Conclusion

With so many things to consider, Pacific is still a great choice to study natural science in your undergrad years. There is a great sense of community that can be felt by all students, reguardless of major. The courses are challenging and the staff is very knowlegable and experienced in their fields. The eventual small classes in major specific courses, leads to more individual attention and better networking oppurtunies than some larger natural science focused programs in the state can offer. Being more centrally located in the state allows for movement into more focused graduate school programs without uprooting your entire life and community ties.

It is true that smaller class enrollment sizes seem to be inevidable across multiple majors that require advanced level of study into their fields. Not just natural science.The appeal to work right out of school is another driving force when chosing where to apply to aquire your degree. Think about what you want your college experience to be as a whole by weighing all the pros and cons in what areas are most important to you.

Sources

“2024 Best California Colleges with Natural Sciences Degrees.” Niche. Accessed October 23, 2023. https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-with-natural-sciences/s/california/?map=true 

College of the Pacific, "One Hundred and Third Commencement Program, College of the Pacific" (1960). Commencement Programs.157.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/commencements/157

“Fast Facts.” University of the Pacific. Accessed November 19, 2023. https://www.pacific.edu/about-pacific/fast-facts.

Institute of Western Research, "The Story of the College of the Pacific" (1931). University of the Pacific Individual Histories. 16.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/ua-histories/16

Pacific Alumni Association, "Pacific Review April 1972" (1972). Pacific Magazine and Pacific Review. 227.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacific-review/227

Pacific Alumni Association, "Pacific Review Spring 1992" (1992). Pacific Magazine and Pacific Review. 358.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacific-review/358

Payne, Christina. “Stem Careers: Bestcolleges.” BestColleges.com, November 1, 2023. https://www.bestcolleges.com/careers/stem/.

University of the Pacific, "Bulletin University of the Pacific 1971 Summer Sessions" (1971). Catalogue, Bulletin, Catalog. 57.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/catalogs/57

Vargas,Yasmeen (current UOP student) in discussion with the author, Oct 19, 2023

Wayback Machine, Accessed October 23, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/19970815000000*/uop.edu.