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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]UCSB CCS Physics is extremely good. It is a small and selective program, known as “grad school for undergrads.”  The program fosters close relationships with professors, all at the top of their field. I believe there are 4 Nobel laureates currently teaching in the Physics department. CCS students can customize their courses more than an L&S student, so there is more freedom in that regard. Lots of research opportunities as well. Grad schools highly respect the CCS program and students place well into top grad schools. In academia, UCSB is quite well known for Physics, Materials Science, and ChemE. I think the nation’s first quantum foundry is actually at UCSB. So lots of academics worldwide come to visit (oddly, I met a tourist in Japan who studied Materials Science at ETH Zurich who did postdoc research at UCSB; ETH is like the MIT of Europe I learned).

An L&S degree is just as good, but CCS offers more depth and breadth. It is also a more intimate learning experience with small class sizes. It is easy for CCS students to find research opportunities but non-CCS students can conduct research too. UCSB is unique in that it has a low graduate student population (e.g. no business school, no medical school). So there is more space available for undergrads to research than at other UC’s. SB is much more undergraduate focused than other UC’s. One downside with L&S is that intro classes are very large. Students may not learn as well. This will be at any UC. That is why I love CCS as students take major-related CCS classes and have that intimate learning experience, and also experience that large public school feeling when taking gen-ed classes. It’s the best of both worlds.

If a student can’t get into CCS freshman year, they can always reapply. And if that doesn’t work out, L&S physics is still great. Physics is a strong major as students will learn problem solving, theory, as well as more applicable topics like coding. The only UC that rivals UCSB Physics is probably UC Berkeley. With all of the advantages of UCSB CCS though, I’d probably say UCSB CCS > Berkeley > UCSB.

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Agree with this. UCSB CCS provides an excellent foundation in physics and UCSB has many terrific qualities (The Pacific Ocean on three sides of campus / top notch student health services/ strong recreational athletic programs/ and much more.)

The UCSB undergraduate students in the elite CCS program have individual advisors in their field. The ambitious but quirky little center makes the huge UCSB student body feel much smaller. The students can do post grad courses by junior year, have access to many exciting research projects and have early access to class sign up.

CCS In Focus
Undergraduate Students: 385
Majors: 9
Total Faculty: 53
Student-to-faculty ratio: 8:1

Is it perfect ? Of course not. No where is. Alta Vista does have a hard partying culture and student accommodation can be tight. The commute to and fro LA can be a long drag. Nearby areas have suffered from both terrible wild fires and mud slides so there is extreme weather to deal with.

But our DC had a great undergraduate experience and is excelling in physics now.

Parent of UCSB CCS physics graduate. [/quote]

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