Porter College

<p>What's it like? Okay for Science majors?</p>

<p>I don’t see why not. The major you’re in has no weight on which college you ought to attend. The only thing that the college changes is the % of the population is each major. Crown draws more students within Engineering, Porter draws more students within Art/Film/Music etc. It’s due to location and stereotypes drawing similar people in from year to year.</p>

<p>My hall last year was mostly math and science majors. You could count on one hand the number of us involved in some form of the arts and most of those were theatre techies.</p>

<p>Location tends to draw in a lot of the various art students particularly theatre and visual like Liesel said. Porter is also the college more likely to offer scholarship opportunities for art projects. Theatre students pull a lot of late nights and early mornings due to various production work so being close to the department is hugely beneficial.</p>

<p>Experience at Porter varies based on what you come in looking for. You’ll find a lot of the techies from the theatre department are actually math and science lovers because we use both disciplines quite a bit within our own.</p>

<p>One of my friends at Porter says there’s a lot of weed and drugs over there. One of Porter’s stereotypes is that there are a lot of stoners. So far my experience with Porter leads me to believe that as well. The only time I’ve been at Porter was to check out the Drum Circles and all it was was a bunch of people drinking and smoking. Plus 4/20 is held at Porter Meadows.</p>

<p>I’ve lived at Porter for almost 2 years now and rarely experience this supposed abundance of drugs everyone seems to talk about. I honestly believe that if you are looking for drugs, you will find drugs. If you aren’t crazy about it, like me, you won’t have any problems.
I’m also a science major and there are plenty of us here. Yes, there are probably less here than at other colleges, but that’s sort of part of the fun, you know? It’s nice to have diversity in the people you make friends with here. </p>

<p>It should also be noted that Porter has changed quite a bit as a result of the Transfer Community. Don’t count on it being much like the stereotypes.</p>

<p>thanks everyone. i have been to UC santa cruz to visit and i liked the porter crowd because of the weed smoking and drum circles and such. that’s why i would want to live there. im just wondering if anyone there is having problems staying focused on school. (i only worry this because my friend who went to UCSC last year and lived at porter has now dropped out and is selling weed out of his house. he’s doing well, but still.)
are there a lot of people in the “i smoke weed every day, but am also working really hard to do well in college” crowd?</p>

<p>btw, i’m looking to major in neuroscience. any word on that? what’s it like?</p>

<p>I’m in the top 15% of my class and part of a national honor society while having taken an average of 20 units (one quarter I lost my mind and took 22 units) every quarter I have been at UCSC, danthedude1193. I am a double major. What does that tell you about Porter students and their study habits and academic ability? We’re not all the potheads that many people assume we are.</p>

<p>Note that top 15% is for the entirety of the campus, not just Porter.</p>

<p>If you come looking for weed, you will find it. You will also find it at every other college. People just think they see it at Porter more because they expect to find it there. Reality check: marijuana use not only exists at UCSC’s other residential colleges, but they use it at UCB as well. Your friend likely did not have any desire to go to college in the first place and is just using his drug addiction as an excuse for why he left.</p>

<p>If you really want to be in school, learn, and do well, then you will. Your interest in the drug culture yet your fear of how it could affect makes me wonder if you have the maturity level to properly handle college. I do not mean to be rude, I’m merely stating how your statements come across. You really should evaluate why you are wanting to attend college and what is important to you. If the learning experience and degree is the important thing, but you fear your desire to partake of marijuana could be your undoing, then the solution is easy: don’t get involved with drugs. As both rectangleshorts and I have pointed out: we both have lived at Porter for a decent amount of time now. Neither of us have seen the level of drug use that ProteinMan claims to be present nor what the stereotype suggests.</p>

<p>You find what you’re looking for wherever you go. If you go looking for drugs, you will find them. If you think drugs will disrupt your academic life, then they will. Be a mature person with the ability to say no and to buckle down on your studies.</p>

<p>Thanks Kender. that’s exactly what i wanted to know. and it’s not necessarily that i think my use of marijuana will be my demise, i was just wondering if there would be enough of the positive peer pressure to help me stay motivated on school, and if not i may need to find another college to dorm at. but i do know that it is ultimately my decision and my work that needs to be put in</p>

<p>No worries :). And I promise I wasn’t meaning to be mean or anything, just being blunt that if something is a serious concern for you then you need to be prepared to take the responsibility to not let it become a problem.</p>

<p>It’s good you know that it all comes down to you in the end and the choices you make. You will always be your best motivator and should never rely on others to push you forward (or allow others to hold you back). It’ll mean more and be easier to maintain that level of commitment if it comes purely from yourself :)</p>

<p>You’ll be fine. Just don’t let yourself use others as an excuse to not do your best.</p>