Information about SC colleges from a friend

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
1

<p>So here it is... </p>

<p>I live in Cowell and its working out great for me. The view is nice and the central location (in relation to the bookstore, the field, and the gym) is helpful. I would say that the stereotypes for each college are true to some extent but do not let that be your main guide. I suggest that you base your choice on the way the college looks and its location on campus.
(concerning location: all in all, everything is within walking distance so its not that big of a deal)</p>

<p>Couple things to note:
1) Kresge is 100% apartments. I believe its 6 ppl per so it creates a different environment than living in a single, double, triple or even a quad dorm because the apartment has a kitchen and central living room area. I am living in a Cowell apartment next year and most sophomores either live off campus or in an apartment.</p>

<p>2) Dorms are pretty sweet, not as bad as some people make them out to be.</p>

<p>3) Porter is definitely more free/artistic/liberal/crazy drugs
(it is inevitable to be around some drug use, you just have to choose who you hang around with. Porter is a bit heavier though.)</p>

<p>4) College 8 looks way different than any other college. it feels more preppy but also more clean and there are pros and cons. a bit isolated</p>

<p>5) Oaks is more ethnically diverse. kinda cool with the oak trees, but I prefer the redwoods of Cowell.</p>

<p>6) College 9 & 10 are kinda in on their own but pretty central in the grand scheme of things on campus. They were my 2nd and 3rd choices.</p>

<p>7) Im sure there are good things about Merill, but honestly I would stay away from it. it seems isolated despite its location and kinda dull. I konw someone from crown and hte nerd/science/videogames stereotype is pretty true. Crown is quiet most of the time which can be a nice atmosphere.</p>

<p>Stevenson is its own place, but I feel like it is an extension of cowell in a way. the core course is 2 quarters long which is a bit of a bummer.... chill people there though.</p>

<p>Overall you find a mix of different types of pple everywhere, but there is definitely a hippie thing going on is kresge, a surfer thing going on in cowell, a party thing going on in porter and a preppy thing going on in 8. hope this helped. i gtg if you have any more specific questions let me konw.</p>

2

<p>thanks for the info. i would like to know more about Oakes because it's either my 2nd or 3rd choice. so what kind of people live there? I heard gangsters, rappers live there. is that true? i don't want to be surrounded by gangsters because study is my top priority.</p>

3

<p>and, Cowell is my first choice.. maybe i'll see you at Cowell =]</p>

4

<p>i'm going to cowell.. or thats my #1 choice. and keep in mind this is my friend so i can't answer many questions outside of what i know and the description above.</p>

5

<p>ZeroK, lemme just say that when I stayed at oakes, nowhere did I see any rappers or gangsters of any kind. Its just another stereotype that was most likely was meant to target the African American students. Whoever thought of the stereotypes for all of the colleges really just needs to drop out of college and go back to 9th grade to re-educate themselves, because I mean really that stereotype is borderline racist</p>

<p>Anyways I got off topic... Oakes is not full of rappers and gangsters, if anything they would be at oakes but at porter cause after all porter is the college of arts really and also weed.. and when you put two and two together....</p>

6

<p>^ Didn't you just say the college stereotypes were full of crap? I agree with you, but you cannot call Porter a weed college if your unwilling to call Oakes the rap college. </p>

<p>But anyways, I pretty much think the stereotypes should not deter someone from attending a certain college. I guess I am going to the "asian colleges and preppy colleges." Whatever. </p>

<p>Oakes seemed pretty normal to me and the view rocks. If I were to stay somewhere for the view, I think I would go to Stevenson because I like that it is closer to stuff and has pretty much the same view. Oakes is just so far away from everything.</p>

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<p>haha okay just caught that one..... lemme rephrase it like this... If you believe in stereotypes, then you probably would find the gangsters and rappers at porter college cause supposedly thats where weed is consumed the most.... notice I said supposedly</p>

8

<p>Well, actually, the African American stereotype for Oakes has a historical background to it. When it was first built, it was an African American ONLY college. It stayed like that for awhile, but eventually, they opened it to all students. </p>

<p>No one just "made it up."</p>

9

<p>Cali trumpet you are at Crown right? If my D is accepted she will probably choose Crown not only b/c of the sciences but also because she likes a quieter social scene. Can you tell us a bit more about what it's been like so far?</p>

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<p>I think by stereotype they meant the gangster/rapper deal, meaning most African-Americans listen to and perform rap. I can neither confirm nor deny this, but my friend from Oakes is extremely happy there, and she is white/straight/not gangster. Remember, diversity includes more than just African-Americans. The GLBT scene is very open there as well. Oakes is considered to be very open and welcoming of differences. Therefore, if you are afraid that in some colleges you may discriminated against for whatever reason, you should consider Oakes. </p>

<p>I live in Porter and yes, there is weed. But it is also an extremely academic college. Just because Porterians party on the weekend (and occasionally on weeknights) does not mean you cannot focus on school. In high school, did you not choose a group of friends that fits with your personality? It's not as though in college you are forced to party and hang out with stoners all the time. If you dont want to smoke, no one is going to make you. There are plenty of students in my building that don't smoke. The stoners dont harass the students who choose not to smoke, just as those who dont smoke don't harass those who do. It's all about tolerance at Porter. </p>

<p>One thing I will say about Porter though. In the past, Porter has had a reputation of being crazy party central. Well, the CSO's (campus security basically) and the RA's have really stamped out most parties this year. Not saying that Porter is no longer a party college, but there really are no more naked slip n slide parties or stuff like that. So don't not choose Porter because you dont think you can handle the parties. </p>

<p>BTW- There are rappers at Porter, but gangsters? Not so much. Honestly, I would expect to see gangsters (and by gangsters I mean people who wear baggy clothes because there are no real gangsters in Santa Cruz) in C9/10. </p>

<p>As far as views go, C8, Porter, Stevenson, Cowell.
Dining hall wise- Porter is currently the vegan/vegetarian dining hall, which just means that they serve a bunch of different vegan entrees for every meal, while most of the dining halls have 1-2 per meal. However, Porter's dining hall is getting redone, so the Cowell/Stevenson DH will serve as the vegan DH. If you are vegan/veggie and you end up in C9/10, expect to eat a lot of salads or travel. C8 DH sucks. Pretty much the only thing I like there is the pizza at late nights. Their salad bar is okay, but the lettuce is always wilted. They do have good cookies sometimes though.</p>

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<p>Historymom-
Actually, I am affiliated with College 9. If I would do it over again, I would choose Crown/Merrill because the people there are definitely more study oriented and are more of the 'nerdy' types. My preference in high school was to hang out with the nerdier types of people, and I figured that people exaggerated the party scene at the various UCSC colleges. My opinion is that if you are quiet and want to get the least amount of parties, Crown is a good choice. Otherwise, most of the other colleges seem to house a similar spread of individuals. Just make sure you specifically demand a quiet floor if that is your preference. (I pretty much did everything but say "put me on the quiet floor or else" and I was put on a regular floor, while people who did not request the quiet floor got it... sort of weird. </p>

<p>Bananaslug- Stop bashing c9/10 for the wrong reasons. There are plenty of reasons to bash my college, but "gangster types" is certainly not one of them. My floor probably is one of the most "preppy" floors at UCSC. The guys and girls take care of their bodies and dress well too. And btw, C9/10 dining hall is not that bad for vegetarians. I would know because I am a one. C9/10 offer two entrees to choose from, and there are vegetarian equivalents for each meal. There is also a full salad bar (arguably the best salad bar of the dining halls). When you factor in extra items such as veggie burgers, terriyaki veggie burgers, cheese pizza (best pizza on campus), bagels and cream cheese, fresh fruit, etc, you see that we have plenty to choose from. Whenever I go to other colleges for a meal, I usually find items i am interested in eating to be not stocked at the time. C9/10 does a very good job of keeping all the above items stocked throughout the various dining hours, and we also serve the best late night by far. </p>

<p>Some valid reasons to bash c9
-drug scene (easy access to the forest)
-Smoking (Though I guess this does not apply to just c9)
-alcohol (Again, this applies to multiple colleges)
-Not a great View (Compared to other dorms)
-Overcrowded (many doubles are converted into small triples)
-No late night restaurant close by (Most of the other colleges have one)</p>

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<p>Thanks Cali-Trumpet. Appreciate the information.</p>

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<p>Where do the people who don't fit in to any description (preppy, surfer, etc) go?</p>

<p>I'm socially awkward and I like Lord of the Rings. Where do I find like individuals?</p>

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<p>Haha, you will fit in any college. Don't stress it.</p>

15

<p>My son is a freshman this year. He's very happy he was placed at his 1st choice college - Crown. He ended up with a triple dorm room, not his preference on the housing questionnaire, but the 3 roommates are very compatible & now he's glad it's worked out this way. I'd call him an athletic nerd serious student who does like to have fun too; computer eng. major, not a drug/alcohol user & it seems his friends aren't either. He's mentioned Porter college as being known for pot smoking, but I imagine it's wherever you want to find it. It seems to me that most students have a 'live & let live' attitude, you can be yourself @ UCSC.</p>

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<p>slugmom: My brother is on the fire dept at UCSC and he tells me that they have the fewest party related calls to Crown. My D is also athletic and sciencey so I think Crown Stev and Cowell will be on her list. Agree that there is a spot for everyone at UCSC.</p>

<p>What are the student activities at Crown like and does your S play any IM sports?</p>

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<p>Cali Trumpet- I wasnt saying that C9/10 is gangster. I've just observed many people in that sort of attire to be affiliated with C9/10. The fact that you consider that to be bashing is offensive on your part. I dont know what you mean by the students there take care of their bodies. I never said that C9/10 didn't shower. About the dining hall, I was giving my opinion on it. Whenever I go there, I usually have to eat salad and tea. And a lot of the time, the tea is not stocked. Sorry if I offended you, I was just giving my opinion.</p>

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<p>slugmom, check out the Crown College page on the UCSC website & look at the 'month calender' to get an idea of the student activities. My S just runs & bikes on his own, no IM participation at this time.</p>

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<p>historymom, oops-last post was an answer for you.</p>

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<p>Historymom-</p>

<p>I can give you a rundown of a quiet floor at Merrill, which imo is the same environment as Crown (they are right next to each other after all). If your daughter wants a really quiet environment, this would be it. There are pretty strict rules for quiet hours. No tv, music, etc after 10:00pm or you get written up. You can imagine there is no alcohol or drugs on the floor, period. I know of only two people who drink occasionally, and by occasionally I mean they might drink a beer maybe once every two weeks if they are lucky. Compare that to the normal floor at C9, where 95% of the floor drinks every weekend, and will drink to their max of beer and hard alcohol. </p>

<p>These students all tend to be smarter than the average UCSC student. Pretty much every person I met was pretty into their schoolwork and had pretty high GPAs (3.5+). They spend their free time conversing among each other, and usually all eat together. Some of the guys on the nerdier side play online games, but no one plays computer games all day long. Overall, seems like a pretty friendly environment, if your daughter wants to be in a more quiet atmosphere that is away from the parties :)</p>