<p>Is it clean and a nice-looking campus or is it dirty? Just out of curiosity.</p>
<p>Santa Cruz is arguably the nicest campus in the UC system. The campus sits on a hill overlooking Monterey Bay. Most of the buildings are in a redwood forest, trails criscross the campus. There is also a Great meadow with rec fields and lots of open space. The campus itself is pretty much isolated from the town, giving it a real "campus" feel. </p>
<p>Not sure what you call clean or dirty, but it would definately fall into most definitions of clean.</p>
<p>Oh, awesome. Is it even nicer than UCSB?</p>
<p>I adore Monterey haha.</p>
<p>It was ranked last year the top 6 or 7 beautiful college campuses in the country by Princeton Review or similar ranking group.</p>
<p>As a student, i'd say you will not be disappointed with the atmosphere of the campus. You are in a secluded environment, surrounded by trees, overlooking Monterey Bay. The good looks are definitely a big big + for UCSC, and it is kept up pretty well overall too.</p>
<p>It's exceptionally maintained and is extremely clean. It's difficult to compare to UCSB. I thought UCSB was gorgeous too, but in the summertime.. you can't beat Santa Cruz. Campus is very secluded, and I found it to be downright boring at times. It seems to really lack anything lively going on much of the time, and sometimes at night feels downright desolate. ..but hey, a lot of people love it.</p>
<p>According to the 2009 Princeton Review, these are the top ten for most beautiful campuses: UCSC is #13</p>
<p>Princeton
Sweet Briar
Colgate
Wagner
Mt Holyoke
Scripps
Notre Dame
U of Richmond
U of San Diego
College of the Holy Cross</p>
<p>Test</a> Prep: GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, and More | The Princeton Review</p>
<p>So it's pretty secluded like NAU?</p>
<p>its not secluded. it isnt in the middle of a city, no, but it has easy access to downtown and the beach.</p>
<p>I just took a 5 hour nature hike today. UCSC is maybe one of the most beautiful places ive ever been.</p>
<p>Come on, apart from the view, I think the campus itself is down right ugly and boring. It looks more like a bunch of old apartment buildings. Just tell me which building you think is beautiful. To make it into even top 100 most beautiful campuses is an overstatement.</p>
<p>What makes it ugly, just out of curiosity?</p>
<p>I've never seen it and I didn't get much out of the pictures haha.</p>
<p>Emagic, ugly compared to what? ...seems like you are just trolling. Give some evidence to backup a statement that differs from everyone else. Have you been here?</p>
<p>1980collegegrad- It was ranked 6-7 in the 2008 report, but even #13 makes the point that the campus is pretty nice. </p>
<p>Reya- You really need to visit UCSC. It is quite a cool place. You asked if it was clean and nice looking, the answer is yes. The best way to find out is by visiting because pictures do not do it justice.</p>
<p>I think emajic likes buildings over trees and nature. Simple. UCSC is all about trees and nature over buildings. If you want buildings to look at, go to an urban campus.<br>
UCSC is a lot more than a view.</p>
<p>Not trying to start an argument. Just telling as I see it. First off, if the ranking is for the VIEW, I can say UCSC is #1 in the world. Nothing beat the view of UCSC which situated on top of the hill overlooking the pacific ocean but sadly it's only about 20% of the campus (some parts of Stevenson, Cowell, Oakes, probably Porter) As for the building, what can be uglier than wood-shingled Oakes College. Merrill, Kresge & Crown look so out dated it is depressing. Look at Collge 8, it really looks like craftsman style apartment building. 9 and 10 is just like office building. Also, most of the colleges are in the forest it is really getting to you after awhile unless you like the woods. Try walking around the campus and perhap you (Cali) can tell me which building you think is qualify to be in the Most Beautiful College league.</p>
<p>Downtown Santa Cruz is full of skateboarders and surfers that it is not even safe to go especially at night. Try walking along Pacific Avenue at night and on weekend.</p>
<p>I been to UCSC countless time for either doing the loop on my road bike or mountain biking at the back of UCSC and to Wilder. You might even run into each other.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to be able to visit UCSC next spring although it's not looking like it's a financial possibility at the moment because I live in Arizona. We just came back last weekend from visiting UCSB and UC Irvine.</p>
<p>I really like the the east college buildings and think McHenry is beautiful. Kresge won archtectual awards back in the the day, though it isn't really my taste, and the craftsman style you don't like is one of the most admired and copied styles of American architecture. I absolutely find the plain cement exterior of the old science buildings and Kerr hall unlovely but the campus is undeniably beautful because of the natural elements. </p>
<p>OP I agree you should visit. I think you will find the overall impression of the campus to be positive.</p>
<p>downtown full of skateboarders.... ~gasp~</p>
<p>but yeah, Pacific near the bus stop is kinda sketch at night. and I'm a dude.
I watched a drunk guy manhandle a cop for a moment until a bystander helped the cop out.
There's a LOT of trash downtown.. i've lost count how many times random people asked me if i wanted to buy any of their "goods"</p>
<p>I'd have to say from most angles the new Humanities building between Crown/Merrill and Cowell is fairly attractive, along with Engineering2. Baskin Engineering and few others are older,very concrete, and pretty dull looking though. The concrete everywhere I think is part of the campus sustainability thing... everyone wants energy and thermo-efficient buildings at low cost... and concrete serves that purpose well.</p>
<p>emagic- It is the overall atmosphere that we are talking about, as far as I am aware of. Nothing really comes close to a college campus enclosed in a forest, which is why it is ranked so high. Both of your posts are commenting on the buildings within the campus, which do not really affect the overall atmosphere IMO. If anything, UCSC went out of their way to create a campus built around the forest so everywhere you walk, there are redwood trees hundreds of years old. I may not live in a super modern building (though I quite like the way mine looks), but I have a pretty amazing view of the redwoods, and others have an amazing view of Monterey Bay. </p>
<p>As far as downtown goes, I would agree it is a bit sketchy at night. IMO it is not as bad as downtown San Diego though if you have ever been there. I really dig the small business thing about downtown Santa Cruz. Almost all of the restaurants and retail stores are unusual stores that are not franchises. As long as you go downtown in the day time, I think you will really enjoy it. Only go at night during the weekends when other students are around. Overall, I do not feel intimidated by the homeless people downtown, as they usually keep to themselves and are not harmful in any way.</p>
<p>Im a girl and I go downtown a lot, including at night. I have never been harassed or anything. I think downtown is really safe, and there are a lot of cops always driving by. Ive never witnessed any violence. </p>
<p>I just love how UCSC isnt about the buildings though. Like, why do you have to worry about what the architecture looks like when you have all this nature surrounding it?</p>
<p>It's truly awesome to be walking to class and to seemingly be lost in the forest. Sometimes I halfway expect little gnomes to hop out from behind a log and scurry into the shrubbery. </p>
<p>The path between McHenry library and the Media Theater, though short, is drop dead gorgeous. The moss on the trees and greenery in this area is like no other university ANYWHERE. The Upper Quarry, the spot near the close-by kiln remnants, and where McHenry has (unfortunately) approached into are amazing. One would never know they were even close to a top-notch research university, let alone within it, or even a 5min walk to everything you could need. One could be faced with such an issue like.. Do I take my Joe's sandwich and eat it in the middle of the quarry or take it to the knoll and eat it overlooking all of monterey bay?</p>
<p>I've visited a LOT of colleges and although the architecture of most of the buildings isn't all that, the campus itself is nothing short of spectacular. For buildings, Oxford has it down!</p>