University of California, Irvine

Location

Irvine has popularly been voted as one of the best places to live in the United States. A part of Orange County (OC, for those of you obsessed with the show), Irvine is known for its weather, its lifestyle, its exceptionally low crime rate, and just about anything else that could be good about a city. Just a 40 mile drive away from the insanity of Los Angeles, this is definitely the place to be.

Campus

Well, most campuses that are a few hundred years old are exceptionally good, so imagine how brilliant a newly made university would be. The beautiful 1489 acre campus has everything students could ask for; the state-of-the-art lecture halls, research centers and libraries are complemented sweetly by the fantastic recreation centers and athletic facilities. They have a couple of bars on campus itself, and some excellent coffee shops too; heck, there’s even a gaming zone.

Residing Options

In spite of so much activity on campus, and rather liberal rules, most grad students tend to live off-campus. It affords them way more luxury, space, and privacy, and since Irvine is so crime-free, safety isn’t an issue either. The closer you live to campus, the more expensive rents get, but transport isn’t too much of a problem even if you choose to stay a bit further away. Huntington Beach, Vista Del Campo, Stanford Court and Berkeley Court are some of the common areas students reside in, but there’s a plethora of options, really. Take a look around, see what you like, see what you can afford, more importantly, and you’re sorted.

Faculty

UCI takes immense pride in the fact that a number of their professors are Nobel Prize winners, and are pioneers in their respective fields. Learning here is an absolute joy, but sometimes academics may suffer a bit due to the lack of one-to-one attention. That too is gettable, but you have to take the initiative yourself and approach the professor; it isn’t preschool.