As UC Merced approaches their 15th Anniversary, they are on the move with growing and building. They will be doubling the size of their campus by 2020, and expanding their student population to about 10,000—– still a nice mid-sized university. That translates to lots of opportunities for undergrads!
Research projects are RAMPANT for undergrads to get involved with, and this is a great school for hard science majors. 60% of all undergrads are working on research projects! Right now there’s a hippo project in progress, and some stem cell research happening too.
Besides the hard sciences there are plenty of other departments across campus, and majors include English, History, Engineering, Political Science, Spanish Business and many social sciences. Three different summer sessions on campus give students ample opportunity to “get ahead” to simply focus on one subject at a time. As a matter of fact, with 3 summer sessions, it’s possible to complete an entire semester of classes in one summer at UC Merced.
The new construction has yielded some very attractive & modern cutting-edge buildings & sculpture, and there’s a massive pond right outside the dorms, so students have a lovely view when they wake up in the morning! That body of water really makes the campus environment feel peaceful.
There are over 220 clubs and a few pretty active social and academic fraternities and sororities. Merced has a direct partnership with Yosemite National Park (about 2 hours away), so students have the opportunity to become a part of the Yosemite Leadership Program for training in a career with the Park Service. Throughout the year, there are busses available to take students to Yosemite for $20, which covers the entrance fee and lunch—not a bad field trip!
UC Merced is focused on the environment and the campus is definitely very eco-friendly with most buildings being Gold & Platinum LEED Certified. The new beautiful Pavilion Dining Center has compostable utensils and eclectic menus and choices. It’s a gorgeous dining hall in a brand new building and the food is excellent!
Many large corporations come to UC Merced for internship fairs and recruitment purposes so although Merced is the youngest UC campus, it’s a college gem worth talking about! They are rife with opportunity so if you are a mover and a shaker or you want to become one, get over to UC Merced and take advantage of every advantage you can grab!!!
