<p>When i first found out that i was accepted to this UC i was very happy. i knew that the school has a noticeable drug problem, but i didnt think it was that bad. ive been reading reviews online and a lot of people are saying it has <em>mediocre</em> classes and teachers. I really want to become a physician and hope that graduating from UC Santa Cruz will not affect me in a negative way. Im not into the drugs at all, im just a normal person that is sort of on the preppy a&f side. Should i just go to a community college and transfer to another UC? what should i do? im so scared and confused. </p>
<p>you will encounter drugs EVERYWHERE. i got into santa cruz out of state, and i am incredibly happy. weed and drugs are quite prevalent on all college campuses, i think the drug use at santa cruz is mainly marijuana (so who cares.........). if you have a problem with it, then maybe you may not like the hippie-ish/earthy environment. maybe pepperdine or LMU is better for you (given you are more preppy).</p>
<p>Ricky, believe me, there's drugs everywhere and there are people just like you at UCSC. You need to learn to chill a bit, especially if you're thinking of becoming a physician. What will you say to your patients -- I won't see you because you've done drugs or are wearing last year's clothes? I'm not being derogatory here -- high school is great for cliques and the need to conform. But once you get past high school, you'll meet people and maybe actually like people beyond your ken. Part of the reason for college in the first place is the learning to become independent and adapt to the "real" world -- namely people of every ilk, creed, religion, and fashion-sense. Especially if you end up, like most people, working as a team or in the community, or serving people (and yes, doctors are people of service).</p>
<p>Next -- the classes and teachers. Wow. I dropped in on a couple of classes when I was up there a year ago, and the classes and teachers were absolutely brilliant. See if you can take a break and drop in on, for example, the professor who teaches about life from the beginning (I forgot the name of it) -- how the earth was formed. Maybe someone else on this board can give the correct name for it. Or go to the new engineering building, and sit in there.</p>
<p>You'd probably be best suited for College 9 or 10 fashion-wise (!) and not Porter, but go there, take a tour, sit in on a couple of classes, you'll be surprised.</p>
<p>Also, it's one of the best undergrad research unis around, and a great stepping-stone to med school.</p>
<p>I dont know where you got your information from.</p>
<p>Drugs - They all have drugs and alcohol. Yes even Yale and Harvard. There are people like you who do not want to be involved in that stuff at UCSC, in fact most do not. My brother actually had no issues with this at UCSC but his roomate at Cal smoked pot every other day in the dorm room. Shows that your fact has no substance. </p>
<p>Teachers - The majority if not all the teachers at UCSC have a masters/Doctors degree. I doubt they are going to be ****ty teachers. Most are very good. Being a professor at a UC is looked to be a very good job. </p>
<p>UcSC is a great school and being accepted their is an honor. Value that.</p>
<p>And btw Ricky. There are so many people that want to go to UCSC that didn't get in. This is the same thing for almost all the colleges. Then someone who gets accepted says they don't want to go for whatever reason. This always annoys me.</p>
<p>You can choose to go to Community College, though I am not sure why you would. You can even have reasons for not liking the school, (bad environment, etc.) But, please don't say that UCSC has a drug problem, but UCSB doesn't. It is just not true. And as far as teachers go, don't speak bad of them until you've been taught by them. Seems like you have got some friends who got into higher schools and are just dissing the lower schools.</p>
<p>Or perhaps he saw that on Princeton Review, they ranked Santa Cruz as 4th under the "Reefer Madness" category.</p>
<p>But like everyone has said here, it is not a problem unless you make it a problem. Sure there are going to be people who smoke and drink and w.e they want to do, but unless you get involved in it yourself, you will not be affected by it...</p>
<p>hey if you dont like it, you can transfer to another UC in a year.
give SC a chance.
And yeah, theres pot, but just make a choice to avoid those people. any college campus you go to is going to have drugs.</p>
<p>yeah but you have a better chance if you already go to a uc. i just dont want Ricky to just go to a jc because he doesnt think he'll like santa cruz. he has to transfer from the jc to a uc in 2 years anyway.</p>
<p>Ok, I'm from santa cruz, so here's the deal:</p>
<p>YES. You will probably find pot everywhere you look (probably nothing much worse, though). But people here are really laid back and relaxed (surprise, surprise) and no one is going to pressure you, or have a problem if you don't do drugs. Santa cruz also happens to be a health-freak haven (that's the category I'm in), so there are plenty of people at UCSC who have never done any drugs and don't want to (again, me, and i've BEEN at "drug parties." no one pressures you do do drugs.)</p>
<p>Bottom line: don't worry about it. And UCSC has a really nice campus, and is of course academically superior to a community college. I wouldn't downgrade for fear of (nonexistent) peer pressure.</p>
<p>If you think that you're more of a preppy/A&F kind of person, i think that another UC may be a better match for you.
A lot of people have difficult adjusting to UCSC, or so I hear.
Also, if you think you can get into a better ranked UC after 2 years of Community College, that's definitely beneficial as well.</p>
<p>Also, UCLA/UCSD/UCD all have EXCELLENT pre-med programs, not to mention medical schools...as well as more of the preppy type of people you described yourself as being.</p>
<p>I don't know why so many people look down on Community Colleges, they're such an excellent way of getting into the college you truly want to go to =)</p>
<p>I dont look down on JC's I just feel that when you go to one, you kind of forget what your striving for. Meaning he would have to motivate himself to work hard, usually without a support system. In a 4yr the support is all around because everyone else around is striving for what they want. I think he should try it out. Going by stereotypes to choose a school is not a good idea; im sure there are a lot of preppy people in Santa Cruz.</p>
<p>Are you from Santa Cruz? JW, because when I visited, I saw a lot of different people; everyone hanging out with everyone pretty much. But if you know for a fact, then I'll stop talking haha</p>
<p>Right now im thinking about appealing to UCD. i left out MAJOR information about my life. What if i send in my SIR to UC Santa Cruz and then my appeal for UCD gets accepted?</p>