A difficult situation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
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<p>Hi, I'm having a bit of a delema that, given the high caliber of students who generally post on this forum, might be common for some of you. I'm from CT but when visiting my grandpa in CA last april, I decided to take a look at some of the schools I was interested in, one of which was UCSC. When visiting campus I looked at a several different factors. Academically, it's really not what I'm looking for. I'm really interested in political science, business and acting (eclectic, I know) and it's my impression that UCSC does not have very good departments in these areas. Normally, this would be prohibitive and would not consider the school on of my top choices. However, i just couldn't dismiss the school. It is beatiful, the people seem warm, fun, chill, and friendly and I love how the school is broken into different colleges while remaining fairly large in size as a whole. I have applied to a lot of schools and on the west coast, I'm into Clairemont McKenna, Pomona, and USC. They, academically, are certainly more what I'm looking for, but I can't help but stay enamoured with the university on the hills of santa cruz. Do you think it would be possible for me to get the education I'm looking for at the school if I really seek it out? Are any of you in the same situation I am? If anyone could give me your two cents, I'd really love if I could work this dillema out for myself. </p>

<p>P.S. If any of the current students went to Tent U last year, that was pretty cool.</p>

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<p>UCSC is a beautiful campus, and a nice little town, but academically you would be far better off at any of the three schools you have been accepted at for the same or less $$ considering you are OOS. USC and Claremont-McKenna have everything you are looking for as far as your academic interests. I don't know much about Pomona. I would really consider your other options though.</p>

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<p>You really have to do the research yourself, but as a student at UCSC I'd suggest you take a look more seriously here. I'm a theatre student so I can talk your ears off about acting opportunities here. Business majors are also very common. There are opportunities.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your replies. Kewkiekid, are there any specfic areas I should go to our any offices, departments, or indeviduals I should speak to in order to get a better impression for myself. I wont be able to be on campus for very long, so I really want to maximize how I use my time.</p>

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<p>Happy,</p>

<p>I took my daughter on college tours of all three of your California choices in the summer of 2002.</p>

<p>My son graduated from UCSC last year with a Political Science major. It has subspecialties some of which should be avoided - International Relations in particular. Political theory is the best.</p>

<p>There is a Business Management major that I have no personal knowledge of. Its web site indicates it more Economics than Business Admnistration. Kewkiekid knows more about it than I do.</p>

<p>UCSC's theater program is the best in California for undergraduates. You can have a speaking role in the Summer Shakespeare program in the summer between your freshman and sophomore year (he was a year ahead of my daughter at their high school and at UCSC). Then it gets better, especially if you can sing or dance too. I saw a sophomore coed in Mozart's Don Giovanni last year.</p>

<p>You will get a much better education overall at the Claremont-Pomona colleges, but you'll get far, far, more on-stage acting experience, and better stage training, at UCSC. UC Irvine has a good program too - comparable to UCSC in stage management but far behind for undergraduate actors. USC is the place to go to for business education in California - it is at worst second second to Stanford, and arguably as good or better, but much easier to be admitted to than Stanford.</p>

<p>For education overall I'd say USC given your interests. OK for acting, tops in business, good in political science. Claremont-Pomona - OK for acting, OK for business, good in political science if you can screen out the trendy-lefty stuff. UCSC - tops in acting, average in business, mediocre in political science.</p>

<p>Bear in mind that you'll get much better business instruction at USC because it is so close to the Los Angeles business community. This is primarily why I recommend it - there is no substitute for faculty with real-world experience in what they teach. If you are at all interested in a business career, go to USC if you can get in.</p>

<p>If you want social life though, go to UCSC. It has by far the most varied student body (much larger than Claremont-Pomona's but smaller than USC's), is comparable to USC in the variety of faculty (Claremont-Pomona's seemed a bit too similar and bland, albeit brilliant), has a really interesting off-campus community which is small enough for you to get to know during your four years, is close enough to the San Jose area that you can get urban night life if you want it, and is right in the middle of one of the most drop-dead gorgeous vacation areas of California.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the depth of your post. In terms of academics, how is the teaching quality? I've heard from people at UCB and UCLA that it is personal and low quality for undergrads (although very good for graduates). Also, besides the beauty, a largest draw for UCSC is the social life. Could anyone go into it in more detail? All I have is a very good gut reaction but not much else.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the depth of your post. In terms of academics, how is the teaching quality? I've heard from people at UCB and UCLA that it is personal and low quality for undergrads (although very good for graduates). Also, besides the beauty, a largest draw for UCSC is the social life. Could anyone go into it in more detail? All I have is a very good gut reaction but not much else.</p>

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<p>Happy,</p>

<p>Here is what I posted in the "What Is It Like?" thread about teaching quality which answers your teaching quality question.</p>

<p>"The second major difference is that UCSC has almost no adjunct faculty - this is a major, major difference from the other UC campuses. UCSC undergraduates have much closer contact with faculty than at any other UC. There are far fewer teaching assistants per capita at UCSC.</p>

<p>US Santa Cruz retains the emphasis on undergraduates that it has had for its entire existence. This is true in every field that I know of. It is most marked in the performing arts, where underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) have speaking rolls in major theater productions (including the Shakespeare program), solo performances in music, etc.</p>

<p>UCSC is the best of the UC's for freshmen and sophomores in just about any field. This is especially true in the sciences, mathematics and performing arts."</p>

<p>I am less familiar with social life. In general, it is much less flamboyant and "let's experiment with alternative lifestyles" weird than it used to be as competiton for entry has grown and the academic records/test scores of entering classes have increased in the past 6-8 years.</p>

<p>I can say that UCSC's emphasis on undergraduates (very heavy compared to other UC's) makes its social life truly unique among schools with 10,000 - 20,000 students. The size means there are a great variety of activities, while its undergraduate emphasis means that anyone willing to work a bit will end up leading something or other. The administration is geared towards helping undergraduates do things because there is no one else to do them. You won't have to fight to get anything done.</p>

<p>And this is carried to extremes. My daughter did not volunteer for the Shakespeare program - she was drafted into it after her freshman year, and learned of this only when a friend told her how envious he was that she had won a position in it during the first week of their sophomore year.</p>

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<p>I already read your previous post and it was helpful. The more opinions the better though and I'd particulary like to hear from a current or recently graduated student on the social stuff.</p>

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<p>I can't give you the best commentary on the social life here, I spent most of my time as a loner, and when I finally did get involved with the people around me, it was with a small group of gamers. Offhand, I'd bet the social life is more active down at USC. What I doubt you'll be able to find there, and I know you can get in Santa Cruz if you're interested, is the ability to stay on-campus the whole time you're attending. And that doesn't mean staying with a bunch of freshmen in the dorms. At least half the colleges have apartment complexes which are largely limited to non-frosh, and there are other non-frosh opportunities in places like the Village trailers down in the Lower Quarry, the RV park, or campus-run off-campus housing like the UTC and UCSC Inn. They make it very easy to meet new groups of people every year.</p>

<p>The night life seemed ok, but you have to be plugged in to the right groups to really get the most of it, and I wasn't. I doubt it compares to what you can find at USC. There's all sorts of activism, if you that's the sort of social activity the piques your interested, but just about every school has a fair share of that. There is a strong GLBT community <em>or perhaps I should say communties, there always seemed to be a rivalry between Porter and the Resource Center each with distinct factions</em> but I don't think there's any other that goes much beyond what you'd find at any decent school.</p>

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<p>Happy,</p>

<p>My daughter's opinion of USC from her visit was that it was too much "Rah-Rah USC!" of the high school pep rally variety. This is really a personal choice issue.</p>

<p>My first UC Santa Cruz roommate my freshman year (1967-68) had graduated from Glendale High School in Glendale, California, and the high point of his social life there was that his junior class had beaten the senior class in the annual bottle-cap collection contest. He moved out of my room after six weeks and transferred to UCLA after the first quarter. His culture shock at me (San Francisco Bay Area high school) and UCSC at the height of the Hippy Era was just too much for him. It didn't help that, his first free weekend, he had visited San Francisco for the first time to ride the cable car which jumped the track and thundered downhill through traffic, smashing cars and trucks out of the way and scattering screaming tourists, while he and his girlfriend hung for dear life inside.</p>

<p>But he changed. I next saw him during our first-year orientation at Hastings College of the Law in 1972, at which point he had a chest-long beard and hair below his shoulders.</p>

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<p>“It is beatiful, the people seem warm, fun, chill, and friendly and I love how the school is broken into different colleges while remaining fairly large in size as a whole.”
That’s one of the biggest reasons I chose to attend here – small college feel with the resources of a large university.</p>

<p>“Do you think it would be possible for me to get the education I'm looking for at the school if I really seek it out?”
Absolutely. That’s what college is about anyway. And since we tend to have smaller classes, you’ll have the opportunity to be closer with your profs/TAs/</p>

<p>“P.S. If any of the current students went to Tent U last year, that was pretty cool.
Yea…that created more drama on campus than you could possibly imagine. Although I liked it in theory, I didn’t like it in practice.</p>

<p>“are there any specfic areas I should go to our any offices, departments, or indeviduals I should speak to in order to get a better impression for myself. I wont be able to be on campus for very long, so I really want to maximize how I use my time.”
Definitely take a campus tour, that will give you a good overall impression of the school. And several of my friends are tour guides! You can reserve space on a tour on the ucsc website. For theatre arts specific stuff, contact Angela in the department office. Check out each department’s website, they’re quite extensive.</p>

<p>To clarify upon Tom’s comment:
“UCSC's theater program is the best in California for undergraduates. You can have a speaking role in the Summer Shakespeare program in the summer between your freshman and sophomore year”
We’re not the best, but we’re ONE of the best, mostly because our graduate program is all-but-nonexistant. So undergrads get all the opportunities from day 1. I was Assistant Stage Managing a faculty production my second quarter here, and have quickly moved up the ladder from then. Shakespeare Santa Cruz is an equity company that is closely aligned with our theatre department, and students can audition to intern any summer after high school graduation. It is a FANTASTIC opportunity. You can also work with them during the school year on shakes2go, a touring version of the Bard’s works to regional schools (for pay, even!).</p>

<p>Social Life:
Well, if you’re from a big city it’s a let down. If you’re from a small town, you’ll probably enjoy it. A lot of social life depends on who you know, whether you party or not, and your dependency on the bus system (which is pretty good, btw). Can you be more specific with the question?</p>

<p>Hey Tom:
“My daughter did not volunteer for the Shakespeare program - she was drafted into it after her freshman year, and learned of this only when a friend told her how envious he was that she had won a position in it during the first week of their sophomore year.”
That’s completely the result of the department production committee, and she probably checked the box saying she was interested in anything. Don’t blame the university. I, too, worked with Shakespeare Santa Cruz my sophomore year and it was by far the best experience this university has given me.</p>

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<p>i would never choose ucsc over those colleges u mentioned, r u kidding me?</p>

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<p>kewkiekid, thanks for your post. You asked me to be more specific about social life. I'm looking for a student body who is, in general, very open to having fun. There are some schools where students where students don't really let their work go. There are other schools that are, socially, very image obsessed (I think UCSB fits the bill). I'm just looking for a warm, active, fun student body. In terms of activities, I'm looking for a healthy dose of decent/large size parties (at least a couple per weekend). A social life which is conducive to smaller get togethers and actities and just stuff to do throughout the week and weekend to keep things from getting boring.</p>

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<p>Rightly or wrongly, many CA natives view UCSC as the campus for surfers and dopers.</p>

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<p>Santa Cruz has the Santa Cruz beach Boardwalk which is an amusement park and its only 40 minutes (I think?) away from San Jose if you ever get bored.</p>

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<p>joemama - yea stereotypes! yes you'll find a lot of surfers and "dopers" here, but there are plenty of others as well. that said, if you are one of the above, you'll fit right in.</p>

<p>The Boardwalk is fun, but you can only go so many times. My best friend just got hired there, so i'll probably be going a lot this quarter. SJ is about a half hour away by car, or an hourish by bus. San Francisco is about an hour and a half north.</p>

<p>Happywanderer - we're definitely fun loving, i'm sure there are students out there who are academically obsessed, but at least those in my social circles and those i associate with are not. i would say the school as a whole is not image obsessed, but there are groups that you would swear walked out of an A&F ad if you didn't know better. We tend to stereotype them as college 9/10 students....but we all know stereotypes suck (even if they are rooted in fact at some level). We're "warm and fun" but not always active....unless it involves a protest of some kind - then EVERYONE is involved and/or has an opinion. weekends tend to be blah until evenings, when parties rev up. there are activities all over campus, pretty much any day of the week, but you usually have to seek them out yourself. there's no central place on campus for advertising, so you'll learn about most events via flyers at the bus stops. there are PLENTY of parties, my friends and I usually have to pick between 2 or 3 each weeknight. greek life here is all-but non-existant, which is important to some people. we also don't have football, which is a huge social thing at many schools. our big sports are tennis, water polo, rugby, basketball. (ncaa divIII)</p>

<p>long story short - a social life won't be handed to you on a silver platter, but once you get to know people, you will find things to do and have fun.</p>

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<p>Really? I would have thought UCSB would be the one to give off that impression.</p>