beautiful location, mostly amazing academics, and vibrant life. dorm rooms are small but that's to be expected. isla vista isn't as scary as everyone says it is!
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
apologies but the capitalization disappeared for my review, and won't come back even if i edit it back in. so you'll have to deal with improper punctuation for a bit. also, the paragraphs aren't displaying properly, so prepare for some word walls.
bring half the stuff you think you need to bring to your dorm room. you'll buy new things throughout the year, and packing will be much simpler.
join clubs you're interested in. there are so many organizations on campus that cater to a wide variety of interests, and in the event that you don't find one that fits you, you can always create your own. i joined club tennis and the esports club -- it's a great way to make a lot of friends!
during the first week, go to everything you're invited to (so long as it's safe to do so, don't talk to strangers with white vans who offer you candy...).
don't take classes at 8 a.m. just don't. high school may have started at 8 in the morning, but you have the option to make your classes not start that early! so why not take it? also, you'll be far less tempted to skip class.
live in the dorms for your first year, then look into housing in isla vista. you need the "dorm experience" and the meal plan is really convenient. (side note: 10 or 14 meals a week is all you should need. the 17 and unlimited are a bit excessive, and more expensive!). isla vista is much cheaper to live in, and you're still close to campus.
bring a bike and a good u-lock. not a fancy bike, or a cruiser either. something reliable and practical. if it's flashy and new, it is more likely to get stolen. it's about a 20 minute walk across campus, but a 5 minute bike. there are plenty of bike paths and bike racks all over campus!
if you decide to party, make sure that your academics aren't suffering. having fun is great, but academic probation is not.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
general education classes are usually fairly easy if you put the work in. major-related classes are, of course, tougher. the shift from high school to college is something that a lot of freshman are warned about but still don't take seriously. a few of my friends are currently on academic probation and may not be able to return for their sophomore year at ucsb. it can happen to you, especially if you don't take the classes seriously.
the quarter system itself is brutal. just fair warning. that's three rounds of finals in one year, and not to mention the constant barrage of midterms. most classes have at least two midterms, if not more. there are classes with four midterms, and a final. which means a test every two weeks of the class. so if you slip up even once during such classes, your grade will suffer.
that being said, all the professors and tas are extremely helpful. i've never encountered a professor or ta who refused to help people, either by answering questions after lecture or during office hours. it may be intimidating to approach either one of them, but if you're struggling, that's the best way to understand the material. there are also tons of campus and departmental resources for help with academics.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
okay, so as of 2016, all freshmen will be placed in triples. there is a university housing shortage, obviously. rooms were constructed to be doubles (there's only two closets) but they're big enough to fit three people in them. it's tight, but doable.
but honestly, that isn't that big of a deal. you use your room for storing all your stuff and sleeping. there are plenty of spaces on campus to study or eat. if you go to all your classes and participate in a club or two, then you really won't have much time to spend lounging in your room.
i recommend that you get your roommates' contact information as soon as possible, and set up a group message and discuss who gets which bunk and desk, who's bringing what (minifridges are great but you only need one), and general rules for the room (overnight guests?).
the dorms themselves are all fairly similar. santa cruz, santa rosa, and anacapa (the chi-5) are all on-campus. near the beach. each wing is single gender, and shares one public bathroom. (those are cleaned daily. rooms are also vacuumed once every two weeks). some rooms face the ocean, some don't. those that do often smell like the ocean/tar, so the view may or may not be worth it. each building has a kitchenette with basic appliances. you can rent stuff like pans from the front desk.
manzanita is also on campus but is located on the other side. it consists of multiple buildings rather than one huge connected structure. the bathrooms are separate rooms that shared by two dorm rooms. they don't connect so it's not like a jack-and-jill situation like in santa catalina. only some of the buildings have kitchenettes though.
santa catalina is the off-campus dorms. formerly called francisco torres (ft), they are now known officially as santa catalina. except people still call san cat ft anyway. these dorms are two towers. two rooms each connect via a bathroom, so the entire floor doesn't share one bathroom like the chi-5. some people love these dorms b...
Describe the food and dining at your college.
if you're a freshman, you're going to have a meal plan. dining commons are all-you-can-eat, so that's great.
the de la guerra and the ortega dining commons are right next to each other for some reason. both are close to the chi-5 dorms. dlg is much better, generally speaking. it's bigger and has slightly more selection, and has great cookies. ortega is open for breakfast, lunch,and dinner, while dlg is open for lunch, dinner, and late-night (9-12 all weekdays except friday).
carillo is located next to manzanita and is regarded as the best on campus. they're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. they have a frozen yogurt machine with rotating flavors, and food selection is comparable to dlg's.
portola is the dining commons for santa catalina, since they're off-campus. portola's food isn't the best. that wouldn't be a problem except that if you live in san cat, you're going to be eating a lot of it.
there's an online menu at https://appl.housing.ucsb.edu/menu
and of course, there's isla vista. iv has tons of restaurants. there's the habit, freebirds, hana kitchen, naan stop, spudnuts, woodstock's, buddha bowls, and rosario's. try all of them at least once!
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
go to the beach. surf. build a sand castle. procrastinate on that paper that's due in a couple days or that reading assigned during section.
go hiking with friends! rattlesnake canyon (no rattlesnakes involved, promise) is a great trail.
there are frequent free concerts in front of the ucen, and usually some sort of free food is involved. on that note, anisqoyo park in isla vista has events as well. shakespeare in the park is really fun!
also, ucsb has some great sports teams. go support your fellow gauchos!
the ra for your dorm will plan regular activities like painting baby pumpkins for halloween, coloring posters for the dorm, or a hawaiian themed luau.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
pretty good. ucsb is almost 35k a year without financial aid of any kind, and provides a solid education combined with diverse extracurriculars. however, if you wanted to be smart about money and knew what your educational goals were, completing general education at a community college and then transferring would be a viable option.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
there's a toilet you can use with an ocean view -- try and find it!
there are undie runs every finals week to relieve stress and anxiety, or something like that.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
everyone, especially those who are looking for a good education and are willing to put in the effort to get it. people here know how to party but also how to buckle down and crank out some good grades.
the campus is fairly accepting of all viewpoints and backgrounds.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
there are too many clubs on campus to count!
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
ucsb is like any other college. but the partying is concentrated in iv rather than dispersed, so it just seems like ucsb just rages all the time. iv has also calmed down in recent years due to issues deltopia caused, and the shooting. during times of the year that are known to be more active party times, there are increased restrictions (no out-of-towners/oots, dui checkpoints for campus), and harsher fines than usual for noise and unruliness.
if you ever feel unsafe walking or biking somewhere at night or the early morning (library to your dorm, for example), you can always call a cso to walk or bike with you. it's totally free, and is basically the buddy system.
beautiful location, mostly amazing academics, and vibrant life. dorm rooms are small but that's to be expected. isla vista isn't as scary as everyone says it is!
apologies but the capitalization disappeared for my review, and won't come back even if i edit it back in. so you'll have to deal with improper punctuation for a bit. also, the paragraphs aren't displaying properly, so prepare for some word walls. bring half the stuff you think you need to bring to your dorm room. you'll buy new things throughout the year, and packing will be much simpler. join clubs you're interested in. there are so many organizations on campus that cater to a wide variety of interests, and in the event that you don't find one that fits you, you can always create your own. i joined club tennis and the esports club -- it's a great way to make a lot of friends! during the first week, go to everything you're invited to (so long as it's safe to do so, don't talk to strangers with white vans who offer you candy...). don't take classes at 8 a.m. just don't. high school may have started at 8 in the morning, but you have the option to make your classes not start that early! so why not take it? also, you'll be far less tempted to skip class. live in the dorms for your first year, then look into housing in isla vista. you need the "dorm experience" and the meal plan is really convenient. (side note: 10 or 14 meals a week is all you should need. the 17 and unlimited are a bit excessive, and more expensive!). isla vista is much cheaper to live in, and you're still close to campus. bring a bike and a good u-lock. not a fancy bike, or a cruiser either. something reliable and practical. if it's flashy and new, it is more likely to get stolen. it's about a 20 minute walk across campus, but a 5 minute bike. there are plenty of bike paths and bike racks all over campus! if you decide to party, make sure that your academics aren't suffering. having fun is great, but academic probation is not.
general education classes are usually fairly easy if you put the work in. major-related classes are, of course, tougher. the shift from high school to college is something that a lot of freshman are warned about but still don't take seriously. a few of my friends are currently on academic probation and may not be able to return for their sophomore year at ucsb. it can happen to you, especially if you don't take the classes seriously. the quarter system itself is brutal. just fair warning. that's three rounds of finals in one year, and not to mention the constant barrage of midterms. most classes have at least two midterms, if not more. there are classes with four midterms, and a final. which means a test every two weeks of the class. so if you slip up even once during such classes, your grade will suffer. that being said, all the professors and tas are extremely helpful. i've never encountered a professor or ta who refused to help people, either by answering questions after lecture or during office hours. it may be intimidating to approach either one of them, but if you're struggling, that's the best way to understand the material. there are also tons of campus and departmental resources for help with academics.
okay, so as of 2016, all freshmen will be placed in triples. there is a university housing shortage, obviously. rooms were constructed to be doubles (there's only two closets) but they're big enough to fit three people in them. it's tight, but doable. but honestly, that isn't that big of a deal. you use your room for storing all your stuff and sleeping. there are plenty of spaces on campus to study or eat. if you go to all your classes and participate in a club or two, then you really won't have much time to spend lounging in your room. i recommend that you get your roommates' contact information as soon as possible, and set up a group message and discuss who gets which bunk and desk, who's bringing what (minifridges are great but you only need one), and general rules for the room (overnight guests?). the dorms themselves are all fairly similar. santa cruz, santa rosa, and anacapa (the chi-5) are all on-campus. near the beach. each wing is single gender, and shares one public bathroom. (those are cleaned daily. rooms are also vacuumed once every two weeks). some rooms face the ocean, some don't. those that do often smell like the ocean/tar, so the view may or may not be worth it. each building has a kitchenette with basic appliances. you can rent stuff like pans from the front desk. manzanita is also on campus but is located on the other side. it consists of multiple buildings rather than one huge connected structure. the bathrooms are separate rooms that shared by two dorm rooms. they don't connect so it's not like a jack-and-jill situation like in santa catalina. only some of the buildings have kitchenettes though. santa catalina is the off-campus dorms. formerly called francisco torres (ft), they are now known officially as santa catalina. except people still call san cat ft anyway. these dorms are two towers. two rooms each connect via a bathroom, so the entire floor doesn't share one bathroom like the chi-5. some people love these dorms b...
if you're a freshman, you're going to have a meal plan. dining commons are all-you-can-eat, so that's great. the de la guerra and the ortega dining commons are right next to each other for some reason. both are close to the chi-5 dorms. dlg is much better, generally speaking. it's bigger and has slightly more selection, and has great cookies. ortega is open for breakfast, lunch,and dinner, while dlg is open for lunch, dinner, and late-night (9-12 all weekdays except friday). carillo is located next to manzanita and is regarded as the best on campus. they're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. they have a frozen yogurt machine with rotating flavors, and food selection is comparable to dlg's. portola is the dining commons for santa catalina, since they're off-campus. portola's food isn't the best. that wouldn't be a problem except that if you live in san cat, you're going to be eating a lot of it. there's an online menu at https://appl.housing.ucsb.edu/menu and of course, there's isla vista. iv has tons of restaurants. there's the habit, freebirds, hana kitchen, naan stop, spudnuts, woodstock's, buddha bowls, and rosario's. try all of them at least once!
go to the beach. surf. build a sand castle. procrastinate on that paper that's due in a couple days or that reading assigned during section. go hiking with friends! rattlesnake canyon (no rattlesnakes involved, promise) is a great trail. there are frequent free concerts in front of the ucen, and usually some sort of free food is involved. on that note, anisqoyo park in isla vista has events as well. shakespeare in the park is really fun! also, ucsb has some great sports teams. go support your fellow gauchos! the ra for your dorm will plan regular activities like painting baby pumpkins for halloween, coloring posters for the dorm, or a hawaiian themed luau.
pretty good. ucsb is almost 35k a year without financial aid of any kind, and provides a solid education combined with diverse extracurriculars. however, if you wanted to be smart about money and knew what your educational goals were, completing general education at a community college and then transferring would be a viable option.
there's a toilet you can use with an ocean view -- try and find it! there are undie runs every finals week to relieve stress and anxiety, or something like that.
everyone, especially those who are looking for a good education and are willing to put in the effort to get it. people here know how to party but also how to buckle down and crank out some good grades. the campus is fairly accepting of all viewpoints and backgrounds.
there are too many clubs on campus to count!
ucsb is like any other college. but the partying is concentrated in iv rather than dispersed, so it just seems like ucsb just rages all the time. iv has also calmed down in recent years due to issues deltopia caused, and the shooting. during times of the year that are known to be more active party times, there are increased restrictions (no out-of-towners/oots, dui checkpoints for campus), and harsher fines than usual for noise and unruliness. if you ever feel unsafe walking or biking somewhere at night or the early morning (library to your dorm, for example), you can always call a cso to walk or bike with you. it's totally free, and is basically the buddy system.