Alright so I’ve been admitted into both schools. For SB I got in as a pre-communications major. Since “Cal” or Berkeley doesn’t necessarily have a communications major I chose media studies which I’d say is equivalent to, I got into that. I’ve got about 2-weeks to decide where I want to go. I got a chance to visit SB’s campus and it’s beautiful. I’m sure I won’t have a chance to visit Cal until I actually decide I want to go there. I’ve seen the campus many times though. I need advise from anyone and everyone. What would be your deciding factor? I need opinions to help me weight my decision. Thank you advance.
D got admitted to both schools and is attending Cal (different major). Two schools are very different: academically, culturally, topographically. Cal’s program is higher ranked (from what I’ve seen of rankings on QS Top Rankings, Cal is tied for 6th, UCSB, tied for 18th, if that matters to you). Depends upon how much you want to be challenged in college. D was put off by their only one library and the student panel for the honors program where all of the speakers were all double majoring (and the one guy who changed his major 6 times, went abroad twice, graduated in less than 4 years, and was in the process of “figuring out what he wanted to do.”) For some, that would be the perfect fit. Do some more research about outcomes for people with that major. If you would fit in at either place culturally, I would let results be your guide.
@komigee Congrats! UCSB grad here and (and my brother-in-law went to Cal). Feel free to message me if you have any questions :-). @Undercrackers Congrats to your daughter! It’s always so interesting to me what students are drawn to (or not) about each of the UC campuses. I was a tour guide and orientation staff leader at UCSB and parents/students would sometimes ask about the 1 library. UCSB is one of the smaller UC’s, both by enrollment and size, and I never felt the need for an additional library or space :-). There were always open tables at the library and the ocean views are incredible. With such a sunny and beautiful environment, I’d say I spent more time studying outdoors :-).
I’m in the same predicament right now! I’m a transfer from SBCC and I love Santa Barbara so much, it’s such a beautiful and unreal place to go to school. I’m definitely glad I got to spend the amount of time here that I did. UCSB has one of the top comm programs, it’s one of their more competitive programs and it’s definitely getting higher in status. However, SB is a very small community. There is no large city and not a lot of opportunity when it comes to internships and work. It’s also a very small campus, so you get a very intimate feel with all of the students and faculty. it’s also very social and welcoming, you won’t have any trouble meeting new people and finding friends. However, there is a lot of partying, I know people that party and go out Wednesday-Sunday, and still can function with school. For me, that atmosphere is hard to keep up with. I believe UCB is definitely more of a challenge and more renowned than UCSB, I guess it’s all up to you and what you want out of your college experience!
My kid was all set to go to UCSB until the UCB offer came in, and it took all of 20 minutes for him to SIR for UCB lol. (Actually he waited a day to see what would happen with Stanford). Dream school, been on the campus countless times, prestige, and the ability to take BART to go home were the reasons. As an introvert he probably will fit right into UCB.
@BayAreaRecruiter D applied to only 3 UC’s, and UCSB was one of them, so it was definitely in her consideration set initially. Has a classmate who got into UCLA but opted for Santa Barbara - we think it’s a much better fit for him culturally. Plus, you can navigate with a bike/skateboard at UCSB - too many hills on the UCB campus!