Hey, so I’m a high school senior from around Boston and I’m so ready to get out of the cold New England weather. I’ve been admitted to both UCLA and UCSB and I really don’t know which one I should attend! Each side has its positives and negatives… Like I’m getting more money from UCSB, but UCLA is more “renowned.” UCSB has beaches closeby, but UCLA has the Bruins. One thing I really care about is how accessible the professors might be to me and I’ve already gotten admitted to the honors college at UCSB. One last thing is that it kind of seems like my parents are edging me towards UCLA. I kind of want to prove to myself that I don’t care about name value!
I’m in the exact same position as you are! I visited both schools and UCSB is a more relaxed campus, being away from the big busy city type of thing (it is basically on a beach) but I heard it parties A LOT which is something I don’t like. However, UCLA is stationed in a beautiful city with a bunch of activities you can do all around. Another thing to consider is that UCLA is about twice as big in student population that UCSB, so there’s people everywhere and the traffic getting to UCLA is pretty hectic.
As for me, I’m leaning more on UCLA side, not for prestige but because the campus and the city itself is really pretty. But I heard it is more expensive for housing outside of the campus and I’m scared it’ll be a lot more competitive too.
I’m in the same position as well. I wasn’t expecting to be accepted to UCLA and now I have absolutely no idea what to do -___- I change my mind between sb and la like every hour. I really like the area around ucsb like isla vista and santa barbara itself, but the campus itself is okay. On the other hand I love la’s campus, its gorgeous, but im not a big fan of westwood or la. Im completely torn. By the way, since you are an honor student at sb you get direct access to your professors. I did a tour yesterday and they said that in the discussion sections, honors students have it directly with the prof, while other students have sections with TA’s. Just so you know. You’ll definitely have more access to profs at SB than la.