<p>I've heard UCSB is known for its impersonal advising/counseling department. Is this true? I'm looking into taking the pre-med route and without an advisor I'd be very lost...</p>
<p>^seconded, I’d like to hear more about this too</p>
<p>I don’t know about the entire academic advising department, but my roommate had a good experience with them. She made an appointment within a day and he helped her plan out her classes for the next couple quarters plus he helped her figure out the best times for her to take her GE reqs.</p>
<p>At many privates you are assigned a faculty advisor from frosh year on and meet regularly with them; at least once a quarter, anyway. So if you say “I’m premed” then they’ll have handouts on what you need to do, experience with prior generations of students who were premed to draw on, referrals they can give to more specialized advisors like premed advisors, etc.</p>
<p>The point, though, is you can get this same advice at UCSB or any public. The difference is the advising isn’t built-in; you need to take the initiative to schedule meetings. Google “ucsb premed advisor” and you’ll see the top link is their website; click on “contact us” and you’ll see how to meet in person with an advisor.</p>
<p>In fairness, at large publics a lot of the advising is going to be from whoever is at the window when you show up; but this is fine for quick questions. If you (and the key to remember is that to really get the most from things at a large public will take initiative from you whether we’re talking advising, getting to know faculty, taking part in campus clubs, etc) find an advisor you like it is possible to schedule meetings with that particular person.</p>