Tell me about UC-Santa Barbara

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCSC is not a good UC school. Cal and UCLA are. Davis and Irvine are ok, too.

Only on DCUM would a university that ranks around 75th nationally be considered as a poor school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DD is intent on applying to a UC school. We'll check out UCSD.

Did you already say you didn't think she could get into Cal or UCLA? If you think she has a shot, those would be my first choices. I went to Cal and LOVED every second of it - gorgeous area of the world, great place to explore and seek new cultural/food/music experiences, wonderful education with fabulous professors and top notch peers, good mix of hippie/Greek scene/good athletics, etc. Overall, I thought Berkeley offered a really good, well-rounded college experience and I would send my kids there in a heartbeat. (Sidenote - I am from Santa Cruz, so I was totally okay with and prepared for the "weird" Berkeley scene, but I was in a sorority and had a really traditional major... the school really does offer something for everyone.)

UCLA is also fantastic. That was my second choice, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of living in LA.

I would say UCSD (incredible campus!!!) or Davis would be the best choices after that.

Santa Cruz is an *interesting* place. Although I completely disagree with other posters that it's a "bad" school (really? Because they have pretty amazing science and engineering departments...), it is a different world from the East Coast (especially the DC area). The campus is AMAZING (might be the most naturally beautiful college campus I have ever seen), but the students are weird, the town is weird, and the culture of the school is VERY laid back. (This is all coming from someone who grew up there and loves it, but gets that it is not for everyone.)

I already gave my opinion on Santa Barbara, but to summarize - I wouldn't send my kid there. I know that you can get an excellent education at SB and it's a very cool little town, but the party scene is seriously out of control. Even if you have a good, studious kid who doesn't drink (ha!), it's easy to get sucked into that scene.

Riverside, Merced, and Irvine are all non-starters. You would be better off with JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DD is intent on applying to a UC school. We'll check out UCSD.

Did you already say you didn't think she could get into Cal or UCLA? If you think she has a shot, those would be my first choices. I went to Cal and LOVED every second of it - gorgeous area of the world, great place to explore and seek new cultural/food/music experiences, wonderful education with fabulous professors and top notch peers, good mix of hippie/Greek scene/good athletics, etc. Overall, I thought Berkeley offered a really good, well-rounded college experience and I would send my kids there in a heartbeat. (Sidenote - I am from Santa Cruz, so I was totally okay with and prepared for the "weird" Berkeley scene, but I was in a sorority and had a really traditional major... the school really does offer something for everyone.)

UCLA is also fantastic. That was my second choice, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of living in LA.

I would say UCSD (incredible campus!!!) or Davis would be the best choices after that.

Santa Cruz is an *interesting* place. Although I completely disagree with other posters that it's a "bad" school (really? Because they have pretty amazing science and engineering departments...), it is a different world from the East Coast (especially the DC area). The campus is AMAZING (might be the most naturally beautiful college campus I have ever seen), but the students are weird, the town is weird, and the culture of the school is VERY laid back. (This is all coming from someone who grew up there and loves it, but gets that it is not for everyone.)

I already gave my opinion on Santa Barbara, but to summarize - I wouldn't send my kid there. I know that you can get an excellent education at SB and it's a very cool little town, but the party scene is seriously out of control. Even if you have a good, studious kid who doesn't drink (ha!), it's easy to get sucked into that scene.

Riverside, Merced, and Irvine are all non-starters. You would be better off with JMU.

On a side non-college note: I love your assessment of Santa Cruz--I grew up there as well. Living in DC feels like a different country...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DD is intent on applying to a UC school. We'll check out UCSD.

Did you already say you didn't think she could get into Cal or UCLA? If you think she has a shot, those would be my first choices. I went to Cal and LOVED every second of it - gorgeous area of the world, great place to explore and seek new cultural/food/music experiences, wonderful education with fabulous professors and top notch peers, good mix of hippie/Greek scene/good athletics, etc. Overall, I thought Berkeley offered a really good, well-rounded college experience and I would send my kids there in a heartbeat. (Sidenote - I am from Santa Cruz, so I was totally okay with and prepared for the "weird" Berkeley scene, but I was in a sorority and had a really traditional major... the school really does offer something for everyone.)

UCLA is also fantastic. That was my second choice, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of living in LA.

I would say UCSD (incredible campus!!!) or Davis would be the best choices after that.

Santa Cruz is an *interesting* place. Although I completely disagree with other posters that it's a "bad" school (really? Because they have pretty amazing science and engineering departments...), it is a different world from the East Coast (especially the DC area). The campus is AMAZING (might be the most naturally beautiful college campus I have ever seen), but the students are weird, the town is weird, and the culture of the school is VERY laid back. (This is all coming from someone who grew up there and loves it, but gets that it is not for everyone.)

I already gave my opinion on Santa Barbara, but to summarize - I wouldn't send my kid there. I know that you can get an excellent education at SB and it's a very cool little town, but the party scene is seriously out of control. Even if you have a good, studious kid who doesn't drink (ha!), it's easy to get sucked into that scene.

Riverside, Merced, and Irvine are all non-starters. You would be better off with JMU.

On a side non-college note: I love your assessment of Santa Cruz--I grew up there as well. Living in DC feels like a different country...

Just wondering why Irvine would be a non starter; I've always seen it fairly well ranked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DD is intent on applying to a UC school. We'll check out UCSD.

Did you already say you didn't think she could get into Cal or UCLA? If you think she has a shot, those would be my first choices. I went to Cal and LOVED every second of it - gorgeous area of the world, great place to explore and seek new cultural/food/music experiences, wonderful education with fabulous professors and top notch peers, good mix of hippie/Greek scene/good athletics, etc. Overall, I thought Berkeley offered a really good, well-rounded college experience and I would send my kids there in a heartbeat. (Sidenote - I am from Santa Cruz, so I was totally okay with and prepared for the "weird" Berkeley scene, but I was in a sorority and had a really traditional major... the school really does offer something for everyone.)

UCLA is also fantastic. That was my second choice, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of living in LA.

I would say UCSD (incredible campus!!!) or Davis would be the best choices after that.

Santa Cruz is an *interesting* place. Although I completely disagree with other posters that it's a "bad" school (really? Because they have pretty amazing science and engineering departments...), it is a different world from the East Coast (especially the DC area). The campus is AMAZING (might be the most naturally beautiful college campus I have ever seen), but the students are weird, the town is weird, and the culture of the school is VERY laid back. (This is all coming from someone who grew up there and loves it, but gets that it is not for everyone.)

I already gave my opinion on Santa Barbara, but to summarize - I wouldn't send my kid there. I know that you can get an excellent education at SB and it's a very cool little town, but the party scene is seriously out of control. Even if you have a good, studious kid who doesn't drink (ha!), it's easy to get sucked into that scene.

Riverside, Merced, and Irvine are all non-starters. You would be better off with JMU.

On a side non-college note: I love your assessment of Santa Cruz--I grew up there as well. Living in DC feels like a different country...

Just wondering why Irvine would be a non starter; I've always seen it fairly well ranked

Perhaps it's reputation has gotten better in the last few years, but it always felt like a very homogeneous commuter school to me.

[Anonymous]

A PP uc grad here and I agree about irvine. I will absolutely encourage my kids to attend uc but would hope they'd get into Berkeley,LA, San Diego or Davis. On a side note my sister who graduated from a Davis 4 years ago had a 4.0 and couldn't get into Berkeley or LA. She got into Davis and San Diego. She chose Davis because of the programs they offered and because Davis is more of a research school (a lot of food science, environmental and engineering research comes out of its grad programs). Her and her friends who all ended up going to either Berkeley or Davis only considered these four ucs.

[Anonymous]

http://cwur.org/top100.html

Latest worldwide ranking of schools:

Cal
Ucla
UCSD
Davis

[Anonymous]

http://cwur.org/top100.html

Latest worldwide ranking of schools:

Cal
Ucla
UCSD
Davis

UCSD grad here who was just about to say that I was pretty sure UCSD was now #3. It has moved up since I went there. San Diego is by far the best of SoCal - nice, down to earth people, great little neighborhoods, great food. Love it! Loved UCSD too. Got a great education on the cheap (this was back before all of CA's budget woes. Would highly recommend UCSD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

http://cwur.org/top100.html

Latest worldwide ranking of schools:

Cal
Ucla
UCSD
Davis

UCSD grad here who was just about to say that I was pretty sure UCSD was now #3. It has moved up since I went there. San Diego is by far the best of SoCal - nice, down to earth people, great little neighborhoods, great food. Love it! Loved UCSD too. Got a great education on the cheap (this was back before all of CA's budget woes. Would highly recommend UCSD.

Fellow UCSD alum here. Totally agree! What year and which school?

-'96 Warren

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCSC is not a good UC school. Cal and UCLA are. Davis and Irvine are ok, too.

Davis #38, Santa Barbara #41, Irvine #41 - hard to separate those

[Anonymous]

Could you afford to live in Santa Barbara? I'm not sending a kid to college anywhere that I couldn't afford to live myself. Out-of-state tuition at the UC's may not be too high (at least we didn't) but do lots of research re: housing. It's an expensive lifestyle to support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you are in Santa Cruz it is hard to tell the homeless from the students.

The cafeterias were so slow because the food was served with love.

[Anonymous]

I have a family member who went to UCSB and I asked him about it. He thought it was a really great school. He said that there was a lot of partying in Santa Barbara, but a good portion of it was students at Santa Barbara City College.

[Anonymous]

If you are from the DMV, and your DC is looking at this school, what other schools is he/she looking at?

[Anonymous]

Apply to them all - you just have to check additional boxes and decide among that admit you