Pros and Cons Of UCSB and UCI

<p>Please can some people list the pro’s and con’s of each campus im having a hard time deciding.</p>

<p>UCSB pros:
-beautiful campus RIGHT on the ocean
-fun college town
-most people live on and around campus
-great looking people!
-most people are happy at ucsb
-college of creative studies program is awesome, basically like a good LAC under a big university
-social life improves your social skills and personality
-good balance of academics and social life
-biker school - good for exercise
-not cutthroat, relaxed and chill
-getting very selective, had less admit rate this yr and before vs davis and uci b/c ucsb is receiving so many more applicants
-socal</p>

<p>UCSB cons:
-not as diverse - majority is white
-lots of parties, those irresponsible or weak will succumb to partying all the time
-lots of alcohol is consumed, those irresponsible or week have a high potential to abuse their bodies
-they say it has a high std rate, but it really isn't that much different than most colleges, national average
-con is the hot people too, because if you are not as "good looking", you may feel pressure, i guess higher susceptibility to anorexia or whatever...?
-longer time to graduate for irresponsible people - the great atmosphere and great people are distracting
-very close to santa barbara city college, the sbcc kids do a lot of partying and are probably not very uplifting influences</p>

<p>UCI pros:
-in a nice area right next to newport beach
-the dorms are named after lord of the rings places, that's pretty cool!
-campuswide honors program is very prestigious (i think only top 5% of class) and offers a lot of opportunities and attention, and has a lot of perks
-getting more selective too
-socal</p>

<p>UCI cons:
-not as diverse - majority is asian - there are some fobs, and more of those speaking their asian vernacular on campus (i don't know if that's a pro or con for you, but just thought i'd state it)
-commuter school, on weekends a lot of people leave
-not a college town, esp because it's a commuter school
-social life among uci kids not as active (mostly because of the 2 previous cons)
-more studious people, who aren't as social
-besides a lot of the chp kids who probably chose uci over top uc's like ucla and uc berkeley and were offered more money and are making the most of the uci education and pay less money, a lot of other uci students aren't as happy (versus ucsb students)</p>

<p>rpvsurfer: Have you been to both campuses? If you haven't, and still have the chance, I highly recommend it. Seeing the campuses for what they really are will probably help you a lot. Not that one campus is always considered better than the other, in fact, I've seen both campuses and I don't know which one I prefer (I'm in a slightly different situation than you, but hey, nobody's is quite the same).</p>

<p>About the Creative Studies, that's for very specific people. If you are a Math/Comp Sci/Bio/Art/Lit person, then it might be a good choice, it's mainly for students who are very very focused on just that area. Their description says it best: it's a graduate school for undergraduates. However, they have an honors program, and you may or may not have an interest in that (hey, they get the Manzanita dorms... :) they're overlooking the beach!)</p>

<p>Anywho, good luck on your decision! Maybe I'll see you there!</p>

<p>BackToReality</p>

<p>could you do a pros and cons of UCSD?</p>

<p>brizzle: ucsd pros and cons</p>

<p>pros
-by the ocean/beach
-can take surfing class
-has underwater basket weaving class
-good at ballroom dancing, lol
-some dorms have ocean view
-eucalyptus trees on campus give nice naturey feel
-cool looking spaceship library
-one of the guys from my favorite band, switchfoot, went there
-sungod festival is awesome
-very good academics
-very relaxing environment, laid back
-in nice, wealthy city, la jolla
-people are nice</p>

<p>cons
-la jolla is pretty conservative and doesn't like any noise or rowdiness, not very welcoming toward ucsd
-because of that, among other things, ucsd is relatively socially dead.
-so you need to make a big effort if you want to have some sort of social life
-not very much people who are non-white, non-asians. practically everybody is white or asian. so that may make other ethnicities feel out of place
-little school spirit, division 2 sports, decided against football team, etc
-6 college system may promote some divisions among the "colleges" instead of overall cohesive unity
-in general and in a lot of cases but not all, a lot of people (except maybe for bioengineering) are "bitter ucla rejects", but not ALL, just a good amount
-since the social scene requires a lot of effort, there are more socially inept people
-ucsd has the reputation of having unattractive girls, i didn't really notice this, but there must be some reason why everybody keeps saying it.
-for some reason, a lot of people at ucsd don't like it there.
-not actually in the city (it used to be called uc la jolla), so more isolated. but i guess if you make friends at sdsu u can have a lot of fun</p>

<p>My brother goes to UCSD and loves it, for what it's worth.</p>

<p>awakeneddream - love your p/c on UCSD. it is spot on.</p>

<p>a few other comments:
UCI - really ugly campus unless you like concrete and/or concentric circles
UCSD - if you don't surf, there is not much to do
UCSB - no close large airport, so somewhat isolated from parents unless they live in la area.</p>

<p>isolated from parents...is that a pro, or a con? lol.</p>

<p>I think I would place the UCSD college system under a Pro rather than Con. Supposedly some of the classes are smaller as a result and smaller classes are always good. It gives a person more of a small college feel. It's easier to get to know the people around you and the college faculty- which can be a plus when graduate school reccommendations rolls around. You don't get lost as you might in a large university environment. Also, the general requirement aspect of it can be a good thing, if you did your research before picking your college. Certain colleges have certain GEs that are good for certain majors. If you're not an English person, you don't have to take massive writing courses at one college and for non-logic folk, vice versa.</p>