in your.

On your portal, which is called my admissions, so one of those things will be the May 6 deadline for housing.

But you still have plenty of time. It's only the fourth. Hamill said that there is only the 4th of April. You still have plenty of time, and so I encourage you to really think about who we are, who you are, and where those things you know.

Are a good fit for both. Talk to lots and lots of UC Davis students and faculty and staff like myself and my colleagues. Alien San and remember that you know there are a lot of online events. Next week we have a whole week of live events called Aggie experience live and so check it out.

Make sure to check your emails. That's where we're going to find you. And of course, this is my information. You are welcome to contact me if you need to.

I'll pause there for just a second, but then I'm gonna take you over here to the social media. But let's be honest. I mean social media. You can find us on that, but the most important right now. The most fun thing that's happening. I wake up to like 400 text messages. Is this group chat. This is the 2020 four group chat it has about. I don't know Seven or eight 2020 three students already embedded there, and I think about four to six more students.

Want to get in there 'cause they all want to talk to you guys as the new batch of students coming in so it?

You haven't already joined the chat group. It would be lovely to see you in there.

OK, so um with that I do have other pictures that I will definitely show you. But like I said I want to get to your questions and I have already talked way too long enough for this by Dalia later. I'm sure. So let's get to some of your questions.

OK, so we've got a question. Is the Sr deadline going to change? Some of the colleges have already moved it to June 1. That's a fantastic question. No. Right now it has not. It has not.

Been changed the UC system as a whole has decided that we're going to hold them a one. I don't know how that's going to change in the future. Keep keep an eye out for that. If you feel like you need more time, you can always contact us through my admission and we can extend that deadline for you on you know, like a case by case basis that that is not a problem.

But right now it is May 1.

See any other question.

OK, I'm going to approve this one. Looks like OK, I was admitted for a major. I'm not really interested in, but I really want to join. You see, gave us so is there anyway I can change my major before joining? Here's the thing, you cannot change before you join. You can change after the first term and we are in 1/4 system. That means 10 weeks each.

Uh, three terms fall, winter and spring after your fall term. In fact, right at orientation, if you know what major you want to change into, just let your advisor know. Hey, I'm not real keen on this major, I'm more interested in this other major. Can you advise me on what classes to take and they will do that for you. No problem after your first term, you will be able to go and change your major. Now let's say for example, you applied into.

English and you got into English, but one day you wake up and you're like wow. I really like the idea of computer science and engineering.

Well, computer science and engineering will be like great, but do you even know what computer science is?

And so they'll ask you to take a list of classes. You take. These classes, do all them fine. If you can do well, then you can change your major, but they won't necessarily just switch you over without you know. Doing doing a little bit of that work.

Um, however, if you're coming in as an engineer and then you're like, yeah, you know what I think history, that's my thing. They will most definitely just say, come on in no problem.

OK.

Um, there's a question about transcripts.

OK, what would happen if official transcripts are not available by Sunday? It's tricky. The good news is we're all in the same boat.

We're all in it together. This global pandemic has has been a such a.

It's been such an enlightening situation in the sense that we understand that everybody is impacted somehow and so your job is to keep us abreast to what's going on. So, for example, if you know that your official transcripts will not get there by the July 1 deadline, but you feel pretty confident that it's going to get there for August, then go for it. No problem, just contact us. Let us know we are going to be super flexible to be honest. We are trying real hard to.

Be as aware as possible as to what exams are getting cancelled, what things are getting postponed, and things like that. So we're trying real hard to keep on top of that news, but we can't keep on on top of everything so it won't ever hurt you to contact us through my admissions on the my admissions site when you log in, you'll be able to see.

That come on the right hand side, there's a column. It's about keeping us updated. Updating your application. Just click on that and there's a free form text area where you're able to tell us exactly what's going on.

OK, and then let's see there was a.

OK, so there's this question about scholarship opportunities.

Um?

There are some scholarships because we're public research school. Our scholarships are aid for international students. On resident students are it's going to be merit based aid, so scholarships just to kind of give you an idea. Larger scholarships are usually granted right at the point of admission and so basically adulations you've been admitted were so thrilled to see you. Here is a good chunk of money and that good chunk of money, maybe anywhere from 7000 to 13,000 a year.

Now, if you didn't get that larger scholarship at the point of admission, that means most likely you're not going to get a large scholarship. But as we understand who the incoming classes, we may be able to put together a smaller scholarship package and that may be anywhere from 500 to $1000 all the way up to maybe 3 to $5000. Because you can stack them. So really, that kind of gives you an idea of you know it will pay for a ticket going home.

It may help you.

Uhm, you know buy a brand new computer. Things like that, but it won't necessarily take a huge bite out of your tuition. So that's something that you're going to want to keep in mind.

Um, see there's a question for do we?

Get credits.

Was it posted? I'm not seeing it posted.

There is a question about, um, do we get any credit for IB courses? Uh yes. So IB diplomas of 30 points or higher will earn you a 30 point, 30 points, or 30 quarter units. And that's basically two quarters worth of transfer work.

Let me let me try to explain that a little bit better. Let's say you're taking chemistry class and that chemistry classes for units. That means every day or every week of class, you're in a lecture, maybe 4 hours a week.

To be a full time student, that means you're taking at least 12 units, but we kind of want you to aim for about 15, so that means 15 hours each week sitting in a lecture.

And we grant you 30 quarter units, so that's equivalent to two full terms worth of transfer credit. Now sometimes students get super excited when they hear that and they think, OK, that means I'm going to be able to graduate two terms earlier. and I say, listen, you're only going to be this, you know 18 to 22 year old once in your life, and you should just slow your roll and enjoy it because it's not going to come back. So instead of trying to graduate early, whether it's with AP Credit, 'cause Yeah, you can get a P or.

With a little credit card, yeah, you get credit for that too. I would say use those units to be able to jump out of some classes. Give you a little bit of extra space and time to do internships or research. Maybe do a study abroad term or two and really take advantage of that time. But don't try to graduate early. It's really not to your benefit because you'll graduate early, but maybe not with the resume that you would hope for.

It's not the question is it possible to change my major from mechanical engineering to computer science, which is a capped major? The good news is, while it is in many ways chapped or In other words, so selective that we don't have all the space for all the students who were applying to mechanical or applying to computer science. One on our campus, you don't necessarily. There's no like you know one in one out. Like if you've met the requirements for computer science.

Or you've met the requirements for mechanical engineering or whatever it maybe they will allow you to.

To change your major, it's that's not a problem.

OK.

Here's another question, uhm?

Dalia, I'm just gonna ask you to approve the questions that I'm going to answer just so other people can see it too, that that would be great. OK, so I hey how and on what basis do you choose between different uses? Oh gosh, you know this is a fantastic question. Is a tricky 12. Here's the thing like.

We're all sisters in the same family, yeah. And so when you're all sisters in the same family, you kind of have the same philosophy, right like?

You know for the UCS we believe in the three tiers of research, teaching, and service, so that's going to be the same throughout the euses after that.

If you really can't like if if all all, whatever one or two you sees offer the major, maybe they offer similar internships. Maybe they offer all those things that are similar. I would I would say don't look past things like the weather, the location.

You know, maybe you want to learn how to surf. Maybe scuba diving is. It is something that you really want to continue doing. Maybe you already do it and you want to do more, or you don't know how to serve, but you want to learn how to serve well. Davis is not going to be a good choice, right? We're about an hour and a half away from the shore and the water in the Bay is pretty cold, but maybe you're more interested in skiing. Maybe you're more interested in agricultural environmental Sciences, maybe.

You are more interested in the outdoor lifestyle or living in a small college town. Then Davis is a really good fit, right? Maybe you're the type of student who just thrives in a Metropolitan atmosphere. Then LA might be a better idea. It's the smallest, smallest UC campus with the largest UC population, right? So you're going to walk around attacked lol. Let's be honest, you're probably not walking around LA, right? You're going to be in traffic if that's your vibe, then that's that's a great way to choose.

For me, not having a car only having a bicycle in loving that Lifestyling just not being able to fathom the idea of sitting in a car in traffic. I can't imagine a better fit. So really it's a conversation about you know who you are and what makes you feel the most comfortable.

OK, could you also describe the credits earning completing the A levels? Yes OK with a levels up a levels not not IIS. Excuse me you will get 12 quarter units of transferable work for every a level.

That you get an AB or C and that basically you know most students will do about 3A levels and so that will be about 30 six quarter units. Just in case there might be some of you out there who are lucky enough to be able to sit for AP exams. If you get a 3, four or five on an AP exam, you can get anywhere from four quarter units up to eight quarter units per subject.

Um and most universities will have like a grid or a chart that will tell you OK, you gotta 5 on calculus BC. Then you can skip this class and you can hop into this other class. That sort of thing. So it's a nice way to skip. But to be honest it won't hurt you to retake some of these classes.

OK, How do we know what classes to take and when we start choosing them? That's a great question. So back in the day, gather round kids because I'm going to tell you how it was done back in the day back in the day, orientation used to happen where everyone had to come out and little's summer before you were even starting school and you would sit around for two or three days and have people try to tell you everything. And then you would go home and you would forget everything. And then you come back to campus and then just not.

Understand what was going on. Now, what they do is so much nicer. Uh, as soon as you say yes to UC Davis, they open up what's called Aggie 101, which is basically an online class on how to be an Aggie.

And I'm going to tell you about what an Aggie is, an Aggie?

And this is how I know I'm getting older because I keep getting distracted and telling young people old people stories. So UC Berkeley used to be the only UC campus right? They were just called University California and that's why they still call themselves cow.

But long time ago, when students wanted study agriculture, there was nowhere to go with in California to do so. So it was kind of a big deal when they opened up the University farm and Davis, which is 60 about 60 miles, maybe 70 miles away. But back then, everyone was on their horse and carriage, so it wasn't like they were going back and forth between Berkeley and Davis. So there were a group of students who lived in the University farm and that was that was their campus. So all the students in Berkeley were known as the Townies.

Little Big Town called Berkeley and all the students who lived on the University farm were called the Aggies because they were the agricultural students and so if anyone asks you what an Aggie is now you have an answer now what was I talking about? Oh yes. Aggie 101 AG 101 basically is an online course that teaches you how you're like all the important information about who your advisors are, how to select your courses, how to.

Register for your courses and then after you go through the modules of Aggie 101 your advisors from your college. So if your engineering your engineering advisor, if you are let's say math or chemistry, it'll be the College of letters and science. If you're an animal science student then that will be the College of agricultural, environmental science. If your biological science students into College of Biosci, they will contact you and they will advise you one on one.

From a distance and they basically say hey for your major, you should take general chemistry and you should take calculus and you should take this and that and that's how you start putting your schedule together and you will register on line from afar. Then one week before classes begin, that's when the real orientation happens. You move in a whole week early, you hang out with all your brand new friends. You've got a full week to Acclimate and adjust the time and.

Uh, it is mandatory. It is very, very important and is such a large campus that we want you to really figure out where you are. That's the whole point of orientation, so that's how that happens.

OK, can we change our campus? Uhm, the first semester? First you're changing your campus, so some of you may be thinking you know what I really, really want to go to another you see? Or what if I just want to visit the other, you see?

What's tricky is if you are going to one you see with the plan of transferring to another one. I would say you should change your plan to going to a Community College in California, because as a California Community College student, you would have a much higher chance of being able to transfer.

And here's why. At a Community College, because it's a two year program, you have to be able to transfer it to be able to go on and earn your bachelors degree. So that's why, as a public school, we feel like those students are highest priority. But let's say we have a student who already attends a school. Maybe they go to UC Irvine, or they go to UC San Diego and they say no, I really like Davis and I really want to transfer to Davis. And I've been using San Diego as just a stepping stool to get the Davis now.

They may be a fantastic student, but we first fill all of our space with that transfer student, right? And if we don't have the space for the student coming from UC San Diego, they're going to be fine. They can stay and do two more years in graduate from UC San Diego, and that's why that transfer from one you see to another to the degree is more rare. It's not impossible, it's just more rare because we usually use up all those spaces for Community College students.

Now, that said, let's say for example you are a UC Davis student and you think, oh, there's a professor in San Diego that I want to study with for one term, you can do what's called an Inter account. This transfer or visitor. Sorry, intercampus visitor program and that allows you to go and study at another UC campus as if it's like a study abroad program where you're there for a limited time. You take classes there, you earn grades there and then you come right back.

OK, let's see, um high I've been made eligible for work study. Any information about this. OK work said he is a type of financial aid.

Uhm, basically what that means is that probably as a work study student, you're an American citizen, and the federal government has said, hey, UC Davis, we are going to support this student with work study, which means that you must at Davis, set aside.

Certain number of jobs and you UC Davis will hire only students who have work study as part of their financial aid package and the federal government pays for half of your hourly wage in UC Davis pays for the other half. Now. That's a fantastic way for us at UC Davis to be able to find really great employees and for you as a student who is eligible for work study to have fantastic job opportunities to choose from.

Now for those of you who don't have work, study as a financial aid option. No worries, because there are so many jobs on campus, and if you're an international student working on campus is going to be V option like that's it to remain in status with your F1 Visa, you're going to want to work on campus.

But that's really the best employer in town because you know as someone.

Love myself. Who employee employees, students. We understand that your first and most important job is absolutely to be a student, so we're very flexible with your hours. Keep in mind we're not expecting you to work for more than about 19 hours and just to manage your expectations. While there are some jobs out there that are really, really well paid, I would say that you want to assume that the money that you're making, whether it be with work, study or just straight up employment, it's really going to help you with your pocket money, your everyday.

Maybe some food going out with your friends, but it's not going to be something that you're going to want to rely too heavily on to cover your tuition.

OK, let's see what else we've got up. We got another question about research opportunities. Yes, weather in economics major or any major research opportunities are very big. As I mentioned, you know, with the philosophy of the UCS with research, teaching, and.

Service, all of that is going to be very much part of your everyday life as a student. As a scholar on campus research opportunities are offered through our office of undergraduate research, but also to be honest, if you ask any of the students in the group chat any of those that are doing research or doing some type of internship, it's kind of something that they might just kind of stumble into. By that I mean, maybe they're taking the class.

And they hear about the research that one of their faculty are doing and they just find it so fascinating. They go and talk to them. And guess what the faculties like? Yep, I've got a spot on my team and I need help, so why don't you come on board? It is pretty straightforward.

I would say though, give yourself a little bit of time. You absolutely can start in your first year and many of the students that I interact with throughout the years have done that, but I feel like I just want students to kind of get used to their own space during that first year and really get comfortable with time management and things like that before they dive into too many other things.

That said, This is another opportunity that many students are very interested in internships, right? We are very close to a lot of very well known companies that come in and higher our talent as an international student, you have access to Opete. That's optional practical training that extends your visa for anywhere from one year to up to three years, depending on whether it's a non science versus a stem.

Field.

Uh, we have internship in career fairs every term. We have one extra fair for even just the camp the engineers. So it is very much part of the student experience that we want them to do. Internships and of course research.

Uh, when are we expected to move into campus so that week long orientation happens? Oh my goodness, I just saw it this morning. I want to say it was like.

September classes begin on the Wednesday, the last Wednesday of September, so a week before that is going to be orientation dalia. I know had this on her slide for a web and are just this morning, so if you want to talk to me, dalia, I'm here to receive that message.

Let's see what else we've got. Oh, let's see.

September 25th to the 29th.

Is what it sounds like OK?

OK perfect yeah. September 25th to the 29th is orientation and that is when you're going to be moving in. So I would say you know, fly out on the 23rd.

That sort of thing.

Uh our our Aggie experience live which is our uh open house event that's next week that's from the sixth of the 10th and so you can absolutely join us for that and remember no one is asking you to participate only if you said yesterday this right now it's all exploring right so you don't need to have had your decision made we don't want you to feel any pressure whether you're in the group chat or you're experiencing hour.

Our open house next week. It really is for those students who know 100% that they want to come to Davis as well as those who are still just trying to figure it out. So take your time.

OK, How do you enroll or partake in sports and athletic activity? So it depends on what type of involvement you want. Let's say you are living on campus and you know because of all the postings that they have all over the residence halls. There's intermural sports that you're interested in, maybe a Coed soccer team, or maybe intermural water polo. Sorry inner tube water polo where you're literally sitting in an inner tube.

In flopping around in the pool, it's super fun.

In fact, let me show you a picture of the pool that would be flopping around.

There's lots and lots of intermural sports that you'll be able to sign up and you'll learn about them just because you're walking around campus and you see the signs. If you want to participate in club sports, again, we have these big fairs where all the different social clubs as well as athletic clubs come out and just like at a schools there where they try to get your attention and you know, try to see if you're interested in them. You'll get to walk around and learn more about them. That typically happens in October of every.

Every year and of course, table Ng happens throughout the year. It's not just once a year.

OK, here is a very good question. If the covert crisis persists, will classes be conducted online?

Right now they are being conducted online. Uhm, So what was reassuring is that the faculty were very quick to adapt an move online. Right now we're being hopeful an we're moving ahead with the assumption that classes will be in person in the fall.

Let's say for example, in the fall we all get together and and then another situation pops up. I feel like you know we will be able to move on line again. What's interesting to note is, unlike other campuses, we've been very, very fortunate in that we've been allowed to keep our students on campus. So while it's true that some of our students have gone home.

Because they can take classes on line from home and be with their families. Many of our students have decided to stay on campus with us. They feel safe, so our residence halls remain open. The students are being fed to the dining Commons were still supporting them and there still getting access to the education that they need.

As far as exactly how things will look in the fall. I mean if if I had that answer, I think I'd be a very rich woman. Unfortunately, we don't have that answer, but I do hope that with all of us you know, sheltering in place and practicing good social responsibility will be able to get through it unscathed. and I hope you are all safe at home with your families.

And healthy as well.

Any other questions? We've got a little more minutes. What about working off campus, such as downtown Davis? Now if you are an American citizen, you there's no limitation right? Like you can work wherever you want to work. If you are on a student visa. However, you can only work on campus, so that will limit your employment.

To just the to the campus job offerings. But there are so many job offerings that it would not be a problem. Now. Yes you can. If like I said, if you decide to work off off campus because your AUS citizen permanent resident, you can absolutely. But still I would say that the best employers are going to be the campus. There's a question about summer start. Summer star is an interesting program. Now we have three terms.

Fall, winter and spring, and that's the normal academic year.

Your tuition pays for your classes during during that academic year.

In the summer time, there are two six week summer sessions and summer start happens during that second summer session, so it's closer to the fall term and it's basically a six week term where they allow you to take classes. It's a nice way to acclimate to campus before you are in the thick of it. With thousands of other students, it's it's typically a smaller cohort of students.

For some students it may be English language support, right? For many students whose English is a little bit underdeveloped, they.

I feel more comfortable teaching some English support classes, so they'll do that. Many of our other students. The other track will be like 8. Let's just start off taking this general chemistry class. Just start off taking the calculus class and it just kind of makes students feel like get a leg up. The tuition is is a little bit cheaper because it's during the summer and it's in state tuition for the classes. However, the program itself is a little bit more costly because instead of just the classes that you're signing up for, your also signing up.

Or the programming right? Like the field trips to San Francisco, the field trips to Tahoe. I know that they do a lot of cultural trips and things like that now would I recommend it. I would say it again. It depends on you and how much support you feel like you need. If you feel like you want to get there while it's a little bit quieter, then it might be a good idea. But I would say that.

I I don't think any of the students that we have admitted would need this academic support because all the students that we've admitted are very strong, academically speaking. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense, so I wouldn't say, OK, you should take it because you need a head start. No one needs a head start, but if you feel like you need it because you want a quieter entrance into a large campus, then yeah, that's fine.

If my family moves with me to California, will I get in state tuition for the 2nd year? You know, that's a really tricky question. So the.

Residents question for tuition purposes is what I'm. I'm thinking this question is about that is determined by our residency officer and there is a website and maybe San can find the website for the residency information.

Typically, if you move to California as an American citizen.

You will not establish residency on your own if your whole family moved to California and they're able to prove to the residency officer that they live in California, regardless of whether you go to school here or not. This is their primary home. They own a home here. The Register to vote here that got bank accounts that got a car. You know, all of that kind of stuff. If they were able to show that they are truly a resident of California.

Then you may be able to get in state tuition, but it you know when families asked me should I move? I say no because that is a huge huge investment for not, you know, not a sure thing.

OK, let's see.

Um?

He one more question. OK on campus.

Looks like saying You've got that OK.

Well, I think that that's that's it, uh, we've gone over time. Thank you so much for playing a line now. I said I was going to talk for 15 minutes and then I am are known about what Aggies are, but I do appreciate you being here. If you haven't had a chance to join us on the group chat, I hope you do. We will be having another web and R and maybe a week or so. And please invite your families to join us. You know they can. Kind of.

Come hang out over your shoulder and watch how things are done. And uhm, let us know if we can answer any questions. Reach out anytime you've got my number and you've got the group chat. It was fantastic to be with you today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. OK bye.