Looking for any information about UCSB’s CCS program -any current students or parents of students willing to share any insights?
it’s a small program so you might not get many if any replies. However CCS, from what I’ve been told, really cares about fit and they want to work with students to make sure it’s right for them. Why not contact CCS and ask if they could put you (or your child, I’m guessing) in contact with a current student or two in order to talk. And if you can visit UCSB then they can probably arrange for your kid to talk to a prof in their intended major.
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Definitely - great ideas, thank you!
Our daughter was considering CCS vs School of Engineering at UCSB a couple of years ago and a friend who worked at UCSB had this to say:
Both Eng and Creative Studies are nationally ranked programs, so individual fitness is primarily a matter of temperament. I liken Creative Studies to a university Montessori program for talented unconventional students with multiple interests. The program aims for intellectual diversity w/o compromising quality. Graduates include Angela Belcher and Nobel Laureate Carol Greider. By contrast, Eng is for ambitious conventional students. It is very applied, regimented and competitive… and promises a kind of vocational guarantee for industrial employment.
The advisors at CCS are very helpful and can put you in contact with current students. Our student ended up at a different university but was seriously considering CCS. Good luck with your decision.
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I was looking up something else and noticed that, in this UCSB video, they mentioned that CCS Marine Science was new this year. They also go into how Marine Science is different than Marine Biology.
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@Patty_Gish I’m going to put CCS info in this thread so I don’t make those in the regular thread jealous (just kidding) 
I’m looking for priority registration for CCS and can’t find it. I did, however, find this video from a couple of years ago. Have the two of you seen it?
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Thank you for both of these videos! I had not seen them yet. We had a great conversation with the CCS advisor - so much to love about the program, including priority registration (shhh). And confirmed this is year 1 for Marine Science. Not sure if D23 will go for it, but it’s definitely in contention!
Oh good! I’m glad you spoke to someone. And I’m glad to hear that they have priority registration. I had a feeling they would because they are trying to encourage the students to learn for the sake of learning, without restrictions.
One of my kids was very interested in the Marine Science program. When we visited, they let us know that it wasn’t likely to happen that year (2020). This was before the pandemic pushed everything back. My student wasn’t interested in any of the other CCS majors so applied to UCSB without CCS.
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Lkg4answers: Thank you so much for the video! I had not seen this before. We also hope to attend the Math CCS Open House on April 17th.
The son of a good friend of mine attended UCSB CCS from 2016-2020. He turned down Regents from both UC Berkeley and UCLA (“too much traffic”) and chose UCSB CCS instead. Some kind of math/engineering/CS major or a combo; I don’t remember exactly. He loved the experience mainly because he could take upper division classes right away (as I recall) and he loved UCSB. Stayed on campus the first two years and then moved to IV I think. Now he’s getting his PhD at Cal Tech. Hope this helps.
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Great! Glad to hear that you are going to visit. Would you please come back and share your impression of the program?
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Yes, will do!
Thank you, Olivia3boys, for that example of a student who really liked UCSB CCS. Very helpful and quite the endorsement! My son too is less enthused about UCLA for a rather minor reason – too much focus on sports! At any rate, thanks so much for the information.
My friend always hated the name “College of Creative Studies.” She’d “humble brag” (if any student deserved to be bragged about it was this kid) about her non-partying, super intelligent boy choosing UCSB CCS over Regents UCLA/Cal and confused people would say “Why would he do that? Isn’t that a party school? And is CCS some kind of hippie program for artists?” Partying and hippies/artists is just about the polar opposite of her super serious, math gifted young man.
So be prepared for those kinds of reactions from others 
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Good to know! Yes, I heard something very similar from the mom of a UCSB student who is very focused and is a true prodigy in computer science. Those who don’t get it ask the mom why he chose a “party school”!
I’m a faculty member in CCS and am happy to answer questions. I coordinate and can speak in detail about the Biology program. I can talk generally about the College and the other programs butr may not know the nitty gritty details of other majors.
It’s great to have you here! I’d love to know your opinion about what kind of students thrive in CCS/what CCS is looking for in their students?
Our HS senior also has an offer from Cal (Marine Science as well), and while we understand some of the differences between the 2, it’s a difficult choice for a variety of reasons.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts/time!
Welcome back!
Someone on the UCSB Class of 2027 thread asked if students can apply for CCS if they weren’t admitted as a freshman.
My wife and I were at Berkeley for 10 years (in Integrative Biology), and have now been at UCSB for 16 so I have a few thoughts…
CCS is generally good for students who are ready to dive right in (pun intended) to both academics and, more importantly in Biology and Marine Science, into research. Accelerating in this way can bring some tremendous advantages (with 3-4 years of research experience you’ll be operating at a grad student level by the time you are applying to grad school) but isn’t for everyone (if you take an UD class in your first year you may learn a lot but will generally not do as well as if you’d waited until your junior or senior year).
Berkeley is, obviously, Berkeley and that reputation is important but can come with some limitations - UCSB has way fewer grad students and postdocs than Berkeley. That means labs at UCSB are generally far more welcoming to undergrad researchers because they aren’t full.
Opportunities for Marine Science are very strong at UCSB with two marine LTER programs (Long Term Ecological Research) and strong marine research programs in EEMB and Earth Science in particular.
I found the atmosphere on the two campuses to be very different. I like the Berkeley campus but it is adjacent to large cities. That’s a definite plus if you are a city person. UCSB isn’t even in Santa Barbara and whilst Goleta has grown quite a lot it still doesn’t feel very city like to me. I’d encourage you to visit both campuses if you can, and just wander around and see which vibe feels most ‘you’. For a scientist I’m advocating a very non-scientific process!
I’ll be at both the virtual open house (Thursday?) and the in person open house (next weekend) so if you are attending I’d be happy to chat.
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This is extremely helpful! Thank you! She will be touring UCSB Monday and UCB on Wednesday - I’ll encourage her to log on to the virtual open house this week as well!