At Bobcat Day, Students Explore Opportunities, Picture Their Futures

A throng of people came to UC Merced on a crisp, blue-sky Saturday for Bobcat Day. More than 7,000 were registered to attend the April 18 event for admitted and prospective first-year and transfer students, along with their families.

The day was an opportunity for people to meet professors, advisors and service providers; talk to current students from clubs and organizations; tour the campus and its residence halls and labs; and see in person (many for the first time) one of the nation’s top 25 universities, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Here are some sights, moments and people from Bobcat Day 2026:

• In welcoming remarks, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said prospective UC Merced students sometimes tell him a University of California education seems too costly or that they aren’t the UC type. “I respectfully tell them we are here precisely for them,” he said. “The majority of our students graduate with no debt and, with generous financial aid, many have little or no costs at all. Second, you have been accepted. You earned this. You belong here.”

• Gia Sanni of Sacramento plans to major in biology and wants to become a pediatrician. She was inspired by the Medical Education Building, currently under construction and scheduled to open for the next academic year. “I really want to jump into research in my first couple of years,” Sanni said.

• In a talk called “The Journey of a Former Student,” Bobcat alumnus Giovanni Gonzalez Araujo recalled how, in his second year, his major wasn’t working out; he sought a quick switch to public health. An advisor slowed the student’s roll, sending him to the Career Center for an assessment. The result: Araujo switched to computer science and engineering. Today, he’s a UC Merced professor in that discipline. “That advisor changed the trajectory of my life,” he said.

• Leo Arriola, dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, told a full auditorium of future Bobcats and their parents that “the aim of SSHA is to build the skills needed to navigate the real world.” This can include combining disciplines; a public health major and Spanish minor, for instance, can prepare for a fulfilling career at a rural or urban clinic, Arriola said.

• On stage in another packed auditorium across campus, Professor Michael Findlater, interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences, said undergraduates have life-changing opportunities. “What sets us apart at UC Merced is not only the amazing research our faculty does but also” — Findlater swept a hand toward several young people in the front row — “the amazing research these people do, these undergraduates.”

• Another major-minor combo suggested by SSHA Dean Arriola: business administration and psychology. The result: a career as an analyst who studies how people make financial choices.

• James Khalar came to Bobcat Day with his mom, unsure if UC Merced was the right fit. Someone at a table caught his eye, asking for two minutes of his time. They told the Turlock High School student about the Yosemite Leadership Program. The timing was uncanny: Khalar aspires to be a park ranger. “That was amazing to me,” he said of the encounter. “Hearing about that program was a great selling point.”

• At the Experimental Smart Farm table, students handed out 2-inch sprouts of pepper plants. The Merced Pre-Law Society table featured a wooden gavel begging to be rapped. At the Vietnamese Student Association table, dragon heads in vivid red, yellow and blue sat on the sidewalk, waiting for their performance.

• The Associated Students of UC Merced ran the Catcave, where attendees could sit down, pick up a controller and play a few minutes of Fortnite or Mario Kart.

• Two future Bobcats who plan to major in political science explained what drew them to UC Merced. Yanexy Franco of Orange in Southern California said he received “generous” financial aid and that studying in the Central Valley “will open up new horizons for me to explore.” Maddie Hewes said UC Merced’s campus and class sizes will make for an easier transition for a teenager from Hilmar, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Merced.

• All manner of bones covered the table of the Paleontology & Life Organization, but the eye-grabber was the fearsome skull of a smilodon, better known as a saber-toothed cat. “It’s kind of our club mascot,” student Quinn Cartwright said.

• UC Merced is 20 miles from Livingston — a big plus, Marilyn Guzman said. “I didn’t want to be too far from my parents.” She said the financial aid offered was generous; for example, her housing is paid for. And then there’s her major. She chose aerospace engineering because she is fascinated by rocket science. “I want to see where it takes me.”