Samuel Zajde

Dr. Weaver

English Composition II

27 March 2022

Summary

             The website of UC San Diego is a bold and illustrative attempt to attract students from a high variance of backgrounds that have a drive to change their communities and become “global leaders” (https://ucsd.edu/about/index.html). Through intense language and daring expectations, the school presents itself as a place for high achievers and steep competition. The rhetorical strategies used by the website designers include the assumptions they make about the visitors of the website and the ideal readers, or the ideal students, that the university is actively persuading to attend their school.

Analysis

            Currently, a first-time visitor of the UC San Diego website would be met with the smiling faces of women celebrating “Herstory” Month. There is little to no clutter on the initial home page with wide margins surrounding a brief paragraph relaying the school’s commemoration. There is no confusion as to where to look. Everything to be read is stacked in singular sections and utilizes the visitor’s entire monitor with one message and one-color scheme. After the Women’s History message, newly accepted students are welcomed and asked to “Visit your Applicant Portal to discover more about what makes UC San Diego unique” (UCSD Website- Home page). Very quickly the audience has already been shown a club they are not a part of. An applicant portal is only useful for those applying or have been accepted to the school. The school could have instead further advertised itself with the runner up spot of the home page, but it opted not to because of what they assume about their audience. Perhaps the first time a high schooler visits this site they won’t know when the school was formed or how good or bad their medical program is, but they will know that UCSD is highly competitive school. Assuming this, UCSD web developers further press the nerve of competition. Their ideal readers are the over-achievers, those that seek out to go to the best school they possibly can. Welcoming newly accepted and waving the applicant portal on the top of the front page heavily caters towards the competitive college-searchers that want to cut straight to business.

           Along with high achieving academic statistics, diversity and inclusion is a core value frequently discussed on the website. There is an entire page dedicated to diversity which encourages students to “engage in self-reflection and dialogue” and “become a social justice leader” (https://ucsd.edu/student-life/diversity/index.html) . The reasoning behind why UCSD chooses to prioritize diversity may be multifactored. On one hand, the school is exceptionally diverse with white students comprising only 19.3% of the entire school following Asian (33.1%) and Hispanic (21.9%) students, which could mean the school would be inclined to encourage acceptance and inclusivity to help its student body. Diversity has also historically been a prized achievement that colleges and universities have strived to obtain and showcase, an achievement so widely sought for it even caught the attention of the Supreme Court. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the website makes it clear that UCSD is a place where diversity is welcomed and happily spoken about, which points to their ideal readers who are willing to work with people who come from different backgrounds. The extent of the school’s diversity incentivizes the website creators to actively seek out these students.

          In accordance with it’s diversity, 17.5% of UCSD’s student body are international students (https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-california-san-diego/student-life/diversity/). This presents itself in the language of certain parts of the website. For instance, a section of the “about” page affirmed that the school would “prepare the next generation of global leaders” ( https://ucsd.edu/about/index.html) and that “UC San Diego first-year and transfer students come from all over California and throughout the word” (https://ucsd.edu/admissions-aid/index.html) — the latter quote coming from their admissions page. This builds on the websites goal of reaching out to specific audiences.

          Beyond academics and the overall structure of the school, there is an underlying assumption within the website over a preference in climate. San Diego is of course located in Southern California, which is a place not so well known for its ski slopes. The website ensures to show very appetizing photos of a warm beach under a low sunset along with pictures of wide, private shores convincingly capable of taking away all of a person’s worries. The website developers clearly assume that this sort of climate is preferable to those applying to the school, especially considering that many applicants would be from California or at least be aware of what the weather would be like there before applying.

Response

          Would I go to this school? Yes, absolutely. If it weren’t for logistical complications, I would very much like to attend that school. For me, however, there would be a big struggle with the heated competition of the school. It is extremely difficult to get in, but assuming that I would for the sake of this question, I would likely feel a lot of unwanted pressure from my peers and professors, whether it be intentional or not. I am the type of person where competition can really hurt my focus. In fact, I would always struggle to finish assignments in high school that were graded on time. In math if I had to beat my pears by finishing an assignment before them, I would be unable to concentrate. The only way I can be successful is if I can completely focus on myself and my work and not have to worry about what other people are doing. Looking over my shoulder to see what my competitors are doing is something I avoid like the plague.

         With that being said, I think I am capable enough to attend this level of a school. I would especially be interested in their global policy and strategy school, as foreign affairs and geopolitics is something that I love to learn about. As seen on their website, this school has so much funding and is so well known across the country that it is a considerable force of opportunity for any student.

Works Cited:

“University of California – San Diego Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats.” University of California – San Diego Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats – College Factual, College Factual, https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-california-san-diego/student-life/diversity/.

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-california-san-diego/student-life/diversity/

“UC San Diego Celebrates Women’s ‘Herstory’ Month.” University of California San Diego, https://ucsd.edu/index.html.

https://ucsd.edu/about/index.html